You are listening to a Clarksville magazine podcast with your host and narrator Kate Baker.

Greetings Clarks World Citizens. I hope this podcast finds you very well.

We're in our reprints for the month of February 2019,

issue 149. For those of you who have stuck with us throughout the month, thank you so

much. For those of you who are new to the magazine

thank you for stopping by and for those of you who are subscribers or support us via

Patreon or Clarks World Citizens.com. Thank you. Your support makes each

and every month possible so our second to last story is titled Mother Tongues.

It was by S. Choi Yilu. S. Choii Loo.

S. Choii Loo writes, translates, and interprets between both coasts of the Pacific.

You can find more about S. Choii-U at their website S-D-K-I-O-Y-I-L-U.

So my dear listeners, I hope you can sit back relax and let me tell you a story.

Thank you very much you say,

concluding the oral portion of the exam.

You gather your things and exit back into the brightly lit hallway.

Photos line the walls, the Eiffel Tower, the Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu.

The sun shines on each destination. The image is brimming with wonder.

You pause before the Golden Gate Bridge.

Yogai Jodala, the attendant says.

You look up.

His blonde hair is as standard eyes as his Mandarin, as impeccable as his crisp shirt and tie.

You've just proven your aptitude in English, but hearing Mandarin still puts you at ease in the way only a mother tongue does

...