VIETNAMESE WORDS/CUSTOMS
By: Nguyen Minh_TÂM (TOM Premo)
PHOTO ALBUMS:
Minh_TÂM |
TOM Premo |
USA Trip
This is a photo of of the PHAM Family which was taken during Minh_TÂM's Vietnam visit in
March 2001.
An interesting custom in Vietnam
is the use of NUMBERS in names; i.e., the first
born is called HAI(2), the second is BA(3) and the last born child is named
UT. I am called "Duong TU"(4) which means "Uncle Four".
Another interesting custom in Vietnam is that they reverse the names (Last-Middle-First) so my Vietnamese name is "Nguyen Minh_TÂM" (Pronounced TOM) not "TÂM Minh Nguyen" as it would be in the USA (First-Middle-Last). This is really a problem for "Viet Kieu" (Overseas Vietnamese). Also, it is interesting that many of the Vietnamese have "MINH" (Intelligent) as their middle name.
A friend asked me the following question concerning Vietnamese pronunciation: "Speaking of languages...I believe I read somewhere
that 'Nguyen', a very common Vietnamese name is
pronounced something like 'WEN'. Is that correct?"
The Vietnamese word for a "Gathering or Party" is ĐÁM and it is an interesting custom in Vietnam is that they celebrate by having parties for major occaisions during the year:
ĐÁM CUOI "Wedding Party" |
ĐÁM HOI "Engagement Party" |
ĐÁM GIO "Death Day Party" |
ĐÁM MA "Death/Funeral Party"
I don't know if I can be called a "Gypsy" but have done my share of traveling in the 90's and 00's. It all started in June of 1966 when I left the USA for an 18-month assignment as an auditor with a joint venture in Vietnam sponsored by Morrison-Knudsen (RMK-BRJ). After spending seven years working in Vietnam (1966-1972) with RMK-BRJ and on a USAID contract with Cong-Ty Dien Luc, the Saigon Power Company, I continued working overseas as an accountant with Bechtel in Indonesia and Saudi Arabia (1974-1985). Now I spend 50% of my time in the USA and 50% in Vietnam where I live in Go Cong, Tien Giang Province which is in the Mekong Delta about 50 miles south-east of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon); see Minh TÂM's MAPS OF VIETNAM. I only wish that I was a linguist because communication has been a real problem for me, especially now that I live in Vietnam as my family there speaks NO English and I speak only a little Vietnamese. This was not a problem when I worked overseas as an accountant since I required my staff to speak English and maintain our books and follow American accounting procedures. If I spoke to them in my limited Vietnamese, Arabic or Indonesian they would think that I was fluent in their language and our working relationship would be harmed. My wife and family were with me on these overseas assignments but we lived at the work locations in "Little America" and my children attended English speaking SCHOOLS around the world, most of which were operated by International School Services (ISS). I have been sleeping with my Vietnamese dictionary for since 1966 but it has not rubbed off and I am too old to learn the language now. However, I sometimes attend classes conducted by English teachers in Vietnam and this helps me to learn the language. FYI, most students I have met in Vietnam study English as a Second Language (ESL) in school, starting in the third grade, and many students attend private tutoring classes after school. Also, I have found that the French language is spoken in Vietnam primarily by the older generation. I will be traveling to Vietnam again in 2002-2003 and during this trip will use a Vietnamese-English-Vietnamese Electronic Dictionary (TRANSTEX Whizmate EV-586) that was purchased in Oakland/Photos.
Communication in Vietnam has been difficult as Minh TÂM speaks a little Vietnamese but the Whitehouse East staff and relatives speak NO English. However, most of the English speaking locals/teachers in Go Cong (Nguyen Thanh Hai, Huynh Tien Hieu, Nguyen Thanh Bon, Pham Thi Tuyet-Thu, Nguyen Minh Chau and Cao Thanh Phat) live only a few minutes from Minh TÂM's home and they provide assistance in this regard when necessary.
Most students in Vietnam study English as a Second Language (ESL) in school, starting in the third grade. The basis for ESL studies used to be "British" English but recently this has changed to "American" English. Many ESL students attend private tutoring classes usually held at the home of the teacher and this is one way that teachers can supplement their meager salaries. It is interesting to note that teachers are considered Vietnamese government employees and, as such, are to set the example for the community. As an example, the Vietnamese government allows government employees only TWO children per family and if teachers have more than two children, they lose their position in the school.
The Minh TÂM Premo Family are
World Travelers and we made a trip to Vietnam in April 1998 where we arranged for construction of the White House East, our new home in GoCong. The home was completed in three months (July,1998) and we traveled there again in 1999|
2000|
2000-2001|
2001-2002|.
Tom and his friend,
Nhieu, are planning to travel there again, for five months this time ( Dec02-Apr03
VN Trip #14). We will spend the holidays (Christmas and New Years) in Vietnam but will celebrate New Years twice in 2003, once on January 1st and again on February 1st, for the
TET (New Years) holiday ("Chuc Mung Nam Moi" which means HAPPY NEW YEAR in Vietnamese).
The Cyclo (XICHLO) in this photo was purchased in 1999 and this is how I get around when I am in Vietnam. The driver in this photo is my wife's nephew, OOP(UT). The Cyclo is a 3-wheeled, pedal-powered rickshaw that is available for hire by the trip, hour or day. Xichlos are a convenient and nostalgic means of transportation and in many smaller cities in Vietnam, like Go Cong, they are the only means of public transportation, along with motorcycles (Hondas)
Links to Vietnam related sites on the Web:
USA Embassy_Hanoi|
VN Embassy_Washington DC| WarStories.com CaoDai San Jose |
SE Asia Links|
VIETnam onLINE|
VietGate-VN Fonts VN Adventures |
VN Travel Information |
VN Internet Yellow Pages Vietnam Online-Business
|
VietLinks|
Amazing
Mekong Delta Tour Field Trip To Vietnam|
Vietnam Online |
VietnamTourism Vietnamese Words|
Vietspace|
Trichlor|
XuViet
WWW Searches:
"vietnam travel"+mekong|
"vietnam maps"|"vietnamese words"
|
Tom@Premo.com |
RTPremo@aol.com |
Minh_Tom@yahoo.com
Vietnam Seasons: Hot&Rainy May-Oct, Hot&Dry Nov-Apr
23May04
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