In HK, biracial individuals could face a language barrier with the locals or others who are of one of the races.

If raised up in HK, it is likely that most biracial individuals have learnt Chinese at some point during their education. However, this does not necessarily mean that they are fluent. The level of fluency depends on their exposure to the language. At home, they are most likely to speak their mother tongue, which means that school would be the only exposure to the local language. 

 

" For Cantonese I learned in school and from my father, French from my family on my mother’s side, and English mostly in School." 

- Interview 2: James Hui

 

We also have to take the difference between local and international schools into account. In a local school, students mostly speak Cantonese while in an international school, students of the same mother tongue keep to themselves and they use English to communicate with each other. Therefore, there are limited interactions between the different language groups and so cultural exchange is limited.

 

" a lot of similar people from similar social groups keep together if you know what I mean. Like in High school a lot of the international students stay together and a lot of the local students stay together, so it was really quite hard to connect to that and stay in our own little group."

- Interview 1: Jethro Clarke 

 

Language barrier between the biracial individual and each of their own race could arise as only Chinese and English are widely promoted in HK. Besides learning the language from their parents, there are not a lot of motivation and opportunities to learn them. Other languages are considered as an extra, and so less emphasis is put on these languages. 

 

Aside from education, this can be observed through the language used in entertainment. Music and movies are mostly played and advertised in Chinese and English. The ones in other languages must be bought somewhere else. With little exposure to these minor languages in HK, biracial individual could find it difficult to keep their own language. Interestingly, not all biracial individuals are bilingual. Some parents would think that it is more important to learn English than their mother tongue, due to career opportunities. 

 

‘… in Hong Kong I have almost no oppurtunity to speak french other than at home, if I want to watch a french movie I have to buy it elsewhere or online.’

- Interview 2: James Hui

 

"my mum never taught me and my sisters any Tagalog, I think that was a conscious decision she made because she wanted us to focus on English to get us further in life."

- Interview 1: Jethro Clarke

 

This contributes to the lack of ability to connect with people in their own race.

According to the Whorf-Sapir hypothesis[1], language is argued to be linked with culture. Besides language barrier, there is also a cultural barrier that comes along with it. As a biracial individual growing up in HK, he/she could lack the historical or cultural reference to some jokes or humour their parents make. Also, they could be communicating with relatives on the paternal and maternal side differently due to the cultural differences. This accounts for the disconnection between a biracial individual and the corresponding races.

 

‘… there’s my British side where again I’ve never lived there and my only connection I have to British culture is that I speak English.’

- Interview 1: Jethro Clarke