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I'm gonna try and make this as short as I can. I moved to NYC from a French speaking area in Canada when I was 7. I learned English really quickly and acquired a NY accent. I lived in Brooklyn for almost four years before moving to Queens for a few years. I'd forgotten most of my French by then.
After Middle School I moved back to Canada where I was picked on for being weird, having an accent and not understanding any slang words or customs. I had zero friends throughout High School and was a loser, like never left my house and got beat up and picked on kind of loser. My dad worked in NY for a couple years after we moved so I still visited a couple months a year. After he moved back to Canada we still visited 3 times a year, usually for over a week at a time but sometimes over a month.
Now I'm 19 and am about to move back to New York. I have a family friend who is the same age as me, who moved to NYC at the age of 12/13. He tells me that I'll never be a New Yorker and that I'll get made fun of since I'll be a transplant. He says he's "more of a New Yorker" than me but he speaks with a funny accent (although he brags about it being perfect) and his English grammar is far from even near-native.
I know I'm not a native New Yorker but I kinda consider myself to be from there, since I don't remember much from before I moved there and my life has been hell since I moved back to Canada. Sometimes it feels like I never left since I've shunned Canadian culture since I moved back here since I resented it so much (because I was picked on). I'd say I was a Canadian-born New Yorker. Will I really be at that much of a disadvantage when I move back, like will I just be another foreigner/transplant/immigrant? When I lived in NYC nobody could tell I was foreign, some of my best friends at school didn't even know until much later. My accent is still perfect. Will the fact that I grew up there not matter when I'm back there?
sorry to hear you lost most of your français. i think you're young enough that if you re-learn it it'll all come back to you fast, and that's an advantage as a job-hunter. in my humble opinion, the typical transplant from within the usa doesn't possess noteworthy bilingual skills. i assume you'll be looking for work?
does it really matter if u are a "real new yorker" or not?
some people on this board ask the most suspect questions.
never in my 26 years of life have I ever heard a real life argument of who was "more new yorker than the other person"
does it really matter if u are a "real new yorker" or not?
some people on this board ask the most suspect questions.
never in my 26 years of life have I ever heard a real life argument of who was "more new yorker than the other person"
Exactly! Humans will always find a reason to irrationally hate another human. So sad is the human race!
I have been living in NYC for much,much longer than you have been alive and am still a transplant.You will always be a transplant but it doesn't matter.You will certainly not suffer any disadvantages because of it.
I have a family friend who is the same age as me, who moved to NYC at the age of 12/13. He tells me that I'll never be a New Yorker and that I'll get made fun of since I'll be a transplant. He says he's "more of a New Yorker" than me but he speaks with a funny accent
If you believe you are a NYer, nobody can tell you otherwise, certainly not a bunch of nameless people hiding behind a screen name. There is no judge and jury...and you have nothing to prove to anyone. Be whatever it is you want to be, regardless of what people say, and you will be a much happier person....and THAT is what being a NYer is all about!
I would also add that there is a tremendous difference between teen years and young adult years when it comes to being an "outsider" or not.
Once people reach a certain age (and you are on the cusp of this threshold at 19), people don't care so much about if you are "from" a particular place.
Especially not in a big, diverse city like New York.
A few years makes a whole lot of difference.
In many cases as a young adult being different is a plus and makes you exotic.
i don't know. don't worry about what some random
idiot thinks about you. just go on with your life and
get money.
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