It’s amazing how much you can understand about the life of a Chinese miner during the San Francisco gold rush from this selection of phrases from An English-Chinese Phrase Book, compiled in 1875 and quoted on page 128 of my latest read, Strangers from a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans:

“He took it from me by violence

The men are striking for wages

He claimed my mine

When will the lease expire?

He cheated me out of my wages

He was choked to death with a lasso, by a robber

Can I sleep here tonight?

Have you any food for me?

She is a good for nothing huzzy

The passage money is $50 from Hong Kong to California

The steamer will leave to-morrow

How long have you been in California?

She is my wife

An unmarried man is called a bachelor

I received a letter from China

The United States have many immigrants

The immigration will soon be stopped”

The last one is about one of many specifically anti-Asian laws in American history, in which Chinese immigration was specifically banned while other nationalities were still be allowed in.

I wonder what future historians and other social scientists will make of our society if they find a selection of Headways, Market Leaders and Lonely Planet phrasebooks in a long buried Borders bookshop