2022 - ongoing
Nice to Meet You (Hyunjung), 2022, 4 minutes and 37 seconds audio recording on loop
Nice to Meet You (Kuo), 2022, 5 minutes and 40 seconds audio recording on loop
Nice to Meet You (Kuo), 2022, 5 minutes and 40 seconds audio recording on loop
Nice to Meet You (Jin), 2022, 4 minutes and 21 seconds audio recording on loop
Nice to Meet You (Huidi), 2023, 4 minutes and 21 seconds audio recording on loop
Nice to Meet You (Tzuhuan), 2023, 4 minutes 56 seconds audio recording on loop
Nice to Meet You (Angelica), 2022, 3 minutes and 52 seconds audio recording on loop
Nice to Meet You (Huidi), 2023, 4 minutes and 21 seconds audio recording on loop
Nice to Meet You (Tzuhuan), 2023, 4 minutes 56 seconds audio recording on loop
Nice to Meet You (Angelica), 2022, 3 minutes and 52 seconds audio recording on loop
This project takes
inspiration from my personal experience of learning English while growing up in
Taiwan. Throughout my school years, I studied English both at school and at various
after-school English classes. One of the most common activities in these
classes was practicing conversations from textbooks with classmates in order to
enhance our speaking skills.
To reinterpret this experience, I invited my friends with bilingual or immigrant backgrounds to record themselves reading conversations sourced from English learning materials. The speakers were instructed to read only one side of the conversation and to speak slowly like reading from a textbook. Within individual recordings, the speakers conversed with themselves. However, when these recordings are composed together, they spoke, yet no meaningful communication occurred. This project delves into the challenges of living in a foreign country where one cannot speak and communicate in their mother tongue, exploring the subsequent sense of alienation and displacement from language.
In Taiwan, English education follows a highly structured and standardized approach, aiming for proficiency in Standard American English without any accents. Deconstructing these conversations serves as a means to liberate from the constraints and control of this learning experience, challenging the concept of 'perfect English.' Each speaker proceeds at their own pace; there is no synchronization or timely response among them. The recordings also capture moments of stumbling, repetition, and self-correction. This approach allows the audience with the opportunity to recognize the subtleties and differences among individuals and to establish their own connections.
To reinterpret this experience, I invited my friends with bilingual or immigrant backgrounds to record themselves reading conversations sourced from English learning materials. The speakers were instructed to read only one side of the conversation and to speak slowly like reading from a textbook. Within individual recordings, the speakers conversed with themselves. However, when these recordings are composed together, they spoke, yet no meaningful communication occurred. This project delves into the challenges of living in a foreign country where one cannot speak and communicate in their mother tongue, exploring the subsequent sense of alienation and displacement from language.
In Taiwan, English education follows a highly structured and standardized approach, aiming for proficiency in Standard American English without any accents. Deconstructing these conversations serves as a means to liberate from the constraints and control of this learning experience, challenging the concept of 'perfect English.' Each speaker proceeds at their own pace; there is no synchronization or timely response among them. The recordings also capture moments of stumbling, repetition, and self-correction. This approach allows the audience with the opportunity to recognize the subtleties and differences among individuals and to establish their own connections.
Jennifer Chia-Ling Ho 何珈寧 ©2024