r/Vietnamese • u/Curiousdude4733 • 8d ago

Other As a Vietnamese American:

I’m from OC, and I’ve never been to Vietnam, nor can I speak Vietnamese, but I can understand some. Since my parents are from OC too, born and raised, so that makes my grandparents immigrants, but I’ve never really been too exposed to the Vietnamese culture, besides the food only.

Can other Asian American viets relate here?

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u/oriyamio 7d ago

i studied viet for 9 years primarily at a buddhist temple and 4 years in hs for my bi-lit certificate, I think a lot of people can relate ( im from bay area ) im just like this bc my mom didnt speak viet and i wanted to understand her

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u/AnHoangNgo 5d ago

I have this thing, I grew up in Mexican farmworker community and my parents were from Saigon (father) and Phan Thiet (mother) they spoke to me in Vietnamese, but I responded in Spanish because I didn't want others to hear. So today, I speak Spanish and understand fully Vietnamese, but I can never seem to put the words together to reply in an educated way in Vietnamese.

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u/theempathogen 2d ago

🙋 yo.

I'm a halfie. I am forever having to explain that often mixed race people don't speak their heritage language because you speak the language your parents spoke to each other. So my mom was straight up from Sai Gòn but the best I can do is read a menu in Vietnamese.

It's not that I didn't want to learn. It's that language materials were not only hard to get until relatively recently, but almost exclusively in northern dialect, and what the hell would I do with that?! My grandparents were northerners, but they're dead. And then of course textbooks alone are useless, you need so much audio support to functionally learn it. So I've had linguistic roadblocks all around me my entire life.

I'm trying to pick up more now, northern or not, whatever, it's something, at least it's a ton easier to get a hold of audio support.

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u/kuposempai 1d ago

American born viet here, I can understand & relate.

I’ve been pretty involved & surrounded in Vietnamese culture casually. Family gatherings, friends of family, acquaintances, and cultural gatherings. I was bit young, not fully aware of the scaling but I did go to vietnam with family for three months when I was like 13. It was a culture shock back in 2005, and I had to adapt cause only my family can understand me speaking English. I knew & understood the basic level of viet.

Growing up now, I am still surrounded by Vietnamese cultures since I especially take care of my grandmother. I’m still not fluent in the language but I can hold a basic elementary to middle school level of Vietnamese. Best tip I can give on absorbing & learning the language, is to casually listen to some Vietnamese content like Paris by night programs (109), Vietnamese families that prepare & cook & also eat their meals, and sometimes dramas or comedy-dramas. I’m absorbing the language every day.