Teochew with a French accent

Many ethnic Chinese in France are Teochews; they are supposed to be numerous in the 13th arrondissement of Paris.

This is a fascinating talk by a French Teochew named Oung-Heng Heng, delivered to a meeting of language enthusiasts in 2019. His family background shows how migration has been so important to Teochew history: they migrated from Teochew to Cambodia, then fled to Thailand during the war in Cambodia, and finally were granted asylum in France.

Heng himself grew up in France but speaks Teochew at home, I think that he has an interesting French-Gêg’ion accent.

The talk also gives a very good overview of the Teochew language, delivered partly in Teochew and in English. Highly recommended!

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Posted on 2021-03-16 00:00:00 +0000