The Relative Advantages of Learning my Language by Amy Choi

1. The author opens the story with an anecdote. What is the anecdote and what effect does it have on the reader? The author tells us a story about her grandfather and how he lived when he lived with her and how she died and the feelings he had about him. This has a sad feeling on the reader because the grandfather seems very kind and innocent and sadly dies due to a brain tumour. 

2. What is the author’s view of the Chinese language in the 2^nd paragraph? That it is too hard to learn or try and re-learn Chinese especially if you are always speaking to other people in English and reading and listening in English 24/7. 

3. What is symbolic about the house that the Grandfather mistakes for his own? What does it say about the assimilation of his family into Australian culture? What does it say about his understanding of Australian culture? What is ironic about the inhabitants of this house? It is a very Australian house with the Ford Falcon in the drive way and the painted mailbox, it says that the family fitted deeply into the Australian culture and had many Australians things such as a Ford Falcon and lived in an Australian way. He knows a lot about the Australian culture. It is ironic that the inhabitants of this house were people who were not Australian and actually Pakistani who had the same house and things as the Chinese did which meant they had the same living standards.

4. What does the death of her grandfather inspire the author to do? The death of her grandfather inspires the author to re-learn her skill of being able to speak the Chinese language.

5. Why is she motivated to know Chinese? What is it she wants to ensure she is able to, regretting that she couldn’t do it with her grandfather? So that people, especially elderly people, if they want to speak to her then she will be able to speak to them back in Chinese.

The author makes us consider what it really means about understanding someone's language? What basic human skill/ability is the author highlighting that cuts across all cultures? The skill or ability to be able to communicate with each other because of their language.

Describe a time when you were at fault for not communicating with someone because of your own selfishness or lack of compassion. When my brother asked me for help but I did not want to ask because I could not be bothered and felt that his question was irrelevant to what he was learning.