This morning I was in the center of District 5 (Cholon) to replace the seat cover on my motorbike (Smokey used it as a scratching pad). As I was waiting, the owner of the shop started speaking with me. He kept asking many questions and I just could not recognize the words. They were very strange Vietnamese words. Finally he walked away after I responded “Khong Hieu” to him.
About 10 minutes later, his son started speaking to me in English. He asked how old I was and I answered back in Vietnamese. He then turned to his father and spoke a different language. I then realized that the owner was not speaking to me in Vietnamese at all. The son later told me that he spoke Chinese to me.
What a relief, maybe my Vietnamese is not really that bad after all. The question is, though, why did the owner speak to me in Chinese?
🙂
A very interesting day in Saigon…
Preya says
Because you’re Amer-Asian. My brother-in-law is half Vietnamese, half white, and people in Vietnam invariably mistake him for being Chinese or Korean. Perhaps someone would care to offer another explanation?
kevmille says
Oddly enough, people think I am white here but occassionally people ask if I am Viet Kieu or part Asian.
Thông says
Man I feel like that in Hanoi sometimes – me speaking Mien Nam (Southern Vietnamese) and all. Sometimes I feel like I’m speaking incorrectly but then I remember, oh yeah, Mien Bac, Mien Bac.
People tend to think I look Chinese or Singaporean. Weird, I used to get Mexican back in the states. Must be my new glasses.
kevmille says
@Thong
🙂 My goal for 2007, more specifically for the Year of the Pig, is to converse more and more in Vietnamese. Words and pronunciations are beginning to stick in my head. I really want to speak Vietnamese.
Kate says
Well because you were in Cho Lon, babe? I think you knew that Cho Lon here is just like China Town in US. They speak Chinese and Vietnamese as two main languages.
If you wanna improve your Vietnamese… Find a new Vietnamese girl friend and ask her to practice with you. Or you don’t have to waste your time on a girlfriend, just try to communicate with your friend by Vietnamese.
I recommend that I’ll talk to you by Vietnamese instead English. Do you agree?