Third Culture Identity ft. Isy: What ABCs Actually Need to Know | Real You Mandarin Podcast EP06

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When Isy and I sat down to talk about what it means to be a "third culture kid," I realized pretty quickly that this is one of those conversations most of us have never had in Chinese. We talk about identity all the time in English, but trying to describe the feeling of not fully belonging to any one culture, in Mandarin? That's a whole different challenge.

What "Third Culture" Means (and Why We Don't Have Great Words for It)

This episode hit differently for me because Isy isn't your typical guest. She's a Mandarin teacher who was born in Taiwan, moved to South Africa at 12, lived in the Bay Area (California) for several years, and is now raising her kids in Hong Kong with her Hong Kong-born husband. She's lived across four countries on three continents, and she speaks from a perspective most of us American-Born Chinese (ABCs) or American-Born Taiwanese (ABTs) have never encountered.

One of the first things we discovered is that the concept of "third culture" doesn't translate neatly into Chinese. In English, we throw around "third culture kid" like it's common vocabulary. But in Chinese, Isy explained, you'd have to 描述 / miáo shù / describe the entire concept for someone to understand what you mean. There's no clean shorthand. That gap between what we can say easily in English and what we struggle to articulate in Mandarin is exactly why this podcast exists.

Race, Identity, and How Different Places Handle It

What surprised me most was hearing Isy describe how relaxed South Africa felt around race and identity compared to the U.S. Growing up there, she said she rarely thought about her identity as a Taiwanese person living in Africa. People of different backgrounds coexisted without the constant self-consciousness about 種族 / 种族 / zhǒng zú / race that we experience in America. It wasn't until she moved to the U.S. that she felt the weight of political correctness and the pressure to define herself through a racial lens.

That contrast really stuck with me. As ABCs, so much of our identity is shaped by growing up as a minority in a majority society. We're constantly thinking about where we belong (or don't). But Isy's experience shows that that experience isn't universal. It's shaped by the specific environment you grow up in, not something inherent to being a person between cultures.

We also talked about Hong Kong, where Isy lives now. There, she looks like a local, which is its own kind of identity puzzle. People assume she's from mainland China because she speaks Mandarin instead of Cantonese. So the identity confusion just shifts, it doesn't go away.

Passing Culture to the Next Generation

One of the most moving parts of the conversation was when Isy talked about raising her kids in Hong Kong. Her daughter already switches between Mandarin with Mom and Cantonese with Dad. Isy considers her kids Hong Kongers because that's where they were born and where they go to school every day. But she also takes them back to Taiwan every year so they can feel the difference between both sides and eventually choose for themselves where they want to live.

That idea of giving your kids the exposure and then letting them decide resonated with me. It's something a lot of us think about, especially those of us whose parents made that choice for us when they immigrated.

Key Vocab From This Episode

第三文化 | dì sān wén huà (third culture)

描述 | miáo shù (to describe)

種族 / 种族 | zhǒng zú (race / ethnicity)

身份 | shēn fèn (identity)

政治正確 / 政治正确 | zhèng zhì zhèng què (politically correct)

連結 / 连结 | lián jié (connection / link)

本地人 | běn dì rén (local / native resident)

多元化 | duō yuán huà (diverse / diversified)

These are all words from the actual episode, not textbook vocabulary, but the kind of words that come up when you're talking about real life in Mandarin.

Ready to Go Deeper?

If this episode resonated with you and you want to go deeper, this is exactly the kind of content we cover in our course Real You Mandarin: Self-Expression. It's 5 modules, 43 video lessons, and 1300+ flashcards covering everything from expressing your emotions and navigating interpersonal relationships to parenting, aging parents, and self-growth. Basically, all the conversations that actually matter in your life.

Not sure if it's for you yet? Try a free lesson first. No commitment, just a taste of what learning Mandarin can feel like when the content is actually relevant to your life.

Get the Full Transcript

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