Chinese languages created many difficulties for government officials and others in nineteenth century Victoria. Few if any would have been able to speak any of the many Chinese languages of which Mandarin and Cantonese are the main ones spoken. The sounds and pronunciation are totally different to European languages. Like English there are core sounds but the language is monosyllabic (using words of one syllable), and is tonal. That is, to indicate difference in meaning between words similar in sound, they either use a high or low pitch or give the word a pitch that rises or falls.

Officials and the Chinese themselves soon realized the need for interpreters. If a miner was a member of a society such as the See Yup Society he would have access to a translator. It was important to have someone who could speak for him and act as a scribe. A scribe was someone who could write letters in English or Chinese for him. It was also important to have someone you could trust as an interpreter, especially in business and when dealing with the law.

Activities

• Browse websites such as the following or conduct a global search for ‘Chinese languages’ (the links below will open in a new browser window):
  -- http://www.omniglot.com/writing/chinese.htm --
  -- http://zhongwen.com/ --
  -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_language --
• Skim read these articles to find:
  • the main languages or language groups in China
  • some ways in which these languages are different to European languages
  • why the spoken language has so many variations but the written language does not.
• Imagine you were a recent Chinese immigrant to Victoria in the nineteenth century. What might be some of the phrases you would want to learn first? Make a list of these. Now reverse the situation. You live at the same time but will be visiting China. Find out how to say these same phrases in one of the major Chinese languages (Mandarin or Cantonese).

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