In preparation for a meeting with a parent who does not speak English, I am looking up a Chinese dictionary for words like anxiety, criticise, sacarsm , emotions, parenting etc etc. Sigh! The need to know Chinese is never so intensely felt since the days when I was in the Company choir, and was forced to learn the Chinese lyrics by heart. Whenever a parent requests for me to speak Chinese over the phone, I will apologetically say " Wo jin niang, hor " (I will try my best OK?)
My biggest achievement in Chinese conversation is perhaps the time when I had to counsel an emotionally abused lady client during my internship with the Family Service Centre. Although she wrote in her particulars that she is bi-lingual she was not comfortable speaking English and requested that I spoke Chinese as much as possible. Again I said "wo jin liang" but "li yao bang wo" (you must help me). She is 2 years younger than me. Indeed it turned out that she not only helped me to improve my Chinese, she actually helped to counsel herself. Why? Because I would start a sentence and got stuck and she would finish it for me hahaha. It worked especially when I helped her to reframe her thinking or see the blind spot. So when she completed the sentence and hit the nail, I would exclaim in delight that she could see the situation objectively herself. BINGO!
However this coming meeting won't be so smooth going and I doubt my luck. This time round the meeting is with a strict disciplinary father who expects too much from his kid. His divorced wife has requested that I have a "chat" with him. Hmm...I guess I better add to my Chinese vocab some calming and soothing phrases as well. However, if he goes overboard and makes me really angry I hope I won't mutter an expletive which I already learnt long ago.
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