Vietnamese family: Young girl sings

About this recording

Creator

Kristin Post

Date created

January 28, 2001

Duration

5:53

Location

Bac Ha, Vietnam

File

MP3

License

This recording copyright ©2001. Terms of use

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• Search LEARN NC for Asia, careers, culture, families, food, homes, households, language, life, singing, songs, Southeast Asia, Tet, tourism, Vietnam, and Vietnamese.

In the classroom

In this excerpt, I record introductions with a Vietnamese family who entertained me and a friend during Tet, or Vietnamese New Year. Some of the conversation is in Vietnamese. At first, we are getting introductions, and they are discussing names for raisins in Vietnamese. They invited me to sing karaoke, but I didn’t understand that. Then they ask Chang, the little girl, if she will sing something for me. They ask her which song, and then they tell her they will introduce her like a performer. Then they try to work out the proper way to introduce her in English, including how to use the future sense in order to say “is going to sing” instead of “sings.” The little girl then performed the song, along with hand motions to accompany the words. The lyrics translate roughly to:

My two hands dance for my parents to see. These two hands fly like a butterfly. When I raise my hands like this, the butterfly dances. When I bring my hands down, it is like the butterfly lands on the branch of a rose.

Traditional song of Vietnamese soldier
Raise your head to take pride
Remember you are a hero

Insulting to American enemy. Do something bad to me. Take your pride, Vietnam, bring your chin up. Fight and kill them up. Appeal to the traditional spirit. France. Dien Bien Phu. Take aim to American heads. Kill them all. Remember you are a hero. Dien Bien Phu. Paint flag Vietnam. Repeat first verse.

Raise the flag up high- to fight France. The flag is high the flag of victory.

Old day Dien Bien Phu old victory to inspire. Do something to your flag.

Traditional song of Vietnamese soldiers. Many soldiers have to sing this song. Vietnam hero shooting at airplanes. Very good in shooting. Praise flag. Arrow to have
propaganda for war. Get inspire.

Dried grape
Many type of grape without seed.
Wanted me to sing karaoke.
What is this called
Sit down sing as – slow down- let me introduce- singer performer.
Use future- she tells them which song she’ll sing.
Sing, sing, go ahead.
My two hands

From my journal:

Around 2pm, decide to go for walk despite weather. Aim for mountain. Sure enough, at a dead end, I get invited into a house. At first, I didn’t want to go, but I did. There I was with: Gum, a 19-year-old economics/investment student; Tang, a 25-year-old female lawyer; Het- dad; mom, Chang (the baby, four years old- sang a Vietnamese song with hand movements); and Dien, (friend) and some other dude. We ate raisins and sunflower seeds. Gum and Tang spoke English- in fact, the Vietnamese dictionary barely held their interest.

After chillin’ for a bit, we took pictures, and they invited me back to their house for a party at 5pm. Karie decides to come. We get there at 5:45pm- and our host points this out. Food is all ready. We got rice noodles and green onion, fried potatoes, pork, meat that looks like a Jimmy Dean liver loaf, pork that looks like a spring roll, yellow cabbage leaves and rice. They put the food into your bowl. Went on to have six total shots of the “Bac Ha wine.” Had to hide cups so they wouldn’t keep forcing us to drink.

Food was good — mood was festive. Chang sang again and sat on my lap. Chang played with Gum — he’s such a loving uncle. It was beautiful to watch him with his niece. She was so happy and he gave her his complete attention.

Go to the bathroom on the cement floor which is also the shower floor. (This is the bathroom of the house, but there is no toilet, a common lack in SE Asia.) Help rinse dinner dishes. Leave at 7:30 after oranges for dessert and tea. I brought them oranges and peanuts as a gift.

Transcript

What is your name?

My name is Tang.

And what is your name?

My..chang bao na?

My name is Chang. (speaks Vietnamese). My name is Chang.

My name…is Chang.

Oh very good! Very good!

(laughter)

My name is Gum.

Your name is Gum. Your name is..ha…hoi.

My name is Heup.

My name is Het(?).

You are…beautiful girl.

(laughter) I’m glad that’s on tape. Thank you. Yes, is the weather in Bac Ha always very cold? Tet? Very cold? We came to Bac Ha to see the market. No market. Tet.

(speaking Vietnamese in conversation.) No market?

Yeah, bye bye, no market. Just vegetables, maybe, and..but no..not lots of people. Not lots of people. Everybody’s in their families. Drinking whisky!

Wine Bac Ha.

Wine Bac Ha. Wine Bac Ha. Strong.

Chang w..Bac Ha.

Oh, I don’t know if I can say that. (attempt speaking in Vietnamese — I assume they want me to pronounce the name of the “wine Bac Ha” as they say it.) Whu.
Chang wu..you say it one more time. (more attempt at Vietnamese)

Yes.

What’s this?

Naming it. Conversation in Vietnamese. Naming it again.

What is this? Name in Vietnamese. This is raisin. This name.

Speaks in Vietnamese.

Hat zoi? Delicious. “Nan.” (an attempt to use the Vietnamese word for “delicious.”)

Speaking in Vietnamese.

Chang is “dep.” Dep? Dep. Beautiful. Beautiful.

Same, same, beautiful.

Dep.

Conversation in Vietnamese.

I’m shy.

More conversation. TV sounds/music in the background.

This may be in the food section. (Referring to Vietnamese-English dictionary.)

They’re talking to Chang, she is responding. There is a lot of conversation at the same time.

You Chang. Uhm. My daughter. (They are saying Vietnamese words to one another and trying to think of English translation. Conversation back and forth.) My daughter, my daughter, Chang.

Yes, Chang, my doctor. Uh huh. She is sick? (I think they’re saying “doctor” instead of “daughter.”)

Go to uhm.…go to…

Is, is going, going to sing.

Going to sing…

To sing!

Yes, (says something in Vietnamese.)

(She starts to sing, but she’s far away from the microphone. They stop her, and tell her to stand closer to the microphone.)

She sings a song. Finishes.

Whooo! (applause) Wonderful. Thank you, Chang. “Cam on” (Vietnamese for Thank you)

(Vietnamese conversation with Chang.) (Repeat me in English) Thank you Chang.

Thank you Chang. Cam on, Chang.