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Language in Australia

Being Chinese in Australia

By September 24, 2018July 11th, 2019148 Comments5 min read10,005 views

 

Passport photos of early Chinese immigrants (Source: Invisible Australians)

For most Chinese migrants, China is what they call home. China is the basis on which they establish a sense of rootedness. However, inevitably, a new identity also emerges in relation to their destination country.

The memoirs collected in Dragon Seed in the Antipodes explore these tensions: while Chinese-Australians’ sense of rootedness “structured their existence and identity” (Shen, 2001, p. 60), their “Chineseness” depends on Australian discourses of identity.

Dragon Seed in the Antipodes is a collection of autobiographies of over twenty Chinese migrants to Australia from different historical periods, spanning from the mid-nineteenth century to the end of the twentieth century.

One striking feature of Dragon Seed in the Antipodes lies in the authors’ dynamic and rich identities which are profoundly moulded both by the broader socio-historical context as well as their personal situations as individuals.

I read Dragon Seed in the Antipodes for the 2018 Language-on-the-Move Reading Challenge and I was particularly interested in the self-representations of Chinese Australians dating to the second half the last century. Autobiographies from this period were authored by three distinct groups: new migrants from China, new migrants from Southeast Asia, and members of the second and third generations.

Chinese migrants from China

“The late 1980s and early 1990s saw a massive exodus of many of the most brilliant Chinese intellectuals from the mainland” (Shen, 2001, p. 90) for the purpose of “better[ing] themselves financially and academically” (Shen, 2001, p. 95). In the autobiographies, members of this group construct themselves as “historical drifters”, “wandering Chinese” or “homeless Chinese”.

The central theme running through their autobiographies are “rootlessness” and “alienation”. Their “rootlessness” mainly arose from their experiences during the Cultural Revolution and China’s economic backwardness at that time.

Settlement in Australia does not provide a remedy and their rootlessness from China is complemented by their sense of alienation in Australia. Alienation is mostly a result of their shattered dreams and ambitions related to their financial difficulties and failure to (re)establish themselves professionally.

Shen sums up the experiences of this group with reference to another autobiography by a Chinese migrant to Australia, Liu Guande (1991, 1995), who said:

To go overseas is not easy; to stay overseas is hard; and to return to China is even harder.

Chinese migrants from Southeast Asia

The experiences of Chinese migrants “whose roots were planted in Asia, not in the mythical motherland, China” (Shen, 2001, p. 122) are quite different. “To Be or Not to Be Chinese” is one central issue that this group constantly had to face. Whether they chose to identify as Chinese or not was related to reasons such as their emphasis on scholastic achievement, their love of Chinese food, or the fact that they found Chineseness to be of practical value in multicultural Australia. By contrast, whether they spoke the Chinese language, “the soul of Chinese identity” (Shen, 2001, p. 123), was less important to them.

Consequently, the Chineseness of this group becomes “a state of mind, a self-perception” (Shen, 2001, p. 125).

Chinese born in Australia

The second and third generations of Chinese experienced painful trajectories of constructing themselves as Chinese Australians, which may have started with their initial hatred of their Chinese self and even their heritage language during the period of the white Australian policy. In the second half of the twentieth century, many in this group reconciled themselves with their Chinese side and they finally achieved a Chinese-Australian identity in what had by then become multicultural Australia.

The initial embarrassment from their Chinese heritage is vividly conveyed in a series of autobiographical essays written by William Yang whose ancestors had “put roots into Australian soil” (as cited in Shen, 2001, p. 130) since 1880s:

What a strong emotion. What an attachment to the country. All my family’s roots were in Australia, I was more Australian than the kids who told me to go back to China. I didn’t even know where China was. (as cited in Shen, 2001, p. 130).

Being Chinese was a terrible curse. (as cited in Shen, 2001, p. 133).

[…] she [Yang’s mother] couldn’t see the point. What was the use of a Chinese language, it would only mark you out as a target, it would confirm the difference of appearance. […] My mother wanted us to assimilate. (as cited in Shen, 2001, p. 135).

Being Chinese in Australia

Overall, Dragon Seed in the Antipodes vividly demonstrates that the meaning of being Chinese differs from generation to generation, even form person to person, depending both on the socio-economic and political dynamics of their heritage community as well as those in the destination society.

The book follows the footprints of different generations of Chinese and resolves a core question people who are interested in migration studies want to ask: how did immigrants construct their identities in different historical periods? This book not only uncovers the self-perceptions of Chinese of different generations living in Australia but offers a glimpse of Australian history related to immigrants from a Chinese perspective.

More about our Reading Challenge

References

刘观德. (1991). 我的财富在澳洲. 上海文艺出版社. [Liu, Guande. 1991. My fortune in Australia. Shanghai Literature and Arts Press, Shanghai]

Liu, G. D. (1995). My Fortune in AustraliaTrans. Bruce J Jacobs and Ouyang Yu. Bitter Peaches and Plums: Two Chinese Novellas on the Recent Chinese Student Experience in Australia. Melbourne: Monash Asia Institute.

Shen, Y. F. (2001). Dragon Seed in the Antipodes: Chinese Australian Autobiographies. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.

Yining Wang

Author Yining Wang

Dr Yining Wang is an honorary postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Linguistics, Macquarie University. Her research focuses on heritage language maintenance of Chinese migrant children and their families. Previously she taught English-Chinese translation, Business English, and College English at the Zhuhai Campus of Beijing Normal University, China.

More posts by Yining Wang

Join the discussion 148 Comments

  • Chloe Ng says:

    This unit illuminates my thinking about language and culture, especially the reaction of migrants to their heritage language. That’s why I want to come back to this post and share something.

    I used to think that people’ appreciation or rejection towards their heritage languages and cultures are their own subjective choices. I thought that as long as people want to maintain their heritage language and identities, they will never fade. However, after reading this blog and listening to others’ stories, I realised that there are various factors affecting the existence of heritage language and identities in a new culture. Some people might be scared of being isolated from the new culture, others want a better integration into their new lives so that they can gain better access to success. However, some youngsters might not have the chances to choose whether they can learn their heritage language or not because their former generations lost it.

    Living in a multicultural country like Australia, I know the challenges people have to confront due to language barriers. Even when migrants don’t want it to happen, in some cases, they have to accept to leave their heritage language and identities behind and start a new life. My empathy goes with them when I have a chance to know and think about this issue from the lens of different perspectives. I want to say thank you, Ingrid, for giving me this experience.

  • China says:

    This article reminds me that I have learned adult immigrants have to deal with everything in addition to learning the language. Unfortunately, there is no scaffolding so this situation is not easy for immigrants. Since English is hyper-central language, people assume that the immigrant is able to speak English to some extent. However, appropriate language use and vocabulary vary in different situations such as shopping, hospital and giving direction. Thus, using appropriate language/ vocabulary in a right way requires high English proficiency. Adults need to learn them to survive though it is hard. In my opinion, some scaffolding should be provided for immigrants in addition to language learning. For example, the list of symptoms written in each language can be helpful to get exact diagnoses. Then, proper treatment and medicine would be given. Living as an immigrant has difficulties. Therefore, I think immigrants should learn the language and appropriate scaffolding has to be provided.

    • Thanks, China! You are right but providing language learning scaffolding in everyday real life is almost impossible because you can’t have the equivalent of a graded reader at work, in the shops, or in hospital … but, as a society, we can put supports in places, such as English language classes, translation and interpreting services etc.; and as individuals we can be kind so as not to add extra burdens on language learners.

  • Abdulla Zubayr Nafea says:

    Being a migrant to Bangladeshi people like me often means leaving behind our homeland, culture, and loved ones in search of better opportunities, and living a quality life. We adapt to a new environment, learn a different language, and navigate unfamiliar customs. I can remember when I first arrived in Australia, it was like a dream come true but at the same time, I was feeling lonely and scared as I didn’t know anyone here. In the airport I encountered an Aussie person, he was the security in charge. I asked him for an address and he nicely replied me. He was a nice person however, I was unable to catch what he was talking about. Actually, I didn’t have any idea about the Aussie accent and felt like my English language learning journey was a waste. Nevertheless, It is a journey of hope and ambition, but it also comes with a sense of longing for the place we once called home. It’s about preserving our identity while embracing the diversity of our new surroundings and contributing to our adopted community.

    • Thanks, Abdulla! Funny that your first encounter in Oz was an airport misunderstanding; I know a fair number of people who have similar stories and it’s my first memory of arriving in Australia, too: an interaction with a quarantine officer who asked me whether my chocolates were ok? I had no idea what he was talking about 😉 … only much later did I realize that he didn’t ask a question but was waving me through and *telling* me that my chocolates were ok – with rising intonation …

    • Hongjin Jiang says:

      I can get your point, because I had such fellings when I studied at some place first time from my hometown. Although, I don’t get abroad, the anxiety, scary, and loneliness are the same. Don’t worry. There is a saying :time heals everything. You get there to study, realize your dream,but remember take care of yourself is the most important.

  • Arslan Ahmad says:

    This short reading has resemblance to the experiences of refugees as explained by Viet Thanh Nguyen. It also highlights the challenges of assimilation faced by both first and second-generation Chinese individuals. In his novel “The Refugees,” Viet Thanh Nguyen explores into how the past continues to haunt refugees. Those who leave their homeland invariably yearn for their native land, yet find themselves unable to return. This emotional longing mirrors the sentiments within the Chinese community, who strive to maintain their Chineseness.
    Furthermore, Viet Thanh Nguyen employs the concept of the “Ghost,” representing the persistent influence of the past. He asserts that the Ghost perpetually haunts refugees, a permanent aspect of their history that cannot be evaded. It is this past that refuses to be silenced, often serving as a formidable barrier for both first and second-generation individuals attempting to assimilate into foreign lands.
    Likewise, the Chinese community preserves their cultural identity by maintaining the use of the Chinese language within their households, while acquiring English as a second language. This multilingualism becomes a distinguishing feature of their cultural identity. Interestingly, despite their dedication to preserving their heritage, some may not even have a clear understanding of China’s geographical location, as indicated in the reading.

  • Ally says:

    I have had very different experiences as a migrant depending on whether I am an obvious or invisible migrant. For example in Japan, Singapore and Thailand I was obviously a migrant and had some really fantastic experiences and also some difficulties and challenges. I loved the opportunity to learn new languages and participate in a new culture. For example, in Japan I studied Japanese language, aikido, ikebana flower arranging, pottery and tea ceremony. I really loved the celebration of seasons andsthe many traditional arts and festivals. I made amazing friends I still keep in touch with.

    In contrast, in Australia, the UK and Switzerland I was an invisible migrant, meaning that unless I open my mouth I look like many other locals. This presented an unexpected amount of challenges and a great deal of isolation and loneliness. In many ways I have been a privileged migrant, partly because I am white, educated and my husband has very highly valued job skills so I did not struggle with getting visas, residency or citizenship. However with each move, my husband went right to work in a new job and I was left to find and set up our home, reinvent an identity, establish a career, find competent health practitioners ie new dentist, GP, ophthalmologist, gynecologist etc establish a new community and circle of friends.

    Surprisingly, Australia presented the greatest challenge, in part because my expectation was that it was very similar to Canada which is in fact not at all my experience. Additionally, I faced covert and overt discrimination in struggling to get interviews for jobs I was overqualified for, and being excluded from social groups I wanted to join due to personal biases. Also, I was physically and verbally attacked on several occasions by white Australians for being “unAustralian!” while actually carrying my Australian passport in my purse. This created a deep feeling of loneliness and isolation and a lack of safety and security for life in Australia. Unfortunately, my experience is not unique, I have many friends who have had similar experiences. Many of my Asian friends struggle with a constant barrage of biases from some people but they also have the benefit of a core community of friends originating from their own country.

    • Thanks for sharing, Ally! So sorry to hear that you’ve been treated so poorly in Australia 🙁

    • Robert says:

      Thanks for sharing your experiences, Ally.

      It really surprised me that you had such negative encounters in Australia. In the same way that you did, I would have imagined it to be a more inclusive and welcoming experience. As a German born in Poland who is also white, I can identify with being an invisible immigrant in the way you described it. I moved to Germany when I was 10 and based on my appearance alone, nobody could distinguish whether I am Polish or German. It has presented me with many challenges in my early teenage years as well.

      Moreover, I also understand your struggle with finding a job. While many people during orientation week said that employers in Australia now accept more international students than ever before, I still see many requirements like you having to have completed prior education in Australia or having permanent residency to even be considered for a job. Take for example a friend of mine, who has been a language tutor for children for many years but is unable to find any job here due to these prerequisites. It seems to me that Australia is less inclusive than they claim to be.

    • Dory says:

      Hi Ally,

      Your comment highlights the influence that one’s visibility as a migrant has in the countries you have mentioned and the role culture and language play in this situation and I couldn’t have agreed more with a lot of things that you have mentioned.

      The differences between the experiences of being an “obvious immigrant” and an “invisible immigrant” in different countries also sheds light on the difficulties of cultural assimilation and adaptation. Even from my friends and my personal experience, I could say that Australia isn’t as diverse and inclusive as it perceives itself to be. This proves that how important it is to establish welcoming environments that value diversity of culture. I also feel that migrants go through bitter experiences because of language proficiency. A friend of mine, who has years of experience as an English teacher has ended up feeling very demotivated after attending several job interviews in English.

      The power of language, culture, social relationships and interactions play a very big role in creating a sense of belonging or a sense of identity in this foreign part of world.

  • Saraf Anjum says:

    Both of my elder sister-in-laws migrated to Australia at different time periods. After staying in different countries for education, both of them ended up choosing Australia as their home. They got good jobs along with their Bangladeshi husbands and settled down. It seems like a typical success story to me, but to them it sure wasn’t easy settling down in a foreign country while tackling professional and private life.

    As someone mentioned in their comment, that you really miss the familial help you could have gotten back in your country. A few months ago my 6 year old niece got a fever, but her mother could only give her medicine and send her to school. It’s a cruel choice as both husband and wife had zero paid leaves left at work and there was no one who could take care of the kid as everyone else has work too. In Bangladesh, taking care of a child is so much easier as grandparents or other relatives are always ready to give a helping hand. As a migrant, I fear getting ill as there would be no one to take care of me or help me recover. I will be like my niece, helpless despite having relatives here.

    • Thanks for sharing, Saraf! That’s so sad that we don’t even have time to care for sick kids anymore. I don’t think this is a migration problem, even if it may affect migrants more. It’s a fundamental problem with the way we organize our society, and our life and work when parents have to make such choices and prioritize their work over the wellbeing of their children …

    • Yining Wang says:

      The sense of helplessness and loneliness, as you have mentioned, reminded me of the stories of some Chinese immigrant families in my research. Some of them felt helpless as they didn’t know how to write an English sick note when their school-aged children were ill, or how to make a call to ask for help with household issues. Actually, many newly arrived skilled Chinese migrants are struggling about multiple issues including language barriers, settlement crisis ,and childrearing duties. They at times felt emotionally broken when their busy schedule didn’t allow them to take care of some physical or mental problems occurring on their young children. I quite agree with Ingrid’s opinion that this is more a social problem than a migration problem, but this social problem may become much tougher on new immigrant minority families.

      Fortunately, there are always some inspiring stories happening around. One Chinese migrant in my previous research, who was a medical professional in China, had been mentally suffering from his de-skilled job for quite a few years. He worked very hard to study a medical university degree in Australia while still being the main bread-earner for his family. At the age of nearly fifty, he got the medical degree, secured a job he likes in a good hospital in Sydney, at the eighth year of migration.

      Life is hard, especially for migrants, but also give people a beam of light.

  • Sihoon Yang says:

    When I first went to the United States back in 2011, I spoke English well enough to skip the ESL courses but I could not communicate well with the other kids because they spoke too fast and they used a lot of slang words. I went abroad to a state called Minnesota which was almost 90% Caucasian at the time, there were very few African Americans, Asians, and Hispanics. I was young at the time so I did not pay attention to the racism that happened around me but looking back, America is still quite divided in terms of stereotypes as well as those who cannot speak English well or new to the area. Thank you, this article reminded me of when I first went to America and there are many more people with experiences similar to mine. I hope that more people read about things related to this and learn about what it means to go to another country and starting a new life there.

  • An Ng says:

    One of the main reason why I made the decision to study in Australia is because of my family here. Some of my relatives have been living in Australia for over 2 decades. Therefore, their support during my initial days in Sydney has helped me a lot to become familiar with the life here. I believe one of the challenges of being a migrant is to hold onto your cultural identity. My uncle is a great example of someone who can still manage to keep Vietnamese tradition alive in a country with diverse community like Australia. On Full Moon days, he always makes sure that every family member gathers to visit the temple and pay respects to our ancestors. Last week, my cousin and I went to a Vietnamese traditional concert which provoked a sense of Vietnamese heritage within me. The life of a migrants has its ups and downs, but staying closely connected with our family allows us to preserve our countries identities despite being far from our homelands.

    • Thanks, An Ng, for sharing! Having family and an initial place “to land” makes a huge difference, for sure; by contrast, pioneering migrants who arrive without an established community etc. often do it the toughest.

    • Mahaan says:

      Identity issues are impacted by bilingualism and multilingualism: After migrating to a new country, one must deal with unexpected situations. One of the many difficulties is preserving one’s identity and adhering to the culture in a foreign country. I found it incredible that an immigrant who moved to a new country would have to struggle to maintain their identity. A person may adopt the language and culture of a new place, but he longs to preserve both at the same time. One becomes rich in culture yet struggles with identity.

    • An Ng says:

      One of the challenges of being a migrant is to hold onto cultural identity. Rich in culture but poor in identity. I have read an article about the development of the Vietnamese diaspora identity in Australia. The study also delves into the challenges faced by migrants and is influenced by several factors like class, gender, generation, and regional background. It mentions the influence of intra-group tensions and transnational ties on diaspora identity. I can personally attest to the importance of these dynamics, even though the article doesn’t go into great detail about them. Older generations prioritize maintaining Vietnamese customs, like my uncle, who wants to celebrate Full Moon Day and have family dinners together. It is evident that there are generational tensions between older immigrants and younger people who were born and raised in Australia. My niece, on the other hand, rarely makes it to family gatherings or family dinners because she occasionally goes out to parties with friends. Conflicts and tensions within the family or community may result from this. Many overseas Vietnamese maintain strong transnational ties through language. My uncle’s family continues to speak Vietnamese at home to ensure their children are bilingual and can communicate with family in Vietnam. This language connection can lead to cultural identity. Some members of the Vietnamese diaspora in Australia also provide financial support to family members living in Vietnam. It is a significant transnational tie and contributes to keeping strong family connections across borders.

      Baldassar, L., Pyke, J., & Ben-Moshe, D. (2017). The Vietnamese in Australia: diaspora identity, intra-group tensions, transnational ties and ‘victim’ status. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 43(6), 937-955. doi:10.1080/1369183X.2016.1274565

  • Dory says:

    I am a Bangladeshi, currently living in Australia for educational purpose. As a temporary migrant, I would say being a migrant is a complicated journey by itself. Australia is now my home, but I still find difficulty in shedding the nostalgic sense of my home country. While Australia is helping me to build a new perspective about the world and letting me come across different cultures, traditions, and values, I still sometimes find myself missing home, my roots, comfort and my memories back home. As I was reading the article, the line “To go overseas is not easy; to stay overseas is hard; and to return to China is even harder” made me think harder about all the other immigrants who are facing even more difficulties all around the world. Thankfully, I didn’t have to face communication issues and I mostly enjoy being part of the multicultural society in Australia. However, I had to adapt to new ways of life. For example, I have learned to carry tote bags everywhere in order to save money on buying bags every time I do grocery or other shopping. I have also found out how liberating it is to travel in public transports in ease and I always don’t have to keep an eye on my belongings. I am learning through the challenges as I am trying to find employment and also the educational system is quite different than my home country. The shopping mall hours is a struggle at times because the shops in my country closes around 8/9 and I am not used to getting everything done by 5/6. Overall, I believe this experience is helping me to grow personally as I am interacting with people of diverse backgrounds and at the same time I am also understanding the value of support and opinions outside my community.

    Being a migrant is surely not an easy thing as I often find myself torn between the two homes. I am enjoying the journey of self-discovery but I also feel that sometimes I am stuck between two identities of myself.

    • Thanks, Dory, for sharing these detailed observations! It’s often the little things and habits that give us the deepest sense of belonging or otherwise … and that make not only migrants but also returnees really easy to spot – they carry themselves differently in ways that are sometimes hard to put into words … at any rate enjoy your journey of discovery!

      • Anonymous says:

        I faced a similar challenge when I first arrived in Australia. Particularly, the shopping hours were different, which posed a significant difficulty for me. Back in my home country, we were accustomed to shopping after office hours, but here, it’s an entirely different scenario. However, I’m now making an effort to adapt to this multicultural country and I am working on enjoying my life here. While I miss my home country, especially my family and friends, I’m finding moments of joy in my current situation. I hope you’re experiencing similar positive adjustments and enjoying your time here as well.

  • Iris says:

    This article reminds me of my aunt’s experience when she migrated to the US in 2012. Despite her previous experience working in English at an international corporation, she faced numerous challenges. However, things improved when she pursued a pharmacist diploma and later attended university. Despite the difficulties of integrating into a new society in her 40s, she adapted well to her studies and made remarkable progress. She will soon graduate with a bachelor’s degree in laboratory technique and currently works as a translator at a hospital, aiding Vietnamese patients who struggle with English. Working as a translator in a hospital helped her financially and expanded her professional network. Therefore, she can assure herself not forgetting her mother-tongue language. Meanwhile, her children faced linguistic struggles after moving at a young age, resulting in a shift from Vietnamese to English as their primary language. While they understand Vietnamese, their pronunciation carries an American accent. Their adaptation to the US culture and language has been an interesting journey.
    Migrating is a difficult movement that requires much effort from migrants. If they can integrate the languages and cultures, they will soon find a second place to call home. It is a memorable chapter of one’s life despite the result of being able to claim permanent residential status or not.

    • Thanks, Iris, for sharing your aunt’s experience and also that of her children. As you say, life stage is so important in migration; have you seen Yulan’s comment below about the challenges faced by elderly migrants?

  • Yulan says:

    I used to work as a volunteer in a nursing home in Australia, focusing on helping elderly Chinese people who have language difficulties. Most of them migrated to Australia to be with their children. However, due to the busy schedules of their children, they were sent to nursing homes for better care. However, this is not the case. I often see elderly Chinese people sitting alone in nursing homes, sunbathing in the sun and staring into the distance. When I asked them about their feelings about migrating to Australia, most of them replied that they regretted it and were unhappy. Most of them answered that they regretted and were unhappy. Most of their relatives and friends were in China and they were lonely without their children. In my opinion, for young people, emigration may be a new environment with new opportunities, but for the elderly, leaving the familiar living environment may not a good choice.

    • Thanks, Yulan, for sharing this experience! The thing about migration is that it not only affects migrants themselves but also their family members left behind, as in the examples you describe. Seems like these elderly people are lonely in Australia but if they had stayed back in China, they might also feel lonely and miss their children … when the parents of migrants get old, there often is no good choice for them, and staying or leaving can be equally fraught …

    • Jaehoon Kim says:

      Hi, Yulan. I think I can relate to your experience. I may not be old enough to fully understand how the elderly migrants in Australia feel, but as you know, I believe that living abroad does not always motivate you to stay in a new environment. Having come to Australia to experience different cultures and make a better life for yourself, I would say, loneliness is an inevitable feeling for all migrants regardless of their age. Especially in the Chinese elderly whom you mentioned, they are more likely to feel lonely and unhappy as they may have been enduring a worse environment in which the view of foreigners or Asians was not good, and they had to bear with it for their family or themselves. I did realise that in the moment when the different cultures meet each other and then new complex cultures and languages are created, a myriad of commitment and challenges from migrants to settle in, or survive, may form the basis of language and culture in contact.

      Thank you for your experience!

    • Yulan says:

      After I finished this course, I had new ideas. Although immigration can be accompanied by loneliness, choosing to immigrate to a new environment is undoubtedly brave as well. As we talked about in the previous class, immigration can also be related to romance, where one party comes to live in the other party’s city out of love. For couples from the same country, it is inevitable that there will be quarrels and disagreements in their daily lives, let alone couples from two cultures. And even if it wasn’t for love, I would still admire those who chose to immigrate – after all, immigration crosses cultures, languages and geography.

  • Ashiqur Rahman says:

    Moving from Bangladesh around 40 days ago has been quite an experience for me. Sometimes, I hear a song or smell something that reminds me so much of home. But then there are moments when everything seems so new and different. Reading about Chinese migrants in Australia got me thinking. They faced challenges and changes, just like I am now. It’s tough at times, but their stories give me hope. It feels good to know others have gone through the same and made it. I’m hopeful I’ll find my place here too.

    • Good luck, Ashiqur! The first few weeks and months in a new country are often the hardest. One of the migrants who we met for the research that went into Life in a new language, a young man from Pakistan, lost 17kg in weight during the first few months of this stay in Australia because he missed his family so much and was so stressed. That was over 20 years ago – he soon recovered, got an advanced degree, and when I last met him about 15 years ago he had just started a job with a major international corporation and seemed really happy. I’m sure life has continued to have its ups and down for him, as it does for everyone, but he certainly left the hardship of his early months well and truly behind him …

    • Sharmaine says:

      Hi! Thanks for sharing, Ashiquir! I actually feel the same way and I think it’s completely natural. I moved here two months ago and I’m still homesick. I’ve realized that challenges are always in the beginning and finding comfort in the experiences of others who have faced the same challenges is a good way to stay resilient. I explore my surroundings and step out of my comfort zone, and then I can establish connections and acquaintances within the area. Let’s stay hopeful and keep pushing forward!

  • Panda Girl says:

    This quote gave me goosebumps: “To go overseas is not easy; to stay overseas is hard; and to return to China is even harder.”
    When Japan invaded China sometime in the 1930s, my grandfather was lucky enough to board a ship from China to the Philippines with his mother. I remember chilling stories of how Japanese soldiers stole my grandfather’s brothers to fight for Japan as frontliner soldiers (no one ever heard from them again) and the only reason that my grandfather survived was because my great grandmother had buried him alive in a crate and dug him back out when the soldiers have left. This anecdote is important to me and this topic because in my grandfather’s case, migration was done as a means of survival.
    200 words is not enough to summarize what it means to be a migrant. Each Chinese-Filipino (Chinoy) generation in my family had different struggles and I could write about it all day. But in short:
    First generation (grandfather): Completely new to a land where he spoke 0% of the language. Identified as Chinese in a foreign country. He felt lucky, but devastated at the same time because of “survivor’s guilt” and being displaced.
    Second generation (my father): Spoke Chinese better than Filipino or English, he didn’t feel like he belonged in the Philippines. But since he was raised in the Philippines, he identified as Chinese-Filipino. He surrounded himself with people of the same background as him, that is, Chinoys whose parents escaped from the Japanese invaders.
    Third generation (me!): I don’t feel like a migrant at all. By blood, I am 75% Chinese and 25% Filipino (my mom is half Chinese and half Filipino), but in soul, I identify more as being Filipino. Sometimes though, because of the way I look and some differences in culture, I get the occasional “go back to your country!” racist remarks so it feels as though I don’t belong. Then again, when I lived in China, I didn’t feel like I fully belonged there either. At some point in my life, I felt like a person with no home country, but looking at it in better lighting, I actually have two home countries! I enjoy multicultural societies so much that I actually plan to migrate someplace where diversity is one of the norms. How hard can it be to migrate in my case when all at the same time, I already feel like I belong everywhere and nowhere? It’s a confusing concept to grasp, but I barely see country borders now and feel that I have the capacity to be dropped off anywhere and adapt. My futuristic utopian view of migration is one where it doesn’t exist and everyone is a “world citizen”.

    • Thanks, Panda Girl, for sharing your family’s story! Seems like you could write a book! Totally agree that the world might be a better place without borders …

    • Blueberry Yogurt says:

      Thank you for sharing your background and the story of your family. In particular, I am so sorry to hear about how your great grandfather saved his son and how your grandfather was survived from the harsh wartime that ruthless Japanese imperialism had brought about.
      In fact, my grandparents were survivors of that time too. Korea was colonized for about 35 years by Japan from 1910 until 1945. During that time, Japan deprived not only of the rights of freedom of speech, assembly, the press but also, food, natural resources, and minerals particularly iron for making ammunition used for the war. Korea back then was so poor that my grandparents believed moving to Japan would give them and their children good opportunities. They moved to Osaka in 1943 and they worked as a construction site worker and a housekeeper. Their Japanese was too poor to understand. One day, my grandmother was cleaning the house of her employer. The owner of the house had a son aged 9 or 10. He asked her to bring him something, but she didn’t understand. Instead, she just smiled. And the son immediately hit her face as hard as he could… (I am not talking about this to show how bad the boy was. But, I would like to bring this up how hard it was to live in another country as an immigrant.)
      As a kid, I was told about this story hundreds of times instead of bedtime stories. I guess it must have been deeply engraved on her how humiliating it was and how many tears she held in as an immigrant.
      And I love your optimistic point of the future. We do have the borders but, think about it. This world we are living in is connected and culturally intertwined. We should all try to acknowledge that we are one of the world citizens. I believe it makes the world a better place.

      • Thanks for sharing your grandparents’ story! Stories such as these are a constant reminder of the importance of the fight against racism, discrimination and, ultimately, borders. I hope they found some peace in their lives and that this “bedtime story” inspired your intercultural communication journey in a positive way.

  • Mamduha Hossain Sharita says:

    This reminds me of my sister-in-law who migrates to South Korea as my brother-in-law live there for work purpose. She was telling me how hard it was for her to adjust there. Though there was her husband who was known to the environment there. Despite that, she struggled a lot with one child. as back in Bangladesh there were a lot of people who helped her in every work. But in South Korea, she has to do all things all alone. She didn’t even know the Korean language which made her thing much worse. Wherever she goes she needs her husband with her. She couldn’t do anything without her husband. Now after 4 years of living in South Korea, she knows the basic Korean language which is making her life there much easier. But she still couldn’t manage a job because she was not fluent in that language. So for a migrant, they had to face cultural differences, language problems, job problems, and had to do all thing by themselves.

    • Thanks, Mamduha, for sharing! Many of the women we interviewed for Life in a new language had a similar experience: their work load just got so much more in the migration contexts without extended family around to help. At the same time, they became so much more dependent on their husbands. For instance, your sister-in-law’s story resonates with that of Shirley from Sudan: https://twitter.com/Lg_on_the_Move/status/1669555534779805696

    • Sihoon Yang says:

      Hello Mamduha, my name is Sihoon and thank you for sharing your story.

      I am sorry to hear that your sister-in-law had such a hard time in Korea. As a Korean, I have seen Koreans act quite rashly and provokingly towards foreigners, especially people who are from South Asian or Southeast Asian countries. Koreans tend to have as much of a judgemental attitude as people in English speaking countries such as The United States.
      Your comment extended my thinking by giving me yet another example that it is not just about the rest of the world versus the English speaking countries when it comes to being discriminated but it also applies to groups that occupy very different regions, like Bangladesh and Korea. Because Korea has experienced an economic boom in recent times, the way people think cannot follow the trend of the modern world at times. There are also many undocumented immigrants that come from other countries and people tend to have a negative view towards foreigners in general. The older generation especially, grew up experiencing wars and colonization by the Japanese which gave them little opportunity to be understanding towards different ethnic groups coming to Korea. Nevertheless, I hope to extend my thinking even further by hearing more experiences by foreigners living in Korea so that I can understand more aspects of what life is like for them.

      Hope your sister-in-law is doing well in Korea 🙂

      -Sihoon Yang-

    • Mamduha Hossain Sharita says:

      I think being an immigrant has so many positive aspects as well, what I have learned from this unit is that Language and culture are closely connected to one’s identity. Immigrants have the opportunity to learn and adapt to new cultures and languages. They also learn new social customs and behaviors. I have also noticed that immigrants have the tendency to try to preserve their native language for their future generation and they learn different strategies to that. So I think this unit helps to better understand the complexities of language and culture in a multicultural setting.

  • benjaminfox says:

    This is such a good read, Ingrid. I like how “Dragon Seed in the Antipodes” elucidates the deeply rooted struggle between identity and language preservation among migrants. Australia is good at celebrating multiculturalism in terms of food and expression, but I think language ideologies about English make it difficult for successive generations to retain their heritage languages. Many heritage languages have disappeared in Australia, and the number of speakers of a language, I feel, may be more representative of migrant waves than community interest in a language. Vietnamese, for example, which many migrants and their families used in the 70s and 80s, may fade from many Australian linguistic landscapes has decreased in total number of speakers. The same events happened with Italian and Greek, two of the largest languages other than English, resulting from post-WWII migration; they are also fading out of use as new generations aren’t provided with the resources to learn their heritage language.

    • So true! Some language groups are being replenished by new waves of immigration (such as Vietnamese) but that doesn’t change the general pattern of intergenerational language loss you describe.

  • Mazhar says:

    It’s an interesting to read this article because they have explained their hardships as an immigrants. Its very difficult to maintain their identities as some call you Chinese or by other identities. Those immigrants who have been able to resolve their financials issues are happy to move from one country to the other. Being a migrant is difficult to live and being as as student migrant, it is more hard to live because you are separated from your families and loved ones. You have to adopt a new culture, language and new way of life. You have to built new social network so that you feel relaxed all the time. You have to manage all the work and study by yourself.

    • Thanks, Mazhar, for eloquently describing the loneliness that many migrants experience! You are right that there is no one “migrant experience” – so many different contexts, challenges, hopes, and dreams …

  • Durian says:

    In my view, a migrant is someone who makes the courageous choice to leave behind their entire life in pursuit of a fresh start in a new place. During the early 1980s, my grandparents made the life-changing decision to immigrate to Australia. This decision stemmed from my grandfather’s concerns about the insecurity in South Korea and the looming possibility of war. He embarked on this journey with my grandmother and their three children, one of whom is my mother.

    Their arrival in Australia marked the beginning of an entirely new chapter in their lives, one my grandfather would never regret. I often express my gratitude to him for providing us with the opportunity to live in Australia, a decision that was far from easy. This sense of gratitude runs deep within our family.

    Consequently, when my mother encounters individuals who have also come to Australia seeking a better life, she feels compelled to offer them support and assistance. My grandfather’s unwavering commitment to learning English and his constant encouragement to “never stop learning” have left a lasting impression on us.

    Reflecting on this article, I am profoundly thankful to call Australia home as a result of my grandfather’s journey as a migrant.

    • Thanks, Durian, for sharing! It’s good to hear of your sense of gratitude to your grandparents and appreciation of their struggles and sacrifice. I agree with you that it’s the responsibility of those of us who are well-settled to help newcomers adjust and help smooth their paths.

  • J i F says:

    My Thai uncle, an Australian citizen, migrated to Australia in 1963. He mentioned he was after his debtor who fled to Sydney, while searching, he worked hard to settle in. Soon after, he brought his family from Thailand. His children grew up here, started a family and have continued their next generation.

    He told me that ‘Thai immigrant’ can be divided into 3 waves. The first wave is Thai diaspora era in the 60s; the second wave is their children, which migrated afterwards or was born in Australia; and the third is Gen Y&Z who migrate without having their ancestors settled, struggle on their own, and aim for the best for their children.

    Like other Asians, Thais also experienced racism during the white Australian policy period. The first wave hit it hard on discrimination. Only later, when Australia’s tolerance for racial diversity increased, did the 2nd and 3rd-wave assimilate with less effort, e.g., building own ethnic community to support each other in Haymarket. Therefore, later generations do not feel that being Thai is a curse or a shame. They can show their identity. Nowadays, there are over 50,000 Thai people living in Sydney, a popular ‘first destination’ among new waves.

    • Thanks for sharing, Jif! Really helpful to hear about the various generations of Thai immigrants and their different experiences. Although Thais may not be as large a migrant group as some others, I feel they are very visible given the popularity of Thai food. What would Sydney be without Thai restaurants?!

  • Sharmaine says:

    My friend moved to Perth, Australia in 2018, leaving the Philippines in search of better economic opportunities. He faced a lot of challenges in adjusting to a new place and culture, learning a new language, and navigating unfamiliar systems. To overcome this, he strived hard to establish connections and acquaintances within his community. This simple yet meaningful act not only relieved his homesickness but also enriched his understanding of the world. My friend’s journey taught him the value of being open-minded as he welcomed the various cultures and ideas he experienced. Now, as time has passed, he is filled with a profound sense of happiness and contentment about his decision to move to Australia.

  • Luna says:

    My opinion is that being a migrant is the way to be grow as a person, learn about other countries, and find new chances. When someone moves to a new country, they have to find a way to move forward and still holding on to their heritage in the same time.
    Being a Thai migrant is very challenging based on my neighbour experience. She told me that the easiest way to get the permanent visa is marriage but for her is not because she spent almost 6 or 7 years to succeed, she made it through her skills as an early childhood teacher. She said her life in Thailand has not fulfilled her goals the reason of her migration is to have a better life.
    I think her story shows me how hard to be a migrant, motivated by her desire for a better life and lack of progress in Thailand. In the end, being a migrant shows how strong you are, how well of your adaptability and how much you want a better future.

    • Thanks, Luna, for sharing your neighbor’s experience! Good to know she got PR on the back of her skills and qualifications. For some people it takes such a long time even to achieve the visa that is right for them …

  • Hao says:

    As a temporary migrant (I hope you count it), Vietnamese culture has always influenced me, and I need to adjust “my Vietnamese culture” to the new living environment. For example, we usually drive or work on the right side in Vietnam. Now, I’m getting used to going on the left side. Or when I go to the supermarket in Vietnam, a cashier helps me scan products, but in Australia, I can do it myself (which I feel is more convenient).

    However, thanks to Australia, a multicultural and ethnic country, I can meet many Vietnamese people studying or working here and use Vietnamese to talk to my fellow citizens. So, how could I forget my mother tongue? In addition, there are a few suburbs called “Little Saigon” where many Vietnamese people live and sell products or food from Vietnam. Therefore, it is not difficult for people like us who are far from home to enjoy the food of our homeland. Also, Vietnamese people still celebrate important holidays, such as Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year) in Australia, which helps us preserve traditions and not forget our roots.

  • Thi Thu Ha Pham says:

    When I was in Vietnam, I used to work at an English center, where I met many colleagues from different parts of the world. One of them is Stewart, who is from South Africa. He shared with me a lot about the beautiful experience of living and working in Vietnam. However, in the beginning, he also struggled to get along. He could not speak English when he went to the market because not many Vietnamese people could communicate in English. Time flies, he learned more Vietnamese vocabulary for basic daily needs when he went to the market or restaurants. He also found a Vietnamese girlfriend who taught him a lot about Vietnamese culture. Moreover, he also taught Vietnamese students different cultural aspects of South Africa in his English lessons. There were many challenges in the new chapter of his life, but eventually, he found a reason to love a new country, his second home, Vietnam.

  • Chloe Ng says:

    Thanks for sharing this interesting article, Ingrid. It reminds me of the book I read- All That’s Left Unsaid. It also depicts the life of Asian migrants in Australia. However, when coming to Sydney and integrating into the lifestyle here, I think the situation has changed.
    Even though living in a multicultural context where there are various people from different backgrounds, I’m confident that my culture is not blended. My teacher and friends showed great respect to my traditional values: they asked me how to say some daily expressions in Vietnamese, they tried the traditional food I made and they wanted to know about our cultural practices. I feel like coming to Australia is also a good way to introduce the values of my country to friends around the world. In return, having opportunities to learn about other countries’ traditions and values, I also widened my horizon from a migrant’s perspective.
    From my experience, Australian life is not a “melting pot” where people need to give up their values, languages and cultures in order for better integration, it is a “salad bowl” where each culture serves as an indispensable ingredient to complete a unique dish. I believe that this is one of the main reasons why a number of people have a tendency to migrate to Australia in recent years: migrants’ identities are respected and welcomed as part of this country.

    • Good to hear of your positive experiences, Chloe! Australia is a good place to live, that’s for sure 🙂

    • Yining Wang says:

      I like the terms your used – “melting pot” and “salad bowl”. From my perspective, Australia is both a “a melting pot” and “a salad bowl”. For me, the part of “melting pot” lies in the witness that the second-generation is losing the confidence in using their heritage languages, but the part of “a salad bowl” exists due to the visibility of the celebration of different cultures, and customs.

  • Arghavan says:

    I absolutely relate to the line “To go overseas is not easy; to stay overseas is hard; and to return to China is even harder”. I went through various phases of being a migrant even though I did not have communication difficulties (well for the accent in the beginning only) and entered Australia as an international student. At first, I felt somehow alienated while on the train or elevator, always alert, uncomfortable when socializing, and especially in cases of answering where I’m from or how long I’ve been in Australia.
    All of the mentioned above come along with a sense of curiosity and adventurousness though! A dual feeling of gaining and losing bits of yourself. But I know that I am trying to make a home here as much as I know that the place I used to call home, can never be home again. Somewhere in between with no home anymore!

    • Thanks, Arghavan! Many of the migrants I interviewed for my research eventually settled on a definition of “home” that involved a local place where they felt comfortable, where they had family and friends etc., and they stopped thinking of countries when they thought of home … good luck with your journey!

    • Yining Wang says:

      I think I can sympathise with your “dual feeling of gaining and losing bits of yourself” as well as the sense of “in-between”. For me, both Australia and China are important, but that does not mean I enjoy everything in the two countries. When I am in Australia, I do miss the prosperous city life in China; when I am in China, I alway miss the simple relations between people in Australia.

      • Thanks, Yining, for responding! That’s the thing about being a migrant – you can never go back to a time before and you’ll always end up missing something of the other place …

  • Saya says:

    As one of the people who came to Australia, I would like to say that living in a different country gives us a great perspective on each nation. I’ve always dreamed of residing in various countries to gain more experience and knowledge about them. Since arriving here, I’ve enjoyed life in Australia, but at the same time, my love for Japan has deepened even more. This is because many things I have encountered in Australia have allowed me to view Japan more objectively. I feel how lucky I am because living in a diverse country like Australia provides me with a wonderful opportunity to learn from and interact with different cultures.

    I guess that my feelings will always belong to Japan even if I live in Australia for longer than I’ve ever spent a year in Japan, but that might change in the future. Being a migrant is not always easy due to language and cultural differences. However, I hope that these decisions will ultimately bring great fulfillment to our lives.

  • Daisy says:

    Being a migrant often involves leaving one’s home country and settling in a new and foreign land. This can bring a mix of opportunities and challenges. Here are some insights into the experiences and challenges that Malayalis or individuals from Kerala, India, may face when migrating to Australia or any other country.
    Being a Malayali in Australia, or a member of any immigrant community in a foreign country, often involves a unique blend of cultural experiences and challenges:

    Cultural Diversity: Australia is known for its multicultural society, but adjusting to a new cultural environment can still be a significant challenge. Malayalis, like any other immigrant group, may have to adapt to different cultural norms, food, and social practices while preserving their own cultural identity.

    Language: Language can be a barrier for many migrants. While English is the primary language in Australia, proficiency can vary, and Malayali migrants might need to improve their English language skills for employment and social integration.

    Education: Families with children may need to consider the education system in Australia and how it aligns with their expectations and experiences from Kerala. This includes understanding school curricula, extracurricular activities, and higher education opportunities.

    Homesickness and Emotional Challenges: Many migrants, regardless of their background, experience homesickness and emotional challenges when they are far from their home country, family, and friends. This can impact mental health and well-being.

  • lily says:

    Thanks for your sharing of this article, although I am from China, I still not familiar with Chinese migrants as I just study in Australia for a short time. After reading this article, I thought of a sitcom I had seen before —Fresh off the Boat (this sitcom is about the life of a Chinese-American family). I remember one episode was about the mother feeling like they forgot they were from China and their lifestyle became very American. She thought it was terrible that they forgot their history, so she started wearing traditional Chinese clothing, preparing Chinese-style food for her family, and sending her sons to learn Chinese. But they have been used to the lifestyle of the United States, the whole family very much rejected her approach, and in the end, she also thinks it is not right. This migrant family is very typical example, it is really difficult to keep Chinese habits for these persons who live in another country over two generations. However, the culture and society of immigrant countries (like America and Australia) can become colorful because of the migrants.

    • Thanks, Lily! Would you consider yourself a (temporary) migrant?

      • lily says:

        Actually,I don’t think I am a temporary migrant as I know I just live here for 2 years. I feel more like a tourist than an immigrant, coming here to experience life for a while. The reason is that I think the core issue of migrant is the identity issues. migrants may struggling with their identity in their new country and the connections to their original country. They also have to consider their future in this new country. For me, however, I just need to enjoy the new things and different culture in this new country. As I mentioned before, the mother in that sitcom want to keep some Chinese habits as she want they can remember where they come from. The identity issues is the matter migrants have to deal with.

        • Interesting perspective – reminds me of a Frenchman I met some time ago. We got chatting and I told him that my research was about migrants and their language learning experiences. His response was that he could not imagine what that was like and that he could never be a migrant; and he himself was just a visitor in Australia – turned out he had been a “visitor” for 27 years at that point 😉

          • Saya says:

            This is a very interesting perspective for me as well because I also feel like a tourist. It’s been six months since I came to Australia. I have my own room, attend university, and earn money. I have established my life here in Australia. Even though it might be temporary, I can say that I have migrated to this country. However, I still feel like just a visitor.

            I guess that I will truly feel like I have migrated to another country when I live in a place for a longer period, or as you mentioned, when I encounter situations where I want to pass on my own culture to my children in this new country. Furthermore, at the same time, I would understand how challenging it is to pass it down.

  • Melisa says:

    Being a migrant certainly faces many challenges. I will share some stories from my cousin and friend so that you can see the lens of many people when immigrating to another country.

    4 months ago, I had the opportunity to get to know a colleague at work. She is 36 years old and immigrated to Australia to reunite with her husband. She didn’t know English except saying “hi, hello” so she had to work at a Vietnamese nail shop and accepted a low salary below the regulations. When she came here, she brought their two small children. When she arrived, she did not know English to communicate. Everywhere She goes, She needs her husband to drive her, even to the market. The sad thing is that she discovered that her husband was having an affair, so she was more stressed than ever and now her joy is her two children. However, according to her, since arriving in Australia, the two of them have become quieter and rarely confide in her. They are taciturn and probably too busy with new relationships and adapting to new environments to bother with their mother. Because she was so stressed, she wanted to give up everything and go back to Vietnam to stay with her relatives there and continue her job selling “pho”.

    Another case is my brother. My brother came to America at the age of 28 for family reunification. In Vietnam, to be honest, he is a laid-back person and does not know English. When he arrived, he worked as a nail technician with his mother and gradually learned to communicate in English. Now he seems to have become a different person. He becomes more mature in thinking and more diligent, and he also opens his nail salon. He studied to do nails in his nearly 30s, dealt with customers, adapted new language, opened his business, bought a house, and got married. Of course, only he understands the hardships in the adaptation process but for him, he doesn’t regret moving to the US.

    I want to say that being a migrant is both a joy and a pain. Most migrants (including migrants thanks to the skilled immigration policy) come from countries with poorer economies and are forced to leave because they want to help their families, find a ticket to change their lives, or want to reunite with relatives. They not only leave behind family and relatives in their homeland but also face cultural and language barriers in new places.

    • Thanks, Melisa, for sharing these two stories! I feel so sad for your cousin – not knowing the language is so hard and leaves people so vulnerable. Does she know that as a family reunion migrant, she would be eligible for free English language lessons in the AMEP and probably for some government assistance if she broke up with her husband? I hope she can find a decent job where she is paid properly and a good solution that will keep her and her children safe!
      Btw, you might find this old article about the sociolinguistics of nailcare interesting: https://www.languageonthemove.com/the-sociolinguistics-of-nail-care/

  • Helena says:

    That is a great article. When thinking about being a migrant, I will think about the challenges people might face and the result they might get. I haven’t had any experience about this situation yet, but I meet lots of my relatives who are migrants and living in the USA now. In the past, people in Vietnam tried to find many ways to go and stay abroad because of the poor and the war in my country. My relatives usually talk about how hard and the problems they have been through. Luckily, at the end, they are American now because they’ve already got PR. I think “you get what you pay for”. Language barriers and culture barriers might be the most problems that Asian people could face when they move to new countries. They might feel scared when communicating with local people as they don’t want to make mistakes or sometimes they can’t get the meaning of the idea when talking. They’re also afraid because they don’t understand the difference between these cultures. However, I believe that if they can try to overcome these difficulties, they will get on well with their new lives.

    • Thanks, Helena! Life is complicated for everyone and moving to another country and trying to make a life in another language just adds another layer of complication; but, as you say, no risk, no fun 😉

      • Helena says:

        Last week I talked with an Indian man about how hard he had been through his first year in the USA. He told me the problems he had been facing not only came from local people but also from the countryman. Actually, it is also a bad situation with Vietnamese people, especially Vietnamese students. Because they are still young and they do not know a lot about this country, they are often the most susceptible to fraud. In the beginning, you will have to endure a lot of verbal violence from people around you. Many international students go to work and do not receive adequate wages. Therefore, people will pretend that they have lived here for a long time to avoid being oppressed and discriminated against. Even if your English is not good enough or you don’t have the British accent, you might easily become an object of teasing. Many people are teased and ridiculed because of their pronunciation or accent, leading them to become shy and try to get away from communication with people around them. Anyway, I know that is really difficult to live in a new country with different cultures, but try our best and remember that “Today is hard, tomorrow will be worse but the day after tomorrow will be sunshine.”

  • Yeon says:

    The suggested topic has led me to reflect on my experiences living in Australia. My situation differs from that of Chinese mentioned in the article, as I came here for a period of study and after my master’s course, I plan to return my home country. However, the feeling of not fitting into Australian society would be the same. When I first arrived in Australia, I faced challenges due to the unfamiliarity of languages, culture, and social system. I often felt like an outsider and struggled to fully integrated into the society. I have been putting in effort to adapting myself to new circumstances. Nevertheless, there are certainly positive aspects of experiencing a different way of life. As for my daughter, she is dealing with her own challenges in terms of her English and cannot communicate effectively at school. However, I believe that attending a school with diverse classmates from various ethnic backgrounds will provide her with a valuable and meaningful experience. It will help her gain a broader perspective on the world and deeper understanding of different cultures.

    • Thanks, Yeon! I think it’s not unusual for contemporary migrants to not envision themselves in the destination “forever” but to consider return migration and/or onward migration. Of the 130 migrants to Australia we studied for our forthcoming book Life in a new language coming to Australia was the second international migration for almost half of them, and many considered returning/moving on to a third county. For those who wanted to return, having children settled here often was a key factor in decisions to stay … hope it all works out well for you and your family!

    • Dilys says:

      Hi Yeon, I understand the challenges of adjusting to a new nation and culture. I am fortunate that you and I were able to study together in the ELP course, where we built close relationships with friends from diverse cultural backgrounds and treated each other like a big family. That meaningful and helpful experience allowed me to gradually and emotionally immerse myself in Australian culture and get to know my “second family.” Besides, you also mentioned your daughter, which reminds me of how students in Australia are taught to respect other students’ cultures and skin color. My house is close to an elementary school, so I can observe students playing together regardless of accent, ethnicity, culture, or tradition. All of these beautiful aspects have shaped Australia as a multicultural and beautiful nation.

  • Blueberry Yogurt says:

    Back in February 2020, when Covid 19 hit Korea, most of the people in South Korea had a 2-week quarantine for a preventive action. I was searching for some good books to fight off the boredom. Luckily, I came across this book called ‘Pachinko’. It was exceptionally eccentric because not only the title is a Japanese word for a gambling machine (mostly for slot machines) but, the author also has a Korean name ‘Min Jin Lee’, and you know what? Where I found this book was on Amazon books, the international online bookstore! It was one of the best-selling books in New York.

    The book starts with a sentence “History has failed us, but no matter.” This book is an epic historical novel about Koreans who moved to Japan in the period of Japanese Occupation and how they settled and made a living there. In this novel, racism, discrimination and bullying towards Koreans in Japan are well depicted. The author ‘Min Jin Lee’ was born in Seoul and when she was 7, her family immigrated to America. When growing up, she had her own struggles as one from a poor immigrant family. Later, she got intrigued by the life of Korean Japanese people who went through the whirlwind of history; Japanese Occupation period, Great Kantō earthquake and Korean war as outcast aliens living in Japan.

    As a matter of fact, my grandparents were one of them. They were so poor that they believed moving to Japan would give them good opportunities. They moved to Osaka in 1943 and they worked as a construction site worker and a housekeeper. They lived there for 13 years. They came back to Seoul, Korea and had my mom.
    Back in my childhood, as I recall, my grandmother spoke a weird language. My sister and I couldn’t understand a word that she was saying. When we didn’t understand her, she just smiled. It seemed like only my mom could understand her words. My grandmother spoke Korean with lots of Japanese words. For example, trousers are Baji (바지) in Korean but she said Ssbong (ズボン) and to bind something together is Muktta (묶다) in Korean she said Musbi (お結び). There are many more.

    In the forum held in Radcliff institute in 2019, Min Jin Lee said “if we are honest about our history, then we can begin to consider reconciliation.”

    Reference
    https://youtu.be/0zkfDiq7AHU?si=2xwYmVw53elbA0Ig

    • Thanks for sharing! I love Min Jin Lee’s work, too. My favorite is Free Food for Millionaires, which is set among the Korean community in New York and vaguely patterned on another novel I love, George Eliott’s Middlemarch.
      So interesting to hear about your grandmother’s language – migrants often end up as outsiders and oddities in either of their countries 🙁

      • Blueberry Yogurt says:

        Thanks for your book suggestions! I have heard of the book, ‘Free food for millionaires’ written by Min Jin Lee. And I will take a look at the other book ‘Middlemarch’.

        During the earlier class, you mentioned Egon Erwin Kische and the nonsense dictation quiz. The same thing, no, I think even far worse thing happened in 1923 during Great Kantō earthquake.

        The earthquake started on Sep 1 and continued for 2 weeks.
        The earthquake was so disastrous that the prefectural government and police were worried that it might start a riot among Japanese. What they came up with was to spread the rumor to divert the attention. The rumors were Koreans living in Kantō had put some kind of poison in the wells and another rumor was that Koreans would stage a coup in the time of disturbance brought by the earthquake.

        And Japanese got furious, and they were given the power to kill any Koreans. They formed vigilante bands to kill Koreans.
        By this massacre, 6000 innocent Koreans got killed. (some historians suggested the total number of vitims can be upto 2 million.)

        The problem was that Koreans and Japanese look alike. And it was even harder to tell if one was fluent in Japanese.
        What they did was they let a Korean pronounce ‘tsu (つ)’ and Japanese vowels ‘A: “ah” · I: “ee” · U: “oo” · E: “ay” · O: “oh”.’
        Those were pronunciations that Korean people are generally not good at.
        Those who failed this pronunciation test were killed.

        The ethnic Japanese playwright Koreya Senda was targeted by a mob, and wrote of his experience in 1988.

        “…. It turned out that I was mistaken for Korean, and they wouldn’t believe me even though I denied it over and over saying, “I am Japanese…I am a student at Waseda University,” with my student ID at hand. They asked me to say “a i u e o” and recite the names of the emperors in Japanese history….Fortunately, there was a person who recognized me…..”

        It is a deeply sad thing that one’s language is used as a tool to deport or to kill.

        Reference
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kant%C5%8D_Massacre

  • Nurunnahar says:

    This article actually reminds me of my friend who moved to Australia in 2014. Being migrant to a country can be very difficult decision as one has to leave one’s home country and relocate to a new country where they have to struggle with almost everything in the beginning. When my friend moved into Australia, she had to struggle to get a proper job, adjusting with the new culture and new life style. In the beginning she found it very difficult to adapt with the culture of the country, as Australia is multicultural country, it look her a long time to adjust to these diversified culture. Moreover, she had to manage everything by her own at such a young age whereas in her home country she never had to think about house rent, electric bills etc. But here she had to manage all of these by her own. According to her these struggles made her mature and self confident enough to adjust anywhere in any situation. Furthermore, here she found some Bangladeshi-Australian community from where she got some help in many situations and this community helped her to be connected with her own culture in this country which is very fascination to her. Now whenever I meet her she says that she is grateful to her parents that they took the decision of sending her to Australia at such a young age because that one decision of them helped her to grow in her life.

  • Dilys says:

    While in Vietnam, I had the opportunity to collaborate with a German colleague, Julian. He was one of my first mentors at work, and I also witnessed his journey as he adapted to the new country – Vietnam. Julian came to Vietnam after completing his master’s program and worked as a native teacher at a high school in Ho Chi Minh City. Julian has a rebellious spirit; he goes to work on a motorcycle with a distinctive and loud exhaust, a rarity among local teachers. However, his commitment to discipline, both in his work and personal life, was equally striking. Adapting to life in Vietnam was challenging, and Julian faced many hurdles. He arrived in Vietnam independently, and the process stressed him out significantly due to the linguistic, cultural, and paperwork barriers. However, Vietnam also brought love into Julian’s life. He met his local girlfriend, who became his guide to Vietnamese life. Since then, he used chopsticks very fluently and could order food like a Vietnamese person, he also passed the motorbike driving license exam in Vietnam. He now considers Vietnam his true home, with a joyful wedding on the horizon.

  • Thuybebong says:

    Thank you so much for the insight you give on what migrants might think when they have no choice but to leave their country behind and, to some extent, adopt a new identity.
    As a migrant, I do not have any problem integrating to the new community and getting to know other people. No cultural differences come as a shock to me. I easily accept, appreciate and even cherish all the differences, including rituals, beliefs, food and so many other things. I can enjoy the food, the scenery as well as quickly adapt to the daily life and make new friends without any significant mental and physical obstacles. The reason underlying such positive attitude of mine towards a new culture is, maybe, the thought that my staying in Australia is temporary and I will come back to my motherland, where I was born and bred and where all my shoulder-to-cry-on live.
    The first tension in my brief migrant life is not with people from different cultures. In contrary, I was shocked when listening to other Vietnamese talking about my beloved country and the supposedly terrible life there. I am too young to understand the agony that forced them to leave our country so many years ago. Like the Chinese, our people also had some periods which cannot be described positively. I want to share their feelings and understand their sufferings, but it is so hard for me to be in their shoes: My current Viet Nam is so different from the one in their memories. I cannot come back in time to experience their past, and their mind are still in a long-gone sorrow. I have a country to call home, but even though we share the same language, I don’t know whether they have the same homeland as me.

    • Thank you for your precious reflections! The circumstances of one’s migration – whether forced or voluntary – certainly make a huge difference. One thing I like about Dragon Seeds in the Antipodes is that it takes a multi-generational approach and helps us understand the experiences of different people at different times …

      • Thuybebong says:

        Thank you for your thought-provoking comment. The paper-based copy of the book is available at Macquarie Uni library, and I will definitely read this to have an insight into the experiences of migrants at different times.

    • Thuybebong says:

      I am now at the end of the semester, and when looking back, I can see how my previous comment can be expanded on grounds of what I learned in seminar week 6.
      In week 6, I learned about the linguistic diversity in Australia and the history underlying this. According to the lesson, languages can be a considerable barrier for immigrants, and languages can also be deliberately used as an obstacle to prevent people from migrating to a new country, which is evident in the case of Egon Erwin Kisch and his Australian landfall. The lesson offers an intriguing perspective on how people at the host country (Australia) thought about immigrants and their languages. With the benefit of this knowledge, my previous comment reflects another barrier that migrants might have: although sharing the same language(s), migrants from the same homeland can still have opposing viewpoints and cultural identity. A person that is forced to run away from their fatherland may have a different identity from the one that voluntarily goes overseas to open their horizons.
      With the benefit of the lesson, I can see that as people come to another country under distinct circumstances and for different reasons, there may possibly be such identity contradictions among other immigrant communities. Therefore, I believe that beside reflecting on my own experience, I can expand on my previous comment by searching for materials about the same topic in the uni library and other local libraries, and asking for opinion from my classmates (I am lucky enough to have a lot of classmates from various backgrounds).

  • Robert says:

    Shortly after my parents’ divorce, we moved to Germany. I was ten years old at that time and could not speak one word of German. It was very difficult not only having to learn a new language but also being so far away from friends and the rest of my family. I had to finish 4th grade and learn to speak German to communicate with others as soon as possible. Luckily, I was tutored by my mum’s friend and also made a Polish friend at school. This helped me integrate and improve my language skills. However, it was a bumpy road as I was bullied in 4th grade due to my bodyweight and lack of athleticism. Furthermore, I had to change schools each year for the first three years in Germany. This means four schools in 4 years in a completely new country.
    Nonetheless, many years later, I am very happy that we did move to Germany and I am thankful for growing up bilingually as well as for being able to gain cultural insights.

    • Thanks for sharing, Robert! People often think that migration is much easier for kids than it is for adults. As your story shows it’s not so simple. Reminds me of this reflection by one of the dads in our forthcoming new book Life in a new language. He had brought his two children to Australia from Iran when they were 8 and 9 because he wanted better opportunities for them, but after a while he wasn’t so sure anymore that he had done the right thing: “Sometimes I really really blame myself, and I think I have done injustice to my kids. […] We say they will learn the language. The child who is let’s say in Year 2 would be 8 or 9 years old. Within these 8, 9 years, the child has learnt Persian. The Persian that mum and dad have taught them beautifully, with love and affection. You know, uncles, aunts, beautifully with love and affection. Then for this child, you want to get their English to the same level. And they are just only now beginning to learn maths, science, and this and that. This is difficult for the child. And I think this will go on forever. I mean not forever, but until the end of their childhood.”

      • Robert says:

        Thanks Ingrid. That sounds like a very interesting story and has many truths in it. I guess parents often don’t consider the impact it could have on their young children. In my case, I turned out completely fine (or so I would hope haha) but there are many new impressions and it can be a lot of pressure, especially when you don’t have your usual safety net in form of friends that speak the same language. I can definitely see how it might become overwhelming for many children and even negatively impact their mental health.

        • Thanks, Robert! Agree we should never underestimate people’s resilience … after all, the dad I quoted decided to stay in Oz with his family and the kids were doing well when we last heard from them … so the positives must have outweighed the negatives in that case, too 🙂

  • Jaehoon Kim says:

    Having talked with immigrants around me, I have found that being an immigrant can mean taking heavy responsibilities on their shoulders. Dreaming of a better life for them or their descendants, they decided to go overseas, even though it would not be easy to settle in.
    One elderly Korean who is a first-generation immigrant in Australia mentioned that the happiness of his kids was the only reason he decided to live overseas. This old man had worked as many hours as he could, and had ended up enduring racism, discrimination, alienation, and even tiredness in order to support their family. Of course, he may have been feeling valued when his kids had grown up well. Other than them, immigrants who came alone may have pressure to live , or to survive, in those countries, in which marginalisation and opportunities coexist. Meanwhile, a sense of satisfaction to live abroad may be able to cover this responsibility up. Learning new languages and cultures, meeting new people, and developing my career can be great excuses for being immigrants.

    Thank you for your interesting article!

  • Sonintsetseg says:

    In my Mongolia, all the elders say this aphorism to the young ones, “Аавын бийд хүнтэй танилц, агтны бийд газар үз” which means that “meet people when the father is there, see lands when the horse is there”. What I mean to say is that most parents sacrifice their lives to make their children’s lives the safest. Unfortunately, our country has faced economic hardship in the last decade. Therefore, our parents sent us to Australia, just like other parents. They want us to be educated and consume more than they want. On the other hand, some countries are not really pleased to live with Asians. Therefore, we chose Australia because it is safe and a lot of Asian people live here. But this community wasn’t always like this. I would like to pay respect and say thank you to the first Chinese immigrants who planted their roots here, not only for “better[ing] themselves financially and academically” (Shen, 2001, p. 95), but also for being representatives for all Asians who are going to reside in Australia in the future. Even though there are a lot of parties involved in establishing this community, I am just seeing and processing one side of it. Thank you for always reminding us of the crucial points in history, cultures, and communities.

    • Thank you for sharing this apt proverb! Paying respects to those who have come before us and helped forge a path for us is really important – and reminds us of your responsibility to future generations to leave a livable planet for them …

  • Jung Ung HWANG says:

    When I was thinking whether to extend my visa from working holiday makers to student visa to study Master’s degree in Australia, I had been not sure that it is right decision or not for rest of my life. Despite there had been already a great number of migrants from South Korea around me, I was nervous and unconfident to live in Australia and be an outsider among native English speakers. This feeling made me to attend one conference about living in Australia with Australian law launched by the embassy of South Korea, and there, I was able to meet two solicitors who might be considered as people successfully assimilate into Australian high society.

    However, the stories they talked to me were way far from what I expected. One of them introduce me the unbreakable white Australian society, where he could not get involved whatever he has done so far. He said although he did his best to be one of the members of Bar in Australia, the threshold was too high to accept one Asian barrister in the court where compose all white. I was so freaked out and hesitating to quit applying my students visa until I heard his doing currently. He told me that his shattered dreams and ambitions twinkled as like stars in different colours, which are from Korean-Australian society. The walls of reality as a lawyer, which were so high, gave him the opportunity to look back and care for those who had fallen behind and needed some help from him.

    There is no doubt that Australia is one of the best countries to live all over the world because of its governance and welfare system. And at the same time, one of the best countries where most of international students want to come and study for their personal development due to Australia advanced and high-quality education system.

    Being a migrant in other countries wherever it will be is a lonely and uphill battle. it is because that is the one way being a pioneer who makes the road for other followers.

    • Thanks for sharing! Overseas trained lawyers face significant hurdles because their degrees are not usually recognized, as we explore in our forthcoming new book Life in a new language. In fact, non-recognition of degrees is probably the most severe form of discrimination faced by migrants today – it doesn’t follow a racial logic per se but has obvious racist consequences for new migrants …
      And a good role model story in this space: the first Australian barrister of Asian ancestry was William Ah Ket (1876-1936). He practiced at the height of White Australia and fought a couple of successful anti-discrimination cases an behalf of Chinese Australians. ANU today runs the William Ah Ket Leadership program aimed at promoting Chinese-Australian lawyers.

  • China says:

    I think being a migrant you have to overcome many steps to adapt to a new place. This article reminds me of my mother. My mother is from Thailand. She moved to Japan about 25 years ago, got married to my father and raised two children, my younger brother and I, in Japan. Moving to Japan was a big step for her because she had never learned Japanese and she had no friends. I heard from her that she was struggling with everything, for example, getting a job and even shopping. However, she has learned Japanese and its culture as she has lived in Japanese society. In addition to this, she found a group of Thai people there. She shared everything she felt with her friends in the community, and that encouraged her to survive in the new country. Now she belongs to both the Thai community and the Japanese community. She enjoys her life in Japan. Living as a migrant is not easy but I think it expands one’s world.

    • Thanks, China, for sharing your mum’s story! Making new friends is one of the biggest challenges faced by migrants … I’m curious: did you learn to speak and read/write Thai?

    • Yining Wang says:

      Definitely! New migrants, especially those who have insufficient communicative skills, usually encounter significant settlement difficulties in a new land. These difficulties seem to cover every aspects in their life, such as how to communicate with their children’s school, how to see a GP, even how to buy the right food. That’s why some Chinese immigrants in my research turn to Christian churches for practical assistance and spiritual support, and see the Christian community as an important vehicle to establish social connection and transmit part of the traditional Chinese values to their children through the biblical verses. Fortunately, most of the subject families seem to embrace most part of the new culture while trying to retain some valued part of their traditional culture.

  • Undraa says:

    Thank you so much for sharing such a fascinating article.
    I have been living in Australia for 5 years and always love being migrant here as I have been feeling very welcome throughout my whole time being in Sydney. Especially, meeting people from all around the world and exploring their culture and tradition, gathering a plenty of knowledge from them as well as learning to respect multiculturalism and multilingualism are valuable experience for me. Thus, being a migrant in Australia is great opportunity to owning education, gaining professional and personal experience for me.
    However, my son, who is turning 4 in October was born in here and I noticed that Australia is like home country to him. His English is much better than Mongolian although, he is learning both languages simultaneously and we always talk to him in Mongolian.
    He acted like coming to overseas when I took him to Mongolia to meet my parents and all the relatives in June. The most difficult challenge we faced was my son could not eat any Mongolian meat including lamb, beef and chicken as the taste and smell of the meat in Australia is slightly different from Mongolia. After this experience, I am totally confused if he can go to Mongolia and live there after a few years.

    • Thanks for sharing, Undraa! Children bind us to a place in new ways, that’s for sure. Dr Yining Wang, who wrote the article, conducted research about heritage language learning in Chinese families in Australia, and, like you describe, found a lot of ambivalence about the two languages, cultures, and places … you can read the thesis here, if you are interested: https://figshare.mq.edu.au/articles/thesis/The_heritage_language_maintenance_of_Chinese_migrant_children_and_their_families/19435982

    • Yining Wang says:

      Many Chinese migrant families have the same struggles as you when they intend to raise a bilingual child who can embrace both cultures. But unfortunately, most parents with young arrival children significant challenges to transmit their language, culture and values to their children. However, there are still some enlightening examples in which these families relatively achieved success in teaching their children Mandarin Chinese and Chinese culture. For example, in my research, some four/five-year-old arrivals can read very sophisticated chapter books, like Chinese foods, understand Chinese customs, and show affection to their parents’ homeland though they still consider Australia as their home country.

  • Anonymous says:

    The way Chinese migrants in Australia found their sense of belonging, as shown in “Dragon Seed in the Antipodes,” is really interesting. These life stories teach us how personal experiences and the globe around us shape who we are and where we come from, over many generations. After reading this article, I remember one of my overseas friends who moved from Iran to the USA. Their experience connects with what’s talked about in the book. Like the Chinese-Australian people, my friend had to figure out how to keep their Iranian background alive while also embracing the American way of life. At the beginning, things like speaking a new language and fitting into a new culture were tough. As time passed, my friend naturally blended their Iranian and American identities. Just like the people in the book, their identity was shaped by when they moved and the society they joined. “Dragon Seed in the Antipodes” doesn’t just explore the Chinese-Australian side of things. It also shows that migration stories are kind of universal.

    • Thanks, Anonymous, for sharing your friend’s story. I agree that there are universals in migration stories but we shouldn’t overlook the specific contexts either; for example, there have been many reports of anti-Asian racism in Australia during the Covid-19 pandemic – so whether someone arrived before or during that time probably made a significant difference to their individual experience?

      • Mahaan says:

        The article depicts the real picture of immigrants. Being immigrant is always tough for several reasons. Though specific time and personal experience may vary but facing difficulties is universal for immigrants. Blending two distinct cultures yet longing for rootedness and above all facing criticism regarded as outsider makes the immigrant’s life terrible. As in the article “Dragon Seed in the Antipodes”, being an immigrant, people feel alienated and lack of belongness. I remember my friend after reading this article who migrated from Nepal to USA. He shared that he always felt alienated and had to face criticism from the native. He always had a challenge to portrait himself as an American and deep inside he had a feeling of belongingness only for Nepal. He said that it is even harder during the time of festivals and celebrations. Gradually, after a long time, he no longer feels like an outsider. He is capable to blend both the Nepalese American cultures form a new identity and is happy to accept them. But his son has no such feelings as he had. His son was born and grew up in the USA and doesn’t have a sense of belonging towards Nepal as he did. The picture shown in “Dragon Seed in the Antipodes” of Chinese immigrants In Australia is the common problem of almost all the people who are living an immigrant live.

  • Natalie says:

    My best friend moved to Australia from the Philippines when she was six years old, and I asked her about her experience as a migrant. Having moved at such a young age meant that she grew up trying to negotiate the conflicting cultural values and norms she was exposed to. She recalls missing her overseas family and having to learn a new way to live so that she could integrate, yet she always felt grateful for her parents’ huge decision to move their family to Australia. She is dedicated to maintaining her Filipino culture, and her presence in the Australian-Filipino community allows her to help other new migrants navigate life in a new country. On the other hand though, her life in Australia has meant that she’s lost some aspects of her heritage in favour of assimilating; for instance, she no longer speaks fluent Tagalog. While she feels that she belongs to a new community now, she still feels connected to her heritage and has learnt to be proud of both her cultures. To her, being a migrant means blending the best aspects of both cultures, and moulding a unique worldview that reflects her complex experience and values.

    • Thanks, Natalie, for sharing! Blending the best of both cultures is the ideal 🙂

      • Yining Wang says:

        Yeah, to raise a proficient heritage bilingual child and to achieve the best of both cultures seem to bear the hope for many immigrant minority families. But actually to transmit the heritage language and culture to the next generation is challenging for individual families living in an English dominant society such as Australia. It needs significant efforts and strategic plan at the family level, as well as the support from institutions and wide society.

    • Larissa says:

      Great post, Natalie. That’s so lovely that your friend is using her experience to help new migrants.

    • Natalie says:

      After learning about multilingualism in families, I wanted to revisit this comment and consider the younger sister of my Filipino friend, who was born in Australia years after her family had migrated here. As a second generation migrant, her experience is highly reflective of those in similar situations, in that she is highly proficient in English but has virtually no proficiency in Tagalog. Like many other multilingual families, her parents originally tried to raise her with both English and Tagalog, but she was in danger of having a low proficiency in both languages; as a result, they made the difficult decision to implement an English-only family language policy around her, in order to prepare for starting school. Today, at 12 years old, she can’t understand the language her family still speak to each other at home, and is linguistically disconnected from her heritage. It leaves me wondering what her situation would look like if Australian schools placed more value on heritage language maintenance and foreign language learning – perhaps I would be telling a different story.

      • Thanks for sharing! That must be such a difficult situation for the family, particularly as she’s headed into puberty, which tends to be a difficult time, even if everyone speaks the same language…

  • Larissa says:

    What an interesting article – some of these memoirs must be incredibly sad. This has made me reflect on my Dad’s experience as a migrant and some of the experiences he has shared over the years. While he’s happy as a French Australian now, his early days in Australia sounded very difficult. As a geologist, he was sent to Kalgoorlie to work at the mines and the Aussies he met out there in the 1970s were not all kind. They teased him, taught him inappropriate words to address his female boss, and laughed when he did. Despite this, he stayed in Australia, made a life and family here, and became a citizen. He’s now spent more of his life in Australia than France, but he is still asked where he’s from. He laughs and says that in Australia he has a French accent, but in France he has an Australian accent. As my French is only basic, I sometimes forget how amazing it is to be bilingual (or multilingual), and I’m very proud to be a migrant’s daughter.

    • Thanks for sharing, Larissa! Reminds me of another European migrant whose work mates back in the 60s taught him that everything needed to be prefaced with “bloody” and, to his great embarrassment, he ended up complimenting his elderly landlady on her “bloody food” … it’s great that you are appreciating your dad’s struggles; too often the children of migrants find their parents embarrassing …

      • Larissa says:

        Yes, this was probably a common experience for many migrants. I am sure the Australians thought they were very funny, but really they were (perhaps unintentionally) cruel.

    • Yining Wang says:

      Children’s sense of their bicultural identities or heritage identities are always dynamic. In my my interviews, parents at times reported that their children don’t like their Chinese heritage language when they were young but they become feel grateful for being raised in a bilingual way as they get older.

      • Larissa says:

        I agree, and I must admit that growing up in Australia, I was resistant to learning French. Now I wish my French was a bit (lot) better, and I appreciate that heritage so much more.

    • Larissa says:

      The learning in this unit has made me think not only of my dad’s experience as a migrant but my students too. I teach adult migrants at TAFE and often forget that they each have individual stories and struggles of making a life in a new country. My older students especially would be finding it hard as they navigate language learning in a country where their children are participating in working life and their grandchildren have often been born. While they struggle to learn English for the first time, their grandchildren are picking it up easily at school and may be forgetting their heritage language if they ever learnt it at all. I know of one grandfather who teaches his grandson Mandarin on the weekends, and I can only hope the experience is positive for him. From what I’ve read and heard, there can be some resistance from children to learn the heritage language which could in turn affect the relationship with their older family members. The learning in this course has definitely made me stop and think more, and I will continue to value and integrate heritage languages in my lessons.

  • Hazel says:

    I think the point is ourselves, not the difference except for countries and regions. I think the more important point is personal choice. As a Chinese student who has been here for one and a half years, my most considerable feeling is that I have to take that step to communicate and discuss more with local people and different students. Every day, you get in touch with new things and meet people from various circles. I spent the first six months communicating with other Chinese people, which had good and bad effects.
    I missed China more and was afraid of communicating with the locals. It may be because I lived in a Chinese neighborhood and only had a few opportunities to speak English. Now that I have moved to a new place, I have met a lot of students from different countries at Macquarie University, and I dare to open my mouth and communicate with people. Although not very well, this is better than my previous place. It’s not that I am not with my familiar friends at all, but I open up my comfort zone, feel the beauty of Australia, and expand my circle of friends. I have learned Japanese and German before, and I have been afraid to open my mouth to speak. Now, I can slowly chat with my friends; I will make mistakes, but it’s a good thing. I think the difference in countries and regions has an impact, but personal choice is more critical.

    • Thanks, Hazel, for sharing! Being afraid of speaking and making mistaken and feeling embarrassed is not at all unusual. One way to break this negative circle is to seek out low-stakes interaction opportunities where you get a chance to practice, which will gradually build your confidence. Taking a job in customer service is a great way to immerse yourself in routine interaction opportunities, which will build your range and your confidence. Another tip is to set yourself communication targets, like speaking up in class at least once per session 🙂

  • Carla says:

    In my Bachelor thesis I analysed the question of identity and cultural belonging. My eight interviewees were German/Greek women, living in Germany in the 3 and 4th generation.
    Generational differences and identity shifts could be objected in the formation of their identities.
    The motive of living in Germany differed from previous generations, from coming as a “guestworker” to living a life formed by two cultures.
    Factors like the entangled use of language in different contexts form and underline the complex and multiple identities depending on different contexts, areas, or interpersonal contacts.
    Positive and negative connoted circumstances were not only formed freely and individually, but also shaped by forms of treatment, exclusion and racism through others.
    The term “Heimat”, which has no direct English translation, might be referred to as “home” and was brought up by the women themselves. It was difficult for the women to define its meaning.
    It was less Greece or Germany, or the home they grew up in, but more a certain region, a group or other identifying markers, which formed a “home” for my interviewees.
    Important to mention is also that descriptions like feeling Greek or German were own attributions and no external descriptions.

    • Thanks, Carla, that sounds like a fascinating thesis! What did you find about their languages? Did they still learn to speak, read, and write Greek?

      • Carla says:

        Yes they did! All of them, but their speaking skills partly differed a lot from their writing skills. Some of them often mixed both languages when they spoke with their families and friends. Also, their educational system differed. Some went to Greek schools in Germany and others went to pulic german schools. Each person used both of the langugages individually different, like for example in different contexts, with different people, but even with the same person. It can be said that this bilingualism served as an identical marker for their complex and diverse identity.

  • Aaron says:

    Having spent the past twenty years of my life in Korea, I am able to identify to the intricacies of identity that are portrayed in “Dragon Seed in the Antipodes.” When I think about what it means to be a migrant, I think about what it means to me. Although i never thought of myself as a true migrant and I may not share the same experiences of Chinese-Australians. The process of building a feeling of belonging in a new place while preserving links to my home culture also resonates with me. Although I may not share the exact experiences of Chinese-Australians. My identity, much like the identities of the people in the memoirs, has been molded by the socio-historical environment of both the nation in which I was born and the one in which I now live. My experience straddling two cultures has provided me with a distinct viewpoint, which has enabled me to see the importance of diversity and comprehend the difficulties associated with bringing together the various facets of a person’s identity. The analysis of generational upheavals and developing notions of self that is presented in this article relates to the general struggle that migrants everywhere face while trying to adapt, integrate, and find a sense of place in their new surroundings.

  • Bob says:

    From my point of view, the belonging sense of Chinese immigrants to so called homeland actually has little to do with language. Instead, I personally believe it is strongly associated with Chinese traditional culture considering that China has the oldest written history in the world. However, this unique history record is generally available only in Chinese language. As a result, Chinese language serves as a vehicle of Chinese culture and the only entrance to a deep understanding of it. This would be a major reason why language is essential to overseas Chinese.
    Notably, Chinese written language plays a critical role in passing on Chinese culture from one generation to another. Despite the fact that Chinese spoken languages vary hugely across the vast country and evolve over the time, Chinese written language makes little changes when time is flying. A qualified high school student in China is supposed to be able to read and understanding most of classical Chinese literatures without much difficulty. Some simple poems produced 1000 years ago are given to Year 1 students. This should be rare in Australia or in the US.

    • Alexandra says:

      This is very thought provoking, Bob. Couldn’t song, food, stories, films, art, family attitudes and home life practices etc (which do not need written Chinese) also communicate a lot of culture? I have met many younger Chinese Australians who cannot read and write characters. This means they do not make literature central to their participation in Chinese cultural identity, but it does not necessarily preclude them from feeling part of Chinese culture at all. (It depends on whether the lack of Chinese literacy is constructed a cultural belonging problem for them.) But I agree that the fact that a long history of Chinese writing exists is certainly constructed as a cultural emblem, even by people who cannot read historic writings.
      I had a teenage Chinese student in China who really struggled to understand classical literature. Would a year 1 student understand an ancient poem even if they could read each character? The simplification of characters surely counts as a big change over time which prevents some literate people from reading classical works. (But yes, ancient poems are not given to Australian kids, in my experience.)

      • Yining Wang says:

        Thank you, Bob and Alex. The traditional or conventional notion of Chinese identity features some core elements as speaking Chinese, writing Chinese, knowing Chinese culture, and being from China, upon which most first-generation immigrants have constructed their Chineseness. However, for the second or third generation, their identity related to Chinese side naturally contains less conventional elements, but more multi-layered self-perceptions like food, films, life attitudes, family activities, and etc. Actually, my research finds out children’s Chinese identity is evidently related to their age of arrival, that is, the older children arrive in Australia (e.g. post-year-3 arrivals), the more they relate their Chinese identity to the conventional notion.
        Yeah, classical literature is significantly important in children’s school education in China and the weight of classical literature has increased in Gaokao during recent years. Of course, there must be some students who have difficulties in learning classical texts, and I do remember I was the one who always struggled about classical literature tests many years ago; but I personally believe the knowledge of Chinese classical literature is crucial to one’s Chinese writing competence. It is true that ancient poems are frequently used in the textbooks from year 1, even lots of parents or some preschools taught children pieces of poems or classical texts as young as 3 years old. Though children might not fully understand at the very beginning, more recitation (rote-memorization) makes a better understanding. Rote-memorization works well in learning Chinese, though it is widely criticized. Children whose Chinese blossoms in my daughter’s former school in China are always those children who have recited large amounts of poems and classical literature in their childhood.

      • Bob says:

        Thank you for your review, Alex.
        Classical Chinese literature to Chinese is not as difficult as Shakespeare’s works to English speakers. Nowadays, 30% of passages showed in Chinese text books in Y1-Y6 mainland China is made of classical Chinese. The figure grows to over 50% in Y7-Y9. When I was sitting Chinese language test in the College Entrance Examination, I composed my writing in modern Chinese. At the same point of time, my counterparts in Taiwan were required to make articles in classical Chinese. That’s an evidence that written Chinese has not changed significantly since Qing dynasty 2000 years ago, when an emperor unified written Chinese styles across China. By contrast, I was a native Mandarin speaker. After having been living in Guangzhou (Canton city) for more than 10 years, I can barely understand Cantonese and unable to speak a sentence of it.
        Most classical Chinese literature are published in simplified Chinese regardless of the years when they were produced. So, simplified Chinese characters are not an obstacle to accessing classical Chinese literature. Personally, I believe simplified characters were created for an easy writing, not an easy reading. I have never “learned” traditional characters but I can read books, magazines and websites published in Hongkong and Taiwan with ease.
        Chinese culture appearing outside China is very different from that within China. When tourists from China viewed dragon boat racing performing under the Harbour Bridge to celebrate Chinese New Year, they were amazed. In China, dragon racing is part of Duanwu activities to commemorate a prominent poet and politician who died for his state. Duanwu is 4 months apart from Chinese New Year and a bit like ANZAC day. There should be no celebration on that day. Even most of the 2nd generation of Chinese immigrants can speak Chinese to some degree, few of them know Chinese culture well due to lack of reading skills. They are regarded by native Chinese as “banana”, white heart with yellow skin.

  • Yining Wang says:

    Thank you, Li Jia. You are right. Most of the participating parents in my research were also deskilled and found that they couldn’t fulfil their upward ambition in Australia. The downward trajectories of their career are mostly attributed to, as they claimed, lack of English proficiency, uncertified working experiences, plus lack of opportunities. That’s why parents normally said “immigration is indeed a hard decision”, “the first-generation is the generation who sacrificed themselves for children’s English background education and/or for a pursuit of a different lifestyle”. Shen’s book does uncover the identification and self-perceptions of Chinese of different generation in Australia, but not include those immigrants who arrived in Australia in the 21th century. Hopefully there will be a book covering the footprints of Chinese migrants in recent decades, which surely will resonate with many more new migrants in this century.

  • Li Jia says:

    Thanks for sharing this fantastic book with us as it captures the lived experiences of Chinese migrants of various historical and socioeconomic backgrounds in Australia. I’ve also seen many ethnic Chinese who are alienated and fail to reestablish themselves in Australia because of their lack of English proficiency and uncertified working experiences. Despite having years of professional training backgrounds and instead of fulfilling their upward ambition, many of my ethnic Chinese friends are actually experiencing downward trajectories in Australia. I believe this book would create lots of empathy among 50,000,000 ethnic Chinese overseas.

  • Alexandra Grey says:

    Thanks for the overview Yining. Looks like a good read!

    I am interested to note that Shen describes “the Chinese language” singular, and says it is the soul of Chinese identity. Seems a bit exclusive given the linguistic diversity of the Chinese region! SthEast Asian migrants to Australia with Chinese origins may well have never spoken Mandarin, and neither would their ancestors; surely it makes it harder for them to belong or identify if they come up against a normative, Mandarin-centric view of Chinese identity.

    For people interested in the third category you describe (autobiographies from second and third generations), I recommend keeping an eye out for the book which the Australian journalist Monica Tan is about to publish about her own Chinese-Australian identity, Indigenous Australia and Australian patriotism, based on an enormous road trip she undertook. You can read her article about these themes here: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/01/im-dizzily-in-love-with-australia-patriotism-shouldnt-be-reserved-for-the-right?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+AUS+v1+-+AUS+morning+mail+callout&utm_term=211173&subid=8099618&CMP=ema_632#comment-92295255

    • Yining Wang says:

      Thank you, Alex. You are always full of sparkling ideas. The idea of the Chinese language as ‘the soul of Chinese identity’ represents a conventional notion of ethnic identity. However, when we speak about ‘the Chinese language’ we do notparticularly equal it to Mandarin. On the contrary, the idea of ‘the Chinese language’ typically includes the dialects and variations. So, this normative Chinese ethnic identity is Chinese-centric, if you will, but not Mandarin-centric.
      Also, thanks for sharing the article about Monica Tan’s book, whose Chinese-Australian identity has a big difference from those in the past century in Shen’s book. As Shen says, these multiple Chinese identities and/or Chinese Australian identities are dependent both on their own socio-economic conditions and the wide political situations in the destination society.

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