I am an immigrant in a European country. Most people are like “wow, good for you, you’ve learned the language!”, but I have also, from a couple of gen Z folks, had accusations of being a coloniser and cultural appropriation… for learning the language of the country in which I live. I was surprised enough that I didn’t realise I was being accosted at first. As a crusty old millennial it never even occurred to me that learning someone’s language could be offensive to them. “Portuguese is for the Portuguese, not for foreigners!” was one of them. Strange how there’s this mix of anti-coloniser sentiment that actually seems to be or at least feed into anti-immigrant sentiment.
Bluntly, I think these people are idiots, and safely ignored.
I'm usually met with a mix of shock, disbelief, and sometimes a little bit of joy, when I speak Greek with a Greek person outside of Greece - which was at first odd, considering the origin of the word "diaspora". Some reactions were really weird, one person told me it feels wrong to hear a foreigner speak their native language so far from home, another told me it's the most useless language to learn, etc - but I've never been met with antagonism.
I don't think language and culture can be separated; Greece has been occupied by the Ottoman empire for ca 400 years, and the history of reclaiming their culture and independence is stained with blood (like most of them are).
In retrospect, I'm glad I ended up being "friends" with a hospitable culture. I haven't been to Greece in over a decade but it always feels like I'd be welcome there.
Not unlike how US folks react to the idea that England is the authority on English -- Brazil and the US are far more populated than the countries that originated their languages and so there are more books and movies targeting them and using their version of the language even if they are using it "wrong" as compared to the origin country.
I agree, but if some idiot tell you mean things, you will hear it anyway, and it might ruin your day, even if you know those are best ignored. My solution is the best for my own mental health: i acknowledge the criticism, i use bit of a socratic method if they are available (not as a rhetorical tool, but to achieve understanding for myself), and then i ignore them.
I am an immigrant in a European country. Most people are like “wow, good for you, you’ve learned the language!”, but I have also, from a couple of gen Z folks, had accusations of being a coloniser and cultural appropriation… for learning the language of the country in which I live. I was surprised enough that I didn’t realise I was being accosted at first. As a crusty old millennial it never even occurred to me that learning someone’s language could be offensive to them. “Portuguese is for the Portuguese, not for foreigners!” was one of them. Strange how there’s this mix of anti-coloniser sentiment that actually seems to be or at least feed into anti-immigrant sentiment.
Bluntly, I think these people are idiots, and safely ignored.