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? An anecdote is a story within a story which adds meaning and information to the original story. It makes the story have more depth and has more a better understanding of the stories complication or meaning.

2. What is the author’s view of the Chinese language in the 2^nd paragraph? The authors view on the Chinese language is that it is useless in a English speaking society such as Australia because she speaks English all day at school and watches television in English.

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? The grandfather mistakes the house for being his which symbolises the similarity and uniformity of living standards within Australian culture. It also shows that all migrants are treated the same way seen through the Chinese background of the main family and the Pakistani background of the other family. It is ironic that they are both of asian descendant and that they have similar living standards i.e. the same, or similar looking house. 

4. What does the death of her grandfather inspire the author to do? The death of the authors grandfather encourages and motivates her to get to know people more and to learn about there culture through the fact that she is trying to learn chinese.

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? She is motivated to learn Chinese because she wants to ensure she is able to talk to an elderly relative next time sees them to learn about there life, which she wasn't able to do with her grandfather and regrets this.

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 basic human ability/skill is communication which allows us to get an insight into someones culture based on someone who has lived it as opposed to a third person looking on. This also shows all people want communication and the fact that people judge people and mostly only see difference based on genetics and only want to be with people that we can 'survive' best with.