Because I'm tutoring ESL for a Mandarin-speaking family, I decided to go to the Flushing library to see about a library card application so they could not only practice filling out applications but also become library card holders.
While I was there I checked out the Chinese language book section and decided to pick out a book or two. Since I've been practicing my Mandarin speaking skills by teaching English (who would've thought?), I thought it would be good to reinforce with some reading practice.
I looked for some young adult fiction (less words, and less complicated words at that) when I stumbled upon a beautifully-illustrated almost-picture book. A perfectly easy segue into reading actual blocks upon blocks of unbroken text.
What I would later discover, however, was just how perfect the book was. Not only was it about a bunny who had lost his love and decided to go on a journey around the world, it also quoted from The Little Prince, another one of my favorites. Makes sense though - both stories overflow with ponderings on life and love while unpretentiously masquerading as cute children's tales.
And the fact that it was in Chinese, well, it was like stepping into another world of expression. Having grown up with my Chinese language abilities halted at about the 5th grade level, I know how to converse but am deficient in metaphor, description, and all other literary gesturing. I cannot illustrate any of what I see or feel but the miraculous thing is, I can understand illustration when I read it and I'm hoping that that puts me just the tiniest bit closer to expression.
And this is how I know that no matter how much my Chinese deteriorates, I will always be "inside" the language. And it's like I've been reunited with my lost love, hearing them tell about all that was new and different and had changed them, yet feeling like part of me was beside them the entire way.
So much to catch up on yet so much already there.