When words aren’t necessary, I meet unique people during each tour I conduct here in New York City, this week I received a call from another guide; this guide organizes bicycle tours of the city. He called me because a couple of the students in the group do not know how to ride a bike. The minute I was informed the high school students were visiting from Beijing, I immediately said, “I have no language skills.”
My friend Richard said, “don’t worry about it, they understand English, plau they are here for the American experience and they are here to use their skills speaking English. It is in times like this where I am ashamed that I did not take advantage of my resources for language development while in college. I have traveled abroad and found that I cannot read a menu.
I met the two young ladies and their teacher on a very cold, January morning. The first question they asked, “Do you speak Chinese?” I shook my head and said, “No, I’m sorry.” They were very gracious and we were off. We made our way to the subway and we traveled from 106th Street to West 4th Street in order to begin our tour in what was once known here in New York as the American Ward.
As soon as we came above ground my cell phone was buzzing up a storm. During the street safety orientation it was discovered that five other students didn’t possess the skill level to maneuver Manhattan by bicycle. Richard was panicking, I said, “begin your tour, I will get the kids.” Now my group has grown to seven kids and the one teacher.
Walking from Washington Square Park to SoHo it was so cold out maybe twenty-five degrees when my fingers began to burn. I took the kids to a café’ off of Bleeker Street for hot chocolate. While we were seated getting warm they asked interesting questions. One young lady asked, “We see a lot of Americans talk with their hands.” As an example she gestured with her pointer and second finger and then she asked, “What does this mean?”
I found myself at a loss for words, not only is there a language barrier, but the Chinese don’t use quotation marks as a part of their text. The symbolic gesture is completely lost in translation. I have no idea if they understand each time I repeat, “It is an emphatic gesture,” all the while gesturing with our fingers. To on-lookers we looked like we were playing charades as we tried to make statements using air quotes.
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