Where does your love for languages come from?
I don’t think I realized I liked (learning) language until I was older because when I was younger … I was forced to go to Vietnamese school because my mom wanted me to … know the language, because not a lot of kids my age know Vietnamese that well.
In Western culture – in dominant culture, I mean – you could forget your own culture. So, where English is the primary language used in schools in day-to-day life, she wanted me to practice Vietnamese so she could still communicate with me in Vietnamese and I could communicate with others.
When I started getting older, I realized I was kinda good at (Vietnamese) … I was one of the valedictorians for Vietnamese school and then, after working so hard … I started wanting to learn a lot more languages.
When have you felt the benefits of knowing different languages?
I traveled to Vietnam for six weeks two years ago … I actually went out in the city at night and with some family friends. I had no family members going with me. But I knew how to interact with other people, and it was really easy to get along and get by since I knew the language.
Can you talk about teaching at Vietnamese school?
The most rewarding part is getting to connect with my culture and the teachers there, because … Portland’s a very, very white city, so there’s such a low, small percentage of Vietnamese people. So, going to a school with a ton of Vietnamese people and getting to interact with them is just great in itself. It’s good to connect with your culture and your language, and I think I learn more things each time I come to help at Vietnamese school.
What led you to learning Spanish?
Growing up, I’ve moved, I think, three times in my life and lived in different communities. So, in those communities, there’s … such a diversity … I just wanted so badly to communicate with these people and to be able to travel the world in the future and to be able to get around and not just be a tourist but understand their culture.
What has been most beneficial to you about learning Japanese?
I understand a lot more about Japanese culture and the people there … like how they dress, and how they communicate with each other, how they respect one another … I definitely can take these skills with me if I wanna study abroad, or if I decide to go anywhere.
What are your hopes for your future involving language?
I think in college I am going to minor in languages, so I really wanna continue Japanese and Spanish and hopefully, if I have the time, I actually really wanna learn French.
I wanna go into the medical field. So, if you’re going into the medical field and you’re doing emergency medicine and there’s, let’s say a patient who doesn’t know how to speak English, so you can … be able to translate information and patients who are in need of care, talk to them in Spanish, or if they know Japanese or Vietnamese.
What is it specifically that you enjoy about learning languages?
The world is full of so many different languages and ethnicities and cultures, so if you know these languages it’s like you can communicate with … a broader amount of people.
You’re understanding the culture a lot more and you’re understanding who these people are, because they’re a lot more than just people. Each person, they’re part of something.
