Running Head: VIETNAMESE 1 VIETNAMESE 6 Cultural Immersion Project 1Things learnt about Vietnamese culture through reading scholarly sources a) Political history About 2000 years ago, people started growing rise in North Vietnam in the Red River Valley. They built dug canals and dykes in order to irrigate their crops. They were working together leading to the emergence of a kingdom called Van Lang. Vietnam became a French colony in the late 19th century building various infrastructures such as railways, roads and bridges. The Vietnamese however, wanted independence and therefore formed Vietnamese Community party in 1930 which was a revolutionary movement. After Germany defeated France in 1940, Japan took advantage of the weak French and her troops occupied the French Indochina (Vietnam was part of this colonial region) but later in 1945, France regained its control over Vietnam and the war broke up between French and Vietnamese until 1954 when French troops surrendered. The Vietnam became independence in 1956 and became a communist society (Malesky, 2018). b) Language The Vietnamese language is believed to be in existence for over 3,000 years and it is made up of two subfamilies; Mon-Khmer and Munda. The language has been influenced by other foreign languages such as Chinese and French due many years they ruled the region. In fact, written Vietnamese is a modified form of Chinese alphabets. With French invasion later in the 19th century, Vietnamese was beefed up with more French words. Vietnamese is however the language used in education, administration etc. as t is the national language and is spoken by over 70million people around the globe (Thomson, 2016). c) Economy Today, Vietnamese are slightly over 100 million, 90% of them being in Vietnam. Majority of the remaining 10% are in the neighbouring countries such as Cambodia and Southern China. Although the government introduced communism at independence, various market reforms have been done leading to a rapid economic growth. Various industries have started doing well after the country recognized the role of the private sector in the economy (Malesky, 2018). The country has now become open to foreigners and regulations on its citizens and allowing them to move around the world taking their culture everywhere they move to. 1. Things learnt about Vietnamese culture through interacting with internet a) Religion Regarding religion, Buddhism, Taoism or Confucianism are the most common religions among the Vietnamese and they are integrated in their culture. They however owe considerable belief systems to traditional folk tales. Vietnamese mostly worship ancestors, gods, and goddesses for guidance. Among the three mentioned religions above, Buddhism dominates the other religions and for this reason, Vietnamese culture has a lot of Buddha teachings. For example, the four trues which te.

1. Running Head: VIETNAMESE
1
VIETNAMESE 6
Cultural Immersion Project
1Things learnt about Vietnamese culture through reading
scholarly sources
a) Political history
About 2000 years ago, people started growing rise in North
Vietnam in the Red River Valley. They built dug canals and
dykes in order to irrigate their crops. They were working
together leading to the emergence of a kingdom called Van
Lang. Vietnam became a French colony in the late 19th century
building various infrastructures such as railways, roads and
bridges. The Vietnamese however, wanted independence and
therefore formed Vietnamese Community party in 1930 which
was a revolutionary movement. After Germany defeated France
in 1940, Japan took advantage of the weak French and her
troops occupied the French Indochina (Vietnam was part of this

2. colonial region) but later in 1945, France regained its control
over Vietnam and the war broke up between French and
Vietnamese until 1954 when French troops surrendered. The
Vietnam became independence in 1956 and became a communist
society (Malesky, 2018).
b) Language
The Vietnamese language is believed to be in existence for over
3,000 years and it is made up of two subfamilies; Mon-Khmer
and Munda. The language has been influenced by other foreign
languages such as Chinese and French due many years they
ruled the region. In fact, written Vietnamese is a modified form
of Chinese alphabets. With French invasion later in the 19th
century, Vietnamese was beefed up with more French words.
Vietnamese is however the language used in education,
administration etc. as t is the national language and is spoken
by over 70million people around the globe (Thomson, 2016).
c) Economy
Today, Vietnamese are slightly over 100 million, 90% of them
being in Vietnam. Majority of the remaining 10% are in the
neighbouring countries such as Cambodia and Southern China.
Although the government introduced communism at
independence, various market reforms have been done leading
to a rapid economic growth. Various industries have started
doing well after the country recognized the role of the private
sector in the economy (Malesky, 2018). The country has now
become open to foreigners and regulations on its citizens and
allowing them to move around the world taking their culture
everywhere they move to.
1. Things learnt about Vietnamese culture through interacting
with internet
a) Religion
Regarding religion, Buddhism, Taoism or Confucianism are the
most common religions among the Vietnamese and they are
integrated in their culture. They however owe considerable
belief systems to traditional folk tales. Vietnamese mostly
worship ancestors, gods, and goddesses for guidance. Among

3. the three mentioned religions above, Buddhism dominates the
other religions and for this reason, Vietnamese culture has a lot
of Buddha teachings. For example, the four trues which teach
that liberation is only achieved through knowing the four truths
which the truth are of the; (1) suffering (involves realizing that
life is made of suffering), (2) what cause of the suffering, (3)
end of suffering, and lastly (4) path that liberates people from
suffering. Nevertheless, the Vietnamese worship many gods
such as the moon, the sun, the forest, the earth the mountain the
river and many more. Foreign religion such as Muslim,
Catholics, and Protestantism are the minority but recognised
religions (Williams & Koina, 2015).
b) Beliefs
Vietnamese believes in superstition. For instance, many of the
years in their twelfth-lunar calendar are considered
incompatible, that is, a man cannot marry a woman born in a
different year as this would lead to breaking his ties with the
family and the relatives. Another superstition is that duck foetus
eggs bring good luck only when an odd number is not eaten
(Williams & Koina, 2015). Otherwise the bad luck previously
kept at bay comes back.
c) Values
The Vietnamese society also has highly ranked values and
ethics, the four basic pillars are; good name, learning, respect,
and family. Every member of the society is expected to observe
these values wherever they are. Being more of a communist
society, allegiance to the family is the most important value as
any form of individual misconduct is blamed on the family too.
They believe that a good name is far much better than worldly
possession.
2. Surprises I have found out about Vietnamese culture
From the research, the Vietnamese culture has really surprised
me. The most surprising aspect of this culture is how rich it is
in terms of history that is stretching back to over 2,000 years. I
believe that its long history has really contributed to its culture.

4. Another surprising issue is how the Vietnamese are adaptive
and adoptive. This is proven by the fact this culture can
accommodate more than seven religions without conflicts. Most
of their religious teaching, values and ethics are universally
accepted where no one would question the reasoning behind
them, thus making it easier for a psychologist to attend to a
client who believes in Vietnamese cultural practices.
3. How the research has impacted my expectations as I plan my
immersion activities
The search above through the literature and internet has really
changed my expectations as I plan my immersion activities.
First, before the search I thought of Vietnamese as a very
complicated culture that would really make it difficult for me as
I carry out my immersion activities. I also viewed it a cultural
that has no any relationship with my own culture. These two
reasons made me expect disagreements, misunderstanding and
spending a lot of time to learn Vietnamese culture. However,
now that I now know that my African-American culture is more
similar to the Vietnamese culture than it is dissimilar, I have
totally different expectations. I expect to integrate very fast due
to the fact that most of the values that apply to me apply to
Vietnamese too. However, I will have to prepare myself in two
areas; the first is the language. Since Vietnamese do not learn
English as their first or even second language, I am now
expecting some sort of communication challenges, unless luck
will be on my side for me to have a Vietnamese proficient
enough in English. The second issue is religion. I have realized
that a very small fraction of Vietnamese are Christians like me,
and therefore I would be very lucky to have one. However, I
will try to keep religion as aside as possible in order to avoid
conflicts which may arise due to religious beliefs differences.
4. Bible scripture supporting diversity
1 Corinthians 12:12-14 New International Version (NIV) Unity
and Diversity in the Body
“12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many
parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all

5. baptized by[a] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews
or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit
to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of
many.”
References
Malesky, E. (2018). Researching Vietnamese Politics. Journal
of Vietnamese Studies, 13(3), 127-162.
Thomson, I. (2016, February 21). About World Languages.
Retrieved January 27, 2019, from About World Languages Web
site: https://www.aboutworldlanguages.com/vietnamese
Williams, J., & Koina, A. (2015). Vietnamese: Religion,
Beliefs, and Values. International Journal of Social Sciences,
47, 131-146.