Being an international student is hard enough – microaggressions make it harder

Words by Priyanka Menon

Let me set the scene of my first interaction with a flatmate of mine. I was collapsing with exhaustion after 18 hours of travelling and moving in. As an international student, I didn’t have the luxury of family accompanying me on a trip halfway across the world. While casually doing some washing up in the kitchen, the dreaded typical Freshers’ week conversation began:

“Where are you from?”

“What degree are you doing?”

All is going as per usual when he blurts out the most dreaded comment by all international students, and for that matter, many non-white students, regardless of how long they’ve lived in the UK:

“By the way, your English is so good!”

I can scarcely say this has been a one-off experience at university: I feel as though many bonding moments with other international students entail sharing our funny (and very awkward) experiences with offhand remarks. 

Don’t get me wrong – I understand how someone would assume that it is a compliment. Having grown closer to said flatmate, I realise that many offer the phrase as a well-intentioned gesture. But, more often than not, it has unintended negative consequences and within a broader context contributes to the inadvertent racism that many students – local or international – experience at university.

For one, it is inadvertently condescending, especially when English is someone’s first language. The phrase is undeniably racially-targeted (you wouldn’t comment on a white American’s use of English, for example), highlighting it as a form of microaggression. These subtle but harmful comments or actions reinforce stereotypes and contribute to a hostile environment for non-white students. 

Suppose, the person has lived in the UK for an extended period of time, it exacerbates the ‘perpetual foreigner syndrome’- the idea that minorities are forever outsiders and can never truly assimilate or belong, as a result of their race and ethnicity. Being constantly viewed through the lens of otherness leaves some feeling stuck between a rock and a hard place – having been branded as too ‘cultural’ to assimilate, but also too westernised to completely relate to others from their native homeland.

Many feel like they must make choices between two sides; to conform to our binary understandings of race and nationality. When they make this sacrifice of half of their identity, we also lose out on the different and unique amalgamation of cultures that brings colour to our lives and to England as a whole – from our diverse classrooms to our beloved (but not-so-authentic) Chinese takeaways.

While I recognise that some simply may not know about the cultures of other countries, it is slightly ignorant to assume that English isn’t spoken elsewhere in the world. For an international student, it can be hard enough living alone in a foreign country for the first time at a relatively young age, and doubly so if having to speak in your second or third language to get by on a day-to-day basis. 

Many of us have to build our support systems up from scratch, with no family or friends from sixth form to turn to as we navigate university life. Commenting on someone’s English merely reminds us that we are alone in a foreign country, perpetuates anxieties that we won’t fit in or be able to make friends, and makes us feel alone. For me, it makes me extremely self-conscious about the way I speak, especially when others comment on my Singaporean accent as a ‘tell-tale sign’ that I’m not from here.

It is important for me to recognise that I’m lucky to have such a globalised experience and an opportunity to study abroad. Often, I am the first person from Singapore that others have met. I love sharing about my home, my culture’s quirks and habits, and what life is like growing up there. 

So, by calling out offensive comments, I don’t mean to deter others from learning about the rest of the world. But, instead to highlight that there are better ways of learning about different countries without using such targeted language. For example, asking whether English is the first language in the country a person is from is immediately more polite, and avoids making assumptions about a person’s background. 

By being mindful of our use of language and avoiding statements that unintentionally reinforce stereotypes, we can celebrate the diversity at university and in Manchester without isolating students in the process.