My teacher said that Saigon is like America, and Hanoi is like Great Britain. Hanoi is the capital, and they have their own vocabulary there, but they purely use theirs, whereas in the South, they use both their local vocabulary as well as the northern vocabulary because it is shown on TV and often thought as the more "correct (chuẩn)" accent. In the US, we actually use both American English and British English words like "either"(E-ther) and "either" (I-ther) and a bunch of other words that I don't really notice but my teacher pointed out. Anyway, for this reason, I really like learning Vietnamese in the South, especially since I see it as being much more applicable in the US.
I think of HCMC like LA and Hanoi like San Francisco. HCMC- the more trendier city, the more booming city, more open to business around the world, foreigners are not uncommon. Hanoi- the more romantic city with lakes and trees, the gap between rich and poor a little less apparent here, a booming city but not as much as HCMC.
So I noticed a key difference between the way I'm treated in Hanoi and Saigon. I am not ripped off in Saigon for being a foreigner NEARLY AS MUCH as in Hanoi. This may be because Saigon is pretty open doors and has a lot more foreigners here. (Side story: One of my teachers said that during the war, the North sent spies to the South and the South sent spies to the North, but in the North they found the spies yet in the South, they couldn't tell and it was very easy for the spies to immerse themselves in there. He said this is because the South is so open to other people coming in and so they can't tell, but in the North, they are very aware of outsiders.) Another reason, and this was so weird to me...in Saigon, they look at me and think I'm Vietnamese. One time I said "no thank you" to this guy and he asked me why I'm speaking English if I'm Vietnamese. I answered because I'm from America. (Well it was also because he was speaking English to my white friend.) SO SO ODD. In Hanoi, I experienced the complete opposite. They knew from the way I walked, dressed, I dunno what...even before I opened my mouth...that I was not from Vietnam...and if I did talk, it was a dead giveaway. In Hanoi, I was so aware that I was American. In Saigon, after talking to me for a while, people will figure I'm from somewhere else...possibly another province in Vietnam and sometimes they think another country because my Vietnamese is "lớ lớ" which kinda means not concrete...that's the best way I can explain it for now.
I think of HCMC like LA and Hanoi like San Francisco. HCMC- the more trendier city, the more booming city, more open to business around the world, foreigners are not uncommon. Hanoi- the more romantic city with lakes and trees, the gap between rich and poor a little less apparent here, a booming city but not as much as HCMC.
So I noticed a key difference between the way I'm treated in Hanoi and Saigon. I am not ripped off in Saigon for being a foreigner NEARLY AS MUCH as in Hanoi. This may be because Saigon is pretty open doors and has a lot more foreigners here. (Side story: One of my teachers said that during the war, the North sent spies to the South and the South sent spies to the North, but in the North they found the spies yet in the South, they couldn't tell and it was very easy for the spies to immerse themselves in there. He said this is because the South is so open to other people coming in and so they can't tell, but in the North, they are very aware of outsiders.) Another reason, and this was so weird to me...in Saigon, they look at me and think I'm Vietnamese. One time I said "no thank you" to this guy and he asked me why I'm speaking English if I'm Vietnamese. I answered because I'm from America. (Well it was also because he was speaking English to my white friend.) SO SO ODD. In Hanoi, I experienced the complete opposite. They knew from the way I walked, dressed, I dunno what...even before I opened my mouth...that I was not from Vietnam...and if I did talk, it was a dead giveaway. In Hanoi, I was so aware that I was American. In Saigon, after talking to me for a while, people will figure I'm from somewhere else...possibly another province in Vietnam and sometimes they think another country because my Vietnamese is "lớ lớ" which kinda means not concrete...that's the best way I can explain it for now.
i felt like i learned so much in this one reading. i like to learn about the subtleties and cooky-ness of other cultures =). keep it up!
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