By: Paul Desailly

Paul Desailly — Sun, 10 Dec 2023 23:20:22 +0000

In my start-up in Adelaide’s CBD this septuagenarian teacher of languages still slogs away in an effort to keep the wolf from the door. I hope I meet Undarmaa before I shuffle off this mortal coil, or the plenitude of my decrepitude debilitates dis Desailly, if only to compare and contrast unforgettable pedagogical experiences in Huhehot and Ulan Bator. Gifting Uradyn’s book won’t be wasted. Thanks! Along with several photos of my none too handsome visage taken by friends under a gargantuan Genghis Khan statue, I acquired, and have retained, from a couple of decades ago a major article in ‘China Daily’ on the various scripts used in the territories once ruled in the Great Yuan. On a personal note, our oldest son, born in Beijing Military Hospital, and now at Adelaide Uni (Eddie), arrived in Australia 16 years ago speaking only Mandarin. So dominant is the language of Shakespeare here, and so myopic the mindset surrounding whatever imperial-hegemonic culture is foisted on to the masses – over and over in the history of the world – that he too has chosen a monolingual life. It’s the bane of my life which countless immigrants since 1788 have also endured. I remember a time here in the 1950s when Anglo Aussies en masse derided and disdained Greek and Italian to name just two famously eminent cultures. It takes a holistic approach to overcome prejudice and an entire village, from year one in a kid’s life, to make bilingualism real, except of course in the relatively rare examples evident in professional linguistic circles. And so, the only cure, is a universally agreed upon international auxlang taught in every school in the world.

Comments on: How to maintain Mongolian in Australia?

By: Paul Desailly