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Emily's Journey: Identity, Language Learning, and Adoption Realities

After 9 months of living with monks, Emily Harris was adopted from China. She was left behind by her bio family due to the One Child Policy. To process her loss of identity, she has started to learn Chinese with a community of adoptees.   

In this episode, she talks about how language learning helps, why she wishes she was white, and the hardships of being a Chinese adoptee in the US.

What we discussed 

(00:24) Getting adopted from China

(07:18) Pandemic racism 

(09:29) Processing identity loss through language learning

(11:24) Not wanting to share the language with non-adoptees

(15:10) Belonging nowhere 

(20:58) One child policy

(23:43) Distance created by religion 

(27:02) Reckoning with being chinese OR “I want to be white”

(31:40) The note her birth family left her

(35:22) For adoptees learning their bio language…

(38:23) Connect with Emily

Links

Language Travel Adoptee on YouTube

Language Wellness and Identity Podcast

Connect with Emily Harris: Instagram | Twitter

Follow us on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Tiktok

Credits

Special thanks to Samuel Oyedele for editing our podcast, support his work on Instagram or e-mail him at [email protected]