I've decided there is a possible positive to some Vietnamese not understanding their own language; perhaps those that don't understand Foreigner Vietnamese have an intellectual weakness not normally detected in our sometimes limited interaction. Just a thought; if they don't "throw the switch" what does that tell us about the person? Anybody care to hypothesize?
Yesterday I went into a small shop selling cases of pop and beer; the woman waiting on me would be late forties early fifties. I asked for a small case of bottled Coca Cola and she then pulled a case out that had two bottles already removed, She said she would get two more to fill the case, I said don't bother that is fine the way it is. In the conversation (in Vietnamese) there was not one repetition, not one misunderstanding. I looked into the women's eyes and saw intelligence and awareness. The woman was poor and not well educated and spoke no English. I left the shop with two Cokes short of a full load. Viet Kieu won't understand the abuse of an idiom, but anyway I felt more confident with my Vietnamese and am happy I found somebody who could "throw the switch" effortlessly.
Language barrier
Last year my Vietnamese girlfriend originally from Ca Mau but who has lived in Saigon for a few years traveled to Phu Yen for a wedding and she had a very difficult time understanding the people there.
I've also seen her watch tv shows where some of the humour is based upon their own misunderstandings from people from other regions.
Even myself when I've travelled just recently to India I had a hard time understanding some people there even tho I know they were speaking English. I was also with a Vietnamese & Indian colleagues so we'd all communicate in English and between them they had a hard time understanding each other and would look to me for translation but I would just repeat what they said.
Also traveling through the USA I sometimes had a hard time understanding Latino people's English.
So I don't think there is an intellectual weakness just some people aren't used to listening to other peoples accents.
Maybe Cheeha is right, it's a simple as that.
cheeha wrote:Last year my Vietnamese girlfriend originally from Ca Mau but who has lived in Saigon for a few years traveled to Phu Yen for a wedding and she had a very difficult time understanding the people there.
I've also seen her watch tv shows where some of the humour is based upon their own misunderstandings from people from other regions.
Even myself when I've travelled just recently to India I had a hard time understanding some people there even tho I know they were speaking English. I was also with a Vietnamese & Indian colleagues so we'd all communicate in English and between them they had a hard time understanding each other and would look to me for translation but I would just repeat what they said.
Also traveling through the USA I sometimes had a hard time understanding Latino people's English.
So I don't think there is an intellectual weakness just some people aren't used to listening to other peoples accents.
Indians speaking English shift the accents of words to the wrong syllables. Most Americans dislike Indian accents and banks and other agencies that outsourced support to Indian call centers lost billions in business.
I've never had much trouble understanding Latinos speaking English, nor they my Spanish, which is far more a reading than a speaking language for me.
Vietnamese from even nearby regions often can't understand each other.
I have found that people who want my business, understand my viet and appreciates my attempts at learning and speaking vietnamese. So maybe attitude and mindset has a lot to do with it...
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