E22 Language Legacy | The Language Kathy Chen Refused to Let Her Daughter Forget

Kathy Chen left China in 1981 with British English in her ears and a country she wouldn't see again for 15 years. Now a PhD-holding grandmother figure in Birmingham, she still speaks Chinese at home and still corrects herself when she spells "colour" the wrong way.

This is Episode 22 of From Where to Here, and it's part of something bigger than a podcast episode. The Language Legacy series pairs Alabama teenagers with immigrant and refugee elders to capture what gets lost between generations: the lullabies, the idioms, the unspoken rules of a culture that don't translate. In this conversation, a young Vietnamese student named Minh, one year in the US, sits down with Kathy to ask the questions that most people never think to ask an elder until it's too late.

They talk about what the Chinese New Year actually means when you're 10,000 miles from home. Why dumpling-making matters more than the dumplings. What it felt like to hear your own language on a street in a foreign city. And why Kathy says Americans are more honest than they realize, because in China, "yes" doesn't always mean yes.

There's also a moment where Kathy sings. A children's song from memory. Granny, granny, granny, I love you so much. You're here like a white cloud. It's 30 seconds long and it will stay with you.

If you're learning a second language, raising bilingual kids, or just trying to understand what it costs to rebuild yourself in a new country, this one's for you.

🎙️ From Where to Here is a podcast about language, cultural identity, and what happens when home stops being just one place. New episodes drop monthly. Subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next.

📩 Grab the free guide, 5 Phrases That Unlock Any Culture, at fromwheretoherepod.com/5phrases

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Red Cat Coffee House

This episode is brought to you by Red Cat Coffee House and their Landmark Series Coffees. You can find the coffee blends online at https://theredcatcoffeehouse.com/shop/, at your Red Cat locations, or at your local Piggly Wiggly.

#LanguageLearning #ImmigrantStories #CulturalIdentity #BilingualLife #ChineseCulture

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Transcript

Speaker: 0:00

Hi, I'm Alexandra Lloyd. A French-Canadian who's called Birmingham, Alabama, home since 2017. Welcome to From Where to Here the podcast that celebrates the rich diversity of languages, cultures and the stories that connect us all. Each month, I'll sit down with inspiring guests from different backgrounds to explore their cultures, languages and tackle some fun and our truth there or debunk segment. Whether you're a language enthusiast, a culture lover, or just curious about the world, you're in the right place. Let's dive into your next favorite cultural adventure. What is Language legacy? It's a youth and elders interview series where teenagers from Alabama engage in meaningful conversations with elders from immigrant and refugee communities through guided storytelling and cultural exploration. Youth were able to record elders language memories, items, childhood stories, and first language expressions. These interviews were edited into short video stories and shared across all platforms. The goal is to bridge generations through the power of language and storytelling. Preserving cultural heritage by connecting youth with immigrant and refugee elders. The possibility of this project is cultural connection, intergenerational understanding, and appreciation through the power of language and storytelling. We want to foster cross generational and cross-cultural connection, elevate and preserve the linguistic and cultural stories of elders, and finally empower youth as interviewers listeners in cultural documentarians. Hello, reforms! With the conversation. Let's. Interview with the audience first. Hello everyone. My name is min. I'm from Vietnam. Recently I studied at UAB. In business major. I have one year in the US until now from fall 2024. About you is Cathy. My name is Cathy Chen. I've been in the United States for a long, long time. More than 30 years. And the first time I came in 81. Only two years, I went back. Second time in 1990. September. So one time. Yeah. Like at that time at, like, do you come to the US like, do you have anything like. Impression might you remember for long time? Yeah. First time I came to you from the United States is LA. It's a beautiful country and the people sponsor me. They went to airport to pick me up. They're very kind. I called them Dad and Mom. They both passed away. They're very kind. As you had lived your home country for a long time, do you think that China has changed over the time because of the development, the new generation? They may have a newer kind of them. They changed a lot. You know, when I first came here, I didn't go back for a long time. I was in graduate school and worked on a PhD, and so I didn't have time to go. Then after that day, some company offered me a job. I didn't go home for more than 15 years. So the changes, so dramatic and good and bad. Good is a people lives much better. Bad that they had prostitution. You know like this is a bad thing, a good thing. So yeah, it's mainly to good people. A much better life. Like back in the day. Do you remember any traditional song or maybe China's song, Bryan Lullaby that you remember. When songs. So yeah. So yeah, it's up to you if you want to help you think. You the children's songs. Looking for a friend. You're my friend and I hand and to each other. You're my friend. The children. So do you remember your song? Yeah, that's my baby. Said that. Like when I come back from kindergarten. When I know some song I will singing all day. It's only. Yeah. Like I still remember the song line by Joey. You talk about you my. Boy. This song mean like granny, granny, granny, I love you so much. Your hair like a white cloud. The last one say like I know you are happy when I am old to you. Yeah. Because we saw you in the past and we were colonized by Chinese, French and us also. But life for a friend has a long time. So the right time of the song. You may feel familiar with some song, you know. French? Yeah. French. Exactly as I know that. Like normal New Year in us. Like we have the New year on the first day of January, right. In China and some Asian country, we have the Lunar New Year. Like, I am so curious the reason why we celebrate the Lunar New Year. You know, the reason why. Yeah, well, we learn calendar Chinese in the past. We have our own weekend, the moon, sun, the moon, different from the United States, different calendars. So we always thought of the Chinese New Year as a genuinely coldest place to Chinese is not in the December quarter. In January lunar calendar that followed the Lulu, you know, Chinese rotation of calendar. So that's why we celebrate. That's the most important thing, like New Year's American New Year, not big deal Chinese. Is there anything special like special activity people do to celebrate Chinese? Yeah, well, maybe dumplings. In fact, the whole family sit together, make everybody younger and older, so maybe they don't sleep overnight all night talking, getting together. Because at that time, whole family were far away. Come home especially you heard Chinese New Year. All the people left the city, went back to the to their own home to celebrate. So it's an important time for everyone to have a mixed dumpling together. How about, like, the red envelope? Yeah. That's a big one. Yeah. Oh, yeah, that's a Chinese New Year. So everybody visited, you know, the relatives. They have to have gave the red envelope with money in it. And for the children, for even for adults. And, you know, it's children, you know, they're very happy to get a lot of money. I have a little friend there. Thousand dollar American Chinese yuan in the envelopes. Since the time you have been in the US. Like, is there any challenge for you to to adapt a new language, especially like we have many kinds of English, like English, endless or American English in that hard for you to adapt that. When I came in China, I learned British English, I came here, I came in north use, you know, all the British and, you know, pronunciation and tone. And there's my friend, you know, professor in the child constantly corrected me. North. North is not. Correct me. So meantime. Which one do you feel is easier, like the Bristol one or like the marathon one? I think I'm getting used to in the United States is half of my life. I speak American English much more comfortable and also spelling. You know, when theater and all the color, they spell different. So I constantly spelled wrong, you know, like color, you know, color. You are. Then get rid of me. You did you. Yeah. The the word favor also. Yeah. Yeah. You look like French, right? Yeah. Okay. But like, do you have any experience or see with the younger generation about learning new language English. Not my first foreign languages I learned in Russian. Learning English is very hard in a way, because it's not a regular. Like a sheep. You can't count the sheep. You can count circumstances. That's just doesn't make any sense to Chinese. And also there's also change if verb change is hard. You had a persistent had to learn just just trying to learn it. There's no rules. Basic version is very, you know, language, very easy to learn. And in English you know certainly you can pronounce certain way, you know, like for them to come down now and beautiful like a V or, you know, doesn't make any beautiful. Yeah. So it's very hard language to learn. When I learned and I just tried very hard to have to overcome the difficulties to first learn the English. If in fact, I am teaching one of my my friend's grandson English every week and one day it's hard for him. As I had learned a persistent. Today's episode is brought to you by Redcat coffee House and their landmark series coffees as I get lover. I could not resist but introduce you specifically to this blend called Light Rails. It features a cat on the label when not only that, each blend features a landmark is inspired by a landmark of the city. This one is inspired by our vibrant Rainbow Tunnel downtown, and it has sweet fruits and mixed berries. You can find the landmark series including blends like Ironworks, Full Steam Ahead, Alabama Audubon and Johns Valley Trail, either online at Redcat locations or your local Piggly Wiggly. It's coffee with a story and even with a feline charm. Do you think that's a study, a new language look like? Study a new culture? Do you do you agree with that? Yeah. Agree. Completely different that you have to think differently. You know, like a Chinese, like a rule for for example, not, you know, put a mud and the become questions English is changing rules. Everything just culturally different here as well. Like a Chinese very reserve I'm not ready. Their option is very real. Not open like you don't want the people hug you. But here people come hug you immediately. You feel the warm, the love and the front of the people is different. I agree. With you. Do people hug you when you first came here? Anybody hug you? Until now I didn't like when I. When I miss like as in Vietnam, my parent has a partner. They are foreigner and line. Yeah like like when they go to visitor. They also heard us in my opinion. Nice. Study a new culture. We can understand the situation to use the right word to speak or to communicate. Right? Like let's take an example with the with an activity up I we have many will see. Look. What observe. Yeah. And like as we as we use that in the wrong situation we will we everybody we are to identify what we are trying to say. So like collocation and idiom is also like a key problem. Yeah. Do you have did you try to translate any Chinese idiom or collocation to English? Yeah. You shooting. Where's the will? There's a way. In fact, that's always I put it on my bed when I was student. My bed where there's a way you determine you can't cheer anything. If you don't. Using your name, your job. Like what you are doing for fun. Can you describe a little bit yourself? Like what? What can I say to to identity? Identify yourself. I think most people think me as a kind and loving. And I always feel like, you know, I come here this world, try to make the world a better place for everyone. And it doesn't matter your color, your skin color, or your for which we all love each other. You know, different, for example, people from different countries and different cultures. I don't think we never should description. Anyway, everybody was basically all the same. Do you often teach your children about Chinese? Yeah, when my daughter when I came here, my daughter is five years old. So she started, you know, learning language and she in the school at Kim Garden, they teach English. So she came home, started talking in English instead of Chinese. So I talked to her in Chinese and she to learn how to write Chinese. She grown up and she began to, you know, in college, she even spent one semester in China to learn the language, she remembered, but not much. So she wanted to continue. To lie normal. Speaking in your family like what kinds of language? You. You. Chinese? Chinese? Yeah, because of the understanding. And my niece, her husband, they they in Hong Kong, they speak English. But the one we talk with, students talk in Chinese. Do you think why is it important to keep language and cultural memory alive? I think this United States is a multicultural, a lot of people from all the world, and they bring different things to this country. Some of the very good tradition, you know, should be kept language in the tradition. I think next generation should remember continue to their children about the culture. Yeah. Like, what do you want young people to understand about culture and language? And the stand that, for example, I think a language can connect with people to, to each other. Like for example, I not even want to learn English and Spanish when I work. Then some people help me and I learned Spanish with them and I just think, and beautiful. I even went to the church, for they have the 15 years and the girls have kind of Baptist, some kind of interesting things. So I went there, attended there, the Baptist, Levi, the me there. And I learned the the cultural they love. And the tradition is lovely. Just, you know, this is a country, United States. Is everybody coming from country except the American Indians? A lot of people, everybody come from different places. Yeah. They bring their own culture, their traditions, their wisdom. You know, to younger people. They should, you know, keep those memory. Let's go back to the time you went to the US. How do you feel if you are working on the street and hear some people speaking your language? I always say, hey, here's a friend, we can become a friend. I will be very friendly and try to see whether they need any help. Yeah. In fact, not, you know, went to church. There are a lot of people came to United States that I knew and they needed, you know, so I do feel like a very king. Do you have anything to share with another younger people about language? Chinese? I think with Asian people have a different from the United States. People here, people here are the most straightforward. To me. It's a more honest in the way Asian people are more subtle. If you don't understand the culture, you can tell that they agree with you or not agree with. But United States, you know, one thing I most I love United States people here, they are very honest, straightforward. They see what they feel in China, you know, like people say, yes, perhaps they said no. You have to look in their face and oppression to know that agree with you or not. It's an Indonesian have same culture. You know, like because of the development and new generation coming there, many things change about their school of time. They mine the last time. I cannot conclude anything until now because like I am just still younger people. Yeah. Who in China also. Yeah, we'll try to learn a new. Actually, my country is not a developing country. So like I just try to study, adapt new, acquire new knowledge maybe technology also and like come back and have my country also. Sounds beautiful. Thank you. But like it's it's all some song. It's also have the writer string of the Chinese also this has online you it's you feel that. Yeah. Thank you. To everyone who shared their stories and help bring this project to life. Thank you for tuning in to from where to here. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to hit subscribe, leave a review and share it with someone who loves discovering new cultures. Follow us on Instagram as from where to hear pod for exclusive updates. Behind the scenes moments in a peek at upcoming guests. Until next time, keep learning, keep connecting and keep celebrating the beauty of languages and cultures I've.