The usage of the Chinese language by the Chinese diaspora and their descendants has been determined by a large number of factors, including their ancestry, their migrant ancestors' "regime of origin", assimilation through generational changes, and official policies of their country of residence. The general trend is that more established Chinese populations in the Western world and in many regions of Asia have Cantonese as either the dominant variety or as a common community vernacular, while Mandarin is much more prevalent among new arrivals, making it increasingly common in many Chinatowns, though still not dominant.West (2010), pp. 289-90
Europe The Chinese diaspora in Europe is diverse and speaks different Chinese varieties depending on their place of origin. Similar to other continents, there is an overall shift from Cantonese as the most spoken language by earlier migrants to Standard Mandarin as the lingua franca in the present day. The establishment of Chinese language schools in Europe helps newer overseas generations learn Mandarin as a heritage language, overlooking other Chinese varieties that are lower in status. Despite extra education, younger generations are often not fluent in Mandarin. However, they still show multilingual skills in code-switching with peers or when functioning as language brokers for their parents.
Chinese language education in Europe Because children of the Chinese diaspora in Europe are mainly surrounded by the languages of their host countries, most acquire Chinese as a second language. To pass their heritage language onto their children, Chinese migrants all over Europe have set up Chinese language schools throughout the years. These schools are also called Chinese weekend schools, because students attend these schools in the weekend when regular schools are closed.
Before the 1950s, there were attempts to set up language schools, but they were all short-lived and discontinued not long after. The first language school was set up 1919 in Leiden in the Netherlands by Peranakan Chinese students. Later, there were attempts to open schools in Paris, London, Rotterdam, and Berlin, but none of the schools lasted. Between the 1960s and the 1980s, when the Chinese population in Europe was growing due to migration waves from Hong Kong, many schools were established in major countries of Europe. After bringing their families, migrants had formed small communities. To pass on their heritage language to the children that grew up in Europe, they set up weekend schools. These schools were mainly teaching Cantonese, as most migrants came from Hong Kong.
After the 1990s, migrants came to Europe from all over China and the language schools grew rapidly. In contrast to earlier language education, schools shifted to teaching Standard Mandarin instead of Cantonese and simplified characters instead of traditional characters. During the COVID-19 pandemic, language schools faced the loss of students. Some schools did not survive the pandemic, but others adapted through a hybrid form of teaching, providing online education.
Language status of varieties As the demographic of the Chinese diaspora changed throughout the years, the languages of the Chinese population in Europe also changed. Whereas Cantonese used to be the main language spoken by earlier migrants, Standard Mandarin has since then become the lingua franca of Chinese migrants. This is promoted even further by the teaching of Mandarin in language schools. Some fear that the status of Mandarin might lead to tensions between speakers of different varieties within the Chinese community. Other varieties are often overlooked in these communities and have a lower status than Mandarin. There is also a hierarchy between varieties. Where Mandarin carries a higher status than Cantonese, Cantonese has a higher status than other varieties. This is reflected in the education choice of language schools, where there is a high demand for learning Mandarin, but not for other varieties.
In the United Kingdom, because of its colonial past in Hong Kong, there is less of a tendency to accept Mandarin as the lingua franca. Instead, Mandarin is used alongside Cantonese and English, all for different purposes.
Multilingualism and language contact Local languages are also used by the Chinese diaspora. In the Netherlands, second generations mainly use Dutch as a way to communicate within the community. Despite not always being fluent in Mandarin, many overseas Chinese from younger generations identify themselves as "multilingual and multicultural Chinese transnationals". They often show creative use of code-switching and word play between languages when speaking with their peers. Their code-switching defies grammatical constraints of the two languages and goes across morphological and syntactic boundaries, showing their competency of both languages.
Another way that children from overseas Chinese show their multilingual competencies is in their role as language brokers. Parents that struggle with understanding the language of their host country often need help with translation of certain documents or need a language mediator in certain situations. These situations include school meetings, but also doctor appointments and interaction with government officials. This role that is put upon multilingual children in overseas communities can be demanding and comes with responsibility and possible stress. On the other hand, it also can help increase their competence of both languages and their vocabulary.
East Asia
Within East Asia, Min Chinese (Hokkien, Fuzhounese, etc.), Yue Chinese (Cantonese, Taishanese, Wu-Hua, etc.), Hakka Chinese, Wu Chinese, Mandarin dialects to some extent nowadays and Standard Mandarin have served as the lingua francas amongst ethnic Chinese across most of the region and within many of its nations. However, the language situation of these communities can vary greatly amongst neighboring nations or even within.
Japan
Mainly speaking Japanese and Chinese. Generally speaking Standard Mandarin can be used. Common Chinese dialects include Mandarin dialects, Min Chinese (Hokkien and Fuzhounese), Hakka Chinese, Wu Chinese and Cantonese.
Ryukyu
In the Ryukyu Kingdom Periods was once spoken Fuzhou Mandarin, additionally, maybe it's possible that they once used in Min Chinese (Fuzhounese and Hokkien) and Wu Chinese as well. In modern times, during the Japanese and American colonial period, Japanese was the main language, some immigrants and their descendants from Japanese-ruled Taiwan (mainly in Yaeyama and other southern Ryukyu Islands) maybe also speak Taiwanese Hokkien.
Korea Peninsula
In the Korean Peninsula, most Chinese have received Chinese education in Chinese Schools, so almost all of them can use Chinese, and Korean and Standard Chinese are the main communication languages in formal occasions. However, because many Korean Chinese (Hwagyo) have their ancestral roots from Shandong, Northeast China, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, they can also sometimes use Mandarin dialects (Jiaoliao Mandarin, Northeastern Mandarin, Jilu Mandarin), Wu Chinese and Other Chinese dialects.
Mongolia
In Ulaanbaatar, because most Chinese people have received Chinese education in Chinese Schools (mainly China-Mongolia Friendship School), they can generally speak Chinese and a few can speak Mongolian. In formal occasions, people mainly communicate in Standard Chinese. However, because Many Mongolian Chinese have their ancestral roots in Hebei, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia, they sometimes use Chinese dialects such as Jin Chinese, Jilu Mandarin, Northeastern Mandarin, etc.
Southeast Asia
Indonesia
Ethnic Chinese in Indonesia had been subjected for decades to official, and at times discriminatory, assimilation policies. As a result, a large number are no longer proficient in Chinese, Most Chinese Indonesians speak Bahasa Indonesia even with their own families. Originally, the majority of the population emigrated from Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi provinces in Southern China, with the first wave of arrivals preceding the Dutch colonial period in the 1700s. The four recognized varieties of Chinese spoken by the Chinese Indonesian community are, ordered by number of speakers: Hokkien, Hakka, Mandarin and Cantonese. Additionally, Teochew and Puxian Min are also found. Taiwanese Overseas Community Affairs Council in 2014 reported more than 8 million self-identified ethnic Chinese: 1.25 percent of the country's population. However other source stated that there are about 10 to 12 million Chinese living in the nation, making up 5-6% of Indonesia population. Most of the Chinese resided in big cities and towns around east coast of Sumatra, north coast of Java and west coast of Kalimantan.
The distribution of Chinese varieties are scattered throughout the archipelago. On North Sumatra, Riau, Riau Islands and Jambi, two varieties of Hokkien exist, Medan Hokkien and Riau Hokkien, which incorporate local and Indonesian vocabulary. Hakka is concentrated in Bangka-Belitung, South Sumatra, Jakarta and West Kalimantan where they form a significant part of the local population. Meanwhile, Pontianak to Ketapang, Kendawangan on the southern tip of West Kalimantan is populated by Teochew speakers. Cantonese and, more recently, Mandarin have been used in Chinese-language schools and both variants are found in major cities such as Jakarta, Medan, Batam and Surabaya, with Mandarin usage increasing with recent arrivals from China (especially in the North China and Taiwan）, as well as Cantonese speakers originating from Guangdong, Guangxi, Hong Kong and Macau. Younger generations of Indonesian Chinese are generally fluent in Standard Indonesian, with some being fluent in English, local Chinese languages and even local native Austronesian languages (Javanese, Sundanese, etc.). Meanwhile, the older generations are only fluent in their native Chinese languages and Indonesian.
Singapore
Singapore has an ethnic Chinese majority population, with Mandarin recognized as one of its official languages. The Singaporean Chinese community do not consider themselves as 'overseas Chinese' but rather as 'Singaporean Chinese', with an emphasis on their national identification and distinct culture. Furthermore, simplified Chinese characters are used in contrast to other overseas Chinese communities, which almost exclusively use traditional Chinese characters. Although the majority of ethnic Chinese in Singapore are predominantly of Hokkien descent and Hokkien has historically been the most spoken Chinese variety, the government of Singapore discourages the usage of non-Mandarin Chinese varieties through the Speak Mandarin Campaign (SMC).Profile of the Singapore Chinese Dialect Groups Lee, Edward Eu Fah. Singapore Department of Statistics, 2000 The Singaporean government also actively promotes English as the common language of the multiracial society of Singapore, with younger Chinese Singaporeans being mostly bilingual in Mandarin and English, while the older generations speak other Chinese varieties.
Under the SMC policy, all nationally produced non-Mandarin Chinese TV and radio programs were stopped after 1979. Additionally, Hong Kong (Cantonese) and Taiwanese (Hokkien) dramas are unavailable in their original languages on non-cable TV. Nevertheless, since the government restriction on non-Mandarin media was relaxed in the mid-1990s, these media have become available once on again on cable TV and sold in stores. However, only Cantonese seems to have benefited from this uplift, thanks to a large following of Hong Kong popular culture, such as television dramas, cinema and Cantopop.
Brunei