The characteristics of Vietnamese people
"According to the American Institute for Social Research, the Vietnamese people have 10 major characteristics.
First, they are hard working but easy to satisfy.
Second, they are smart and creative to cope with short-termed difficulties, but lack long-termed and active reasoning abilities.
Third, they are dexterous but hardly pay attention to the final perfection of their products.
Fourth, they are both practical and idealistic, but don’t develop either of these tendencies into theories.
Fifth, they love knowledge and have quick understanding, but hardly learn from the beginning to the end of things, so their knowledge isn’t systemic or fundamental. In addition, Vietnamese people don’t study just for the sake of knowledge (when small, they study because of their families; growing up, they study for the sake of prestige or good jobs).
Sixth, they are open-hearted and hospital, but their hospitality doesn’t last.
Seventh, they are thrifty, but many times squander money for meaningless reasons (to save face or to show off).
Eighth, they have solidarity and help each other chiefly in difficult situations and poverty; in better conditions, this characteristic rarely exists.
They love peace, and can endure things, but they are often not frank for sundry reasons, so sacrifice important goals for the sake of small ones.
And last, they like to gather, but lack connectivity to create strength (one person can complete a task excellently; 2 people do it poorly, and 3 people make a mess of it)"
Vocabulary:
1. Dexterous (adj):
2. Fundamental (adj):
3. Prestige (n):
4. Squander (v):
5. Solidarity (n):
Questions
1. Do you agree on these characteristics of Vietnamese people? Do you want to add other traits?
2. Do you think that the characteristics of Vietnamese people have been changing a lot? Why?
3. What are the differences among the people in the north, the central and the south of Vietnam?
4. What are some typical traits of Vietnamese young people nowadays?
5. A lot of foreign tourists say that Vietnamese people are very friendly, kind-hearted, but many of them never return to Vietnam ? what is your point of this?
Club's address: 31, Giai Phong street, Ha Noi (LESH English Center)
Time: Every Sunday evening (from 6.30pm-8.30pm)
Host: Ms. Fiorella and one foreign teacher
Phone: 01635.136.522.
