Vietnam Forum

ALF110
Joined 2011
Posts: 50

11 years ago

Vietnam - Observations amd Perspectives

11 years ago

Please not that this post doesn’t condone nor condemn the Vietnamese society or cultures. It’s just one person’s observations and perspectives.

I am a Vietnamese American and have lived in the States for almost 40 years. I am educated in both countries and recently retired. Since, I have opportunities returning to Vietnam many times, so I have some inside information to share and here they are:

Vietnamese language is hard to learn, speak and pronounce. Even I had a couple of years of college in Vietnam before leaving the country but it took me a few trips before I could relearn the language! FYI – I am still relearning.

Many Vietnamese, men and women, are well educated. However, some are only able to complete elementary school (5th grade) due to various reasons.

Gambling in all forms is popular in most, if not all, in Asian countries not just in Vietnam.

Drug usage is fashionable among the youth.
Like any other countries, there good and bad people. Majority of Vietnamese are good but you will find that petty crimes are above average in comparison to western countries, in my observation. I had witnessed purse and cell phone snatching or motorbike stealing incidents. You need to be careful with your belongings, properties and important paper/documents. I had my motorbike safety helmet stolen the last trip!

It’s true that that loan sharks (not real mafias) are popular in Vietnam since it is very difficult to obtain a loan from a bank if you are impoverished.

There are many forms of man/woman relationships in Vietnam. Some Vietnamese women would want to get married to migrate to foreign countries in order to look for or find a better life, economically. Some would be content to live together without legal commitments as long as the man would provide financial securities. It’s would be hard, although it’s possible, that a man would find love unconditionally. Culturally, man is the provider in a relationship.

Vietnamese are extremely smart but I am disappointed at time that they are not used their blessed abilities for more constructive purposes in comparison with other cultures.

Thank you for reading and I trust that the information is helpful to some.

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