Jin Huan Huan
MA in Chinese Linguistics and Language Acquistion graduate
Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana. It has been two years since I graduated from the Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages. Looking back, my memory with linguistics is full of blasts of essays, exams and presentations. However, I am happy to share with you my experience with linguistics, a story that can be summarised in three “W”s.
What is Linguistics?
“How many languages can you speak?” “What do you mean by linguistic?” These are the questions repeatedly asked every time I introduce myself as a linguistics graduate. There is a general misconception to equate linguistics with foreign language studies. Indeed, linguists may speak multiple languages --- or at least have a fair bit of knowledge of multiple languages, but linguistics means far more than than merely foreign language learning. Linguistics is the scientific study of languages, which broadly includes three main aspects, comparative study of language structure, language acquisition, and language use.
Why Linguistics?
The Masters programme in the Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages is a very rigorous programme. I remember in my syntax class, Prof Gu told us, “If you are feeling hurt now, that’s normal and that’s great as well, because you are being shaped. After you have experienced all this stuff, you will be totally different.” Indeed, my way of thinking has been transformed, just like the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a completely different looking creature, a butterfly. Imagine when you come across code-switching or code-mixing conversations, you can’t help but explore the constraints mentioned in the Matrix Language Framework; when you talk with others, you will sensitively analyse the grammaticality of the sentences and automatically run theta roles theory in your mind; when you take a bath, you may speak loudly and practice a certain “trill” repeatedly. These unforgettable moments are the days I will cherish and treasure for the rest of my life.
Work with Linguistics
I am extremely lucky to have turned my interest in linguistics into a career. Thanks to Prof. Yip for providing me with the opportunity to work in the Childhood Bilingualism Research Centre (CBRC), during which, I could conduct research related to my favorite topic --- the Cantonese tonal system, and assist in analyzing naturalistic data collected from bilingual and trilingual children. Later, I got a job as a data evaluator in the Google speech team, which aims to build speech recognition and text-to-speech technologies that enable voice-based interactions in products like Google Now, Voice Search, Dictation, Speech-to-Speech Translation, Google Glass, and so forth. Working in Google enables me to connect my linguistic knowledge and expertise with the real-world. It is a challenging job to work on Hong Kong speech data for the "very" spoken nature of Cantonese: a lot of pronunciations are not represented by our logographic writing system; there are a lot of homographs and homophones; and the well-known 6 tones that we have. Yet I believe it is worthwhile when I see people using voice recognition or text-to-speech services in their daily life.
Pursuing my master’s degree in CUHK was really a pivotal point in my life. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our excellent professors, research staff and administrative staff. Thank you very much for designing such a motivating and inspiring programme. I wish our wonderful Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages every success in the future!