By Andrea Kidder
Language is a funny thing. When you think about it, a language is just a bunch of sounds strung together and somehow we humans find meaning in those sounds. There are hundreds and hundreds of languages in the world, which probably means there are trillions and trillions of combinations of sounds that humans use to communicate with each other.
This term, I’m teaching first year students in 3 different degree programs, which means that a lot of what we study is basic English. It’s easy to get frustrated when they struggle with “easy” stuff, but many of my English students already speak at least two languages — Lao and their ethnic tribal language. When I consider that English is their third (or fourth) set of weird sounds with weird rules and weird letters, I am so impressed by how well they can speak it.
When I’m studying a new word in Lao, I sometimes can’t believe that a) I can replicate that sound with my mouth and b) that the sound is actually a word that means something. One of my favorite new words is a perfect example. I don’t even know how to spell it with English letters, but it’s a pretty fun word to say, so I’ll try: eua-feua-peua-pay. Would you believe that that’s an actual word in a language that is spoken by an estimated 3.2 million people? That’s not some sci-fi fantasy word spoken by weird creatures with horns or an overly-obsessed fan with way too much time on his hands. It’s Lao for “generous.” I love this word because it’s crazy difficult to say and spell, but it’s so fun and is such a fitting word for the Lao people that I know and love.
Lao people are generous in many ways, and I have a lot more to learn from them than just language. They are generous when I try to speak their language and mix up tones or sounds or letters or words. They are generous with their time. They are generous with their smiles and their laughter. They are generous with food and money and resources. They are generous with curiosity: about English and my life and my heart. They are generous and funny and crazy and difficult. They are eua-feua-peua-pay, in every sense of the word.
Just last night, I was walking along the Mekong River and hilariously struggling in a conversation with broken Lao and broken English with one of my friends and she asked me, “Why are there so many different languages? We’re all people, but we look different and speak differently. Why can’t we understand each other?” In a world with trillions and trillions of different sounds, we all want the same things: to be known, to be understood, and to be loved. I’m grateful for the Lao people, who are so eua-feua-peua-pay, who try so hard to know me, to understand me, and to love me. Even when they can’t say it in words, I can hear it in my heart.
More about teaching in Asia.
ELIC
ELIC places passionately committed people in teaching roles across Asia, who primarily serve through the medium of English instruction. www.ELIC.org While we are focused primarily on university campuses and teacher training, we teach in a variety of other settings designed to best serve our host countries and government entities. In the last 30 years, more than 12,000 ELIC teachers have been placed and have taught an estimated 1,300,000 Chinese students. We have vibrant programs for college students, graduates, singles, couples, families and second-career adults. Our present countries of service include China, Mongolia, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar.
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