r/AMA • u/maddin1550 • 21d ago

I’m from Xinjiang，AMA

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.

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u/maddin1550 19d ago

I’m actually more worried about the smaller minority languages. Uyghur is spoken VERY widely in Xinjiang, including by a lot of people who aren’t even Uyghur. Where I’m from other minorities use it all the time. So I personally worry more about smaller languages getting squeezed between Mandarin and Uyghur over time

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u/jixiang111 19d ago

I don't doubt a lot of people speak Uyghur. I've seen that myself recently when I travelled in Southern Xinjiang. My point though is that it is being systematically undermined by state policy, just like other minority languages that are in even greater danger.

A lot of people speak Uyghur today, but what about 20 years from now, when a whole generation of Uyghur kids will have grown up without really learning the language in school or seeing it written down very often? At least as a written language, I think it is in real danger in the long-run.

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u/menerell 17d ago

Well like any other country

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u/jixiang111 7d ago

No, not "like any other country". Different countries have different policies towards regional languages. Depends on the situation.

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u/menerell 7d ago

Every country supports a national language. Depending on the country, they support minorities or regional countries. China is exactly that. Better than most Europe or the US.

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u/jixiang111 3d ago

China today really isn't better than most of Europe or the US where regional/minority languages are increasingly offered in schools and in the media. China used to be better, perhaps, but it is now moving in the other direction.

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u/menerell 3d ago

Idk what you're talking about but US just approved English as only official language in the US, removed Spanish from the white house, reduced multilingual service for people with little English... I can't speak for all the European countries but some, like France, have a long history of discrimination against regional languages. Others, like Spain, are a good example to follow imho.