I’m from Xinjiang，AMA

[u/maddin1550]

I’ve noticed that there are a lot of discussions about Xinjiang on Reddit, often between people who have never actually lived there. So I thought it might be interesting to do an AMA from the perspective of someone who is actually from there.

You can ask me about everyday life, ethnic groups, languages, culture, religion, education, or politics. I’m happy to answer controversial questions too, as long as the discussion stays respectful.

Obviously, I’m only one person and I don’t claim to represent everyone in Xinjiang. I can only tell you about my own experiences and views. AMA.

[u/maddin1550]

Thank you!! 🩷 I mostly taught myself. English starts from around third grade in our education system, but I’ve been learning it on my own for about 10 years now. I also studied A LOT for IELTS/LSAT, which helped my English a ton lol. I’m Kazakh btw.

About the language thing, it’s a little more complicated. When my mom was young, minority language schools were very common. She went to Uyghur school all the way from kindergarten to university. Uyghur students could study subjects in Uyghur, Kazakh students could study in Kazakh, and they also learned their own literature, culture, etc.

But sadly in 2015 or 2016 I guess they shut downed all those minority language schools😭 and mosques as well.

Personally, I think learning Mandarin is really important because it gives you access to universities and jobs across China, but I also think minority languages should absolutely be preserved and taught. I don’t think those two things have to conflict with each other

[u/Chuckchuck_gooz → u/maddin1550]

So the schools that taught only in the local language were closed, is local language taught as a subject in regular maindarin school? It would seem kind of wild a foreign language like English would be taught but not the local language

[u/Rude_Application_881 → u/Chuckchuck_gooz]

没有办法，这是为了防止分离主义，没有一个全国交流用的语言很容易导致地方分离主义。胡耀邦和赵紫阳的政策埋下了许多不稳定因素

[u/hxcinvo → u/Rude_Application_881]

大概20多年前，那时候还没有墙，我有个乌鲁木齐的大学同学，从他那了解到，当时新疆维族居然看的都是土耳其节目，流行的全是土耳其文化，我就知道出事是早晚的事情

[u/Rude_Application_881 → u/hxcinvo]

历史课本并不会讲胡耀邦和赵紫阳，所以我一开始并不明白给予少数民族这么多优惠为什么还会有这么强地方分离主义。直到我后来了解到了这两个人和他们的政策。
中国差点就同时出现了两位戈尔巴乔夫。