Language Dilemma

My native language has been Cantonese since I grew up, but because my hometown is a small city in Guangdong, the Cantonese I speak is slightly different from the Cantonese used in Hong Kong, such as some pronunciation, tones, and word usage. In fact, the difference is very obvious, and you can tell that you are not a local. So when I was in junior high school, I also had the experience of being pointed out that some of your words were weird and your pronunciation was weird. And gradually as we get in touch with the local culture, such as news, websites and YouTube, the gap is gradually narrowing. No one can tell where I am from when I speak Cantonese. Only once, a friend I didn’t know very well told me, ah! No wonder you have an accent when you speak, it turns out you are from somewhere! I'm a little surprised. Am I still unable to remove the accent label? But I have no intention of going into details. After all, I have integrated into Hong Kong and like Hong Kong culture very much.

It’s funny. After I came to Canada, I spoke Hong Kong-style English without any shame. No one pointed out that your accent was strange or your wording was strange during communication. Everyone just communicates. I seem to be immune to the accent problem. Even, I think it doesn’t matter when someone says my accent is weird. I have no objection to my identity as a Hong Konger. My accent just tells everyone where I come from. But sometimes I still feel a little panicked. If I want to take root here, will my obvious outsider characteristics always make me an outsider in this place? But can these differences be solved by a simple accent issue? After all, the cultural gap still exists. I still can't think of anything clear.

I am lucky enough to work in a local company, and my colleagues in the same group include locals and immigrants. I tried to talk to them and wanted to know more about their culture. But I found that the locals were not very keen on sharing their Canadian life experience with me. There are many scenic spots that we are familiar with, but they did not know that their daily topics were trendy culture. The immigrant colleague was very excited to tell me about his hometown and culture, and took us to taste his hometown dishes. Just being interested in his culture would be misunderstood by him as being interested in him, which made me hesitate.

As I write, I realize that I have digressed a lot, but in the final analysis, I am all searching for my identity. I have experienced immigration several times, and I no longer know where I am from. I believe that the longer I stay in Canada, this mystery will become clearer. will be bigger. Or do you not need to be restricted by national borders at all, and it is better to call yourself a citizen of the world? But the medium through which I express myself is all in Chinese, which is really a mystery.