Don’t speak to me in Arabic.
Christine Abraham
Santa Monica, CA
My mom is ashamed to speak Arabic in public in this post-9/11 world.
Shameless to speak, English has Dialects.
Somandy Real,
Fremont, CA.
Many people who’s first language was not English think that they’re English isn’t “fluent”, however they are fluent, it’s just in another dialect of English they have made on their own, and it is okay.
Two languages, Three dialects, Three cultures
Vincent Lei,
San Ramon, CA.
Grew up in Macau, China. Mainly speak Cantonese there. Moved to America four years ago and started to speak English and Mandarin. I made some friends from mainland China and also some American friends. I learnt about the difference between Mainland China and Macau. School system were different. Most mainland people and Macau people didn’t get along so well, so my friend in Macau was surprised that I made so many Mainland Chinese friends and that my Mandarin has improved so much.
As Korean as you are Korean
Tesha Post,
Holland, MI.
I was adopted from Korea when I was six months old and grew up living in the U.S. with my White parents. As a result, I do not speak Korean or know how to cook Korean foods. People are often surprised to hear this– they may react with disappointment, confusion, or even relief. I enjoy talking about my cultural background because I find that even if someone isn’t asking outright, they are wondering privately.
I’m Filipino and that means a-lot
Coby Guzon,
La Palma, CA
I’m born a Filipino, I speak English, Tagalog, Visaya, Cebuano, and a bit of Spanish. I live in America and I look Chinese. Being Filipino is not just an Asian culture it’s a mix of many cultures. I’m also a current student at Cypress College.
I speak better English than you.
Nicole Huber,
Colorado Springs, CO.
I am Asian American. Being an Asian American, no one clutches their purse tighter when I walk by, and no one finds it surprising that I teach at a university. But despite Asian Americans being perceived as the “model minority,” we are not seen as “real” Americans. I was adopted by a Caucasian couple when I was two weeks old, and grew up in a Caucasian family in Colorado. There is nothing Asian about me, except my appearance, of course. Nevertheless, people often ask me what nationality I am. I always reply definitively, “I’m American.” Then they ask me where I’m from, and I say Colorado. They shift uncomfortably, and then ask again. “No – I mean… originally.” The thing that gets me is that these people aren’t even familiar with any of the various Asian countries, so I don’t even know why they are asking. I could make up a country like Kerblinkistan and they would just smile and say, “Oh, how nice. You know – I had sushi for the first time on Sunday!” Perhaps the next time someone asks me, I will reply, “Haven’t you heard? All modern humans are originally from Africa.” But I usually play nice. When I finally tell them I was born in Thailand, it is usually met with a standard response: “Oh, so you’re Taiwanese.” No, I am not Taiwanese, nor am I even Thai. I’m American. And I’m pretty sure I speak better English than you do.
Am I American o de alla
Juan Dominguez,
Sacramento, CA.
Mexican people say I am a shame to our people with gauges in my ears, the clothes I am wearing, the fact I do not have an accent when I speak. It’s like I was raised in America but by Mexicans that eat tortillas with every meal celebrate mothers day the 10th of May. Am I white washed or just a mix of both cultures?
I didn’t know english, but learned.
Phillip T.,
Elk Grove, CA.
Prior to going to school I didn’t know a lick of English. My parents spoke to me either in Cantonese or Vietnamese, but when I enter kindergarten I learned English for the first time. I don’t remember much of kindergarten, I don’t even remember her name. I was in E.S.L until the 3rd grade, and now I’ve lost the ability to speak Cantonese. English is now my primary language.
We thought you didn’t speak English.
Gabriela Denise Frank,
Seattle, WA.
Despite being a Detroit native who grew up in Arizona, I was mostly surrounded by white kids like me during my childhood. Though my family is Jewish, I never experienced discrimination while living in predominately Christian communities. Even as an adult in Seattle, which is more ethnically diverse, I live in a middle class Caucasian world. It wasn’t until I visited Italy that someone helped me glimpse the other side of the race card.
The two couples were white, and they were from Virginia. They mistakenly assumed that I was an uneducated local maid because my beginning Italian was better than their attempts at the language. In 15 years of owning a home in a tiny hill town, they had never bothered to learn more than a word or two of Italian. When I greeted them with, “Buon giorno,” they smiled nervously and brushed past me. In the garden, they turned their backs to me, closing ranks so that I couldn’t sit with them, so I sat on the ground as they spoke over my head to our host. It took a while for me to realize that none of them met my eyes because, to them, I wasn’t there.
The oven buzzer went off, signaling that their welcome lunch was ready, a meal that I had helped our host cook. “Come on in – lunch is served!” I called. They froze. “Are you… American?” they asked, aghast. “Yes,” I smiled. “I live in Seattle.” One of the wives paled.
“We ignored you because we thought you didn’t speak English,” she admitted, like this excused their slight. The minute of outrage I experienced made me see that I could never know the discrimination that others face for their entire lives. For what it’s worth, I’ll never forget the lesson.
Filipinos ridiculed for using proper English
Honorato Velasco,
Cleveland, OH
My brother and I spoke proper English and generally pronounced the words correctly. This meant that we were often ridiculed by our peers when we lived in the Philippines. It was almost as though our countrymen took pride in not using the proper pronunciations and accenting the wrong syllables.
Oh, do you speak English? Si.
Loreina Gonzalez,
Edwardsville, KS.
Imagine not being able to have a proper conversation with anyone, because they all assume you do not speak English. They approach you at your job because they need help finding something but before they even ask their question, they ask if you speak English. They see you and a Caucasian cashier and since they’re not Latino/a they go to the other registrar only because they feel they wont be able to communicate with you. Wrong. We are all capable of understanding.
White, female, and scared to speak
Shealyn Chestnut,
Havana, AR
A young, female student at Arkansas State University and I am always scared to open my mouth and voice my opinion. There are so many moments where I fear speaking my opinion because I fear confrontation. I have let things happen to me and I have let others say things about me just to avoid being judged further. I choose not to speak out of fear of offending someone.
You’re Indian. Do you speak Indian?
Snigdha Gurram,
Sunnyvale, CA
There are many different languages in India and many other places in the world. The place is not the same thing as the language the whole country speaks.
Black grandma, White grandpa. That’s weird!
Val’Dionna P.,
San Francisco, CA.
Throughout the years it has been a bit difficult to understand the many emotions and stereotypes being of color and mixed. It is important to understand that how one is raised growing up in a complex world that continues to critique someone on the features or melancholy of their skin shouldn’t be acceptable. Someone being mixed doesn’t mean they’re going to act like one race over another. Some people even think because two different races become one resulting to an interracial relationship is bad. People think individuals from two different cultures coming together and do the unthinkable is confusing. People tend to push away things that they don’t understand. Thus people identify people with being confused about their identity. It baffles me that even as a child people constantly told me that I was “white washed” because I speak proper.
Spanish is not my first language!
Valeria,
Cincinnati, OH.
Whenever I say I am from Brazil (most of the time) people instantly start to speak in Spanish as it is my first language. It does not offend me however I think it is very ignorant to believe everyone from South American speaks Spanish.
Let’s go. She doesn’t speak English.
Nora Woodman,
Fishers, IN.
What one Jehovah’s Witness said to the other when I opened the door and had yet to say hello.
You talk well for being black!
Darius Alexander,
Laguna Hills, CA
I hate when I meet some white people and after having a deep conversation with me, they say, “Wow you talk extremely well for a black guy no offense.” Stop doing that. It’s like you’re saying that blacks aren’t supposed to speak with good grammar.
Being Asian, my Authenticity is Questioned
Colette,
Sacramento, CA.
“I love Asian girls”
“I love Japanese people”
“Konnichiwa”
“Ni hao”
“Sayonara”
“Kamsammida”
‘Your a bad Japanese. You don’t know Japanese.’
“Are you Chinese?”
“I don’t think people in Osaka speak Kansaiben”
“I know Chinese”
“You look the most Japanese”
“You could be an other Asian too”
One Caucasian man approached my friends and I at a local pizza place and in a matter of 10 minutes, he say every problematic thing ever to us Asian Americans. We told him that we were born in this country and that we speak English, etc. But that didn’t stop the “konnichiwa’ or “nihao.”
Who is he to say that we were bad Japanese for not knowing how to speak Japanese? Who is this person who thinks he can measure our authenticity? He is nobody. This experience similar to the “where are you from?” question that always pops up, is the struggle of Asian Americans who are still seen as the Perpetual Foreigner.
