What's everybody's background country?

[chibidaisuke]

Just out of curiosity.

I'm part Chinese and part Viet.

[Guo Xiang]

As far as I'm aware of it, I'm Chinese.

[PJ]

I'm just another Chinese from China. 20% of the world is like me.

[LuNaR]

A(american)BC

[Trien Chieu]

Born in VietNam but my parents are Teochew (Chinese).

[ByTmE]

I'm ethnically Cambodian [paternal] with some Chinese blood [maternal] and I'm American born. I consider myself to be Cambodian American.

[remember_Cedric]

I'm a human being (unfortunately) born and breed in the Great Asian (some claim my country will be one of the best places on Earth, which I have my doubts). A tropical land with mixture of culture just like the tropical fruits. I am Asian ~ a non-Indian, but rather the other extreme, with strong influences of the Indian culture nah! (Both North, South, West and East)

[missouri.slim]

I am from the USA and my ancestors are mostly Dutch, English, German, and Irish.

I think this thread is very interesting. I have always been fascinated that there is a place where people who are mostly from Asia can go to talk about Asian books, television, and film and the language that they use is English. It is lucky for me; otherwise I would be out in the cold, but it always seems just a little strange, too.

[Trien Chieu]

I'm a human being (unfortunately) born and breed in the Great Asian (some claim my country will be one of the best places on Earth, which I have my doubts). A tropical land with mixture of culture just like the tropical fruits. I am Asian ~ a non-Indian, but rather the other extreme, with strong influences of the Indian culture nah! (Both North, South, West and East)

????
So where is it???
No need to hide unless you are ashamed of your root.

[mi do ri]

????
So where is it???
No need to hide unless you are ashamed of your root.

Not sharing his or her root does not mean s/he is ashamed of it and announcing it to the world doesn't mean s/he is proud of it either.

[Candide]

I have always been fascinated that there is a place where people who are mostly from Asia can go to talk about Asian books, television, and film and the language that they use is English. It is lucky for me; otherwise I would be out in the cold, but it always seems just a little strange, too.

What language should we use then? Chinese? Hell no, my ancestors did not fight the Chinese for 3000 years for me to speak their bloody language!

[jadebunny9]

Chinese, Vietnamese, French. Born in Vietnam...I think.

[HuangYushi]

I think this thread is very interesting. I have always been fascinated that there is a place where people who are mostly from Asia can go to talk about Asian books, television, and film and the language that they use is English. It is lucky for me; otherwise I would be out in the cold, but it always seems just a little strange, too.

There are way too many languages and (non-Romanic) written scripts in Asia that to use only one or two would effectively shut out almost everyone else. English enables Asians to communicate with one another and with the non-Asian world.

---

Back to topic:

For the longest time, I wondered if I had some minority blood (as in one of the minority groups in Southern China) in me, but my uncle sent a photocopy of his Chinese ID card over for some administrative use and he was listed as Han. That makes my dad, and me, Han too. And if you're wondering, no, none of us look "Han", at least not in the way the stereotypical way of the general China-Chinese population.

[LuNaR]

There are way too many languages and (non-Romanic) written scripts in Asia that to use only one or two would effectively shut out almost everyone else. English enables Asians to communicate with one another and with the non-Asian world.

---

Back to topic:

For the longest time, I wondered if I had some minority blood (as in one of the minority groups in Southern China) in me, but my uncle sent a photocopy of his Chinese ID card over for some administrative use and he was listed as Han. That makes my dad, and me, Han too. And if you're wondering, no, none of us look "Han", at least not in the way the stereotypical way of the general China-Chinese population.

pic us

[Ken Cheng]

My mom tells me I arrived by rocket ship from a doomed planet 2,814 light years away.

I don't believe her.

[remember_Cedric]

????
So where is it???
No need to hide unless you are ashamed of your root.

Somewhere on earth.

I have mentioned it many times in forum. If you've missed it, too bad for you.

I have given hints in my post, rather obvious ones. If you're keen to know, ask your brain to be more co-operative with you.

Not sharing his or her root does not mean s/he is ashamed of it and announcing it to the world doesn't mean s/he is proud of it either.

I cannot agree more. That's one brilliant reply!

[Ken Cheng]

I have mentioned it many times in forum.

Actually, you haven't. Not that I've read every single post you've ever made at SPCNET, but I do read many of them, and you've never outright discussed your place of origin.

I have given hints in my post, rather obvious ones.

Yes, you have...but the conclusion I came to was "Israel," and you've already told me that isn't it. :P

[missouri.slim]

What language should we use then? Chinese? Hell no, my ancestors did not fight the Chinese for 3000 years for me to speak their bloody language!

I am only interested in what motivates people to speak other languages. I think it is good to speak more than one language. I am interested in the reasons why people choose languages and which languages they choose. Knowing where someone hails form can give some small insight into why he or she speaks the languages he or she speaks. The thing that I am commenting on as being strange is that English is not an Asian language unless you look at it in a colonial sense, and that isn't pleasant. For all the languages that are native to Asia that could be chosen as the lingua franca of a forum that seems to be largely populated by Asians talking about mostly Asian things, somehow it was decided that English would be a good idea. I don't think that is good or bad (though it is fortunate for me), just interesting. Interest is not aggression.

Besides, I am not suggesting we all speak Chinese-- that would make the translation forum pretty crappy.

And HuangYushi, I follow what you are saying. I realize that I am fortunate to have grown up speaking English because almost everywhere I go (and I travel a lot for work) someone will be able to translate for me. It also has been a setback because I have never really needed to learn any other language well--only a few words to get by, but I would really like to speak a lot more languages. I am just unfocused.

Sorry for the off topic ramble. I just felt a little need to defend and clarify my statement.

[HuangYushi]

I am only interested in what motivates people to speak other languages. I think it is good to speak more than one language. I am interested in the reasons why people choose languages and which languages they choose. Knowing where someone hails form can give some small insight into why he or she speaks the languages he or she speaks.

At the risk of being OT, I'd like to comment on this.

I'm Han (Chinese), as stated earlier, but I was born and bred in Malaysia. I'm Malaysian. My family and I came from a place in Southern China where the locals spoke and still speak Hokkien. So we speak Hokkien (there is no true written form for this language, regardless of how people may insist). Other Chinese who have become Malaysians come largely from Guangzhou (where they speak Cantonese, Teochew and Hakka depending on point of origin). We hang out together and watch series from Hong Kong's TVB, so we all end up learning to speak (and to an extent, read) Cantonese.

Then, we go to school. In Malaysia, there is a choice of national (Malay medium) or vernacular (Mandarin or Tamil medium) schools at elementary level. Most of us who speak some form of Chinese end up in Mandarin-medium schools, with a fair number opting for Malay-medium schools. Regardless of where you get your elementary education, fluency in Malay is a must as it is the national language. It's needed to pass standardized tests in middle and high school, plus for use as a day-to-day lingua-franca in any part of the country.

For tertiary education, fluency in English is an absolute must, with Malay being a close second. Most industries require fluency in English and Malay from their employees, with ability to speak/read/write a third/fourth language being advantageous to career prospects.

So where does that leave Malaysians like me? We end up pretty multi-lingual!

There are also many short-term migrant semi-skilled workers from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Myanmar, etc, in Malaysia. Most of them learn Malay when they get here.

Therefore, for most Malaysians and migrant workers here, the basic languages that we learn/use are more due to the environment that we live/work in, rather than a deliberate choice.

---

In case you are curious: I speak/read/write Malay and English. I speak Hokkien, Mandarin and Cantonese, and can understand a fair bit of Teochew and Indonesian. I can read Chinese characters in Mandarin and Cantonese, and read the characters as a imperfect form of "written" Hokkien. I also have a very tiny spoken vocabulary of Tamil words that I use at work. Years ago, when I was working in Thailand and Turkey, I could speak enough Thai and Turkish to get around with (but not anymore!). The only language that I deliberate chose to learn (for fun) was German during a summer break in college.

[remember_Cedric]

Actually, you haven't. Not that I've read every single post you've ever made at SPCNET, but I do read many of them, and you've never outright discussed your place of origin.

Meh, Kenny, you spoilt my game. I was trying to make that bugger go hunt for my posts since he is such a nosy parker (who assumed that people would obediently post their direct answers for him) then finally tell him that I didn't

Yes, you have...but the conclusion I came to was "Israel," and you've already told me that isn't it. :P

Israel? I wished I was. That is one place where I'm very keen to learn about their history. And, Israel isn't tropical, IMO, my friend.... or, is it?