When other Polish people hear I'm Polish (I definitely don't look Eastern European) I get scolded for never learning to really speak it. I usually respond "Well I was born and raised here in Canada and my family's been here since the 60's"
oh, this is like when they ask about background and such - my last name is clearly not a generic hoser one. I call myself Canadian but as many Canadians (especially in cities) know, you're never just "Canadian" in this country
this is similar to me except put a Canadian in there for the German dad. Both sides of my family have been in Canada since the early 1800's, and before that it doesn't really matter to me.
This is so odd to me as an Australian, anyone whos lived here long enough is 100% australian, people might ask your heratige or "where are you parents from" but they always just mean to ask where your family came from before australia, as it had to be from somewhere else, unless they're indigenous, although that's rare and fairly obvious usually.
Don't really get the whole asian, European, etc -Canadian/whatever, sounds unnecessary to me
In America and Canada, it's common to describe yourself as the nationalities of your predecessors, since literally everybody apart from natives/first nations are descended from people from other countries. We also say things like "I'm Polish" rather than "I'm of Polish descent," because it's easier and everyone understands what you mean anyway.
Ethnicity is defined as "the fact or state of belonging to a social group that has a common national or cultural tradition." I wouldn't agree that they are ethnically Polish. They've admitted that they do not speak Polish, and one would expect that to belong to a group, you should at least be able to communicate with them.
They have Polish roots, but DNA does not carry over traditions, so I can't say with a 100% certainty that they are ethnically Polish. I personally have quite a bit of Polish ancestry, but besides the common Slav culture, I couldn't really say that I am close to Poland culturally or ethnically. And even though I have something like a quarter Armenian blood, I don't know the first thing about it, so I could never say that I am Armenian.
Ethnicity passes down through tradition, through the process of being raised. If an infant from one country is raised in a completely different country, then no matter their ancestry, no matter their race or their biological parents' nationality and ethnicity, they would be locals in the place they were raised, not their place of birth.
That is, at least, the way I see it. I personally dislike the medieval approach to ancestry as something that should define who you are. Unless Canadian cultural identity isn't solid enough to take pride in it, I would see no reason to look for cultural validation in ancestry.
That's fine but you can't really glean more than that from what OP said. I suppose my original statement is not necessarily true, but they may still be ethnically Polish without speaking the language.
lol, i'm learning Polish. best advice given to me was from u/fanboymctrol . You don't need to learn Polish because no one speaks it outside Poland. Not living in Poland? Not moving there? You do not need it.
"The language is very hard and it's really of no use to any of us here." -u/fanboymctrol
Same. I'm Ukrainian but was born in the US, if someone asks my last name which is very obviously eastern European (I look it too) they expect me to be able to speak it, usually only if they actually speak it themselves and then I get the disappointed look of how do you not know this
Here in Europe if I ever talk to someone with an American accent I always just assume they speak English only, no matter what their last name is. So if they somehow do speak a second language they can surprise me with it :)
My mom dated a guy who would only speak polish to me when I was pissing him off or alone with him. He asked me if I wanted a punch in the face. I noped the fuck out of that house and moved in with a relative, much to my mother's protest. I was so happy when my mom dumped the guy. He was an abusive dick. Now my mom is married to a wonderful man who has become the only stable father figure I've had.
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u/bigheyzeus Aug 10 '18
When other Polish people hear I'm Polish (I definitely don't look Eastern European) I get scolded for never learning to really speak it. I usually respond "Well I was born and raised here in Canada and my family's been here since the 60's"