When
People Talk, Watch Completely
17
April 2007
A Chinese student at Zhejiang
Forestry College reportedly speaks five
languages. So what – you may don’t think
much of it - plenty people can do that. But
how many hearing impaired people can speak
just one language?
Zuo Li (左力) became deaf since
he was 8-month old, the result of the adverse
effects caused by medical treatment. He
learned to talk purely through observing and
imitating the mouth movement of other people,
which is a skill he acquired at a special
training class and mastered through his
diligent practice on his mum’s face. She
often had paper stripes adhered to her lips
by her son, just as what Zuo Li did to his
own lips. By comparing the movements of the
strips on his mother’s lips and on his own
while talking, Zuo learned a proper way to
speak, and makes himself very clear to
others.
Ernest Hemingway once said,
“When people talk, listen completely. Most
people never listen.” Had he met Zuo Li, he
might rephrase his line to say something
like, “When people talk, watch completely.
Most people never watch.”
