Ignorance is Bliss, or is it?

Ignorance is Bliss or is it?

We rely on our senses and abilities to experience the environment around us. Sight, hearing, taste, touch, smell, and sensitivity to temperature changes are all vital sensors that help us make sense of the world we live in. Beyond these primal functions, we have literacy, the ability to acquire language to speak, write, and read. Words and sentences can speak for us long after we have written our message. This is on condition that we can read. Literacy is something that most of us take for granted these days.

But what if you find yourself in a new environment, a new country where the language and the writing systems are different?

The moment you land at your new destination in a foreign land you become dependent on your primal senses to survive. You have literally gone from literate to illiterate, pardon the pun.

I do admit that many foreign lands do cater to non-native speakers of different languages to varying degrees. Countries that depend on a tourism economy like Thailand have many English and Chinese speakers matching the demographic of the majority of visitors. Singapore, Malaysia, and Dubai are laden with expatriates from across the globe. The default business and relay language in these countries is English. Living in expat-friendly destinations you would hardly be inconvenienced by any language barrier unless you got into some trouble and had to face the official language of justice which would be Arabic in Dubai and Malay in Western Malaysia. An unenviable position for any foreign English-speaking expat.

Then there is mainland China, where the expat community is a rare and diminishing minority demographic. According to the 2020 census of China, there are only about 12,000 foreigners who have permanent residence in China and maybe 250,000 Western foreigners in the whole of China. That's about 0.06% of China's population in 2020 estimated at 1.4 billion people at the time.

Based on these statistics there is little need to cater for English/German/French speakers beyond the airport buildings. This is problematic for expats though.

A first-time visitor to China will likely feel sudden jolts of shock, surprise, and other emotions when trying to communicate. No one cares to speak English even if they can. Instead, the use of Mandarin is promoted. Everything is written in Mandarin characters. This means a simple task like ordering a meal will rely on those primal instincts. For example: I see a picture of a chicken leg on the menu so I point to it and hope a chicken leg will be served by the confused-looking waitress. She studied English as a second language for 12 years at school but she cannot remember or speak a word of it. Or maybe it's a way to encourage you to learn `jirou' the word for chicken in Mandarin. Next, you are at the supermarket. All the signs and packaging labels are in Mandarin. You cannot even recognize the fresh vegetables, they are so exotic! Using your instincts you look for a potato or a tomato or even an orange or a banana. You find it, a potato full of sand next to the thing that is shaped like an apple but looks more like it could taste like a pear, an apple-pear. You have become an illiterate. You can't speak the language or read the Chinese characters. You can't even find a loaf of bread. They only have half loaves hidden away between the shelves of instant noodles. Your primal survival instincts have taken over. Your pupils become dilated as you leave the supermarket hunting for anything that offers familiarity. Suddenly, you see something in the distance. Are those golden arches? Could that be McDonald's? Yes, it is. You go inside. There's a bilingual digital self-help menu. You have been saved. Ronald McDonald has become your new best friend, your only friend at lunchtime.

Now there is an upside to being a walking expat Ignoramus. As the old saying goes, "Ignorance can be bliss". If you cannot speak the language or read the writing, then you are oblivious to potential dangers or harms in the news. Is it not true that what we don't know or cannot see won't affect our thoughts or feelings one way or another? That may be true but it cuts both ways. I say "caveat emptor" to expat Ignoramus. If you are not cautious and alert you may be caught a sitting duck trying to go about your daily normal business. An illiterate is vulnerable and dependent on a native speaker in China to get anything done. Language can be a barrier not only to communication and doing business but also to cultural assimilation.

Good luck. Try Duolingo.

#expatlife