Our Volunteers 我哋嘅義工: Grace
Tell us something about yourself
I am a linguist specializing in speech, forensic phonetics and trilingualism. Growing up in Cantonese culture, Cantonese identity has always been one of my most important identities.
自我介紹
Hello，我係 Grace，我係一位喺大學教書嘅語言學家。嚟愛爾蘭之前，我喺香港做開關於粵語、普通話同埋英文呢三種語言之間點樣互相影響嘅研究。嚟到愛爾蘭之後，我都希望有機會可以繼續做多啲同粵語相關嘅研究。
我喺一個充滿粵語文化嘅環境下長大，由細到大都係睇 TVB 劇集、聽廣東歌、飲茶，仲好鍾意食燒味同煲仔飯。「粵語人」呢個身份，係我咁多個身份之中嘅一個好重要嘅身份認同。佢唔單止影響住我對公共事務嘅參與，仲深深影響我嘅研究、我嘅思考方式，以及我同人之間嘅連結。
What brought you to Ireland?
I received a job offer from Dublin, therefore I packed all of my stuff into two luggages, left Hong Kong and came to Ireland. As I studied in the UK before, Ireland is similar to the UK in some sense, but the longer I stay here, the more uniqueness of Irish culture that I discover. I feel lucky that I have the opportunity to work and live in such an amazing country, and contribute my part to the society through teaching and research.
乜嘢令你嚟到愛爾蘭？
我同愛爾蘭嘅故事，係由一個 job offer 開始嘅。嗰陣我將生存所需嘅物資同埋書塞晒入兩個行李箱，就咁樣飛咗嚟愛爾蘭。因為之前喺英國讀過書，愛爾蘭對我嚟講唔算太陌生，始終呢度嘅教育制度同文化同英國都有好多相似之處。但係喺愛爾蘭留得越耐，我就越發現呢個地方獨特同埋可愛之處。我覺得自己好幸運，可以喺一個咁靚嘅國家工作同生活。我都希望可以透過我嘅教書同研究，去回饋返愛爾蘭社會。
How did you start with Cantonese in Ireland?
When I arrived Dublin, I started to look for Cantonese community. Cantonese in Ireland poped up in my searching. The first event I went to was St. Patrick's Day parade in Dun Laoghaire, that was a lot of fun. I met so many new friends there.
你係點樣喺CII開始㗎？
我嚟到都柏林之後，就開始喺網上搵下有無粵語人社群，而 CII 係我第一個搵到嘅機構。第一次參加 CII 嘅活動係舊年聖博德節（St. Patrick's Day）嘅巡遊，嗰次活動真係好好玩，我亦都喺嗰度識咗好多新朋友。
What have you done with Cantonese in Ireland?
I organised several events, such as invited a professor who works on Hong Kong Hakka to Dublin and talked about heritage language; I helped with the Lunar New Year event of calligraphy drawing; I also hosted a book talk of Time Difference and the writer Ki.
你同CII做過啲咩？
我組織過幾場活動，例如舊年 9 月我請咗一位做香港客家話研究嘅教授嚟都柏林開講座，講關於heritage language嘅課題。今年農曆新年寫揮春嘅活動我都有幫手。而今年復活節，我亦都主持咗一個新書分享會，香港作家 Ki 帶埋佢本著作《時差》嚟到都柏林，同我哋分享佢喺愛爾蘭讀書嘅點點滴滴同感悟。
Hope for Cantonese immigrants in ireland
As a linguist, my hope is definitely language-related. I hope Cantonese can pass on to more younger generation in Ireland. I also hope that more people are involved in building the Cantonese community in Ireland.
對喺愛爾蘭嘅廣東人嘅願望
作為一個語言學家，我嘅願望自然係同語言有關嘅。我希望有更多家庭可以將粵語傳承落去，等更多後生仔喺愛爾蘭繼續講廣東話。我都希望大家可以積極參與，一齊共建愛爾蘭嘅粵語人社群。