Sorry of my English': Lily and Mui in Sour Sweet and Z in A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for lovers

1960larda İngiltereye Çinli göçmenlerin gelmesiyle, İngilteredeki Çinli göçmenlerin ve Çinli öğrencilerin kültürel özellikleri, yaşam biçimleri, deneyimleri, inançları ve bakış açıları İngilizce edebiyatın içinde yer almıştır. İlk olarak 1982de basılan Timothy Monun yazdığı Sour Sweet Chen ailesi odaklı olarak 1960larda İngilteredeki Çinli göçmenlerin yaşamlarına ayna tutarken Xiaolu Guonun yazdığı A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers İngilterede yalnız başına bir Çinli kadının İngilizce öğrenme çabası hakkındadır. Bu ikinci roman 2007de yayımlanmıştır ve Znin 2003de nasıl İngilizce öğrendiğini ay ay anlatır. Romanlar arasındaki 40 yıllık zaman farkına ve karakterlerin İngiltereye gitme dinamiklerinin farklılıklarına rağmen, romanlarda yer alan kadınlar arasında İngilteredeki deneyimleri sürecindeki sorunları, tepkileri, duyguları, düşünceleri ve değişimleri açısından birçok benzerlik vardır. Bu romanlardaki kadın karakterler, Sour Sweetteki Lily ve Mui, ile A Concise Chinese- English Dictionary for Loversdaki Z, İngilteredeki ekonomik, sosyal ve kültürel sorunlarla beraber Çin kültürü, gelenekleri, ahlaki değerleri ve aile yapısından kaynaklanan problemlerle de mücadele ederler. İngilizce hayatlarındaki en zor engel olarak görünür çünkü iletişim eksikliği, yanlış anlamalar ya da bunun sonucu ortaya çıkan soyutlanma bir tarafa, dil gelişimi Sour Sweet ve A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Loversda betimlenen karakterler açısından çok zamana, enerjiye ve çabaya mal olur. Kaçınılmaz olarak sosyal, mali ve kültürel engelleri yetersiz dil becerileri ile karmaşıklaşır ve daha kötü hale gelir. Aslında yabancı dil becerilerinin, yani İngilizcelerinin, gelişimi sosyal, kültürel ve ekonomik unsurların önünde yer alır ve onların İngilterede hayatta kalmaları ve başarılı olmaları İngilizce konuşmanın sonucunda ve buna koşullu olarak gerçekleşir. İngiliz Kültürünün dayatmalarına ne kadar hevesli ya da dirençli olurlarsa olsun, İngilterede İngilizce konuşmanın şart olduğunu anlarlar. Sour Sweetteki restoran işi ve bunun sonucundaki izolasyon birinci nesil göçmenlerin dil gelişiminin aleyhine olsa da, er ya da geç bu romanlardaki tüm Çinliler İngiliz dilinin karşı konulamaz etkilerine maruz kalırlar. Sonuçta, Sour Sweetteki Lily ve Mui ile A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Loversdaki Z İngilizcelerini geliştirmeye mecbur kalırlar ki bu durum onların erkek egemenliğinden kurtulmaları ile de eş zamanlıdır. İngilizce konuşmada ne kadar başarılı olurlarsa İngilteredeki hayatlarının da o kadar iyi ve rahat olduğu açıkça anlaşılmaktadır.

İngilizcemin kusuruna bakmayın : Sour Sweet de Lily ve Mui ile A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers da Z.

The cultural aspects, life styles, experiences, beliefs and perspectives of Chinese immigrants and Chinese students in Britain have been incorporated into the literature in English with the arrival of the Chinese immigrants in Britain in the 1960s. Sour Sweet by Timothy Mo, which was first published in 1982, mirrors the Chinese immigrants lives in Britain in the 1960s with a focus on the Chen family whereas A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo is about the struggle of a single Chinese woman to learn English in Britain. The latter was published in 2007 and chronicles monthly how Z learns English in 2003. Despite the temporal gap of 40 years between the novels and the dynamics of the characters move to Britain, there are many similarities between the women portrayed in the novels as far as their problems, reactions, emotions, thoughts and change during their experience in Britain are concerned. The female characters in these novels, Lily and Mui in Sour Sweet, and Z in A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers, struggle with problems stemming from Chinese culture, tradition, morality and family structure as well as economic, social and cultural difficulties in Britain. The English language seems to be the most formidable obstacle because their linguistic development takes long time, a great deal of energy and much effort on the part of the characters portrayed in Sour Sweet and A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers not to mention the lack of communication, misunderstandings and subsequent isolation. Inevitably, their social, financial and cultural hindrances are complicated and exacerbated by their inadequate language skills. Indeed, improvement of their foreign language skills, English, takes precedence over social, cultural and economic elements and their survival and success in Britain are consequential to and conditional on speaking English. No matter how eager or resistant they are to the impositions of the British culture, they realize that speaking English is a must in Britain. Although the restaurant business and ensuing isolation in Sour Sweet are detrimental to linguistic development for the first generation immigrants, all Chinese people in these novels are exposed to the unassailable effects of the English language sooner or later. Consequently, Lily and Mui in Sour Sweet and Z in A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers are obliged to develop their English, which parallels their emancipation from male domination. It is obvious that the more adept they become at speaking English, the better and more comfortable their lives become.

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