On Language and the Finnish Stereotype
Last year, before I went to China for the summer, my biggest fear was that my language abilities would betray me. I may speak Chinese fluently, but I’m limited in my vocabulary. For example, my exposure to political and scientific vocabulary were in English, used and refined in English speaking settings. In more complex conversations in Chinese centered around academia or expressing opinion, I can’t hold my own. I spent a lot of time in last summer in China staying quiet, thinking about things I wanted to say but not having the adequate vocabulary to express it. As a result, I felt unable to connect at a deeper level with others. It took longer for me to determine if a response was a person-specific quirk or a wider cultural trait. I didn’t have enough experience with pop culture to understand what parts of society are shaped by it and how. When I speak Chinese, my personality feels trapped, straining to break out of the confines of my vocabulary. How can I feel known or understood...