Episode 14: What language did your parents speak to you when you were a child? -with Linda Sue Park
*Please note that these episodes were all all recorded pre-pandemic!
Welome to Episode 14! We here with author Linda Sue Park and she is answering the kid question: What language did your parents speak to you when you were a child?
TRANSCRIPTS:
Grace Lin: Hello, I'm Grace Lin, children's book author and illustrator of many books, including the middle grade novel, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, and the picture book, A Big Mooncake for Little Star. Today, I'm here with Linda Sue Park, the author of A Long Walk to Water, and Prairie Lotus. Hi, Linda!
Linda Sue Park: Hi, Grace!
Grace Lin: How are you today?
Linda Sue Park: I'm good. How are you?
Grace Lin: Good. Are you ready for today's question?
Linda Sue Park: I'm really excited.
Grace Lin: All right. Today's question is from a person named Kayleen, and they ask-
Kayleen: What language did your parents speak to you when you were a child?
Grace Lin: When you were younger, what language did your parents speak with you?
Linda Sue Park: Wow, Kayleen, That is a great question. It just opens up so many avenues for discussion. Okay, my parents came to the United States from Korea in the 1950s when things were very different for immigrants, and one of the things that was different was that there were so few Koreans in this country, that most of them lived in communities where there were no other Koreans, and that was how my family was. We lived in a town where we were the first Korean family in the town. What that meant for my parents was they didn't think that there would be much use for our Korean, for us to learn Korean. Right? There was nobody around to talk to in Korean. They never thought they'd be able to go back and visit Korea because back then, airfares were so expensive.
Linda Sue Park: So they brought us up speaking only English to us, and another part of that was that immigrants were supposed to assimilate as quickly as possible. Right? That nobody talked about things like bilingualism, and how great it was to be able to speak more than one language. My parents would speak Korean to each other, like to drive us crazy around Christmas time, they were clearly talking about presents and things, but they didn't speak Korean to us, except for words like the names of dishes for food, things like that. So I grew up speaking only English, which I of course regret today, although I don't blame my parents because that was sort of the zeitgeist of the times. They were falling into line with what most other immigrants were doing back in that era.
Grace Lin: I have a really similar story to you. I grew up in the '70s, and my parents, my family was also one of the very few Asian families in our area, and because we were one of the few Asian families in the area, the school actually came to my parents and they asked them, "Please do not speak to your children in Chinese, because that will delay their language skills," because back then, that's what they thought would happen, and we wouldn't be able to speak English well. So my parents actually made a very, very conscious decision not to speak to us in Chinese or Taiwanese, and this is where it gets even more complicated for me, because my parents are actually from Taiwan, but when we came to the United States, Taiwan was considered the Republic of China because of all the politics stuff, and yet, at the same time, they could also speak Mandarin Chinese.
Grace Lin: So they spoke Mandarin Chinese and Taiwanese interchangeably in the house, and they kept telling everybody that we were Chinese. So, and even now when people ask me what my parents' nationality is, or what kind of Asian am I, I'm always kind of confused because I'm never sure if I should say Chinese American or Taiwanese American, because for most of my youth, I was told I was Chinese American. But anyway, that's what adds to my confusion, is because my parents spoke Mandarin Chinese as well as Taiwanese, and they spoke it interchangeably in the house to each other, and so I cannot tell the difference between Mandarin Chinese and Taiwanese very well.
Linda Sue Park: Oh, that's amazing.
Grace Lin: Yeah. And also, and we were only taught English, so as an adult, I, just like you, felt a lot of regret not knowing either Chinese or Taiwanese. And so, I actually went to take classes and because of this Taiwanese Chinese mix up, I would be like, "Oh, I'm getting it!" and I'd just try to speak something, and then everybody would be like, "What are you talking about?" because I mixed things up. In Chinese, to eat food or eat rice is [Chinese 00:00:05:13], and then eat rice in Taiwanese is [Taiwanese 00:05:17], so I'd say some like, "[foreign language 00:05:20]," and they'd be like, "What are you talking about?" So I feel very, very mixed up about languages, about the languages my parents spoke.
Linda Sue Park: Well, there's a couple of things in what you've said. First of all, amazing that the school actually came to your parents, and I think that if we have teachers or educators or other parents listening, they would be like, "What? How could they have done that?" And yet, it does bring up how educators bring their biases to the classroom and to the kids, and how all us need to be constantly examining that. One of the things, I had to smile while you were telling that story, was the principal and the teachers came to my parents too when I was in kindergarten, because I could already read and they wanted to know what my mother had done that I could already read when I was in kindergarten. So that's why-
Grace Lin: Wow.
Linda Sue Park: Yeah, that's why they came to the house. And then the other thing is, I have a similar mix up. My father is from what was back then the north part of Korea. Kids often ask me, "Are you from North Korea or South Korea?" and I'm like, "Oh God, it's so complicated." My father's family was from North Korea before it was divided, back when it was just Korea, and then they moved south. So is he from North Korea? No, he's from the north of Korea. Anyhow. And of course, Korea, even though it's a small country, just like you were talking about, has dialects and different expressions, and also my parents have not lived in Korea for 60 years or more, so that when I ask them for an expression or for a word in Korean, they will often give me one that is from their experience of Korean. Right? So for years, instead of saying, "Where is the bathroom?" as they had taught me, I was actually saying, "Where is the outhouse?"
Grace Lin: Oh, that's so funny. Well, thank you Linda Sue for answering this question. It's was very interesting for me, and thank you Kayleen for asking it.
Linda Sue Park: I also want to say, Grace, that I think that one of the big advantages of growing up in households like we did, is that you just have these antenna for the differences and similarities between people. You're always interested in other cultures and other people, and how you can find similarities and differences between them, and I think that that fuels our work for both of us.
Grace Lin: Yes it does, definitely.
Linda Sue Park: Yeah.
Grace Lin: Thanks so much, Linda Sue.
Linda Sue Park: Thank you.
Grace Lin: Wasn't that great? If you would like to learn more about today's author, please go to our website kidsaskauthors.com for more information. Special thanks to the High Five Books & Art Always bookstore, and Ms. Carlton's second grade class at Jackson Street School for their help with our kid questions and reviews. Grownups, remember, if you know a kid that has a question, a book review, a short story, a poem, or even a joke they would like to share on this podcast, please submit it to kidsaskauthors.com. And if you would like to reach me, you can sign up for my authors newsletter by clicking on the little link icon at the top of the kidsaskauthors.com page, or follow me on Twitter and Instagram, where I use the handle at @pacylin.
Grace Lin: Also, if you enjoy this podcast, please spread the word, tell your friends and colleagues to listen, and of course, please leave a review on iTunes. That really helps me know that you like what we're doing, so we can keep doing it. And now, we'll close this episode with a kid book review.
Today’s BOOK REVIEW comes from Moira! She is reviewing the book Pax by Sara Pennypacker and illustrated by Jon Klassen.
The book I would like to talk about is Pax by Sara Pennypacker. This book is about Pax, who's a boy named Peter's fox. Pax is left on the side of the road and has to learn how to live in the wild. And Peter breaks his leg when he tries to find Pax. There's a lot more, but I don't want to spoil the book. I liked this book because it's about friendship and just seems so real.
Thank you Moira!
More about today’s author:
Linda Sue Park is the author of many books for young readers, including the 2002 Newbery Medal winner A Single Shard and the New York Times bestseller A Long Walk to Water. Her most recent title is Prairie Lotus, a historical fiction middle-grade novel. When she’s not writing, speaking, teaching, or caregiving for her two grandchildren, she spends most of her time on equity/inclusion work for We Need Diverse Books and the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators. She is also on the advisory board of the Rabbit hOle national children’s literature museum project. Linda Sue now lives in upstate New York with her husband, their two children, and a dog.
Grace Lin, a NY Times bestselling author/ illustrator, won the Newbery Honor for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and her picture book, A Big Mooncake for Little Star, was awarded the Caldecott Honor. Grace is an occasional commentator for New England Public Radio , a video essayist for PBS NewsHour (here & here), and the speaker of the popular TEDx talk, The Windows and Mirrors of Your Child’s Bookshelf. She is the co-host of the podcast Book Friends Forever, a kidlit podcast about friendship and publishing (geared for adults). Find her facebook, instagram , twitter ( @pacylin) or sign up for her author newsletter HERE.
Thanks to the High Five Books & Art Always Bookstore and Ms. Carleton’s 2nd grade class at Jackson Street School for their help with our kid questions and reviews.
