What do vietnamese speak

She told me that crossing your fingers is considered a rude and disrespectful gesture that refers to part of the female anatomy.

Public displays of affection between a man and a woman, such as holding hands or kissing, are generally accepted in the western world, and can seemingly go unnoticed. More often than not I will see girls and, or, older women holding hands or linking arms with their girl friends.

While most Vietnamese realize that westerners have different behaviors in public, and may not care if you and your significant other hold hands, kissing will still likely cause offense. Personally, this does not bother me, because I have never been a big fan of public displays of affection. Back home when I am talking to someone with their arms crossed I tend to think they are mad at me or are trying to cover something up.

Instead of something that is done when someone is upset, here crossing your arms is considered a sign of respect. But, if you remember these non-verbal differences at least you can save yourself some embarrassment and keep the inadvertent offending at a minimum. Firstly, in big city HCMC, Hanoi,… , we are influenced by mass multimedia, thus, do NOT use your middle finger when you want to point at someone or something.

The middle finger should never be alone when you do a gesture combine it with other fingers. Since when crossing fingers meant something so gross and not true? And I cross my fingers all the time — for luck! My friends also do that and we never ever consider crossing fingers means something obscene. I was born and raised in Hanoi.

I worked 2 years as a university teacher in Vietnam before moving abroad to pursue higher education. And next time, I suggest you to respond with good manners, because mocking others with questions like yours simply implies that you are not capable of answering my questions in the first place.

Your English is impeccable but good manners in online communication require some understanding of other people background before jumping into any conclusion. PS — in the UK and other countries, beckoning a waiter with your finger is extremely rude. Just raise your hand! Another person here who never knew about the crossing fingers thing, not even for good luck until really late in life.

As for my background, I lived in the south HCMC and various provinces until I finished high school, then I went to a Hanoi university for half a year before studying abroad.

May I hear where your Vietnamese friend is from? Pingback: Americans and their Behaviour: — udaytechtuts. I am not Vietnamese and I did not know anything about the culture before moving here, so I am not an expert in the least, but I have lived in Hoi An in central Vietnam for over a year and I have noticed the same rule about crossing your fingers. I teach English at a local English center and I taught my students the American sign language alphabet.

For the letter R, you cross your fingers, much like we do in America for good luck. So next time when you speak Vietnamese to a local person, pay closer attention to the way he or she looks at you; The way he or she smile, laugh and respond to you. Obviously, we cannot cover all the reasons and perspectives, so please feel free to share your story and point of view with us.

You are commenting using your WordPress. You are commenting using your Google account. You are commenting using your Twitter account. You are commenting using your Facebook account.

Notify me of new comments via email. Notify me of new posts via email. June 21, vietnameselanguagestudies. There are many reasons why people laugh when they hear a foreigner speaking Vietnamese? There are three main reasons VLS really want to share with you. That means long school days, with tutors and extra classes at night — especially English, which is now a requirement for many students graduating from higher education.

Their society is built on Confucian beliefs, where experience and wisdom are highly respected. This means the older you are, the more respect you command. At dinners, the eldest people are served first — and at home or work, their opinions carry more weight. Those were difficult times for everyone in this country. As a foreigner, you need to be careful with this topic and be extremely mindful when speaking about their colonial past. Shopping in Vietnam is often a battle of subtleties and strategy.

Foreigners should expect an extra fee. In this case, your best weapons are your feet. For most shops, a smaller profit margin beats getting nothing. Many Vietnamese traditions and customs are based around their ancestral beliefs. Most people in Vietnam have a ghost story: from a butterfly landing on them during a funeral to strange voices at night. There is so much opportunity in Vietnam these days. If you feel the service has gone above and beyond, feel free to leave a little extra — but if you do, be discrete.

Hide it under a plate or behind the bill. Try not to take more than you can eat and be sure to give out many compliments. Vietnamese people talk about their societal problems all the time — be it pollution, traffic, corruption or academic cheating.

We and our partners use cookies to better understand your needs, improve performance and provide you with personalised content and advertisements. To allow us to provide a better and more tailored experience please click "OK". Sign Up.