I was home all alone one rare Saturday morning. Gabe was at his grandma's. Derod was out on a mission. I was homebound due to a bout of flu. I sat in front of the tube surfing channels, something I'd not done in a long long long time.
One program was a game show where some primary school students were competing over their knowledge of Chinese proverbs. After that half hour, my ego was badly bruised and to be honest, I remained pretty much horrified for some time after.
For a certain category, the students were flashed a picture and they were supposed to decipher which four-word proverb it was describing, and upon giving the correct answer, extra points would be credited if they were able to explain the meaning of the proverb. More than half the time, I was either not as fast as the kids or I'd completely no idea what the picture was about. Then, of the answers given, I would not have heard of half of them.
I'd always taken some pride in coming from a primary school that gave as much emphasis to English as to my mother tongue. Our school song was in Mandarin - that will give you some idea of the climate and culture of the school. What's more, both my parents were Chinese educated. It would be highly embarrassing to be caught in a situation where kids but a decade old can challenge and overtake the years of conscious and unconscious training I've received.
Perhaps it's time I took a look at some of those learn-Chinese VCDs they're selling at Popular... ;p
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