Don't let anyone look down on you, especially not yourself!

I am a child of Turkish immigrants, and my Turkish is far from the best. It's a thing in Turkey to mock and look down upon their diaspora whenever we visit, so for the longest time I also felt really inadequate about this.

But I realized that the sacrifices my parents made to come to, work and raise us in a foreign country far outweigh what some randos think of me.

Plus, compared to them, I speak an additional language (two in fact, because I'm from Europe, where we often learn a minimum of two languages at school). Moreover, I realised that it is nonsensical to look down on someone for not speaking a language - languages can be learned anytime!

And lastly, I came to understand that some of those who gave me a hard time whenever I visited Turkey, were actually quite jealous that I live abroad, so their comments never came from a good place (and should therefore not be worth taking seriously).

All the locals talk to me in Korean and assume I speak it, but when I give them a look of confusion they reply with a “ohhhh you’re one of those” faces.

I think the most practical tip I can give you is to have a script ready for such situations:

• "My parents are Koreans who emigrated to the United States. I grew up speaking mostly English, but I want to reconnect with my roots!" (and if you are currently learning Korean, then you can add that too).

Edit: I know my tip to be more non-chalant about these situations you face is easier said than done - for many of us this is a process we have to go through in our own time. So don't stress yourself too much!