Understanding expat language: What do you call yourself?
Expat, third culture kid, trailing spouse, international... What language do you use to describe yourself or your situation? Do you identify with any of these terms? Do you choose not to? Or perhaps you are struggling to find a term that describes your situation with all its nuances?
When it comes to discussing issues faced by "expats", finding language that is accurate - and shared and understood by all of us - is somewhat a challenge; a challenge that is impossible to ignore with the growing phenomenon of globally mobile individuals and families.
For example, the term "international" can refer to any of the terms in the table below. The different "labels" also carry different emotions and may affect how we see our identity (e.g. positively or negatively).
How can we make sure that we start our conversations on the same page?
A possible first step is to define the terms, meanings and references we use. You can find some helpful definitions below, as discussed at the FIGT (Families in Global Transition) Conference 2016 in Amsterdam. There are many more, of course, but we tried to make a small, comprehensive list with some of the most important definitions.
By creating a mutual understanding of common (and not so common) terms, there’s less chance of the words getting in the way of real communication.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Expat/Expatriate | Person who left his/her native country to live elsewhere. |
| Third Culture Kid (TCK) | Person who has lived in - or meaningfully interacted with - two or more countries for a significant period of time during developmental years, often coupled with High Mobility Patterns. |
| Third Culture Adult (TCA) | Person (adult) who is not living in his/her home country. |
| Cross-Cultural Kid (CCK) | Person who has lived in - or meaningfully interacted with - two or more cultural environments for a significant period of time during developmental years. |
| Trailing spouse / Accompanying Spouse or Partner | Person following his/her spouse on assignment abroad. |
| Lovepat / Romantic Expat | Made-up word to denote a person who followed a person of romantic interest abroad. |
| Repat / Repatriate | A person who returned to his/her native country after living elsewhere. |
| Adult Third Culture Kid (ATCK) | Person (adult) who grew up as a TCK. |
| Global Nomad | Other name describing an Expat or TCK. |
| Orphan Spouse | Person who is in a relationship but his/her job(s) dictates a separate life to the partner/spouse. |
| Immigrant | Person who comes to a country to settle. |
Do you need a label?
Regardless of which term best describes your situation, here are some valuable questions to ask yourself:
- Do I need a label?
- What does it mean for me/my identity/who I am?
- How does the label feel to me?
I believe having the answers to these questions is equally or more important than identifying one term that describes your full experience as an international or expat or repat or… ?
At the end of the day, you are YOU blessed in your DIVERSITY!
What do you call yourself? Join the conversation below - we’re curious to hear your thoughts!
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