I am participating in the 2008 Annual Speech Competition at ChengDa, here is my final speech as revised by my Chinese Language teacher. I am in the process of memorizing it, the speech is to be held on October 15. Here are both the Chinese and English versions of my speech:
各位評審、各位現場的來賓大家好，我是來自政治大學的陳明珠。
今天我要演講的題目是:我為什麼想要學中文。
我是一個美國的華僑，從小在美國出生、長大。我的雙親是台灣人。當年，他們在美國相識、相戀，結婚以後，生下了我和哥哥。
在我小的時候，每個星期天，媽媽都帶我到中文學校去學中文，當時的我非常討厭到中文學校去。我無法理解為什麼我的同學們只需要說英文，他們週末時可以安排自己的活動，我不但要學二種語言，而且還要犧牲我的週末時光。再加上，我當時的中文老師就是我的媽媽，如果我在課堂上表現得不好的話，媽媽會非常生氣。我明白媽媽要我學中文的用意，但是當時的我，每週都在課堂上畫圖，一回家就把書包丟在角落。完全無法吸收任何的內容。
我今年20歲，頭腦也不像以前一樣那麼好了，為什麼我卻在這個時候選擇了學中文呢?(停頓)當我第一次來台灣的時候，當時我就深深地感受到中文的重要性。我有許多親戚是土生土長的台灣人，我去年造訪台灣時，我居住在台南的舅舅家中，每天沉浸在中文的環境裡，除了每天必須說中文以外，我還體會出一個道理，那就是身分與認同的問題。我是美國的台灣人，我認為雖然我在美國出生、長大，但我的身上流台灣人的血，我的身體裡有台灣人的基因，我和所有的台灣人一樣，我們都有相同的膚色、頭髮。所以我也要努力地學會中文才行。
當我在海邊散步時，我走在媽媽年輕時所走過的路，當我坐火車旅行時，我看到爸爸年輕時所看過的風景，在回憶過往的同時，我看到了爺爺奶奶、我看到了爸爸媽媽，我也看到了我自己。
家人之間的凝聚力，對我來說有種特別的意義，雖然跟台灣的親人真正相處的時間不多，但他們所給予我的卻是滿滿的愛，讓我覺得台灣才是我真正的家。美國是我成長的地方，那裡雖然有著我熟悉的一切，卻沒有爸爸媽媽成長的痕跡。我覺得自己像是一片漂流在外的葉子，隨時等待著落葉歸根。
雖然我有雙重身分，但這不曾對我造成任何困擾，我反而珍惜這樣一個特別的機會，讓我能夠學習兩種語言、兩種文化。我最大的願望是，能讓我的下一代在所有親人的關愛中成長，家人彼此能夠凝聚在一起。現在我一個字一個字慢慢地學，一個句子一個句子慢慢地練。過程雖然辛苦，但是鐵杵也能磨成繡花針，相信總有一天我一定可以把中文學好，到那個時候，我就可以用流利的中文跟我的孩子介紹這個美麗的寶島，台灣。
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English Translation:
Prompt: Why do you want to study Chinese?
I am here in Taiwan for one year studying Chinese. It was not my parents who sent me here, nor my school. I myself made the conscious decision to travel halfway across the globe and dive into a country for an entire year in which the language, culture, climate, and way of life are all different from what I am used to back in my own country of the United States. So why, might you ask, did I make the choice to come here? Yes, it is because I want to study Chinese. However, it is not just the language that I seek. I came here also to go on a discovery, on a journey to discover my own cultural heritage and become closer to my cultural roots.
I am a Taiwanese-American. My parents were both born and raised in Taiwan, went to the States to study, met there, married, and had my brother and me. When I was a young child I was sent to Chinese Language School every Sunday afternoon, and I hated it. I wondered, why when all of my classmates and teachers and neighbors spoke English, and even my parents spoke English to me, I had to go to this class every single week and listen to some teacher rant in a language I hardly understood. And furthermore, for two years my own mother was my teacher, which meant that if I didn’t do well in class I would get twice as much scolding: one during class, and one when I got home. I know that my parents meant well to send me to Chinese School, but as a second-generation growing up in America, it was much easier for me to drift towards my American side. And so, every Sunday I would go to Chinese School, draw in my notebook for three hours, go back home, and throw my books into a corner.
So why now when I am already 20 years old and my brain has already lost its plasticity for language am I only finally beginning to study Mandarin? What made me change my mind about learning Chinese? I guess my feelings really started to change when I came to Taiwan for two months last summer. It was the first time I had come to Taiwan since elementary school, and this time, I traveled alone, and I was really able to see the importance of learning Chinese.
My father has two brothers here in Taiwan, and my mother’s side is just a teeny bit more extensive: she has 15 brothers and sisters. So regardless to say, I have lots of aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews on this tiny little island. While I was here last summer, I stayed for the most part with my uncle in Tainan and took a short Chinese language class, but I also was able to see lots and lots of relatives as well. It was the first time I was really immersed in a Chinese-language setting, and also, the first time I really got a good picture about what it meant for me to learn Chinese. As a Taiwanese American, I must remember that though I was born and raised in America, I am Taiwanese by blood, by genes, by heart. The relatives that I have here share the same skin, teeth, hair, and blood as me. When I walk on the beaches of Fangliao in my mother’s hometown, I am walking the same path she walked on when she was a college student, my own age. When I take the train from Taipei Main Station, I am riding the same rail that my father grew up riding on. When I see my grandparents, who still live in Taipei, I see my father, I see myself.
The strength of family bond is an interesting one. Though I have been separated from my relatives my entire life by distance, it only took a short period of time for me to feel like Taiwan was my real home. Yes, I grew up in America, but America is a relatively new place. It does not contain the sand that my mother played in or the soil that my ancestors are buried in. It does not have the mountains and oceans that my father passed by when he rode his motorcycle down the highway. Now that I am mature enough to understand, I long to know it all, to see it all, to be with it all, because for me, Taiwan is everything that I came from. I am but a mere leaf falling from this giant family tree, and the longer I linger in the air, the closer I am to reaching my roots.
In the end, I must not rest on this issue of which place I belong or what country suits me best: for me, I should appreciate that I have both worlds to live in. I can live and function in American culture and have no problem, and also, I can come to Taiwan and be with my relatives and be accepted here because I am from the same place they came from. I am American by birth, so of course I will always feel a connection my own birth country; I am Taiwanese by blood, of course I love my own homeland. What I should focus on now is not so much an identity crisis, but on learning as much Chinese (and Taiwanese) as I can so that I can truly have the best of both worlds. My greatest wish is that when I have children, they can grow up even closer to the relatives that I was so far from as a child. To be surrounded by family is a feeling more comforting, heartwarming, and moving than anything in the world, and every character, phrase, and grammar that I learn is one step closer to reaching my goal. Though it is hard work now, it will pay off, like the woman who ground the iron pole into an embroidery needle (Chinese proverb). I believe in myself that one day I will be able to use my own fluent Chinese to describe to my own children this beautiful island, Taiwan.
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It's a little bit nervewracking memorizing a speech in Chinese... I've never done this before, but I think it will be a good experience!
Click
here for a Youtube link of my performance in the national competition at Sun-Yut Sen Memorial Hall.
Click
here to see results of the competition in the National Chengchi University online newspaper.
