LANGUAGES
Before sharing the story of how I learned the English & Chinese languages, I managed to locate two documents from the archive. The first one is my General Certificate of Education (GCE) Examination in which I passed English in ‘O’ Level and obtained a credit in Classical Chinese in ‘A’ Level in 1967. The second document is a copy of a Memo dated 1968 confirming that I scored a credit in the HK Government Standard X English Examination with Translation. Standard X was the highest English Exam in the HK Government at that time.
I was born in Indonesia of Chinese descent. My mother tongue is Cantonese. I started learning English when I was in Primary 3, around 8 years old. My first exposure to Mandarin (Putonghua) began when I commenced my secondary education at the age of 12.
I studied and worked in Hong Kong for almost 30 years before leaving to work in the Republic of Nauru in the Central Pacific. At that time, Hong Kong was still a British colony, so I acquired the habit of speaking Cantonese while using English as my working language.
Before sharing the story of how I learned the English & Chinese languages, I managed to locate two documents from the archive. The first one is my General Certificate of Education (GCE) Examination in which I passed English in ‘O’ Level and obtained a credit in Classical Chinese in ‘A’ Level in 1967. The second document is a copy of a Memo dated 1968 confirming that I scored a credit in the HK Government Standard X English Examination with Translation. Standard X was the highest English Exam in the HK Government at that time.
I was born in Indonesia of Chinese descent. My mother tongue is Cantonese. I started learning English when I was in Primary 3, around 8 years old. My first exposure to Mandarin (Putonghua) began when I commenced my secondary education at the age of 12.
I studied and worked in Hong Kong for almost 30 years before leaving to work in the Republic of Nauru in the Central Pacific. At that time, Hong Kong was still a British colony, so I acquired the habit of speaking Cantonese while using English as my working language.
I took up the position of Chinese Interpreter & Welfare Officer for the Chinese Community in Nauru, whose total population was around 10,000, of which 10% were Chinese. Apart from being the only Chinese person on the island enjoying expatriate status, to my great horror, I discovered that I was also responsible for interpreting in court for a group of around 100 retired Taiwanese servicemen. These men, sent by the Taiwanese government to Nauru, were assisting the island state in constructing domestic houses for the Nauruan population.
Up to that time, aside from a few years in secondary school where I received only a cursory introduction to Mandarin—one 40-minute period per week—I had very little opportunity to use Mandarin as a communication language. My duties as an interpreter forced me to learn Mandarin quickly.
Fortunately, office hours on the Pacific Island started around 8 am and finished around 4:30 pm. Nauru, being close to the equator, enjoyed sunlight until 7 pm. This climate allowed me to spend a lot of time every day after work—following my daily swim—mingling with a group of Taiwanese workers on the island.
I took up the position of Chinese Interpreter & Welfare Officer for the Chinese Community in Nauru, whose total population was around 10,000, of which 10% were Chinese. Apart from being the only Chinese person on the island enjoying expatriate status, to my great horror, I discovered that I was also responsible for interpreting in court for a group of around 100 retired Taiwanese servicemen. These men, sent by the Taiwanese government to Nauru, were assisting the island state in constructing domestic houses for the Nauruan population.
Up to that time, aside from a few years in secondary school where I received only a cursory introduction to Mandarin—one 40-minute period per week—I had very little opportunity to use Mandarin as a communication language. My duties as an interpreter forced me to learn Mandarin quickly.
Fortunately, office hours on the Pacific Island started around 8 am and finished around 4:30 pm. Nauru, being close to the equator, enjoyed sunlight until 7 pm. This climate allowed me to spend a lot of time every day after work—following my daily swim—mingling with a group of Taiwanese workers on the island.
Initially, for the first month or so, I only listened as the young men from Taiwan socialised in their quarters. Since none of them spoke Cantonese, I was forced to communicate with them in Mandarin. This gave me an excellent opportunity to learn not only about Taiwanese culture but also to practice speaking Mandarin. Although I was taught Mandarin phonetics in school, due to a lack of practice, I had largely forgotten what I had learned. Consequently, although I can speak Mandarin reasonably fluently, I still struggle with the pronunciation of quite a number of words because I have not consistently used "bo," "po," "mo," "fo," Mandarin phonetics.
Later, after migrating to Australia, I began using Putonghua to communicate with many of my clients in their migration and accounting cases. Sadly, I never learned the phonetics to a level that would help me pronounce words correctly, so I still struggle with the correct pronunciation of many words.
Initially, for the first month or so, I only listened as the young men from Taiwan socialised in their quarters. Since none of them spoke Cantonese, I was forced to communicate with them in Mandarin. This gave me an excellent opportunity to learn not only about Taiwanese culture but also to practice speaking Mandarin. Although I was taught Mandarin phonetics in school, due to a lack of practice, I had largely forgotten what I had learned. Consequently, although I can speak Mandarin reasonably fluently, I still struggle with the pronunciation of quite a number of words because I have not consistently used "bo," "po," "mo," "fo," Mandarin phonetics.
Later, after migrating to Australia, I began using Putonghua to communicate with many of my clients in their migration and accounting cases. Sadly, I never learned the phonetics to a level that would help me pronounce words correctly, so I still struggle with the correct pronunciation of many words.
Despite the substantial differences in pronunciation between Putonghua and Cantonese, the written words are precisely the same. While in secondary school, Chinese was one of my favourite subjects, and I was an avid follower of two very popular Chinese weekly magazines in Hong Kong, The Youth Weekly (青年樂園)and Chinese Student Weekly(中國學生週報). Like many students at the time, I occasionally wrote and contributed articles to these two magazines.
After migrating to Australia, while running my migration practice, I was invited to join a leading Chinese newspaper, Wah Sing Pao, to write a special column regarding Australian migration. Additionally, I managed a Chinese migration website, to which I regularly contributed articles on migration.
A couple of years later, as my workload increased, I found it challenging to provide the time and was forced to stop contributing to Wah Sing Pao (華聲報) and discontinue my migration website. What I am trying to demonstrate is that I do possess skills in writing articles in Chinese. Unfortunately, due to the lapse of time, I am unable to locate all the articles I wrote before. However, I managed to salvage some incomplete evidence, which I shall detail in a later section on this site.
Regarding English, I have been using it for almost my entire working life. Again, I will provide more details regarding my abilities and weaknesses in using the language, both verbally and in writing, based on which prospective employers can form their own judgment.
In providing further details referred to above, perhaps it is appropriate for me to address the definition of a special term. English is, of course, a language. The spoken Chinese for me consists of Putonghua and Cantonese, with the former referring to the national language for the majority of the 1.4 billion Chinese living on the mainland and the latter referring to the local dialect for the people living in Hong Kong and a few provinces in China. For ease of reference, I shall call the 3 Items of English, Putonghua, and Cantonese as the 3 different lingos.
I shall provide more details regarding my skills in each of the 3 lingos in the following paragraphs, with appropriate evidence. I intend to address both the speaking and the writing skills of the 3 lingos. Because both Putonghua and Cantonese share the same written language, I therefore need to address the following 5 aspects:
Despite the substantial differences in pronunciation between Putonghua and Cantonese, the written words are precisely the same. While in secondary school, Chinese was one of my favourite subjects, and I was an avid follower of two very popular Chinese weekly magazines in Hong Kong, The Youth Weekly (青年樂園)and Chinese Student Weekly(中國學生週報). Like many students at the time, I occasionally wrote and contributed articles to these two magazines.
After migrating to Australia, while running my migration practice, I was invited to join a leading Chinese newspaper, Wah Sing Pao, to write a special column regarding Australian migration. Additionally, I managed a Chinese migration website, to which I regularly contributed articles on migration.
A couple of years later, as my workload increased, I found it challenging to provide the time and was forced to stop contributing to Wah Sing Pao (華聲報) and discontinue my migration website. What I am trying to demonstrate is that I do possess skills in writing articles in Chinese. Unfortunately, due to the lapse of time, I am unable to locate all the articles I wrote before. However, I managed to salvage some incomplete evidence, which I shall detail in a later section on this site.
Regarding English, I have been using it for almost my entire working life. Again, I will provide more details regarding my abilities and weaknesses in using the language, both verbally and in writing, based on which prospective employers can form their own judgment.
In providing further details referred to above, perhaps it is appropriate for me to address the definition of a special term. English is, of course, a language. The spoken Chinese for me consists of Putonghua and Cantonese, with the former referring to the national language for the majority of the 1.4 billion Chinese living on the mainland and the latter referring to the local dialect for the people living in Hong Kong and a few provinces in China. For ease of reference, I shall call the 3 Items of English, Putonghua, and Cantonese as the 3 different lingos.
I shall provide more details regarding my skills in each of the 3 lingos in the following paragraphs, with appropriate evidence. I intend to address both the speaking and the writing skills of the 3 lingos. Because both Putonghua and Cantonese share the same written language, I therefore need to address the following 5 aspects:
English
Written English
Spoken English
Putonghua (Mandarin)
3. Written Chinese
4. Spoken Putonghua
Cantonese
5. Written Chinese (same (b) (3))
6. Spoken Cantonese
English
Written English
Spoken English
Putonghua (Mandarin)
3. Written Chinese
4. Spoken Putonghua
Cantonese
5. Written Chinese (same (b) (3))
6. Spoken Cantonese
Written English
As indicated above, for practical purposes, I have been using written English as the medium in my whole working career. I can produce a lot of my written work to demonstrate the level of my skill in this aspect. Maybe the following details will serve the purpose:
Extracts of Some Interesting Articles or Correspondence
Copies of Submissions on Some Migration Cases
Newsletters Issued to Associates of the Accounting Franchise
Spoken English
I used spoken English extensively in my working career in:
Hong Kong
When I was working in the HK Public Service.
Nauru
When I was working as English Court Interpreter for the Chinese community.
Australia
When I have been running my Migration and Accounting Practices.
Viewers can listen to the following recordings from which they will have the chance to listen to my Chinese accent:
Recording on my reading of the English poem on Sea Fever by John Mansfield
Recording on my reading of the English poem on The Charge of the Light Brigade by Lord Tennyson
Spoken Putonghua
Sample Spoken Putonghua Recording
Spoken Cantonese
Cantonese is my mother tongue, and I have been using it all the time when I was in Hong Kong. Although I have been living in Australia for over 40 years, I still watch videos in Cantonese, and I take pride in being someone who speaks Cantonese with clear diction.
I am enclosing the following recordings to demonstrate my spoken Cantonese.
Recording on my reading of the Chinese poem 長恨歌 by 白居易.
Written English
As indicated above, for practical purposes, I have been using written English as the medium in my whole working career. I can produce a lot of my written work to demonstrate the level of my skill in this aspect. Maybe the following details will serve the purpose:
Extracts of Some Interesting Articles or Correspondence
Copies of Submissions on Some Migration Cases
Newsletters Issued to Associates of the Accounting Franchise
Spoken English
I used spoken English extensively in my working career in:
Hong Kong
When I was working in the HK Public Service.
Nauru
When I was working as English Court Interpreter for the Chinese community.
Australia
When I have been running my Migration and Accounting Practices.
Viewers can listen to the following recordings from which they will have the chance to listen to my Chinese accent:
Recording on my reading of the English poem on Sea Fever by John Mansfield
Recording on my reading of the English poem on The Charge of the Light Brigade by Lord Tennyson
Spoken Putonghua
Sample Spoken Putonghua Recording
Spoken Cantonese
Cantonese is my mother tongue, and I have been using it all the time when I was in Hong Kong. Although I have been living in Australia for over 40 years, I still watch videos in Cantonese, and I take pride in being someone who speaks Cantonese with clear diction.
I am enclosing the following recordings to demonstrate my spoken Cantonese.
Recording on my reading of the Chinese poem 長恨歌 by 白居易.
