华人华侨讨论：看陆剧让我这个“香蕉人”开始想要寻找自己的根源，并且为自己的文化和血脉而自豪！

I'm not sure if everyone is familiar with the term "banana" but in my country, it's the term we use to describe someone who is Chinese but they cannot speak any Chinese language. (Yellow on the outside white on the inside, get it?? lol) Bananas are often looked at with disdain by Chinese who can speak, read Chinese.
There's a lot of cultural baggage involved with being labelled a "banana" - like we've somehow given up and betrayed our roots and culture and think other cultures are better. Something I realise - the Chinese diaspora fiercely clings to their culture and their origins in China, so even till this day, if you say something negative about China, we will feel it, even if we've never stepped foot in China. I find that interesting, because I don't think other diaspora feel the same way, but correct me if I'm wrong.
I'm weird in the sense that I'm not 100% a banana. I can understand Mandarin and read some (very poorly), and this is due to an accident of geography where I grew up living next to Singapore where the main Chinese language was Mandarin. I was also raised by my grandma for a while, and she spoke Northern Malaysian Hokkien which is a fast-dying dialect.
I'm also Peranakan, which means I have mixed-race ancestry, and my culture is a mix of Malay, Chinese and heck, even British.
I've grown up not feeling 100% Chinese, but CDramas help me root myself in Chinese culture and helped me appreciate that side of it. When I used to visit China often for work, I often feel like, "hey this is where my ancestors came from, this is so cool!" I remember standing on one section of the Great Wall and wondering if my ancestors worked on it.
Being able to speak Mandarin and Hokkien helped massively in life and gives me a "pass" among the Chinese who are more fluent especially with the elders. It's like they're saying, "Okay, this one passes the mark at least and has not betrayed her ancestors!"
But I'm working actively to bring up my Mandarin levels from mid to fluent. It's not easy lol.
When I watch Chinese dramas, I watch it with English subtitles. If I really wanted to brush up my Mandarin, I should watch it without but I'm lazy! Also, I find China's Mandarin accents difficult at times, and sometimes, especially if they're not professionally dubbed, oh boy, my mind goes - I need suuubs! When it comes to historical dramas it can be impossible because they use different words and phrases - think Shakespearan English. (I can understand Malaysian Mandarin way better, of course. It turns out we use words folks from China don't, and our grammar is a little upside down lol.)
I sometimes watch MangoTV modern dramas just to challenge myself because the subs are so horrendous I turn them off. I am massively proud that I usually understand 80% of what is said.
Yeah I'm writing this wondering if there's any of you among the Chinese diaspora who feel more connected with your roots thanks to Chinese dramas. For me, it has helped me appreciate my roots a lot :)
 
我不知道大家是否熟悉“香蕉人”这个词，但在我的国家，我们用这个词来形容不会说中文的华人。（外面黄里面白，能理解吗？）
被称为“香蕉人”会背上很多文化包袱--就好像我们在某种程度上放弃和背叛了自己的根和文化，认为其他文化更好。我意识到了一点--华人华侨对他们的文化和中国的渊源有着强烈的依恋，以至于即使到今天，如果你对中国发表一些负面评价，我们会感到受到伤害，即使我们从未踏足过中国。我觉得这很有趣，我不知道其他侨民是否有同样的感受，如果我说错了，请指正。
 
我很奇怪，因为我不是百分之百的香蕉人。我能听懂普通话，也能读一些（非常蹩脚），这是因为地理原因，我从小生活在新加坡旁边，那里的主要华语是普通话。我也曾由祖母抚养过一段时间，她说的是北马福建话，这是一种很快就会消失的方言。
我也是霹雳人，这意味着我有混血儿的血统，我的文化混合了马来人、华人甚至英国人的文化。
我从小就不觉得自己是百分之百的中国人，但是陆剧让我扎根于中国文化，并帮助我欣赏中国文化的这一面。以前我因为工作关系经常去中国，我经常会觉得，“嘿，这就是我祖先的故乡，太酷了！”我记得站在一段长城上，我在想我的祖先是不是在长城上工作过。
会说普通话和福建话对我的生活帮助很大，也让我在华语更流利的华人中获得了“通行证”，尤其是在长辈面前。就好像他们会说：“好吧，这个人至少过关了，没有背叛祖先！”
不过我还在积极努力，争取把普通话水平从中等提高到流利。这并不容易
 
我看中国电视剧时，都是看英文字幕。如果我真的想提高我的普通话水平，我应该不看字幕，但我太懒了！另外，我觉得中国的普通话口音有时很难听懂，有时，特别是如果没有专业配音，我就会想--我需要字幕~！说到历史剧，这可能完全没办法不用字幕，因为他们用的是不同的单词和短语--想想莎士比亚式的英语吧。（当然，我更能听得懂马来西亚普通话。事实证明，我们使用着一些中国人不用的单词，而且我们的语法有点颠倒。）
我有时会看芒果TV 现代剧，只是想挑战一下自己，因为字幕太难看了，我就关掉了。我感到非常自豪的是，我通常能听懂 80% 的内容。
是的，我写这篇文章的目的是想知道，在你们这些华人华侨中，有没有人因为看了中国电视剧而感到与自己的根更紧密地联系在一起。对我来说，它让我更加珍惜我的根。）
 
评论内容：
 
Silver_Breakfast_495:
Hahaha. You and I, my friend. Are bananas of the same country.
I can’t quite speak any Chinese dialects. No doubt, I’m definitely better in Mandarin but even then, it’s with English language accent.
It’s sad. But it’s true. I was in a Malay school and although took some Chinese classes, i didn’t really have many Chinese speaking friends to continue using it.
I really do wish my parents did put me in a Chinese school. Trying to learn a new language or “my own language” at my age is not easy.
I guess, I’m really more like a true banana, not being able to speak any dialects with full length
 
哈哈哈我的朋友，你和我是同一个国家的“香蕉”。
我不太会说中国方言。毫无疑问，我的普通话肯定要好一些，但即便如此，也是带着英语口音的。
很遗憾。但这是事实。我曾在马来语学校就读，虽然上过一些中文课，但并没有多少会说中文的朋友让我继续使用中文。
我真希望我的父母当初是把我送进华文学校。在我这个年纪学习一门新语言或“自己的语言”并不容易。
我想，不能完整地讲任何方言让我真的更像一个真正的香蕉人。
 
Carpet-Crafty:
I can relate.  Although my situation is very different than yours, I feel the that same pull to be "true" to my culture despite growing up in a place that is no where near China.  My family is from the South so the language I have tenuous ties to is Cantonese. I don't watch any dramas in Canonese though, I haven't really found any that I like.  Still it does make me feel closer to my roots some how.  Learning about Chinese culture, a bit of history, what kinds of things appeal to people in China.  I also watch K daramas and I find that I understand C dramas a bit more becasue I at least have some basic knowledge about the culture.  Whereas a lot of things in K dramas go right over my head.
 
我有同感。虽然我的情况与你大相径庭，但尽管我生长的地方离中国并不近，我还是感受到了“忠实”于自己文化的那股力量。我的家人来自南方，所以我与广东话的联系更加紧密。不过我不看任何粤语电视剧，因为我还没找到自己喜欢的。尽管如此，它还是让我感觉离我的根更近了一些。了解中国文化、历史、中国人喜欢什么类型的东西。我也看韩剧，我发现我对陆剧的理解更深一些，因为我至少对中国文化有一些基本的了解。而韩剧里的很多东西我都不太懂。
 
the_cla:
It may not be my place to intrude here as a complete Westerner (British immigrant to the US) who likes cdramas, has little knowledge but much admiration for Asian cultures, and zero understanding of any Chinese (or Asian) languages.
I just want to say that this a fascinating thread. It's refreshing and insightful to see such a thoughtful and respectful discussion of these incredibly complex cultural issues --- something you rarely see elsewhere.
 
我是一个完完全全的西方人（英国移民到美国），喜欢看陆剧，对亚洲文化知之甚少，但非常钦佩，而且对任何中文（或亚洲语言）都一窍不通。
我只想说，这是一个引人入胜的话题。看到大家对这些极其复杂的文化问题进行如此深思熟虑和相互尊重的讨论，我感到很新鲜，也很有见地--这在其他地方是很少见的。
 
Global_Service_1094:
Singaporean banana checking in. I will never forgive our education system for almost making me hate Mandarin haha. It's such a beautiful language that allows you to convey so much depth with very few characters. Luckily, my love for period dramas, especially in the context of China's rich cultural history, has kept me tethered to the language. I feel most at home when I'm consuming cdramas, even though I've watched way more kdramas in my lifetime. There's just something so familiar about the mainland actors'mannerisms and tone that instantly puts me at ease.
I definitely identify with what you said about being affected by any negative criticism of China as a diaspora. Some of it comes from an ignorant, brainwashed Western perspective determined to stereotype and dehumanise Chinese people as a whole.  Even I used to have a certain negative image of China until my parents brought me to Beijing.
 
新加坡香蕉报到。我永远不会原谅我们的教育系统几乎让我讨厌普通话，哈哈。普通话是一门如此美妙的语言，它能用很少的字表达出如此深刻的内容。幸运的是，我对年代剧的热爱，尤其是在中国丰富的文化历史背景下，让我与这门语言紧紧相连。尽管我一生中看过的韩剧比陆剧多得多，但我在看陆剧时最有家的感觉。内地演员的言谈举止和语调有种熟悉的感觉，让我立刻就能放松下来。
我非常认同你所说的，作为一个海外华人，我受到了任何对中国的负面批评的影响。有些批评来自无知的、被洗脑的西方观点，一心想将中国人刻板化、非人化。在我父母把我带到北京之前，我也曾对中国有一定的负面印象。
 
CabaiBurung:
Hello fellow Malaysian banana! I hear you about the disconnect with our roots. Due to a series of circumstances, my siblings are “true bananas” (barely speak Chinese, can understand some as they’ve heard it growing up) while I’m a “half banana” (I speak cantonese predominantly but cannot read) and my parents are “bananas in hiding” (speaks an average of 6 dialects each but cannot read). Our non-banana family members have given us these labels lol.
Watching dramas has really improved my Mandarin, though it’s a slow learning process. I’ve left the country for over a decade now and live in an English speaking country, so immersion is hard to come by. Plus, my IP here means I get less Chinese stuff on Netflix :( I also have no one to consult about strange sounding phrases - the subtitles are great but they’re not always contextually accurate! I’m getting better at picking up the discrepancies in the translations, so I think I’m progressing? I still have a long way to go…
One thing I realized recently is that the Malaysian Mandarin grammar is more similar to Taiwanese. Similar issues with Cantonese; ours is different structurally from Hong Kong. This makes trying to speak my drama-learned Mandarin with Malaysian people very awkward lol. I also lean toward xianxia, which has more formal tones and often less common words/phrases. I do agree that watching dramas has helped me connect more with my roots, I’ve taken more interest in history and the linguistic expressions (like breaking down parts of a character or identifying the root meaning of a combined word). It’s slow but a fun way to learn!
 
你好，马来西亚香蕉同胞！我懂你说的我们与自己的根脱节。由于一系列原因，我的兄弟姐妹是“真香蕉”（几乎不会说中文，但能听懂一些，因为他们从小就听中文），而我是“半香蕉”（主要会说粤语，但不识字），我的父母是“隐藏的香蕉”（平均每人会说 6 种方言，但不识字）。这是我们家族里的“非香蕉”成员给我们贴上的标签，哈哈哈。
 
看电视剧确实提高了我的普通话水平，尽管这是一个缓慢的学习过程。我已经离开这个国家十多年了，现在生活在一个讲英语的国家，所以很难有沉浸式的学习。此外，我在这里的 IP 意味着我在 Netflix 上看到的中文内容越来越少:( 我也没有人可以请教那些我听起来觉得很奇怪的短语--字幕挺好的，但它们并不总是准确地反映上下文！我越来越善于发现翻译中的差异，所以我觉得我在进步。不过我还有很长的路要走......
 
我最近意识到一件事，马来西亚普通话的语法更类似于台湾（地区）话。粤语也有类似的问题；我们的结构与香港（特区）不同。这让我和马来西亚人说我在电视剧中学到的普通话时变得非常尴尬。我也比较喜欢仙侠剧，因为仙侠剧的语调比较正式，常用词/短语也比较少。我确实同意，看电视剧让我与自己的根有了更多的联系，我对历史和语言表达（如分解字的各个部分或识别组合词的词根含义）产生了更大的兴趣。这种学习方式很慢，但很有意思！
 
coffeeandcheesecake:
I also started watching C-Dramas to brush up on my Mandarin. None of my friends speak Mandarin. My social circle is very white or ABC. Taiwanese Hokkien was the dominant language in my household when I was growing up and to this day, I still struggle with Mandarin names of common household and menu items because I know them in Taiwanese only. Increasing my consumption of Chinese and Taiwanese media has definitely improved my language skills. My Chinese sister-in-law told me that I've very noticeably improved over the past two years.
I agree that there's a level of disdain or disappointment among the elders about not being fluent in Mandarin. 'Banana' is more of a Western term because I think they speak about us as wàirén (outsider) or wàiguó rén (foreigner). I don't personally feel a massive cultural disconnection but I think it's nice to connect via language or food to one's cultural roots.
 
我也开始看中国电视剧来提高我的普通话水平。我的朋友都不会说普通话。我的社交圈都是白人或 ABC。在我的成长过程中，台湾（地区）福建话是我家里的主要语言，直到今天，我仍然在为常见的日用品和菜单的普通话名称而苦恼，因为我只知道台语名称。增加对中文和台湾（地区）媒体的阅读无疑提高了我的语言能力。我的中国嫂子告诉我，在过去两年里，我的语言能力有了非常明显的提高。
我同意，长辈们对我的普通话不流利有一定程度的鄙视或失望。“香蕉”这个词更像是对西方人说的，因为我觉得他们说我们是“外人”（wàirén）或“外国人”（wàiguó rén）。我个人并没有感觉到文化上的巨大隔阂，但我认为通过语言或食物与自己的文化根基联系起来是件好事。
 
18olderthan:
I'm Hmong American and earlier this week I watched the drama [New Generation](https://mydramalist.com/704507-new-generation-our-new-era). This drama tells six different stories and one of the stories is about a Miao/Hmong doctor named Liu Shi Lan (played by Wu Qian) who gives up on the opportunity to work at a renowned hospital in the city, and becomes a doctor in the countryside, succeeding her mother as a second-generation village physician.
Even though they're not my subgroup and they spoke mandarin the entire time, I felt connected and represented. Seeing the cultural motifs, dresses, instruments (lusheng and drums), and traditions made me happy. There's a scene where they talk about the tradition of mothers making wedding dresses for their daughters, and it almost made me cry (my brother was in the room so I held it together lol).
Even though I'm not Han, we share cultural similarities being that my ancestors are from China. So because of this I relate to and connect with cdramas even though the people on screen aren't my ethnicity.
 
我是苗族美国人，本周早些时候我观看了电视剧《我们的新时代》。这部电视剧讲述了六个不同的故事，其中一个故事是苗族医生刘诗岚（吴倩饰）放弃了在城市知名医院工作的机会，到农村当医生，接替母亲成为第二代乡村医生。
虽然他们不是我的亚群体，而且他们全程都在说普通话，但我还是觉得与他们有联系，他们是我的代表。看到这些文化图案、服饰、乐器（芦笙和鼓）和传统，我感到很高兴。有一个场景，他们谈到了母亲为女儿制作婚纱的传统，这让我差点哭出来（我哥哥当时在房间里，所以我忍住了，笑）。
虽然我不是汉族人，但我的祖先来自中国，我们在文化上有相似之处。因此，即使银幕上的人不是我的同族，我也会与电视剧产生共鸣和联系。
 
luxinaeternum:
lol I’ve never heard of banana but what does that make me cos I’m not white but more like dark (rotten banana?). My family is comprised of different skin, hair, and eye colors (my babygirl looks Chinese but with green eyes) but we try to keep all traditions. I have to say my Mandarin has improved significantly since I started watching cdramas. I can watch without subtitles now. Still can’t read tho so that’s the next phase
 
我从来没听说过香蕉，但我不是白种人，更像是黑种人（烂香蕉？）我的家人有不同的皮肤、头发和眼睛颜色（我的女儿看起来像中国人，但眼睛是绿色的），但我们努力保持所有传统。我不得不说，自从我开始看中国电视剧后，我的普通话有了很大的进步。我现在可以不看字幕了。但还是不会读，所以这是下一个阶段的问题。
 
None:
Absolutely! We actually have similar roots, my family (dad's side at least) are Malaysian (Hakka/Cantonese origins) Chinese and sent all their kids abroad to Britain. So my dad went abroad and consequently I ended up being born and raised in the west.
Tbh I grew up in the U.S and dealt with a lot of internalized racism and just straight up sinophobia. I wish I hadn't quit going to Chinese school, I used to be able to speak Cantonese but stopped using it. Just recently due to the immense sinophobia, I wanted to go the opposite direction of it, I want to embrace my heritage. I'm tired of our culture and languages being demonized too. I follow a lot of hanfu bloggers and people who translate douyins on Tumblr because I genuinely enjoy insight on what modern day China is like. Chinese memes are on a different level and to my great joy, there are so many douyins that just do straight up silly skits. I've also been watching C-dramas and slowly learning some Mandarin just by watching them.
I recognize some words and sometimes can even catch the translation being sort of off! I have a long way to go though but just watch cdramas makes me feel more connected.
I'm not the biggest fan of banana either. But I totally get it in the sense of reclaiming the term.
 
非常能够理解！事实上，我们有相似的血统，我的家族（至少是父亲那一边）是马来西亚（客家/广东血统）华人，他们把所有的孩子都送到了英国。所以我爸爸出国了，结果我在西方出生长大。
老实说，我在美国长大，经历了很多内化的种族主义和直接的中国恐惧症。我真希望自己没有放弃上中文学校，我以前会说广东话，但后来就不再说了。就在最近，由于强烈的恐华症，我反倒想反其道而行之，拥抱自己的传统。我也厌倦了我们的文化和语言被妖魔化。我在 Tumblr 上关注了很多汉服博主和翻译抖音视频的人，因为我真的很喜欢了解现代中国是什么样的。中国的梗完全是另一个层次的，抖音上很多滑稽短剧让我乐得不行。我还一直在看陆剧，通过看这些剧慢慢学会了一些普通话。
我认识了一些字，有时甚至能听出翻译有点偏差！虽然我还有很长的路要走，但看陆剧会让我感觉更亲切。
我也不是香蕉的忠实粉丝。但我完全理解“香蕉”这个词的含义。
 
bunchofchans:
Sorry, I dislike the term banana a lot. I would never refer to anyone or myself as a “banana”.
I do relate to the message of your post a lot though. I am American born Chinese and cdramas have very much helped me understand more of my roots, language and culture. In the US we don’t see many Asians in media, so I really enjoy watching cdramas. I speak, read and write really poorly and I think that cdramas help me a lot with comprehension and listening to tones, vocabulary,etc.
 
对不起，我很不喜欢“香蕉”这个词。我绝不会把任何人或我自己称为“香蕉”。
不过，我对你的帖子所传达的信息感同身受。我是在美国出生的华人，电视剧在很大程度上帮助我了解了我的根源、语言和文化。在美国，我们很少在媒体上看到亚洲人，所以我非常喜欢看中国电视剧。我的口语、阅读和写作能力都很差，我认为中国电视剧对我的理解、听力、词汇等方面帮助很大。
 
ButuhEuro:
A drama helped me to realize that I'm a peranakan.
I watched some scenes from IQiyi's "The Little Nyonya" which was based on a Singaporean TV Drama of the same name. Okay, that IQiyi's production was terrible, the FL speaks English and Malay with a terribly thick thick thick Chinese accent. And there's this one pantun/syair scene, and it haunts me up to this day because of the horrible pronunciation.
But it made me watch the original version. And I'm so glad that I did. It made me stop trying to be 99.99% Chinese just to fulfill my family's expectations.
 
一部电视剧让我意识到我其实是个娘惹人。
我观看了爱奇艺的《小娘惹》中的一些场景，该剧改编自新加坡的同名电视剧。好吧，爱奇艺的制作很糟糕，女主说的英语和马来语带着浓重的中国口音。其中有一个“pantun/syair”的场景，因为发音太难听，至今让我记忆犹新。
但它让我去看了原版。我很高兴我这么做了。它让我不再为了满足家人的期望而努力成为 99.99% 的中国人。
 
hannorx:
I'm by no means a Chinese diaspora. I'm, for all legal purposes, Malay and identify with it. But I've a somewhat complicated family heritage: Malay, Indonesian (Minangkabau), Thai (Siamese) and Chinese (Peranakan). Growing up, I learned only English, Malay and Minang formally, but learned much of the Chinese I speak now (which isn't much, but enough to get by solo in Taiwan), thanks to cdrama. I always found it strange hearing from Chinese 'banana' peers that they hated to speak in Mandarin. I think Mandarin is a beautiful language, and your written scxt is poetry in motion (as beautiful as Arabic calligraphy). I must admit though I lean more towards the Taiwanese Mandarin accent than the ones from China. I find that I relate to the melodic aspects of the Taiwanese speech patterns more mainly because my native language, Bahasa Malay, is very similar in the way we speak.
 
我绝不是华侨。从法律上讲，我是马来人，并认同马来人的身份。但我的家族遗传有点复杂：马来语、印尼语（米南卡保语）、泰语（暹罗语）和汉语（霹雳语）。在我的成长过程中，我只正式学过英语、马来语和闽南语，但我现在会说的大部分中文（虽然不多，但足以让我在台湾（地区）独当一面）都是拜陆剧所赐。听“香蕉”同龄人说他们讨厌说普通话，我总觉得很奇怪。我认为普通话是一种优美的语言，而你们的书面文字也是一种诗歌（与阿拉伯书法一样优美）。但我必须承认，与中国的普通话相比，我更倾向于台湾（地区）的普通话口音。我发现我更能体会台湾（地区）人说话的旋律，主要是因为这与我的母语马来语说话的方式非常相似。
 
mochi2018:
Always got called banana growing up, I am CBC - Canadian born Chinese. Parents wanted us to be true Canadians because they suffered so much to immigrate here but also in the same breath get upset that we can't speak it properly/ forgotten our heritage.
Grew up on TVB - only reason I can still speak Cantonese til this day. Started watching Taiwanese dramas in high school with subtitles and now CDramas.. all the different Mandarin dialects and tones were really hard to understand... only recently I feel like I don't need to rely on subtitles.
 
在我的成长过程中，总是有人叫我香蕉人，我是 CBC - 在加拿大出生的中国人。父母希望我们成为真正的加拿大人，因为他们为了移民到这里吃了很多苦，但同时也为我们不能正确地使用中文/忘记了我们的传统而烦恼。
我是在看着 TVB 的节目中长大的，这也是我至今还能说广东话的唯一原因。所有不同的普通话方言和语调真的很难理解......直到最近我才觉得我不需要依赖字幕。
 
heyimmeg:
Cantonese ABC here. I’m lucky enough to be born in a city with a booming Chinese population so I grew up going to Chinese school to learn Cantonese and know how to read and write Chinese. I’m thankful that we have a local Chinese station which aired many dramas in both Cantonese and Mandarin so I ended up learning Mandarin from watching these dramas. Till this day I’m still learning a lot about my culture through CDramas specifically a lot of traditional practices and where they stemmed from and I’m glad many of us can discover our roots through these CDramas.
 
广东 ABC在这里。我很幸运出生在一个华人众多的城市，所以我从小就在中文学校学习粤语，知道如何阅读和书写中文。我很庆幸我们当地有一个中文电视台，播放许多粤语和普通话的电视剧，所以我最终从观看这些电视剧中学会了普通话。直到今天，我还在通过电视剧了解我的文化，特别是很多传统习俗和它们的起源，我很高兴我们很多人都能通过这些电视剧找到自己的根。
 
the_bots:
i def relate. i started watching to connect with my roots and improve my mandarin too. just as an fyi, watching with Chinese subtitles helps way more than english… even if you can only read a bit, connecting the sounds with the written language helps lodge it in your brain. watching with an extension like “language learning” (where you can hover over the characters you don’t know) also helps. my mandarin is way way better now with these strategies
 
我能理解你的感受。我也是为了寻根和提高普通话水平才开始看的......顺便提一下，看中文字幕比看英文字幕更有帮助......即使你只能读一点，把声音和书面语言联系起来也有助于在你的大脑中留下印象。一边观看一边使用“Language Learning”（语言学习）之类的扩展功能（你可以将鼠标悬停在不认识的字符上）也很有帮助。
 
AdditionCultural6108:
I am also a banana in the sense I can speak a bit of mandarin and even less Cantonese, but like you mentioned drama has gotten me closer to my culture and made me want to learn more about it.
 
我也是个香蕉人，会说一点普通话，粤语说得更少，但就像你提到的，电视剧让我更接近自己的文化，让我想了解更多。
 
stinkymarsupial:
Grew up speaking Mandarin with my parents and Hokkien with grandma and English was a language that I had to put effort into when I was a kid because my school taught all lessons in English (other than Chinese lessons). After going to university in the US for 6 years and barely having the chance to use Mandarin and Hokkien there (doesn’t help that hubby only speaks English), I actually need to brush up on my Mandarin in order to converse in Mandarin fully with my parents coz they only speak Mandarin with me (kinda gave up on speaking Hokkien though I can understand it). There’s was a point right before I went overseas for studies that I was fluent in Mandarin and English (able to read novels in both languages too), so it’s pretty eye opening how losing literacy and fluency in a language can happen so easily once I didn’t use it as much for years.
Watching Cdramas with Chinese subtitles really helped with polishing up my Chinese again. It’s interesting to note that while it helped with fluency, I didn’t need as much polishing when it comes to reading. And because I mainly watch period settings it does cause me to use more  with my parents
 
我从小就和父母说普通话，和奶奶说福建话，英语是我小时候必须努力学习的一门语言，因为学校的所有课程都是用英语教授的（中文课除外）。我在美国上了 6 年大学，在那里几乎没有机会使用普通话和福建话（老公只会说英语也帮不上忙），我实际上需要加强我的普通话，才能和父母完全用普通话交流，因为他们只和我说普通话（虽然我能听懂福建话，但有点放弃说福建话了）。在我出国留学之前，我曾一度能说流利的普通话和英语（也能用两种语言阅读小说），所以，一旦我多年不使用一门语言，就很容易丧失对这门语言的读写能力和流利程度，这让我大为惊讶。
观看有中文字幕的电视剧确实有助于我再次提高中文水平。有趣的是，在帮助我提高流利程度的同时，我在阅读方面并不需要太多的磨练。因为我主要看的是年代剧，所以我和父母在一起时会用到更多的中文。
 
Redeptus:
Fellow Msian banana here. Speak a bit of everything but English is still my primary. I've been here for 4 generations, far longer than some of our politicians who claim to be \\\\\\\\*ahem\\\\\\\\* Malay.
As such, not really considering myself diaspora... I've got no roots back to mainland China, the village where my family would've come from is now a highway amongst other things. My dad did try to go back and trace but it ended where the highway started.
I mean, I like a good C-Drama or K-drama and judge both equally on their merits. But a certain fascination for the culture... well, nah? My cultural identity has evolved over time and to be frank, I take anything coming from the mainland with a grain of salt. I'm not some true "Chinese" who should eventually return to the motherland which I have never lived-in nor experienced.
But I do have a preference for wuxia and period dramas more than I do for modern dramas. They just don't work as well compared to a period drama.
 
我是马来西亚香蕉同胞。什么都会说一点，但英语仍然是我的母语。我们家族在这里已经生活了四代，比某些自称是马来人的政客还要久。
因此，我并不认为自己是侨居国外的人......我在中国大陆没有任何根基，我的家族原本的那个村庄现在已经变成了一条高速公路。我父亲曾试图回去寻根，但高速公路的起点就是他的终点。
我的意思是，我喜欢好看的陆剧或韩剧，并根据它们的优点来评判两者。但对文化的某种迷恋......嗯，不是吗？随着时间的推移，我的文化身份也发生了变化，坦率地说，我对来自大陆的任何东西都持怀疑态度。我不是什么最终还是要回到我从未生活过也从未踏足过的祖国的真正的“中国人”。
但我确实更喜欢武侠剧和年代剧，而不是现代剧。只是因为与年代剧相比，它们展示的效果不尽如人意。
 
eniminimini:
I can speak Chinese fluently, and am a "banana". the term isnt very hurtful to me, because when i saw the disdain and offensiveness that a lot of mainland Chinese people say it with, i realized that those who would use it offensively are the last type of people whose opinion i care about.
and even though i speak Chinese, the way i think just isn't Chinese enough, and sometimes its not american enough either. but i see of it as a good thing: i'm able to understand the cultural nuances of both Chinese shows and american shows. to me, my cultural understanding is a tool to find these shows more enjoyable, the shows arent a way for me to feel more connected.
i used to be told all the time while growing up that i would never fit in anywhere, but honestly now that i'm older i think that's just the human experience. everyone will feel some kind of alienation, and thats okay.
 
我的中文说得很流利，是个“香蕉人”。这个词对我来说不是很伤人，因为当我看到很多中国大陆人说这个词时的不屑和冒犯时，我意识到那些会冒犯性地使用这个词的人是我最不关心的一类人。
虽然我会说中文，但我的思维方式不够中国化，有时也不够美国化。但我认为这是件好事：我能够理解中文节目和美国节目间的文化差异。
在我成长的过程中，我经常被告知我永远无法融入任何地方，但说实话，现在我长大了，我认为这只是所有人类的经历。每个人都会感到某种疏离感，这没什么。
 
srayn:
What an interesting discussion. I think "banana" is maybe what the Mandarin speaking community might call it, but here in Singapore most of the elders usually speak dialect (and mostly Hokkien, its why my gen are fluent in Hokkien vulgarities but not the actual language itself ) & Malay, so our term for "bananas" is uniquely Singlish too; they call it "jiak kantang" - literal translation, eat potato. Meaning, you've eaten so much "Western" potato that you can't speak or understand your mother tongue /culture anymore.
Interestingly I think I grew up in quite a Chinese environment- my grandma, who was from Beijing, lived with us, so I was fluent from a very young age because she decided to teach and speak to me only in Mandarin (even though she was fluent in English &  Malay, and spoke to everyone else in English!) I sort of lost that connection as I growing up though, and I think that was partly because of the Speak Good English campaign that Singapore ran in the 90s and early 00s that placed so much emphasis on English that Mandarin sort of fell by the wayside. I started picking it back up again after uni, and while I don't think I'm fluent, I understand enough to watch dramas and variety shows without subs. Though if they speak too fast or if their accent is too heavy or they do the Jay Chou mumble, then I definitely need subs.
 
非常有意思的讨论。我认为“香蕉”也许只是讲普通话的社区的叫法，在新加坡，大多数长辈通常讲方言（主要是福建话，这就是为什么我的家人能说流利的福建俗语，但不能说真正的语言本身）和马来语，因此我们对“香蕉”的称呼也是独特的新加坡英语；他们称之为“jiak kantang”--直译为“吃土豆”。意思是说，你吃了太多“西方”马铃薯，以至于你再也不能说或理解你的母语/文化了。
有趣的是，我认为我是在一个相当中国化的环境中长大的--我的外婆来自北京，和我们住在一起，所以我从小就能说一口流利的普通话，因为她决定只用普通话教我和和我说话（尽管她能说流利的英语和马来语，和其他人说话也都用英语！）。不过，在我的成长过程中，我渐渐失去了这种联系，我想部分原因是新加坡在 90 年代和 00 年代初开展了“讲好英语”运动，非常重视英语，华语逐渐被边缘化。大学毕业后，我又开始重新学习普通话，虽然我不认为自己能说一口流利的普通话，但我能听懂足够多的普通话，可以在没有字幕的情况下观看电视剧和综艺节目。不过，如果他们说得太快、口音太重或像周杰伦那样含含糊糊的，我肯定需要字幕。
 
throwawaydramas:
Hopefully China and Chinese culture will progress to a more pluralistic appreciation of 'Chineseness' that better accommodates the mixed cultural/lingual/ethnic identity of its sizeable diaspora.  I fully expect this to happen as China develops and become more modernized and culturally secure--even if it's not in the same fashion or magnitude as the more 'universalizing' Western culture.
Though things may get tougher before they get better as many will be pressured by both Western and Chinese influences to sext a more confined identity.  I think the smart strategy will be to not get dragged into that game, and perhaps even shoulder the role of a bridge, however challenging it may be.
 
希望中国和中国文化能够发展到对“中国性”产生更多元的理解，可以更好地容纳散居海外的华人的混合文化/语言/民族身份。我完全相信，随着中国的发展、现代化程度的提高和文化安全感的增强，这一切都会发生--即使这与更加“普世化”的西方文化在方式和规模上有所不同。
尽管情况在好转之前可能会变得更加艰难，因为许多人将受到中西方影响的压力，选择更加封闭的身份。 我认为，明智的策略是不被拖入这场游戏，或许还可以承担起桥梁的作用，无论它多么具有挑战性。
 
Best-Form-4649:
I’m a bit different cause I grew up speaking, writing and reading both English and Chinese pretty fluently (my Chinese used to be better than my English haha, used to think in Chinese heh). My family speaks primarily Chinese at home mixed with some English (my mother tongue is Chinese but technically I spoke Chinese first when I was still a baby lol). Had the privilege of being born in a more “Chinese” family while going to a very much English-focused school (chose this over a Chinese school so that I can improve my English actually).
But I relate to feeling more rooted in Chinese culture through Cdramas. That’s also a reason why I only watch costume dramas, in a way those type of Cdramas and songs/OSTs that have  make me feel more “Chinese”?? I’m not really sure how to explain it, but I know that I feel more connected and proud of my Chinese ethnicity when watching/listening to stuff with . I’m a fourth/fifth generation immigrant, similar to my peers I suppose, and I think I’m one of the few that’s still more connected to my roots and culture. I know my ancestors probably won’t be rolling in their graves about me (my Chinese language skills was always a lot better than my peers, so much so that they think I was born in China and migrated here even though I have only been there once haha).
I’ve always been proud of my ethnicity and culture, but watching Cdramas made me think more about my ancestry, I’m so incredibly jealous of people who have a map of their family tree, and I can’t help but wonder what it’s been like for my ancestors when I was watching costume Cdramas. No clue how to explain it, but I feel a fierce sense of pride seeing the more traditional stuff of my culture, like yes, that’s my culture right there! That’s how rich my culture’s history and traditions are!! I am proud to be Chinese!! (ethnicity, not nationality). I’ve always loved Chinese as a school subject in primary school, but secondary school more or less killed off my love for it. But after I no longer have to take Chinese as an examinable school subject, I have ironically found myself watching more Cdramas and being more connected to this side of me than ever before (would have been a great help if I was so into this when I could still benefit academically from the exposure).
But with that being said, I think being fluently bilingual lets me have the best of both worlds. I’m not fluent enough to be considered a native, but I’m fluent enough to be able to understand and enjoy things that I can access by knowing both languages. I also grew up super exposed to dialect, the older members of my family spoke Teochew, so I can more or less understand 50% of what I hear and speak super conversational Teochew. I also watched Taiwanese dramas for years, so I can understand 90% of the Hokkien I hear and speak some conversational Hokkien. Watched a lot of Cantonese dramas too, but can only understand about 5% and can’t speak it at all (work in progress though ). Must say it’s a fun experience just casually chilling on the train and understanding what she’s saying when some aunty speaks loudly on her phone in Hokkien.
 
我有点与众不同，因为我从小到大说、写、读中英文都相当流利（我的中文曾经比英文好，哈哈，我曾经用中文思考问题，呵呵）。我的家人在家里主要说中文，夹杂着一些英语（我的母语是中文，但严格来说，我在还是个婴孩的时先说的是中文，笑）。我有幸出生在一个比较“中国”的家庭，但却上了一所非常注重英语的学校（选择这所学校而不是中文学校，实际上是为了提高我的英语水平）。
 
但我通过电视剧感受到了中国文化的根深蒂固。这也是我只看古装剧的一个原因，从某种程度上说，这些类型的电视剧和歌曲/主题曲让我感觉更“中国”？我不知道该怎么解释，但我知道，当我观看/聆听带有“中国”元素的节目时，我对自己的华裔身份感到更有归属感和自豪感。我是第四代/第五代移民，和我的同龄人差不多，我想我是少数几个仍然与我的根和文化保持联系的人之一。我知道我的祖先应该不会因为我而气得在坟墓里打滚（我的中文水平总是比我的同龄人好很多，以至于他们认为我出生在中国，然后移民到这里，尽管我只去过那里一次，哈哈）。
 
我一直为自己的民族和文化感到自豪，但看古装剧让我对自己的祖先有了更多的思考，我非常羡慕那些拥有家谱的人，在看古装剧时，我不禁在想，我的祖先是什么样子的。我不知道该如何解释，但看到我的文化中更传统的东西时，我感到一种强烈的自豪感，就好像“是的，那就是我的文化！我的文化是如此地久远而丰富！！我为自己是中国人而自豪”（民族，不是国籍）。小学时，我一直很喜欢中文这门学科，但中学或多或少地扼杀了我对它的热爱。不过在我不必再把中文作为学校的考试科目后，我发现自己比以前看了更多的电视剧，也比以前更了解自己的这一面了（如果我在学业上还能从中受益时就这么喜欢中文，那将会是一个很大的帮助）。
 
尽管如此，我认为流利的双语可以让我两全其美。我还没有流利到可以被视为母语的地步，但我已经足够流利，能够理解和享受通过掌握两种语言所能接触到的事物。我也是在方言的熏陶下长大的，家里的长辈都说潮州话，所以我或多或少能听懂 50%的潮州话，并能说一口流利的潮州话。我还看了多年的台湾（地区）电视剧，所以能听懂 90% 的福建话，并能说一些福建话。我也看了很多粤剧，但只能听懂大约 5%，而且完全不会说（正在努力中）。不得不说，在火车上随便聊聊天，当某个阿姨用福建话大声讲电话时，能听懂她在说什么是一种有趣的体验。
 
None:
There are many people in China who speak mandarin with heavy accents, their mandarin isn't much better than "bananas".
 
中国有很多人说普通话时口音很重，他们的普通话比“香蕉”好不了多少。
 
lollipopdeath:
This is my first time hearing the term and I have to confess that I'm barely in touch with my Chinese heritage due to the complexity of my family's situation (and heritage). It was my grandmother who was Chinese, but she passed away for a long time and the extended family who was mostly Chinese lived in another city - quite far from our place; so there were barely any talks about our Chinese background. I don't even think my mom would identify herself as Chinese. I must admit that I didn't even have the slightest desire to learn Mandarin until I got into c-pop a few years ago. I wouldn't say it 'connected' me really but I do get to learn a new language which I love doing and I love learning and understanding more about the culture.
 
这是我第一次听到这个词，我必须承认，由于家庭情况（和遗产）的复杂性，我几乎没有接触过我的中国遗产。我的祖母是中国人，但她去世很久了，而大家庭里的大部分成员都是华人，他们住在另一个城市--离我们家很远，所以几乎没有人谈论过我们的中国背景。我甚至不认为我妈妈会认为自己是华人。我必须承认，在几年前接触 c-pop 之前，我甚至没有丝毫学习普通话的意愿。我不会说它真的把我“联系”起来了，但我确实开始了学习一门新的语言，我喜欢这样做，我喜欢学习和了解更多的文化。
 
Sing48:
I'm Singaporean and I don't speak any dialect despite both my parents knowing Hokkien and Cantonese. Truthfully I do feel bad about it and I'm trying to learn but it is difficult when my parents have never bothered to speak their dialect to me. Thankfully my Mandarin is a lot better and since I enjoy watching cdramas my understanding has improved a lot. Just don't ask me to write anything because I genuinely suck at it.
 
我是新加坡人，尽管父母都会福建话和广东话，但我不会说任何方言。老实说，我确实为此感到难过，我也在努力学习，但父母从来没有费心跟我说过他们的方言，这很困难。幸好我的普通话好了很多，而且因为我喜欢看中国电视剧，我的理解能力也提高了很多。不要让我写任何东西，因为我真的很不擅长。
 
Prada_Shoes:
Another banana checking in, modern dramas are fine but historical dramas I can only understand contextually.
>Something I realise - the Chinese diaspora fiercely clings to their culture and their origins in China, so even till this day, if you say something negative about China, we will feel it, even if we've never stepped foot in China. I find that interesting, because I don't think other diaspora feel the same way, but correct me if I'm wrong.
Is there? I feel most Singaporean Chinese like to emphasis the Singaporean part in order to dissociate from China. Chinese but not from china
Indian diaspora are much more nationalistic.
 
又一个香蕉来报到了，现代剧还不错，但历史剧我只能从大概理解个背景。
>我意识到一件事--华人华侨对他们的文化和中国渊源有着强烈的依恋，所以直到今天，如果你说中国的坏话，我们都会感受到不舒服，即使我们从未踏足过中国。我觉得这很有趣，我不知道其他侨民有同样的感受，如果我说错了，请指正。
有吗？我觉得大多数新加坡华人喜欢强调自己是新加坡人，以便与中国区分开来。是中国人，但不是来自中国
印度侨民的民族主义色彩更浓。
 
Lotus_swimmer:
Yea my perspective is formed by many visits to China, and I knew what was being said was not true. Of course I can't comment on politics etc, but a lot of other things are exaggerated and eye rolling in the media.
 
是的，我的观点是在多次访问中国后形成的，我知道所言非虚。当然，我不能对政治等发表评论，但媒体对其他很多事情的报道都夸大其词，令人瞠目结舌。
 
Lotus_swimmer:
I don't know where Malaysians got the banana term from, but it's been around lol
 
我不知道马来西亚人是从哪里学来香蕉这个词的，但它一直都存在，笑
 
maybebluesie:
There’s also something called a “coconut” in Malaysia that is used to describe Indians that can’t speak Bahasa Tamil.
 
马来西亚还有一种叫“椰子”的东西，用来形容不会说泰米尔语的印度人。
 
luxinaeternum:
Hi fellow Hakka American peep just saying hi not a lot of Hakkas here in LA so I’m excited to find one in this sub
 
嗨，美国客家同胞，我只是想跟你打声招呼，洛杉矶的客家人不多，所以我很高兴能在这个板块找到一个客家人。
 
FongYuLan:
My dad was of Hakka extraction! His people in large part went through Malaysia to Jamaica to the US. I feel the Chinese in Jamaica were mostly Hakka (until recent times). There’s a little hidden contingent there
 
我老爸是客家人！他的族人大部分是通过马来西亚到牙买加再到美国的。我觉得牙买加的华人大部分是客家人（直到最近）。这里有一个不为人知的小团体
 
Lotus_swimmer:
Wait, did they adapt  The Little Nyonya?? That is so weird
 
等等，他们改编了《小娘惹》？这也太奇怪了
 
Lotus_swimmer:
I notice that in America, the immigrants do face pressure to blend in and become American, while in Malaysia we still retain our culture. So, while I'm Malaysian, I'm also very much Chinese.
A lot of us speak with different English accents due to this, for example.
 
我注意到，在美国，移民确实面临着融入和成为美国人的压力，而在马来西亚，我们仍然保留着自己的文化。因此，虽然我是马来西亚人，但我在很大程度上也是中国人。
例如，我们中的很多人因此会说不同的英语口音。
 
Mysterious_Treat1167:
Malaysian Chinese may be more emotionally attached to China since they live in a country with laws that aren’t quite fair to the local minorities. Same with ABCs and Chinese diaspora in the west who face any form of discrimination in their own homes.
 
马来西亚华人可能对中国更有感情，因为他们生活的国家的法律对当地少数民族不太公平。ABC和散居在西方的华人也是如此，他们在自己的家园面临着各种各样的歧视。
 
kanzaki_hitomi765:
Being Asian-American is its own unique identity, not feeling completely assimilated as an American nor being completely Chinese/Taiwanese. Both people from Asia reject you as belonging fully with them, as do the other races and ethnicities in America, so it becomes its own identity. I hear similar thoughts from people whose parents are different races, cultures, or ethnicities. As you said, it depends on a lot of factors on what identity each person adopts.
My sister and I are obviously from the same family, background, etc, but she has mostly abandoned her Asian identity (as much as society lets her, obviously she still is subjected to racism bc she still looks Asian). I even forget she's not White, lol. Meanwhile I still hold onto much of my cultural roots, but even then my relationship with it has varied over time. I watch C-drama for entertainment, to improve my Mandarin, and also for nostalgia since it's something I grew up doing with my grandma.
 
亚裔美国人有自己独特的身份，既不觉得自己完全被美国人同化，也不觉得自己完全是中国人/台湾（地区）人。亚洲人和美国的其他种族和民族一样，都不认为你完全属于他们，因此这就形成了了自己的身份认同。我从父母是不同种族、文化或民族的人那里听到过类似的想法。正如你所说，每个人认同什么身份取决于很多因素。
我姐姐和我来自同样的家庭、背景等，但她已经放弃了绝大部分自己亚洲人的身份（尽管社会允许她这样做，但显然她仍然受到种族主义歧视，因为她看起来仍然是亚洲人）。我甚至忘了她不是白人，笑。与此同时，我仍然保留着很多自己的文化根源，但即便如此，我与它的关系也随着时间的推移而变化。我看陆剧是为了娱乐，是为了提高我的普通话水平，也是为了怀旧，因为这是我从小和奶奶一起做的事情。
 
seekingpolaris:
I did grow up in a pretty diverse area that had lots of different ethnicities but still not enough to form "cliques" based on ethnicity in my schools. My social studies teacher once said our class was "poster perfect", lol.
 
我确实是在一个相当多元化的地区长大的，那里有很多不同的种族，但仍然不足以在我的学校里形成基于种族的“小团体”。我的社会学老师曾说我们班是“完美海报”，笑死。