Snobby non-english speakers

[Kristen]

I started a new job in an ethnic enclave recently. I work in little saigon in westminster, ca. Though i am vietnamese, i grew up mostly in a really white area and wasn't exposed to a whole lot of asians until later in life. i thought working in little saigon would be great since i get to know the vietnamese culture better and improve on my vietnamese, which is pretty limited.

what i am finding is that a lot of vietnamese people here look down on me for not speaking vietnamese super fluently. i can't stand it. i am beginning to really hate it here.....I never expected the snobiness and all. it makes me crave the return to the english speaking world!

[SunWuKong]

learn to speak better Vietnamese then. seems like you got a great opportunity right now since you work at Little Saigon.

[kitkatbee]

good food there though!

[tripostrophe]

I can relate. No worries, just keep at it for now. And try and find a group of friends who are Viet-Am and fluent -- or a group that speaks mostly Viet but are cool with having you around. Interaction with friends should do the trick.

[AngryABCGirl]

I started a new job in an ethnic enclave recently. I work in little saigon in westminster, ca. Though i am vietnamese, i grew up mostly in a really white area and wasn't exposed to a whole lot of asians until later in life. i thought working in little saigon would be great since i get to know the vietnamese culture better and improve on my vietnamese, which is pretty limited.

what i am finding is that a lot of vietnamese people here look down on me for not speaking vietnamese super fluently. i can't stand it. i am beginning to really hate it here.....I never expected the snobiness and all. it makes me crave the return to the english speaking world!

I never really understood this mentality completely. When I was a teenager and growing up I didn't look fobby at all and lived in an ethnic enclave too and people would act like snobs at first glance if I wasn't going to a familiar store when they saw me until I started talking and suddenly became all friendly.

I think it's an assumption by some that because you can't speak your ancestral language well it means you didn't honor your culture, but in some cases like yours made it very difficult. Just keep in mind it's not a reflection on your character at all and take some time to learn it. Do you go to the same businesses everyday at all (restaurants, etc.)? A lot of non-English speakers are use to be looking down upon by the general public. If anything get to know the same clerks and explain your situation and be friendly and maybe they'll help you out.

[lethal]

learn to speak better Vietnamese then. seems like you got a great opportunity right now since you work at Little Saigon.

It really isn't that easy. My experience is that it isn't just a language issue, but a cultural issue as well in this particular community.

[epmd]

I started a new job in an ethnic enclave recently. I work in little saigon in westminster, ca. Though i am vietnamese, i grew up mostly in a really white area and wasn't exposed to a whole lot of asians until later in life. i thought working in little saigon would be great since i get to know the vietnamese culture better and improve on my vietnamese, which is pretty limited.

what i am finding is that a lot of vietnamese people here look down on me for not speaking vietnamese super fluently. i can't stand it. i am beginning to really hate it here.....I never expected the snobiness and all. it makes me crave the return to the english speaking world!

this kind of thing is rampant in korea for overseas koreans who can't speak korean well, but i've never experienced this in north america. with korean canadian / korean american fobs who speak better korean than english, they usually treat me as an outsider in north america because i'm a north american asian, but they don't show any hostility

[epmd]

I never really understood this mentality completely. When I was a teenager and growing up I didn't look fobby at all and lived in an ethnic enclave too and people would act like snobs at first glance if I wasn't going to a familiar store when they saw me until I started talking and suddenly became all friendly.

I think it's an assumption by some that because you can't speak your ancestral language well it means you didn't honor your culture, but in some cases like yours made it very difficult. Just keep in mind it's not a reflection on your character at all and take some time to learn it. Do you go to the same businesses everyday at all (restaurants, etc.)? A lot of non-English speakers are use to be looking down upon by the general public. If anything get to know the same clerks and explain your situation and be friendly and maybe they'll help you out.

with the koreans it's all about ethnic nationalism and patriotism. whenever i go to korea i'm constantly told things to the tune of "you're a KOREAN you know, it doesn't matter how long you're there, you're a Korean.. learn your language and culture" it's better now cause i can speak Korean but before when I couldn't I used to be called "idiot" "stupid" and they insulted my parents too LOL. It's probably the same with other asian cultures like the vietnamese too

[LaiSteve66]

I started a new job in an ethnic enclave recently. I work in little saigon in westminster, ca. Though i am vietnamese, i grew up mostly in a really white area and wasn't exposed to a whole lot of asians until later in life. i thought working in little saigon would be great since i get to know the vietnamese culture better and improve on my vietnamese, which is pretty limited.

what i am finding is that a lot of vietnamese people here look down on me for not speaking vietnamese super fluently. i can't stand it. i am beginning to really hate it here.....I never expected the snobiness and all. it makes me crave the return to the english speaking world!

My dad's like that. He rakes on people who can't speak "properly" even though he didn't bother to teach his own kids Vietnamese.

[wetheril]

what i am finding is that a lot of vietnamese people here look down on me for not speaking vietnamese super fluently. i can't stand it. i am beginning to really hate it here.....I never expected the snobiness and all. it makes me crave the return to the english speaking world!

I may not be Vietnamese, but I've certainly experienced that. Whenever I go back to Taiwan, my relatives make fun of my siblings and i behind our backs. Because we cannot speak Chinese as well as they can, and we do not understand Hokkian, they often make fun of us in Hokkian. I KNOW they are doing this, because I can understand when my name is mentioned, there is laughter, and then a few words of Hokkian here and there I can pick up. My guess is that they are probably jealous of you because you had a nicer upbringing, and acting exclusive is one way of
showing that superiority complex (because you presumably had it easier and would be much more gullible) is my understanding.

[AngryABCGirl]

I may not be Vietnamese, but I've certainly experienced that. Whenever I go back to Taiwan, my relatives make fun of my siblings and i behind our backs. Because we cannot speak Chinese as well as they can, and we do not understand Hokkian, they often make fun of us in Hokkian. I KNOW they are doing this, because I can understand when my name is mentioned, there is laughter, and then a few words of Hokkian here and there I can pick up. My guess is that they are probably jealous of you because you had a nicer upbringing, and acting exclusive is one way of
showing that superiority complex (because you presumably had it easier and would be much more gullible) is my understanding.

In Taiwan I've noticed many people, although not all, but it's pretty safe to say there's a national superiority complex that co-exists with an inferiority complex mixed in with a bit of Hokkien nationalism coupled with isolationism. Many Taiwanese people who've spent time overseas going to university comment on this a lot also. A lot of it has to do with geographic fate and history. A lot of Taiwanese people think they're doing great because many have only been outside the country to Southeast Asia and Mainland China, so they think Taiwan doing great and we're this great economic miracle, even though those days are long gone and people know it. At the same time many segments of the population have a quite a listless sense of being in some ways and consume Western and Japanese goods for status and complain other countries are better than Taiwan.

I've actually been in situations in high end restaurants and cafes were people speak bad English and think they're all great and act like snobs to the staff and other people and then I pick up my phone if someone calls me and start speaking English and then they go silent and look embarassed and vengeful, even though these people are probably way more wealthy than I am.

So basically, admist my rant about snobby Taiwanese people who try to be Western to be even more snobby, is that it's a jealousy thing coupled with the fact many Taiwanese people, not saying all, haven't really just been exposed to a global world and don't have the thinking paradigm to realize just because you look Asian doesn't mean you're supposed to be exactly like them. They look at most White people or Black people on the island and all think they're American when that's least likely to be the case here. It's pretty much plain ignorance. It's a huge difference I see between Taiwan and HK and Singapore in ways of thinking that's sad considering development and education levels.

They could be affectionately making fun of you in Hokkien though, my relatives do that sometimes because they know I didn't grow up speaking it and still can't understand it very well at all. Unless you're being a disrespectful brat, which a lot of kids who come back here are, it's really their problem and not yours.

[grimfan]

Pretty uppity for a bunch of people who speak a cacophonous language. Keep your head up, and at least try to get conversational in Vietnamese.

[BeTheReds]

snobbiness in the homeland i can understand, afterall, it's the native language of most of the people who live there.

In an ethnic enclave in the US on the otherhand, I think the snobbiness is unwarranted. The people there should be trying to learn English..

[AngryABCGirl]

snobbiness in the homeland i can understand, afterall, it's the native language of most of the people who live there.

In an ethnic enclave in the US on the otherhand, I think the snobbiness is unwarranted. The people there should be trying to learn English..

I think people in ethnic enclaves, especially immigrants without much alienation and people who've lived there most of their lives get into this turf mentality because they feel vulnerable and exposed outside of it and it's pretty much impossible to learn English there, although if they're not making an effort at all they're really screwing themselves over.

The snobbiness isn't warranted anywhere though. I don't like people in America yelling at immigrants in English anymore than Taiwanese people yelling at other Asian nationalities or Overseas Chinese, etc.

[n3bulous]

What exactly do they say or do that makes you think they are looking down on you? Not that I'm doubting you, I'm just curious.

[j&j2]

This language “snobbiness” works both ways.

There are plenty of Asian-Americans who look down upon Asians who can’t speak English fluently or w/ an accent.