Vietnamese and overseas Vietnamese: how and how different?

For overseas Vietnamese born overseas, returning is not just overcoming the geographic distance to really stick with their homeland.

From left to right: Alena Joseph (press attache, Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City), Don Le, Anh Nguyen Nguyen, Mimi Vu, Don Phan, Khanh Nguyen (US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City - Photo: NGOC DONG

This topic was shared by the US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City on May 10 at the talk "Vietnamese and overseas Vietnamese: how and how different?"

Journey back

"We always feel the connection between ourselves and Vietnam" is the shared of Anh Thu Nguyen, a Vietnamese American who has returned to live and work in Vietnam for more than 6 years. Her share is also the heart of the speakers present at the talk. Participating in the exchange, the speakers shared the excuse that made them return to their homeland, the difficulties they encountered when they were alone in Vietnam, even many of them before. It never knew about Vietnam.

Most of them are shocked by the language, although they do not quite speak Vietnamese at all. In 2006, Mimi Vu left New York to work in Da Nang for the East Meets West Foundation. The young girl originally planned to stay in the central coastal city for two years, but then came to terms with her native land where her parents had been staying for 11 years. She is currently the director of propaganda and strategic partnerships of the Pacific Links Vietnam Anti-Trafficking Foundation since 2013.

Mimi told her first few years in Da Nang she met a lot of language difficulties when her Vietnamese language was taught by her parents in the North, while most of her colleagues spoke Chinese, Melodies, vocabulary ... are different from what she was taught.

Similarly, although his family spoke Vietnamese at a young age, Don Le, co-founder of Everest Education, still encountered difficulties in communicating in Vietnam. "In the United States, I only speak Vietnamese with my parents so I always say my son. When I came back to Vietnam, I just broke up Vietnamese people with so many names depending on context, brother, sister, sister, uncle ... I do not know which way, "- he joked. .

Meanwhile, Nguyen Thu, currently working at Baker & McKenzie Vietnam Law Firm, laughs and says that her Vietnamese is Vietnamese ... in the past, and she has to take time to learn again. Vietnamese today. She is also surprised many times with Vietnamese culture as to invite people to eat or cultural "sympathy" of many people.

Vietnamese people, whether Vietnamese in Vietnam or overseas Vietnamese, are constantly looking for opportunities, working hard and doing their best to achieve their goals. That is why Vietnam's GDP is growing by 6%. We have a young population that is always startled and aspires to change. " Thank you for leaving valuable comments