From: TIEN@NMDHST.CC.NIH.GOV
Newsgroups: soc.culture.vietnamese
Subject: Re: 20/20 The long way home
Date: 29 Dec 92 15:00:10 GMT
              USENET." <VIETNET@USCVM.BITNET>
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Hey y'all,

The lady in the show may very well speak and write Vietnamese even
better than many of us.  It may just be in the show that she acts like
one who doesn't preserve her mother language.  It's interesting to see
you guys discuss so hard over a television story.

And even if it's a good story to discuss about, I think it's nothing
new.  Everyone in the US, even if they just arrive a month ago, might
already heard about this trade-off before.  I think it's just a matter
of priority, some of us may decide to spare some of our precious time to
preserve our language, but some other could very well decide to utilize
all his/her time to make sure he/she and his/her family will be
extremely successful in this full-of-opportunity country, even if that
equates to a sacrifice of their old culture.  It's their choice.

The choice may well be a bad one, but I guess at least they still take
that choice for a hope of success (whatever success means to them).  It
seems to me that that choice is more productive than the discussion over
a not-so-new television story.

My best regards,

Tie^'n @ N.I.H.

P.S.  Sorry, I do mean that discussing over it a little is good.  But so
much on it is kinda excessive.  In a simple, friendly Vietnamese
sentence, I would say "Tho^i, ma^'y o^ng ca?i nhau la`m gi` chuye^.n
ddo'.  DDi la`m chuye^.n kha'c cho ro^`i!"
                                                tn
====================================================

>Date:         Tue, 29 Dec 1992 07:50:04 EST
>From:         Giap Huynh <giap@NVL.ARMY.MIL>
>Subject:      Re: 20/20 The long way home
>
> In article <1992Dec27.212731.16310@gmuvax2.gmu.edu> hlam@gmuvax2.gmu.edu
 (Hoang Q Lam) writes:
> >In article <08ly027S30bo01@JUTS.ccc.amdahl.com> vqt00@DUTS.ccc.amdahl.com
 (Married With Children) writes:
> >>In article <1992Dec22.200835.14838@news.media.mit.edu> giap@nvl.army.mil
 (Giap Huynh) writes:
> >>>
> >>>   Just have some thought during Holiday Season..
> >>>
> >>>   Did you watch 20/20 last week ? I did and couldn't help but felt
> >[deleted]
> >>>   Well, we learned something about the show....
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >>Correction: the woman came to the US when she was 10.  If you think it's
> >>a shame that she could not remember Vietnamese language, try not to
> >>speak Vietnamese for 17 years and find out if you remember anything.
> >>I admire her for having the courage to go back there and find her family
> >>knowing the she could not communicate with them.  I feel that she
> >>understands what love is all about !
> >
> >The problem is that you don't just stop speaking Vietnamese for 17
> >years.
>
>   It is possible to not speak Vietnamese, or have very little chance
>   to speak it for 17 years.  Those of you who grew up in communities
>   where there are many Vietnamese might not understand this point.
>
>   There are families who settled in areas where there are few other
>   Vietnamese family.  The children of these families grew up with
>   little contacts with other Vietnamese.  The smaller the family
>   (few brothers and sisters), the less chance they have to practice
>   Vietnamese.  Remember that there are 50 states in the US and not
>   just California or Texas (where there are large concentration of
>   Vietnamese).
>
>   It is better to try to understand the possibilities and have compassion
>   for this brave young woman, instead of condemning her without knowing
>   her full story.
>
> Regards,
> Tin Le
> --
> .----------------------------------------------------------------------
> . Tin Le                    Work Internet: tin@smsc.Sony.COM
> . Sony Microsystems
> . Office: (408) 944-4157     Other Internet Addr: tin@szebra.Saigon.COM
>
>    Of course, we know what you are talking about. You don't have to explain.
>    I'm sorry you didn't understand what was my point. I didn't condemn that
>    lady at all. I said it's a shame in general if we forget to speak our
>    own language no matter what reason. It's a feeling one must have felt
>    hiself or herself. I'm sure if you ask the lady, she will tell you that.
>    That is why in the end she vowed that she will learn Vietnamese fast
>    for her next trip. That's what I admired about her.
>       I think that when she was young, she made a wrong decision not to
>    continue to practice Vietnamese with her sibling or at least asked her
>    adopted parents to help them in making contact with Vietnamese community
>    here or back home. May be her adopted parents didn't encourage this.
>    However, they can still do these when they got older. But they chose
>    not to. That's why they have to face it today and it's sad.
>       I also think that a lot of Vietnamese became americanized until
>    it took a tragedy like this case to show them how much they missed and
>     how bad, shame...etc they must felt.
>       It's a good lesson for parents living in the U.S. to see how
>    important it is to teach their children their native language unless
>    they chose not to be Vietnamese.
>
>      Regards,
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