[fattso]

In this day and age, there are many more couples from different cultural backgrounds hooking up. Whilst the couples themselves may not see cultural differences as a hindrance to the relationship, often their families, being of the "older generation", may not be as accepting, or have language difficulties in communicating with their other half and their respective family.

I was wondering how people have managed to overcome this or perhaps share their experiences.

[Janetw]

I am English and My husband is Swiss German. Big language barrier as I don't speak German and their English is limited. My Family with their Manchester accents have difficulty being understood by husband - Works like a dream - no one understands anyone !!!

Esp as we are also this far away !!!

[fattso]

Sounds like you've got it all worked out. Is there any awkwardness at family gatherings or do both families just accept the situation?

[Janetw]

not at all. Mine are in the UK and his in Switzerland. They only rally met at the wedding. A lot of his relatives don't speak any english and mine don't speak any German - excepf 4 who only really speak enough to get by on a ski holiday. all my fam think they are lovely and vice versa, they just don't understand a word each other says. PERFECT !!! My parents were not happy to begin with cos I wasn't marrying an english guy but given they never wanted me to marry any of my ex's they didn't have a leg to stand on and just gave in !! It really does come down to how strong you are or if you continue to be 'controled' by your parents ideals. I left home at 18 and moved to London at 21. Was always a strong willed independant daughter. They kinda gave up trying when I was about 25

[carang]

i'm canadian, hubby is local HK chinese. his parents speak ver, very, very little english. his brother a little more. my family speak no chinese (although, my mother has taken some cantonese classes in order to try to communicate.)

we all bumble through somehow. our families LOVE each other. when my grandfather was very sick, my b-i-l sent some very expensive chinese medicine to him via courier, without even telling me he was going to do it.

cultural differences didn't really become much of an issue until we had kids, then it kind of came to the forefront. however, we all try our best and know that things are done with the best of intentions and without any malice, so we try to remember that when the going seems to be getting tough.

[luvupsycho]

I'm a third culture kid, born in HK, grew up between Toronto and Hong Kong. My boyfriend's Canadian. My parents are able to communicate simple conversational English with the boyfriend, so not much cultural divide there. However, whenever there's a big family gathering (occasional dim sum, or other Chinese festivals/celebrations) where grannies are involved, then poor bf is usually left out of our convos as they are in Cantonese. Luckily, he's a really good observer and picks up a lot by our body language, and I also try to translate as much as possible.

Altho since moving back here, family members are always encouraging him to learn Mandarin as it could be very useful. He's also learning some cantonese through podcasts.