John Wang Blog 3

Do you speak English?

Yes, I speak English. However, though I was raised in the United States, my first language was mandarin Chinese, and I am most able to articulate what I’m saying when I speak predominately English with Chinese mixed in. This mixture of languages is often affectionately called “chinglish” by those who speak it.

Speaking English, I do feel more connected to my “imagined community”. I believe some of most important ties that bind a nation are language both written and oral. With that being said, I do also think people who speak the same way/dialects identify most strongly and allow for the possibility of even closer knit “imagined communities”

In the video we watched on February 5^th, I understood what the characters were trying to convey. They had a lot of anxiety in their lives and believe me I felt it in my own as I was praying the movie would end. Given these thoughts, it led me to my blogging conclusions that people who speak similarly or understand completely what other people say are able to connect deeper in their sense of community. At times I was not sure what was going on because communication goes much deeper than language in terms of words.  I usually only hear the tones of voice I heard in the film before fights break out. It was stressful to me.

As a speaker of both Chinese and English, even though most of my friends I have only speak English, I feel I am most comfortable building community with people who speak both English and Chinese. At least, it is a quicker process. I believe it is in human nature to seek the familiar when building our imagined communities and your “language”/communication plays a large in letting our primal defenses down sooner and more easily.