I'm now officially a minority

(sigh) There goes my dream of one day building up an old castle to live in. Drat

I can understand it somehow. There are (checks post again) 191 000 of us living in the UK at the moment. Mostly going after greener pastures (check out the rand/pound conversion) where they then send some of the money they make back home to family, or have some or other political grump they don't want to deal with in SA. I'd bet its the same for everyone that's moved over to the UK. If you think about it though, even though you're born in South Africa or the UK, you're still not a true blue blooded South African/Brit because of your ancestors. My ancestors are French (huguenots), and Irish/Scottish (long story lol) so the only claim I have to being South African is that I was born here.

We have a lot of the same thing happening here with people seeking refuge from beyond our borders because of the life they lead in their own country, and it puts a strain on us as it is because of employment and such.

Welcome to the club lol I've always been a minority

Correct me if am wrong - I guess being a minority makes one feel like an endangered species. Personally am not a minority but kids from where I come from hardly speak their native language. This is killing the native dialects.

I've got to be honest, I don't see this as a major issue. Second, third generation onwards etc will be more integrated onto their host country than maybe their parents were. Keeping customs and dialects alive is a good thing, and is what gives the UK a rich history to tap into.

But second generation onwards, your native language will be (or should be imho) the country you were born in and brought up in. I've got Australian and American cousins and nieces. They may have British parents who have emigrated, but they will be children of their new adoptive countries. The language may be similar(ish), but if the parents moved to France, then the kids would be talking fluent French, and prob English, but I suspect their first language would be French. By the time they have kids, then they will be French with no doubt some odd quirky English custom passed down

But somehow, I suspect Barneys first language isn't Russian, even if his surname isn't Smith

Well they reckon we all started off as Africans originally, and in about 300 years we will all be Chinese, so that will give the local busy bodies at the Vicars bake and cake sale something to worry about.

Some people would say English isn't either. When I was younger people use to ask where I came from, Devon was always my reply, "Oh you look Italian or Spanish" or anything but English. I cannot remember who it was although I think it may have been Ainsley Harriot who discovered on ' Who do you think you are' that one of his descendants was a white farmer. Cheered him up no end. In history lessons we all learned that the Vikings, Romans and the French all invaded Brittain, and with Brittain invading 90 percent of the world in the past. The chances of a thorough bred white English man existing anywhere on the planet I would think is a highly remote one.