From: tin@smsc.sony.com (Le Tin)
Subject: Re: 20/20 The long way home
Organization: Sony Microsystems Corp, San Jose, CA
Date: Tue, 29 Dec 92 20:58:10 GMT

In article <m0n6n0e-00000XC@galaxy> Giap Huynh <giap@NVL.ARMY.MIL> writes:
>>
>>   There are a lot of circumstances where it may not be possible.  Her
>>   siblings maybe too young to know much Vietnamese for them to practice
>>   together.  The Vietnamese community in her area maybe too small and
>>   spreadout (plus trying to survive with jobs and schooling).
>
>    I don't think 10 years old is too young to forget Vietnamese. I
>    understood the difficulty you figured out, but few year later if
                                                    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>    she chose to practice with her siblings, she could still do it. Her
     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>    siblings would be 7 to 10 years old by then. We don't expect them
>    to speak fluently but at least some.

  And who is her siblings going to be practicing with?  You are
  assuming too many things that they might not be able to do.
  These are young children who are suddenly put into a totally
  new culture and environment.  They do not have older adults of
  their culture to provide the supports and constant reminder.

  Do not be so harsh on children.  Not all are tough, world wise,
  nor should they be.

>    Nobody perceived you as Americanized, unless you chose to be. Your
>    generalization of Vietnamese is wrong. Vietnamese live in the U.S.
>    in general don't reject their young if they want to "re-learn"
>    their culture. In fact, this is what they wish for. I don't know
>    what you talked about. You seem still very defensive.

  This is a harsh and rather unrealistic attitude.  It is not a
  question of whether one chose to behaved as Amercanized or Vietnamized.
  A person can not help but behaved the way they have grown up in
  their environment.  If you had grown up in any culture, you can NOT
  help it but behave the way that culture dictate.

  Vietnamese may not "reject" their young, but they certainly are
  not tolerant of ideas that are "different."  Listen to what you
  are saying about the woman on 20/20.  Without knowing much about
  her background and history, you criticized her.  Instead of
  being supportive and encouraging, you make it sound as if it was
  her fault and that she deserves her problems.

>>   It is afterall a two way street.  They are making the efforts, but
>>   they also need some help from us to teach them Vietnamese.  We also
>>   have to reach out to them.
>
>    Of course!

  Good, we agreed on something.

>>   Not everyone arrive in the US with their family complete.  Some come
>>   here by themself...  There are many different circumstances...
>>
>    I didn't mean you have to come here as a whole family in order to
>    achieve that. Come here by themselve or with no family members is
>    not an excuse. If one old enough to realize how important it is,
     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^         ^^^^^^^^^^
>    then one can always make an effort to overcome. If we can overcame
>     death to escape from VN, then this is nothing. A lot of young
>    (even 10 years old) Vietnamese achieved this without any problem.

  Could you be a little bit more tolerant?  Compassionate?

  Do you personally know 10 years old (or younger) children who
  were placed into American families, with little contact with
  other Vietnamese for 17 years, who now can speak Vietnamese (well)?

  I think that there could be many more young Vietnamese who would make
  the efforts to relearn the Vietnamese cultures, if they were not made
  to feel as if it was all their fault for not trying to "keep" their
  culture.  Instead of being so harsh and accusatory, we should welcome
  them with open arms.

Regards,
Tin Le

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