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"Magical language" captivates sophmores
BY CALVIN ZHOU
On May 3, San Jose-born poet and author E.J. Koh spoke with Lynbrook World Literature students, who listened intently as they learned of the struggles and triumphs Koh experienced while caught between his two cultures. Based on her experiences as a second-generation Asian American, Koh wrote “The Magical Language of Others,” a memoir filled with raw and emotional storytelling that delves deep into the complexities of family relationships, cultural identity and power of language. The book, newly introduced this year to diversify the World Literature curriculum, gave students a glimpse into a unique, yet relatable story.
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“The book is a refreshing change from the others we read this year because of how relatable it is,” sophomore Brian Kao said. “Although we aren’t exactly the same, I felt like she told a story that I endured and experienced.”
Koh’s memoir takes readers on a journey through her teenage years when she lived in Davis, California with only her older brother after her parents moved to Seoul, Korea for her father’s career. Feeling a deep sense of abandonment,
Koh struggled to find her identity and sense of belonging, unwilling to forgive her mother for leaving. The memoir weaves together letters that her mother wrote to her in Korean, stories of her ancestors and Koh's own experiences discovering who she is.
“There are some parts of it that some Lynbrook students may not connect to at all, like her parents living in a different country for a majority of her life,” sophomore Arnav Singhal said. “But the story of an Asian protagonist who has struggled with her parental relationships is very relatable to many of us.”
Although this is the first year that “The Magical Language of Others” is being taught in Lynbrook’s curriculum, Cupertino High School taught the book in the 2021-22 school year. In 2020, the district’s World Literature teachers were looking to add diversity to the largely eurocentric English curriculum. When “The Magical Language of Others” was published in January of that year, Cupertino World Literature teacher Lynn Chen, who knew Koh personally, suggested taking a more modernized approach to AAPI literature
