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在說英語的自家人當中…..
2024/09/08 06:21:03瀏覽217|回應1|推薦8

Since I learned English in junior high, I have set my goal for the new language as a tool to advance my knowledge, not a tool to communicate with English-speaking people. From this perspective, I have been spending a lot of time on new words to widen the volume of my vocabularies and on the English grammar and syntax to facilitate my reading. In so doing, I cared less about phonetic alphabets, listening comprehension, and oral English till now.

I came to my sons in Boulder, Colorado, a few days ago, and my daughters joined us, too. It was a precious reunion, but during the merry communication among the whole families, I acted as a polite listener, almost always smiling but quiet. Why was that? Partly because my hearing problem and slow reaction due to age, I could not fully understand what they were speaking with inarticulate syllables in a fast speed. Unwillingly, I  opted for reticence. (Why not speaking in Mandarin among us? Because both of my son-in-law and daughter-in-law are Caucasian Americans.)

BTW, you may wonder how I could stay in America without oral communication with others. Well, I can read and communicate with others in writing online. If I must talk in English with others, sometimes I would make a gesture by putting my palm beside my ear to insinuate the guy I was talking with to speak louder and slower. Ha!

    

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thy:何苦折騰女兒!
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2024/09/08 11:41
閣下自述曾在北市太平國小讀過,和小弟上下年紀,英文造詣卓越,憂國意識強烈,本人與有榮焉!
Retiredbum(kkuo0810) 於 2024-09-08 13:01 回覆:
吾兄溢美了, 謝謝. FYI, 我讀過六個國小,其中太平國小念了一年半. 大學畢業之前一直家無定所. 這半個世紀, 兩岸中國人都不容易.