LANGUAGES

My nationality is not Han， but Kazakh. So， the first language I acquired was my mother tongue Kazakh. It was enough to express my feelings and needs before I was three years old. But when it came to the time for me to go to the kindergarten， the inability to speak Mandarin prevented me from the admission to the nearest kindergarten. It took all my fathers limited social resources to get me admitted by the kindergarten. After that he went far away from home in pursuit of his masters degree. When he came back， I graduated from the kindergarten and， dramatically， I could barely speak Kazakh. Thus my father selected a Kazakh-speaking primary school for me . That school was located at my mothers hometown which was far away from my home. I finished the first grade in my grandmas house. During that year， I not only enhanced my Kazakh speaking skill， but also learned how to read and write in Kazakh. Then my parents thought those skills were enough for me， and it was time for me to learn Mandarin. The reason was very simple， Kazakh-speaking schools could not provide me with the best education resources in China.

When I was seven， I came back home and started my “second” first grade in a Mandarin-speaking schoo till now. At first， the two languages are just “languages” for me. But as I grow up， the culture that each of them carries exerts great influence on me. Kazakh culture is a typical nomadic culture， while Han culture is a typical farming one. In Kazakh culture， anywhere beyond the sky is home， which makes a mans mind as broad as the endless grassland； as for food， meat and flour are the best， for they give a man strength； so being strong is the quickest way to gain others respect. In Han culture， thousands of years of settling down let people develop a society so complicated that it demands people to be more careful and thoughtful； unlike the nomadic culture， vegetable and rice are more acceptable， for they serve a better balance of nutrition； and the Han people always believe that knowledge should be the pursuit of ones life. These two cultures are so different that they sometimes are conflicting. But only seeing their conflict is superficial. One of the most important benefits the differences can offer is that they can always provide me with two different points of view. For example， left eyelid twitches indicate fortune and right eyelid twitches indicate misfortune in Han culture， but in Kazakh culture， the indications are totally opposite. So whenever and whichever my eyelid twitches， I can always tell myself its fortune there.

It was at my age of eight that I had my first contact with English. The idea was also my fathers as the worlds best education resources are always in English. It was difficult for other students to learn a completely unfamiliar language， but as a bilingual， learning English seemed not very hard for me. Then I began my exploration to the western culture. Unlike Kazakh culture and Han culture， western culture is more open. For example， it provides me with a new perspective towards sex in the sense that sex is not a filthy thing， it is human nature and we should not hide the existence of it from children. More and more sexual harassment is happening on children due to the lack of sex education， so I think it is time for us to be “more open” right now. Critical thinking is also what I learn from western culture， it makes me become more individual. Kazakh， Mandarin and English are three languages that I have learnt so far. By learning these languages， I have built connections between three cultures that seem to be completely different from each other and developed my own unique personality. Not only do I enjoy swallowing big slices of meat， but also I think vegetable could be very tasteful； not only can I be as strong as a Kazakh worrier， but also I can be as thoughtful as a Chinese calligrapher； not only can I be respectful to the knowledge that my ancestors handed down， but also I can be brave to challenge it if it is not the truth and so on.

As a trilingual， my pace does not tend to stop. I am learning Japanese and German these days. With the help of Chinese characters， Japanese writing is not hard for me， and the syntactical structures of Japanese sentences are very similar with that of Kazakh sentences. English and German share same letters and pronunciations of Kazakh characters that can help pronounce many German characters. So for me， they are not very difficult to learn. I always consider myself as a child of the world because my horizon has been broadened all the time by different cultures. If you want to see more of the world， I suggest you -- go to learn one more language and then you will find that you couldnt stop your pace.

【作者簡介】恩卡尔·乌拉孜别克，大连理工大学机械设计制造及其自动化（国际班）。