·S2 E1
A Foreigner in My Own Family: The Hidden Loss of Language & Intimacy - Season 2, Episode 1
Episode Description
‘My parents wanted me to learn English and fit in. But they expect me to be fully Asian too. They don’t understand that I sometimes feel I’m not Western enough and I’m not Asian enough.’
In this open forum, we heard from a few Third Culture Kids about how becoming fluent in English or losing their home language complicated their relationship with their parents, their home culture and their sense of identity. We then opened the floor to discussion to our audience.
It's a jam-packed episode full of stories and insights about the Asian twist to the TCK experience. You'll hear about:
- Intimacy with parents and the language gap
- Pressure to be fluent in the home language
- Being 'white' in Asia, but 'Asian' in the West
- Cultural legacies of colonialism and its impact on identity
- Overcoming shame as a TCK from a war-torn country
Hosted by Isabelle Min. Featuring Ardi Kuhn, Karen Tan, Aiko Minematsu and Danau Tanu.
Read more and join the live forum at www.tcksofasia.org ...
Isabelle Min is a former radio host and television broadcaster for KBS, as well as a diplomat kid and one of the first generation of Koreans who grew up overseas in the 1970s and 80s. She is founder and CEO of TCK Institute.
Ardi Kuhn is a graduate student at the Asien-Afrika-Institut, University of Hamburg. His current research interest is in postcolonial queer Southeast Asian studies. Ardi grew up in the South Pacific and Asia in a diplomatic, mixed-race American family.
Aiko Minematsu is a university lecturer in Tokyo, teaching English for academic purposes, and is Co-Chair of the FIGT Japan Affiliate. Aiko attended seven elementary schools in Japan and the USA.
Karen Tan is an Intercultural trainer, leadership coach & Founder of Think Impact. Born in Vietnam, Karen moved with her Cantonese-speaking family around Asia every few years before moving to the US.
Danau Tanu is an anthropologist and author of Growing Up in Transit: The Politics of Belonging at an International School, based on her PhD research on Third Culture Kids. Danau grew up in a multilingual family with a Chinese Indonesian father and Japanese mother.
Read more and join the live forum at www.tcksofasia.org ...