Chinese Singaporean 新加坡华裔
Hokkien 闽南语
Ethnicity 种族
Tamil [ˈtæmɪl] 泰米尔语（泰米尔语，属达罗毗荼语系南部语族，是达罗毗荼语系中最重要的语言，印度宪法承认的语言之一。）
Ballast n. Ballastis any substance that is used in ships or hot-air balloons to make them heavierand more stable. Ballast usually consists of water, sand, or iron.
-Cultural ballast 文化积淀
vis-à-vis[ˌvi:z ɑ: ˈvi:]: in relation to 关于
As sb. puts it, 正如某人所言
In the case of sth. 就……而言
Mandarin 普通话
Plains n. a large area of flat land 平原
be descended from sb.: to be related to sb who lived a long time ago 是某人的后裔
hail from…: to come from or have been born in a particular place 来自；出生于
Hakka [ˈhækə] 客家语
Teochew 潮州语
seek-sought
demean 贬低
unintelligible [ˌʌnɪnˈtelɪdʒəbl] a. impossible to understand 难以理解的；难懂的
discredit [dɪsˈkredɪt] v. to make people stop believing that sth is true; to make sth appear unlikely to be true 使不相信；使怀疑
hog [hɒg] v. to use or keep most of sth yourself and stop others from using or having it 多占；独占
chunks of 大块的
tidier ['taɪdɪə(r)] 大一统者
forge v. If you say that a person has forged something that you approve of, you mean that you admire them for having done something difficult. 创造;开创
-forge a single Chinese identity 建立一个单一的华人身份认同
foist [fɔɪst]
-foist sb/sth on/upon sb：to force sb to accept sb/sth that they do not want 强迫接受；把…强加于
