me in a nuthsell//introduction

Hi there! I'm Cindy Guan, and I'm originally from Shanghai, China. I speak three languages: english, mandarin (although I'm basically illiterate and a shame to my people), and "spanish" ( quotes because I don't really speak it as formally as I'd like considering my five years of formal instruction...). Anyway, I came to the US when I was four, which although seems like a young and tender age, has left me enough impressions of my ethnic culture to be able to consider issues with multiperspectives. I guess I never really gave any formal consideration to the correlation between language and society, but in retrospect, I can definitely recall a few instances where I found myself grasping just how much (and why!) language affected our everyday lives so much.

Ex #1: My last name, as you've probably noticed, is Guan. Several westernized versions of this last name include (and are probably more familiar) Quan, Kwon, and Kwan. This may seem like a tangent, but just bear with me. The event was 10 years ago, at a friend's birthday sleepover. I remember watching the Olympics Women's Figure Skating event, and our favorite skater (and long time idol), Michelle Kwan, had just finished her event with a definite flair and near perfect scores. In the moment of excitement, I proudly announced that historically, I have some definite blood ties with this amazing athlete. My best friend looked at me quizzically, asking how in the world that could've happened. I explained to her that in mandarin (the national language of China), our last names were of the same character, meaning that we shared a common ancestor. The only reason that her's was spelled Kwan was because she was Cantonese, and because chinese last names were based on pronunciation, her's was spelled the way it was pronounced in cantonese. This friend's expression now turned smirkish and challenged my claim to fame by declaring that because she herself was of Cantonese origin, she actually shared more ties with Michelle than I did. Anyway, we went on with this (petty) argument as only eight-year-olds could ("me!" "no, ME!!"), but the point is, this little event reminded me how integral a part language plays in any given society. Given the same situation but in a different country, we probably would've never had such a disagreement.

It's just really amazing how something as ubiquitous as language can penetrate so many aspects of society. just think about all the possibilities!

I'll update more as these little recollection come to me!



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