Growing up, Chinese was not spoken regularly in the home. My dad learned how to speak English in school and then by living in the U.S. So, English was not spoken in my grandparents’ home. in Beijing. My family travels to Beijing every summer to visit my grandparents. On our family visits I would pick up a few key words and phrases – just the bare essentials. Turns out the bare essentials were just enough.
My grandmother, a woman of many, quickly spoken-Chinese, words, probably did not expect to have grandchildren that did not speak her language, but she did not hesitate to pick up a few words of English. Our best lessons took place on our shopping trips. It started in the car ride to the shopping centers. She would make my sister and I laugh and giggle the whole way through the crazy Beijing traffic without any moments lost in translation.
The lesson continued when we arrived at our destination. On a side note, I must mention that my grandmother is an expert bargainer. She performs best in the deepest parts of the shopping “jungle,” which was also a great lesson but that would be a whole different story. In a mix of simple Chinese words, easy English words, and a dash of body language, we communicated. Of course, my mandarin vocabulary was strongest in bargaining terms and clothing items and vice versa for my grandmother. Through all this we developed a language of our own.
Even now, as my mandarin improves, both my grandparents and I still have a special way of communicating. Also, as technology evolves so does our communication. We correspond on a more regular basis with e-mail and Skype. Our transitions from a little bit of English blended with a little bit of Chinese are seamless to the point that I hardly notice. Language has not been a barrier in our special relationship.在我成长的过程中，家里不常讲中文。