I immigrated to the US at the age of 8. I’m Asian. I think I mastered the language at like probably 12 or 13.
I recall often in my life, people always assumed I didn’t speak English for some reason. Like before I had a chance to open my mouth, that question gets asked…
Not sure if it was because I was perhaps being quiet and unaware I was being quiet, so they made an assumption based on that, or if it had to do with how I look.
I kinda always felt a bit uncomfortable.
“Perpetual Foreigner” kind of.
I’m gonna give them the benefit of the doubt and assume it was just maybe I was quiet. But still. A white kid could stay quiet and I doubt the first thing a person assumes is oh he must not speak english.
Um… sorry if this is a weird ask, but those of you who live in immigration countries, have you ever been asked “Do you speak [Language of the country]?” Have you ever made an assumption about someone?
I mean I think its slightly worse if you are in an immigration country. If I was in a country with very few immigration, I’d understand and I’d just accept it. But the US, where I’m at, is literally built by immigrants, and a lot of naturalizations and non-white people being born with citizenship, so… it kinda feels a bit worse, if you know what I mean.
Japan, in contrast, is a mostly homogenous society with very strict immigration controls, and it has never been an immigration country, so I do not fault them in anyway for thinking that way.