American writes about speaking Vietnamese with locals

While we are now familiar with Jackie – a U.S. national, she is leaving for some time. Before she goes, she will tell us about her visit to a cafe that she frequented and a conversation in Vietnamese with the sister of her Vietnamese friend.

I used to frequent a cafe in Phu Nhuan quite a lot. I knew the owners – a family – and we talked all the time (in English). As of late, time and circumstances haven't allowed me to go there. But the other night, I made a venture over there for the first time in a couple of months and the daughter of the owner ran to greet me and we began catching up. It was clear from the get-go that her English had improved ten-fold so I, too, of course, had to mention that I had been studying Vietnamese. She began testing me, to see if I was telling the truth and how much I knew. Soon enough, wouldn't you know it, her sister comes to "join the conversation" (in reality, she came over to watch me butcher her language and get a small laugh). And then, her aunt came, too! Eventually, it seemed like the whole family was gathering to watch me speak their language. I asked the daughter to speak slowly and to ask me easy questions("Chi ... hop ... tieng ... viet ... bao ... lao?") and she was still thrilled at the chance to be the teacher and not the student, for once. Her older relatives got a real laugh out of me struggling with their language, but the entire family was grinning so widely it was hard to feel embarrassed or offended. They were absolutely delighted to hear my feeble attempts at communication with an eight-year-old and for the rest of the night they spoke to me in slow, graded Vietnamese and the service was more attentive than usual. They very clearly appreciated my efforts at absorbing their culture and wanted to show it. It made me feel really good. For some strange reason, my knowledge, that night, was not only a gift for me, but a gift for them. A gift I wish could've been better, but a gift nonetheless! Goal from the beginning? Reached!

I got another chance to practice my Vietnamese yesterday. I'm going to America in a few weeks and had the address of the sister here in HCM of a Vietnamese friend of mine back home. I wanted to surprise him by bringing him something from his sister, so I dropped by her business to ask, being under the impression she spoke English. Turns out she doesn't, really, and her receptionist speaks even less. In trying to explain to the sister who I was, I understood the receptionist say, "Yes, she can speak Vietnamese". I was amazed! Sure, if you walk up to a man and say, "Bao nhieu?" he will say, "Oh! Your Vietnamese very good!", but I was still flattered. In the end, I'm not quite sure whether she thinks I want to send him something or whether I want her to send something (rest assured there were many minutes of confusion), but goshdarnit, she understood who I was, where I was going, and that something needed to be sent.

I consider that a victory!

Jackie

This material is provided by the Vietnamese Language Studies Saigon (VLS).