Vietnamese Americans (Vietnamese: Người Mỹ gốc Việt) are Americans of Vietnamese descent. We make up about half of all overseas Vietnamese (Người Việt Hải Ngoại) and are the fourth-largest Asian American group.
Mass Vietnamese immigration to the United States started after 1975, after the end of the Vietnam War. The year 2012 marked the 37th year Vietnameses began our presence in America. Early immigrants were refugee boat people fleeing persecution or poverty. Forced to flee from their homeland and often thrust into poor urban neighborhoods, these newcomers have nevertheless managed to establish strong communities in a short amount of time. More than fifty percent of Vietnamese Americans reside in the states of California and Texas.
After suffering from losses of war and psychological trauma, the Vietnamese immigrants had to overcome severe challenges to adapt to a totally different culture. Language was the first barrier that few adult Vietnamese refugees with limited English proficiency could overcome. While English uses inflection to express different meanings of words, Vietnamese is primarily a tonal language and the variation in tone can be used to distinguish meanings of a word. For example, the sound “ma” can have up to six meanings depending on the tonal variation, including “ghost”, “but”, “horse”, “rice plant”, “mother” and “tomb”. Another characteristic of Vietnamese that makes it significantly different from English is its use of status-related pronouns (as with some European languages, such as German). For instance, while the pronoun “you” in English is generally used for one singular second –person, there are many Vietnamese words can be used to refer to a singular second- person, depending on gender like “anh” or “chi”, social status “ong” “ba”, and relationships “ban” “cau” “may."
Mass Vietnamese immigration to the United States started after 1975, after the end of the Vietnam War. The year 2012 marked the 37th year Vietnameses began our presence in America. Early immigrants were refugee boat people fleeing persecution or poverty. Forced to flee from their homeland and often thrust into poor urban neighborhoods, these newcomers have nevertheless managed to establish strong communities in a short amount of time. More than fifty percent of Vietnamese Americans reside in the states of California and Texas.
After suffering from losses of war and psychological trauma, the Vietnamese immigrants had to overcome severe challenges to adapt to a totally different culture. Language was the first barrier that few adult Vietnamese refugees with limited English proficiency could overcome. While English uses inflection to express different meanings of words, Vietnamese is primarily a tonal language and the variation in tone can be used to distinguish meanings of a word. For example, the sound “ma” can have up to six meanings depending on the tonal variation, including “ghost”, “but”, “horse”, “rice plant”, “mother” and “tomb”. Another characteristic of Vietnamese that makes it significantly different from English is its use of status-related pronouns (as with some European languages, such as German). For instance, while the pronoun “you” in English is generally used for one singular second –person, there are many Vietnamese words can be used to refer to a singular second- person, depending on gender like “anh” or “chi”, social status “ong” “ba”, and relationships “ban” “cau” “may."
In 2012, 68% of Vietnamese immigrants were Limited English Proficient,
much higher when compared to other Southeast Asian groups (47%),
and the total U.S foreign born population (50%).
We are lagging behind. After claiming our presence in the United States of America for over three decades, only a small percentage of Vietnamese Americans stated that they only spoke English at home (7%), lower than other groups. We Vietnameses still cling onto our original language. How are we going to strike a balance between effectively utilizing a new foreign language while keeping our language at home?
Vietnamese Americans' views toward education is generally positive, sometimes too aggressive for our own good. According to Vietnamese social attitudes, the educational achievements of children can be considered a source of pride for the whole family. Many Vietnamese parents even exert great pressure on their children to excel in school and to enter professional fields including science, medicine and engineering. These parents probably feel insecurity stemming from their chaotic past and from their point of view, education is the only ticket to a better life tomorrow.
Vietnam's traditionally Confucianist society values education and learning, contributing to success among Vietnamese Americans. Many have worked their way up from menial labor to have their second-generation children attend universities and become successful. Compared to other Asian immigrant groups, Vietnamese Americans are quite optimistic about their children's future. Half of the Vietnamese Americans are confident when envisioning their children's future. They believe that their children’s standard of living will be much better than theirs. According to ACS in 2012, about 23.5 percent of Vietnamese immigrants ages 25 and older had a bachelor's degree or higher.
Sources:
Sources:
- Southeast Asian Americans State Populations 2010 U.S. Census. Retrieved 2014-01-02.
- Wieder, Rosalie. “Vietnamese American.” In Reference Library of Asian America vol I, edited by Susan Gall, and Irene Natividad, 165-173. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1996
- Bankston, Carl L. “Vietnamese American.” In Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America vol 2, edited by Judy Galens, Anna Sheets, and Robyn V. Young, 1393-1407. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1995
