An Accidental Language一种意外的语言

“How about the research.”
She stated it just like that, a question phrased as a sentence, and looked expectantly on. The man was baffled.
“Yes, I’m doing research,” he responded.
“So how about it.” She responded, a short, monotone sentence again.
I knew what she was trying to ask was, “How is your research going?” She lacked the inflection of the voice that denotes a question mark at the end of English sentences (in Chinese, you instead add another syllable, usually ma, to ask a question). She used “how about” interchangeably with “how is.” While this woman, originally from China, knew such a high level of English (she was at graduate school in the U.S.), she still fell into a specific pattern of speaking.
And yet, as a native English speaker, I still understood her — but the researcher didn’t. Why?
I think the answer lies in an additional language, an accidental tongue, that you acquire when you go abroad or hang out with many immigrants. When people learn to speak English, they often make recurring small mistakes. I do the same thing in Chinese — making basic errors even as I add more advanced vocabulary or phrasing to my repertoire. As a native English speaker abroad in China, I started to notice patterns in the simple errors amidst my Chinese friends’ advanced English. In my mind, I would “translate” their English phrases (that would normally mean something else) into the underlying and intended meaning, rather than interrupting each time with a correction.
But if you don’t go abroad, or if you don’t interact with many non-native English speakers, you don’t speak this dialect of English — the foreigners’ dialect. You’ll never completely understand your own language, because you have not tried to understand someone else’s. Because even if that English is not standard, “proper” English, it can still convey meaning and engineer a conversation or even a friendship.
This is a language that is easy to learn and easy to accidentally acquire, but we don’t often consciously try to do so. We consciously take classes in various foreign languages, often from a young age and as a requirement, and yet there is no requirement for us to patiently piece together what someone might say to us in broken English. Yet this is so useful in so many aspects of life — if you’re a teacher, or a doctor, or a businessperson — being literate in the various permutations of your own language can help you extend your influence.
That’s why I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to live abroad, especially in a country where more and more people want to learn my language even as I learn theirs. Accidentally, we’ve both unconsciously learned a language of understanding that is perhaps as important as our native languages in helping us successfully communicate.＂那研究呢？＂她像这样说着，这个问题的措辞就像一个句子一样，而且看起来很期待的样子，却让这个男的迷惑了。

＂是的，我正在做研究。＂他回应着。＂那它怎么样了？＂她再次用一个很短很单一的语调问了个问题。我知道她想说这个研究进展的怎么样了？但是她缺乏那种问的语气（比如在汉语里，问问题的时候，总会在句子结尾加一个＂吗＂）。如果她想问一件事情怎么样了她完全可以用how is 来和how about 互换，但是现在这个来自中国的女人虽然在美国高校上研究生拥有非常高的英语技能，但是她还是会陷入这种不太恰当和正确的说话模式中，作为一个英语是母语的人我尚可以理解她，但是作为一个研究员我就不能了。

这是为什么呢？

我想答案就在于这是一种额外的语言，一个对于这额外的语言不那么灵巧的舌头，当你出国或者和一群移民出去玩儿的时候，而且这些人正在学着讲英语的时候，他们总是会犯重复的小毛病。让我讲汉语的话，我也会一样犯错，即便我用了很多高级的词语或者用尽我所会的所有措辞，我一样会犯这些基本的小错。作为一个身处中国的说英语的外国人，我开始留意发生在我的一些拥有高级英语技能的中国朋友身上的那些基本的错误的类型。我的想法就是把他们的英语翻译成他们想要说明的意思，而不是每次都要打断他们告诉他们什么是正确的。但是如果你不出国，无法接触身边如此众多的非英语母语的人，你就无法学会英语的方言，一种外国人才讲的方言。你也永远无法彻底的了解你自己的语言，因为你没有尝试过去理解别人的。因为即使不是标准的，或者恰当的英语，它也能传达意思和表达感情构建对话甚至是友谊。

就是这样的语言，很容易学，也很容易意外的获得，但就是很少有人真正的有意识地去去这样做。们会有意的去报名各种语言培训班，有的时候甚至作为要求，我们要从很小的年纪就开始，但是却从来不要求我们去耐心的倾听身边的一些人对我们说的断断续续的英语，而往往其实这些都是很有用的经历。如果你是一个老师，医生，或者生意人，精通自己母语的各种各样的变化和表达方式是能够帮助拓展你事业的。这就是我为什么对我的国外生活经历感到如此的庆幸，特别是在这样一个国家，越来越多的人想要学习我们的语言，即使我也在想方设法学学他们的语言。意外地我们都在不知不觉中学会一种理解的语言，这样的一种语言也许会和我们的母语一样重要来帮助我们更好的与人交流。