How included we feel and how much included we want to be: a newcomer’s perspective

Fangzhe

This morning, I was commuting to my class. There were only two days left before the traditional Chinese New Year, but the joyful atmosphere, which has already been rare even in China these days, was apparently nowhere to be found in a carriage of the subway in a country thousand miles away. Suddenly, a naïve voice from a Chinese boy next to me drew my attention: “妈妈，中国农历新年是在情人节那天吗?”(Mum, is Lunar Chinese New Year on the Valentine’s Day?) His mother did not say anything, and the boy quickly added: “还是你也不清楚呢?” (or…you are not clear either?) , followed by an awkward silence. Thanks to the conversation still, that is one of the few things that remind me that Chinese New Year is around the corner. 

Currently, the Chinese population no doubt takes up a considerable proportion of the immigrants in Quebec. However, a lot of us will find ourselves outsiders of this ‘unique’ French-dominant place (Allen, 2006). 

“For better life maybe. Why are there so many Chinese coming to Montreal then?” I remember the Iranian bank agent’s word when answering my question that why there are so many Iranians choosing to come to Montreal. I realized my question was actually quite stupid. People come here for “better life”, but the language they use and the cultural identity behind that obviously indeed put them in a difficult situation in integrating to this community. This place is not open enough for people with different backgrounds, so most of them are probably swinging between the two poles: to entirely become part of this community or to rigidly keep their original identity. The former may take tremendous efforts and may be at the cost of losing more or less of their own identity; the latter can be at the risk of being marginalized. These are some examples of the people I met here and how they deal with the issue: My landlord from China who has been here for more than 10 years cannot speak French but is very sophisticated in communicating with his tenants (some of who are locals) and other local people in English. The Chinese boy I met in the orientation who was born here and is fluent in all the three languages had no problems communicating with everyone. He also claimed that he visited China several times and believes that China is developing faster than Montreal and he has a strong identity as a Chinese. But somehow, I still feel there are some subtle differences between us. There are also some people working very hard on learning languages and making local connections. I admire their efforts, but it also reminds me of a sense of inferiority of being a minority. Speaking Chinese here, whether you believe or not, is to some extent regarded as rude in many occasions. Normally in a Chinese restaurant, which is probably owned by a Hong Kong or Taiwan boss, the Chinese waiter would come to me —instead of talking to me in Mandarin even if they can (you can never judge by the appearance of this Asian looking guy is a CBC, a Cantonese visitor, a senior immigrant here or an international student from Mainland China who just landed here a few days ago)—they would choose the safest opening: “Bonjour, hi!” in order not to cause embarrassment. Then probably I will respond with “Can I have XX, thank you” with a smile. At that moment, both of us seemed to be going through a tiny battle inside, the underlying assumption was that until a hundred percent sure, speaking Chinese or Mandarin can be offensive or embarrassing. It is worth considering that it is okay to speak English in this French-dominant country, but you have to think before speaking Chinese in a Chinese restaurant, even if you can hear Mandarin on the street almost everywhere. 

Our language is often a symbol of our connection to the community, the land and our past. In my hometown in the 1950s and 60s a large population of people from all over the country crowded in due to the policies at that time. There came the problems of how people with various dialects and accents could work and live with each other. It was to everyone’s surprise that after only 10 years, those people from north and south, along with local people formed a unique dialect that combined the characteristics of vernacular and other dialects and one that people in that community could all understood, and that was distinct from the original local dialect. The same language actually bound those people from different backgrounds tightly together. 

Absolutely, this could never happen in Quebec, where the different backgrounds, languages, cultures and politics make things much much more complicated. Let’s go back to the young boy in the metro. When he grows up, he can definitely speak very fluent English and French as long as he continues to live here. And his oral Chinese would still be good, but China, like the concept of Chinese New Year, will probably become a distant symbol in his memory. He would become a qualified citizen of Montreal, but he would still have problems with his identity… As Allen (2006) said, it takes the efforts of host society and the newcomers to realize the integration, so a possible approach for the immigrants is to situate themselves appropriately and make changes and hope that the society will change gradually to become more open-minded and tolerant. 

References

Allen, Dawn. (2006). Who’s in and who’s out? Language and the integration of new. immigrant youth in Quebec. International Journal of Inclusive Education. 10. 251-263. 10.1080/13603110500256103.