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Language/ Identity | ||
Tags: Cultural Identity | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Cultural Experiences in Foreign Languages | ( Topic Closed) |  |
| Jar-ptitsa Triglot Senior Member Belgium Joined 5898 days ago 980 posts - 1006 votes  Speaks: French*, Dutch, German | Message 17 of 60 01 May 2009 at 11:15am | IP Logged | |||||
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To be proud of one's ancestors must be connected at immigration i think.
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| Recht Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5801 days ago 241 posts - 270 votes Speaks: English*, GermanB1 | Message 18 of 60 01 May 2009 at 4:34pm | IP Logged | |||||
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There's a (big) difference between ethnicity and nationality. Some people are
mistaking the claim of "I'm Italian (ethnicity)" for "I'm Italian (nationality)". There is no American ethnicity, aside from American Indians. This is why the claim of ancestry is important for Americans, Canadians, Australians etc. Edited by Recht on 01 May 2009 at 4:36pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| paparaciii Diglot Senior Member Latvia Joined 6336 days ago 204 posts - 223 votes Speaks: Latvian*, Russian Studies: English | Message 19 of 60 02 May 2009 at 11:22am | IP Logged | |||||
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In my country many people still claim to be Ukrainians and Belarussians, even if they don't know a word in their 'native' languages.
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| guesto Groupie Australia Joined 5741 days ago 76 posts - 118 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 20 of 60 02 May 2009 at 11:40am | IP Logged | |||||
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Well, a lot of those people arrived in America before it had it's own separate identity. Or rather, immigration is at the very heart of American identity, so it's not surprising people consider their roots important. Then again, maybe not, after all the same thing doesn't happen in New Zealand at all.
Maybe it is similar in some ways to, say, Welsh people who call themselves Welsh and retain some Welsh traditions but don't speak Welsh and are highly Anglicised. Of course, they're at least still in their ancestral land, but it's kind of similar, don't you think? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Jar-ptitsa Triglot Senior Member Belgium Joined 5898 days ago 980 posts - 1006 votes Speaks: French*, Dutch, German | Message 21 of 60 02 May 2009 at 1:25pm | IP Logged | |||||
This is interesting. I read about the Boers in South Africa, who're immigrants (many generatiosn ago) but they feel very much South African, not british, Ducth, German etc at all (the ancestors' countries). Also Australians I think don't say "I'm British", 'I'm German" or "I'm Italian" like the americans. Maybe it's because americans shame themslef of their country which ignores all the world for example with weapons, envirnmental things, invades countries, often seems without culture. I don 't say this are my opinions, but people say them about the US
No, I think this is not similar with the US because it's not ancestors but location: they live in Wales, have the culture of the country etc. In wallonie it's a parallel with Wales: durign the last 2 or 3 generations the native language changed. Now all the people speak French, but before they spoke Walloon or other language, but not Belgian french. It's quite an annoying thing that wallonia is called "the French Community" I don't like this name, but it's all the time used (in wallonia). 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| LorenzoGuapo Triglot Groupie United States Joined 6444 days ago 79 posts - 94 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: French | Message 22 of 60 02 May 2009 at 1:37pm | IP Logged | |||||
Actually there are a minority of Brazilians with American ethnicity. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Brazilian 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Recht Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5801 days ago 241 posts - 270 votes Speaks: English*, GermanB1 | Message 23 of 60 02 May 2009 at 1:53pm | IP Logged | |||||
But their ancestors weren't from America, they were from Europe. These people are more of a cultural American (southern) identity. There's no American ethnicity, aside from American Indians, who lived in North America for 10s of thousands of years. No problem with calling them American Brazilians, but it isn't their ethnicity. Edited by Recht on 02 May 2009 at 1:57pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| portunhol Triglot Senior Member United States thelinguistblogger.w Joined 6252 days ago 198 posts - 299 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: German, Arabic (classical) | Message 24 of 60 02 May 2009 at 5:26pm | IP Logged | |||||
No. That's not it at all. Immigrants, and their posterity, started retaining their ethnic identity long before the US won the the Cold War. It's only been in the last generation, since the Cold War, that America has been so widely demonized. Watching the news you'd think that it's the only country that has every used weapons, burned fossil fuels or invaded another country. I think we're on the right track with there being no ethnic American identity (within the US), and I also think that the comparison between the Welsh and the Americans is exactly right. Despite being very Anglicized most of them are very proud to call themselves Welsh. I also think that people have an very real need to feel special. By saying you're Irish-American, African-American, Native-American, etc. you're saying that you're not like everyone else. You're special. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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