# She is originally from Africa.



## yuechu

大家好！

My mom's friend, and her friend's husband are visiting at the moment. I would like to translate the following sentence to Chinese: "They are visiting from England (which is where they live) but her friend is originally from Africa (which is where my mom and her friend first met)."
Would anyone know how to translate this to Chinese?
Thanks!


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## retrogradedwithwind

现居英国，祖籍非洲or出生于非洲


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## T.D

You can simply say 他是XX人 to indicate his place of birth or nationality.  e.g.  他是英国人；他是欧洲人；
By saying 他祖籍XX, you are telling his place of origin.


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## yuechu

Thank you both for your replies, retrogradedwithwind and T.D! 
Actually, this person is of Sri Lankan origin, was born and grew up in Africa and then moved to the UK after. What would be the best wording for this situation?


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## retrogradedwithwind

祖籍斯里兰卡（or 斯里兰卡血统），出生并生长于非洲，现居英国。


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## yuechu

That's great. Thanks, retrogradedwithwind!
I think that is more written or formal Chinese, right? Would it sound different in informal, spoken Chinese?


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## retrogradedwithwind

老家是斯里兰卡，在非洲出生长大，后来又去了英国。


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## yuechu

That's excellent! I have a lot to study.
谢谢，retrogradedwithwind! 
Just a question about 老家: Does it always refer to the place where one's parents (or ancestors) came from, or can it also mean where one was born and brought up? (I ask because the translations in the dictionary don't seem very clear...)


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## SuperXW

yuechu said:


> Just a question about 老家: Does it always refer to the place where one's parents (or ancestors) came from, or can it also mean where one was born and brought up? (I ask because the translations in the dictionary don't seem very clear...)


It can also mean where one was born and brought up.
If you want to avoid ambiguity, you should use 祖籍 or 籍贯 to mean the place where one's parents (or ancestors) came from, just these words sounds quite formal.


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## Skatinginbc

「他們是英國來的，不過，我媽朋友的老家在非洲，祖籍是斯里蘭卡。」==> 此句中，老家 ≠ 祖籍.

老家 = 年少時或自立門戶前，與父母長居之處。  也就是子女「離巢」所指的「巢」。
祖籍 = 祖先 (祖輩以上) 的原籍

「老家」可以回 (e.g., 回老家), 「祖籍」卻回不了 (e.g., 回祖籍 ).


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## nosaijin

“祖籍”or “籍貫” sounds very formal to me.
In your case, I would simply say:
"他們是從英國來的, 不過她朋友是非洲人.”, as what T.D. suggested.
By hearing that, people will usually assume she was born and grew up in Africa, and moved to the UK later.
If you want to emphasize the person is from Sri Lankan, "老家在斯里蘭卡" will do.


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## yuechu

OK! Thank you all for your help!


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## SimonTsai

她有斯里蘭卡血統，在非洲出生、長大，之後在英國生活。


T.D said:


> You can simply say 他是 XX 人 to indicate his place of birth or nationality.


When it comes to self-identification, things could get rather complicated:
​台灣人 / 中國人 / 兩者​香港人 / 中國人 / 兩者​


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