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Are you a TCK? Impact on your languages | ||
Tags: Third Culture Kid (TCK) | Living abroad | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Cultural Experiences in Foreign Languages |  | |
| cordelia0507 Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5838 days ago 1473 posts - 2176 votes  Speaks: Swedish* Studies: German, Russian | Message 1 of 32 31 July 2009 at 2:12pm | IP Logged |
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(I recently heard of this new acronym which may be of interest to some on the forum)
TCK stands for "Third Culture Kid". The expression was coined in the US, but can be applied to a person from any country. TCK means: You spent all or part of your formative years living in a culture (or cultures) that is quite different from that of your parents or ethnic heritage. Examples: ---Children of (internationally deployed) civil servants, missionaries, corporate executives stationed abroad, other international businessmen, US/UK military personnel, NGO staff or aid workers etc. Children of foreign domestic servants and and temporary refugees. ---Graduates of international schools or those who went to a boarding school catering largely to expat children. ---(Optional) People who are adopted from another continent. ---(Optional) Offspring of mixed nationality (inter-continental) marriages. A TCK can be any colour, religion and from any economic background. In most cases the TCK can speak at least one language other than his mother-tongue fluently. One TCK might have lived his entire life in just one foreign country. Another might have lived in many different countries. People with Japanese experience might have heard about Kikoku-shijos. This is more or less the same phenomenon but minus the Japanese specifics. What unites TCKs is an extremely open and non-judgemental view of the world, spiced ocassionally with bursts of extreme patriotism stemming from a need to identify with a culture to call their own. TCKs have a very international worldview, plus knowledge and appreciation of vastly different living conditions and cultures. They find it easy to fit in, at least superficially, in almost any social or cultural context. As adults TCKs usually have a sense of not really belonging anywhere and this may have an impact on where they choose to live, go to university, work, date or marry. In some cases this leads to depression and isolation. They might feel a sense of loss regarding cultures they lived in and perhaps identified with during formative years. Talking about their international experiences sets them apart from peers in their home-country, and they might even be seen as strange or "bragging". It is very common for TCKs to feel that they have more in common with a fellow TCK of a different race or nationality, than with their own countrymen. As adults, TCKs often migrate towards social situations where they might meet other adult TCKs. -------------------- It wouldn't surprise me at all if there are lots of TCKs on this forum. Are you one? According to the above definitions I am one myself although I'm not sure I agree since I was 12 already when my international experiences started. But my younger siblings are definitely TCKs. How has being a TCK affected your life? (With a focus on language skills and/or interest in learning languages?) Or perhaps your kids or parents are TCKs? Edited by cordelia0507 on 31 July 2009 at 8:05pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | |
| anamsc Triglot Senior Member Andorra Joined 6203 days ago 296 posts - 382 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Catalan Studies: Arabic (Levantine), Arabic (Written), French | Message 2 of 32 31 July 2009 at 4:40pm | IP Logged |
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I'm not a TCK, but I do have a comment that I would like others' opinions on. I grew up next to a military base in
the US, so most of the people I knew were "military brats" and many could be classified as TCks. I must say, I'm always surprised when children of US military personnel are called TCKs, since (with some exceptions, like people stationed in Turkey or people with certain positions) military families abroad generally live on bases that are basically "Little US"'s without the pressure to assimilate that ethnic neighborhoods in the US have. They mostly go to school on the base with an American curriculum and other American children (i.e. not an international school as is the case with other TCKs), and live almost the same life as they would in the US. And when in the US, it doesn't seem like they have trouble adjusting (maybe because they tend to go to other military bases with other children of the same background). Maybe somebody with a military background could comment on this, and let me know whether they feel like a TCK or identify with other TCKs according to the definition. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| cordelia0507 Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5838 days ago 1473 posts - 2176 votes Speaks: Swedish* Studies: German, Russian | Message 3 of 32 31 July 2009 at 7:06pm | IP Logged |
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anamsc -- I don't know a lot about this, but from my experience I think children of more senior US military staff abroad tend to go to the local international school, or to a boarding school. While the on-base schools are more for the children of the regular troops. But there are probably lots of exceptions both ways. Presumably it's up to the parents.
I have never seen a US military base up close but I too have heard the view that they are self-contained units that have little interaction local people. I used to listen to a lot of US airbase radio as a kid though (only English lang FM radio in some areas) and you could learn a lot of the goings on at the base from their programmes, for instance they have their own fairs, entertainment etc instead of joining in with locals. (fraternising with the 'enemy'?) Anyway, I have known and come across a few kids from this background but none of them went on-base schools (which is probably why I met them in the first place). I think this might have been because their parent was relatively senior. Edited by cordelia0507 on 31 July 2009 at 7:48pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Katie Diglot Senior Member Australia Joined 6718 days ago 495 posts - 599 votes Speaks: English*, Hungarian Studies: French, German | Message 4 of 32 01 August 2009 at 1:52am | IP Logged |
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This is very interesting!! I've never heard of it before.
I don't believe I can be classed as a TCK but interestingly enough, without even realising it, I have recently become aware of how 'Hungarian' I actually have begun to live. I cook a lot of Hungarian food, my snacks in the day have become more 'Hungarian', my habits (celebrations, activities, etc), etc... it must come with spending a lot of time in the language and culture! 1 person has voted this message useful | |
 Jiwon Triglot Moderator Korea, South Joined 6436 days ago 1417 posts - 1500 votes Speaks: EnglishC2, Korean*, GermanC1 Studies: Hindi, Spanish Personal Language Map | Message 5 of 32 01 August 2009 at 3:49pm | IP Logged |
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I am a TCK, and have known it for a few years now. What I can tell you is, that unless you are a TCK yourself, it's a bit difficult for you to understand what it really means to be one. The kind of country you are from, and the countries you've been to also affect the kind of TCK you become. We also have a lot of identity crisis and find it really difficult to recognise ourselves with any single group, not only when it comes to culture and nationality, but even for quite everyday things.
Language-wise, it's a big plus that you have the opportunity to be bilingually fluent, and to be able to think in both languages. That said, what's a bit difficult for us is retaining our L1. 5 persons have voted this message useful | |
| cordelia0507 Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5838 days ago 1473 posts - 2176 votes Speaks: Swedish* Studies: German, Russian | Message 6 of 32 01 August 2009 at 7:58pm | IP Logged |
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Interesting to hear! It seems from your other comments that you have managed to keep your Korean at a high level despite the time abroad. Many TCKs I know speak relatively mediocre English but are not very good at their mother-tongue either.
How did you find out about this? I wouldn't necessarily have thought that I was a TCK for different reasons, but many of the criteria and characteristics undeniably applied to me. So I posted a bio on a TCK forum yesterday, to check. According to those who responded, it was a clearcut case. I wish I heard about this earlier! My sister has known all about it for many years, but it never came up in conversation between her and I. I'm surprised there aren't more TCKs here! I thought there'd be literally hundreds. Perhaps many are rather sick of languages, as I myself felt for a long time after my shock immersion in English and some other languages. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Jiwon Triglot Moderator Korea, South Joined 6436 days ago 1417 posts - 1500 votes Speaks: EnglishC2, Korean*, GermanC1 Studies: Hindi, Spanish Personal Language Map | Message 7 of 32 01 August 2009 at 8:21pm | IP Logged |
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Mmm. I found out about TCKs because my friend joined a TCK group on facebook. I was quite curious and looked it up on facebook.
Today I met two TCK friends. They are both Korean in nationality like me, and their second countries were both Sri Lanka. However, unlike me who stayed in Sri Lanka for more than 7 years, they left for other countries. First one (let's call her A) went to Hong Kong, then Kuwait, went back to Korea and now she's a student in a Korean university. B went to Dubai, finished her high school there and now in a university in the US. The really weird, and at the same time amazing thing was that despite not having seen each other for years we could understand each other's problems perfectly. It was almost as if we just met each other the day before. And all three of us were happy that we arranged another meeting next month, before one of us leaves. Frankly, my Korean isn't really at a high level. The reason why I happen to answer all Korean questions here is that I'm the only regular Korean-native member here; and thanks to my slightly logical brain, I can explain grammatical concepts easily. I mean, I'm in the process of learning written academic Korean right now, and it sure isn't easy. :( 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Lizzern Diglot Senior Member Norway Joined 5909 days ago 791 posts - 1053 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English Studies: Japanese | Message 8 of 32 01 August 2009 at 11:41pm | IP Logged |
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I went to an international school for expat children for a while, so I guess according to that definition I'm a TCK. Other definitions would exclude me from that group since I never travelled with my parents, but I definitely identify with descriptions of what a TCK is, so I do consider myself one.
I can only second what Jiwon has already said, about the difficulty in identifying with any particular group - when I'm abroad I'm Norwegian, when I'm in Norway I'm somehow 'foreign', and I can't quite seem to grow roots anywhere - here least of all. I still feel an urge to move to different countries and travel, though living abroad takes part of the blame for that. I miss it dearly and I don't feel at home here. I've had some weird culture shock experiences in my home country. I tend to feel most comfortable in a group of mixed nationalities, the more diverse the group the better, and sometimes it's like something's not quite right if I'm surrounded by a homogeneous group of Norwegians. I'm lucky that the people I'm close to are mostly not Norwegian, not that there's anything wrong with Norwegians as such, it's hard to explain. But it's part of the 'problem' (if it is even a problem - I don't consider it one) that we feel this way sometimes. Bilingual fluency is of course a huge advantage. I lost fluency in Norwegian at least to a degree, but it's not really a big deal... It's improved since I moved back home but I didn't expect it to happen in the first place. Another effect I would say it had on me and the rest of the TCKs I went to school with (a fairly mixed group, not just Americans, and many of them had lived in 5-10 different places before they moved here) was that it made us very curious about culture, as well as more sensitive about cultural differences in the sense of being appropriately respectful of other people's different understanding of life. Everyone was really open-minded and keen to learn from people from different cultural backgrounds, it seemed to be something we enjoyed almost for the sake of it. There was no 'us and them' mentality at all and I think we all felt like learning about different cultures was inherently something that enriched our lives, without us necessarily thinking that concept through consciously, it was just kind of part of who we became from being in that environment. It was just part of people's personalities, in a way, to love learning about culture. I don't know if that makes sense, but that's how I feel about it... Liz 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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