Is that right?

DirtyGame"where do you come from" is asking one where his ancestors are from and what his ethnicity is.

I don't infer that meaning very strongly. You have to ask, "Where were your ancestors from?"

"Where do you come from?"
"Where are you from?"

Neither of these questions relates directly to ethnicity. The normal answer would specify a place.
eg France.

The answer for the former question is " I come from France" I don't feel that "I'm from France " answer seems suitable for that question, right?

"Where do you come from?"
"Where are you from?"

#2 is the more common form of the question, but I would answer both the same way.

Clive

Hi

I agree with Alphecca and Clive: the two sentences you give don't make the difference that you are looking for. Provided you know the person well enough, you might say:

- Where are your family from, originally?

Dave

You may not realize that, in some countries, direct questions about a person's ethnicity are close to taboo. They are often associated with possible racism on the part of the person asking.

I don't remember the last time someone asked me about that. If I were asked today, I'd probably reply 'Why do you want to know?'

Clive is quite right. There is an English joke, quite old now (thankfully) ...

A, racist: Go back where you came from
B: I come from the town a mile away, I'm doing my shopping

Dave

I agree with you Clive, one don't have always to answer that question
In my case, it's mostly naive and curious people only, who usually ask to know who's that person they are talking with,and mostly it's not for a racial purpose, you can never be sure though.

That's funny. Among Americans, at least around here, it is normal to ask things like, "What are you, Italian or Puerto Rican?" Nobody cares. We are all something or other, and it is interesting to all concerned. Melting pot and all that, you know. The rest of the world are a bunch of hothouse flowers. Get over yourselves.

enoonMelting pot and all that, you know. The rest of the world are a bunch of hothouse flowers. Get over yourselves.

If you go back far enough, we are all Africans with a few intermediate stops along the way.