Learning to Live Through Vietnamese and American Proverbs: A Bilingual Vietnamese-English Edition

By Vuong Gia Th?y

It is a common knowledge among the ex-refugees from Vietnam that after more than 40 years of living in the US and even with a smooth and successful mainstreaming into the new way of living in an alien social and cultural environment in America, a good number of them are still suffering from the “culture shock.” Consequently, they have been researching and looking for their old traditions, cultural values and moral practices that have been deeply ingrained in them but have been lost or forgotten due to a variety of factors such as: the language barrier and differences in culture and moral standard between their old and new countries. Because of the demand of working long hours and struggling for survival many of them have no time or ability to educate and communicate effectively with their children in Vietnamese or English, let alone teaching them Vietnamese traditions and morals. As a result, they feel guilty of being unable to carry out this important and traditional duty.
This unusual educational book is an effective and powerful tool for all those who can or cannot read Vietnamese or English to discover, rediscover, learn or relearn one of the most esteemed aspects of the Vietnamese traditional teaching: wisdoms and living with virtues and decency.

Sau 40 nm nh c Hoa K, nhiu ngi Vit Nam cm thy cn có nhu cu hc hay hc li nhng truyn thng và o c mà ông cha h ã truyn li cho h t th h này n th h khác. H rt quan tâm n nhng sc thái này ca nn vn hóa Vit nam và mun truyn li cho con cháu ca h nhng h gp nhiu khó khn vì nhu cu làm n vt v , không có thì gi, và nht là nhiu khi vì là ngôn ng khác bit cho nên h không có th thc hin uc nguyn vng này mt cách d dàng. Cho nên nhiu ngi Vit cm thy bt lc vì không th thc hin c bn phn quan trng và truyn thng dy d con cháu h vn hóa và o c ca Vit Nam.
Dùng hai th ting, Vit và M, cun sách này nhm giúp nhng ai hoc không bit c ting Vit hay ting M mun hc, hc li, hay dy con cháu ca h ngn ng Vit, mt gia tài vn hóa c truyn và vô giá ca dân tc Vit Nam, mt cách d dàng.
Hn th na, cun sách song ng khiêm tn ny dùng c hai ngn ng Vit và M dy khôn ngoan và cách sng cho có o c và cho úng o làm ngi.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 13, 2018
• ISBN: 9781984541437

Book preview

Learning to

Live

Through

Vietnamese and American Proverbs

A Bilingual Vietnamese-English Edition

Vương Gia Thụy

Học Cách Sống

Bằng Ngạn Ngữ Việt-Nam và Hoa-Kỳ

Việt–Anh

Copyright © by Vương Gia Thụy.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 10/12/2018

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface

Why This Book?

About the Book

Historical Fact/Context

Targeted Readers

What Is a Proverb?

What Is a Vietnamese Proverb?

Characteristics of Vietnamese Proverbs

Book Organization

Book Characteristics

About the Author

Last Wish / Paying Back

Lời Phi Lộ

Tại Sao Có Cuốn Sách Này

Vài Lời Về Cuốn Sách

Sự Kiện/Hoàn Cảnh Lịch Sử

Ngạn Ngữ Là gì?

Ngạn Ngữ Việt Nam Là gì?

Đặc Thái Của Ngạn Ngữ Việt-Nam

Cách Soạn Thảo Cuốn Sách

Sắc Thái Của Cuốn Sách

Vấn Đề Dịch Thuật và Tham Khảo

Vài Hàng Về Tác Giả

Nguyện Vọng Cuối Cùng

Vietnamese Proverbs Index (In Topical Order)

Mục Lục Ngạn Ngữ Việt-Nam (Theo Đề Tài)

Vietnamese Proverb Index (In Alphabetical Order)

Mục Lục Ngạn Ngữ Việt-Nam (Theo Chữ Cái)

Vietnamese-American Proverb Couplets Index (In Alphabetical Order)

Bảng Liệt Kê Cặp Câu Ngạn Ngữ Việt-Mỹ (Theo Chữ Cái)

American Proverb Index (In lphabetical Order)

Mục Lục Ngạn Ngữ Hoa-Kỳ (Theo Chữ Cái)

To

my beloved parents and wife Maria, my children and grand children and also to Sylvia Coudoux

for

having inspired me to write this book

and to

all those who need wisdom and value a life with virtue and decency

Cảm Tạ

Cuốn sách này được thành hình nhờ lòng kính mến Cha Mẹ và tình yêu cho Maria, các con và các cháu, và sự giúp đỡ tận tình của Sylvia Coudoux

Ngoài ra

Cũng xin tặng cuốn sách này cho những ai cần có những sự khôn ngoan ở đời và muốn có một đời sống đạo đức và theo đúng tư cách con người

Preface

Why This Book?

This bilingual English-Vietnamese book was written in simple Vietnamese and English for easy reading and comprehension of the intended messages without requiring a high level of reading abilities in either or both languages.

This book aims to achieve the following ambitious, multiple purposes:

○ Maintenance and nurturing of the Vietnamese culture and language, particularly proverbs, among Vietnamese-Americans, old and young.

○ Promotion of the richness of the Vietnamese language and culture overseas.

○ Making a humble contribution to the multilingual/multicultural richness of the American melting pot.

○ Providing materials to non–English speaking Vietnamese parents who want to teach their children Vietnamese culture, wisdom, virtue, decorum and traditions.

○ Promotion of decorum and values among Vietnamese and American youngsters.

○ Teaching wisdom and how to live with virtue and decency through Vietnamese and American traditional and popular proverbs.

○ Narrowing the generation gap by establishing strong links between older Vietnamese and younger Vietnamese-Americans, many of whom have limited or no Vietnamese proficiency.

○ Helping Vietnamese-Americans understand who they are and where they came from.

○ Helping Vietnamese-Americans understand the similarities of some of the most popular American proverbs and their Vietnamese counterparts.

○ Providing materials for Americans, particularly bilingual teachers, who want to learn or teach Vietnamese wisdom, culture, virtue and traditions through Vietnamese proverbs in English to American youngsters. This can be an attractive and novel subject in American schools, elementary and secondary, or even at institutions of higher education.

○ Providing materials for future research on Vietnamese culture and language.

The aim of the inclusion of American proverbs is to attempt to not only bridge, to a limited extent, the American and Vietnamese cultures but to also illustrate the similarities existing between these two cultures. Like Vietnamese proverbs, the American counterparts also teach wisdom, virtue and decency.

Nobody knows exactly how many proverbs in Vietnamese exist, but it is fairly assumed that there must be tens of thousands of them. This book is not a result of extensive research but a humble collection of the most popular proverbs mainly in North Vietnam.

No book such as this, either in Vietnamese or in a foreign language (English or French), has ever been published or written the way this book was written in terms of contents, purposes, and simplicity.

About the Book

Historical Fact/Context

The sudden influx of refugees from French Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos) to the United States in was, in fact, a phenomenal historical event for the Americans in general and a shocking and frustrating challenge for those Americans who opened their arms to welcome the new residents but had absolutely no knowledge of the cultures and languages of all those they tried to assist to settle down and mainstream into the new land: sponsors, social workers, medical personnel, teachers, employers, etc. Although refugees have brought their heritage to enrich America, they must also try to accept the American cultural traits or traditional practices that are, in some circumstances, in direct conflict with theirs.

Predictably, it did not take a long time for the new citizens to be blended into the melting pot and to materialize the American dream. But with this wonderful achievement, the unbelievably fast Americanization created new problems and challenges affecting first the ex-refugees and their young children who came with them to America, then the first generation Vietnamese-Americans who were born in America. The Americanization process has quickly widened the generation gap caused by the fact that the parents are not able to speak English and to adapt to the new culture quickly enough and the fact that their children cannot communicate with them in their parents’ native tongue. Because of this linguistic difficulty and cultural differences, many Vietnamese parents failed to educate their children in their traditional ways and to instill in the young Vietnamese-Americans the culture that is highly esteemed by them. As a result, many parents became frustrated and, in some cases, distanced themselves from their children, which was a no-no in the Vietnamese traditional culture and society. Being unable to communicate with their parents and adopting American culture and values that can be different from those of their parents, some young Vietnamese-Americans felt quite alienated from their parents. In some extreme cases, this led to a family breakdown. Parents lost their traditional and highly valued parental authority and respect while suffering from the cultural shock and conflict created by the settlement in a new land. Many Vietnamese parents had to pay a high price for this alienation while living in America.

Targeted Readers

• Overseas Vietnamese parents

• Young Vietnam-born Americans

• American-born Vietnamese-Americans

• Second-generation Vietnamese-Americans and children thereafter

• Bilingual/bicultural teachers/classes

What Is a Proverb?

The Webster’s Dictionary defines proverb as a short, traditional saying that expresses some obvious truth or experience. According to the Vietnamese dictionary, A proverb is a succinct and good saying, reflecting people’s life in general, and has been transmitted from generation to generation. Like living languages, proverbs change with time and environment, and are created according to the country’s characteristics or changes: educational, political, social, economical, environmental, etc. All these characteristics and changes interplay and give birth to new proverbs or bring death to some old ones.

Proverbs are closely linked to the spoken language and reflect the everyday life of the people. Languages change and new words are created as time and environment change. These changes and new creations take place as other factors and new conditions (political, social, economic, environmental, educational, etc.) exist and blossom.

What Is a Vietnamese Proverb?

Known as ca dao, tuc ngu, ngan ngu, or thanh ngu, which are used interchangeably, Vietnamese proverbs are very popular and usually short phrases, created as a short poem without any poetical rules. The words in each proverb usually rhyme, and rhyming makes the proverb sound smooth and attractive to the ears. They have been created by ordinary Vietnamese such as peasants, workers, teachers, laborers, mothers, the elderly, etc. The creation of proverbs does not require a high level of education and is often spontaneous. They are easy to remember and to retain by Vietnamese adults. They have been spread around by word of mouth and, by and large, sung by the people of Vietnam, particularly ordinary Vietnamese, for many generations. Traditions, customs, common beliefs, and education (particularly) are highly valued in the Vietnamese culture and society. They are often reflected in proverbs. Most Vietnamese adults know some, but not all, of the most popular proverbs and use them either to effectively educate their children or communicate with them.

Characteristics of Vietnamese Proverbs

Vietnamese proverbs have no author. Each proverb is usually a group of words bundled together as a single phrase or as a phrase with two components either opposing or complementing each other in meaning and message. They were meant to send a simple but meaningful and educational message regarding many different aspects of life: morals, decorum, wisdom, virtue, traditions, beliefs, religious teachings, values, decent living, good deeds, social acceptability, right and wrong, warnings, etc.

Examples

Fact of Life: Nói Thật Mất Lòng

Literary Meaning: Some people get angry when they hear the truth.

Implication: People tend to be upset or angry if they hear the truth, which is usually bad or ugly. Sometime it is advisable not to mention the truth.

Religious Belief: Đời Là Bể Khổ

Literary Meaning: Life is an ocean full of sufferings or miseries.

Implication: According to one of Buddha’s teachings, life is full of sufferings and miseries (physical pain, hunger, disease, cold, heat etc.). We have to deal with sufferings the best way we can in life.

Warning: Mật Ngọt, Chết Ruồi

Literary Meaning: Flies can die if they fall into sweet honey.

Implication: Be very careful if something is too good to be true because it can be dangerous or harmful.

Advice: Kết Thù Làm Bạn

Literary Meaning: Turning an enemy into a friend

Implication: This refers to changing adversity into benefit.

A proverb is a group of words that must be understood figuratively. When these integral words are separated or presented as independent entities, they have no real meaning by themselves or have little to do with the proverb. But when put together they turn into effective and powerful messages. Therefore, it is often impossible to render word-to-word translations from Vietnamese into English. In addition to the use of nonanimal objects such as flowers, water, wind, trees, mountains, rivers, etc., and like La Fontaine’s fables, Vietnamese proverbs humanize animals and vegetation to provide extreme richness in fine nuances and are cleverly created to send meaningful, effective, and powerful messages.

Very often each proverb consists of two short phrases either opposing or complementing each other in meaning.

Examples

Complimenting Phrases

Một Miếng Khi Đói Bằng Gói Khi No

First Phrase: When we are hungry, even a small portion of food is as good as a bundle.

Second Phrase: A small portion of food is as appreciated as a large portion of food when we are already full.

Opposing Phrases

Thắng Làm Vua, Thua Làm Giặc

First Phrase: If you win the battle, you will become king.

Second Phrase: If you are defeated, you will become a rebel.

Furthermore, we can sometimes find pairs of Vietnamese proverds with different wordings but the same meanings. For instance:

Đi Với Bụt, Mặc Áo Cà Sa, Đi Với Ma, Mặc Áo Giấy

Literal Meaning: When you go with a Buddhist monk, you should wear monks’robes. When you go with a ghost, you must wear paper outfitting for ghosts.

Implication: Behave or act according to the situation you happen to be in.

and

Nhập Gia Tùy Tục

Literal Meaning: In somebody’s house or new situation, we have to behave according to their rules or practices.

Implication: One must respect and behave according to the new situation or condition.

Both of them have the same American counterpart: In Rome, do as the Romans do.

Vietnamese proverbs have been obviously influenced by the teachings of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, which have deeply ingrained in every Vietnamese for so many generations. Education, traditions, and traditional beliefs are highly valued by the Vietnamese. When expressing themselves in their language, Vietnamese speakers tend to frequently use proverbs not only to lighten their speech but also to emphasize and to empower their message. When talking about proverbs, Vietnamese adults often give credit to their ancestors who created and passed them from generation to the next generation.

Proverbs vary from region to region in Vietnam and reflect local beliefs, traditions, customs, experience, history, politics, etc.

Generally speaking, there are so many proverbs in Vietnam, and each geographic region has its own peculiar proverbs. To a large extent, proverbs have been created to reflect the peculiarities of each region: geography, traditions, customs, beliefs, daily practices, way of living, etc.

This book contains almost seven hundred proverbs, mainly from North Vietnam and before, and one hundred-fifty similar American proverbs. These Vietnamese proverbs are the ones that the author learned from his parents and other adults including teachers, and used in his life from youth to old age. They are related to the author’s education, family upbringing, life experience in Vietnam, and his memories.

Book Organization

Each Vietnamese proverb is explained in simple Vietnamese and English to be followed by appropriate advice or suggested action, if possible, as follows:

1. Proverb in Vietnamese

2. Proverb implication with appropriate advice or suggested action in Vietnamese, if appropriate

3. Proverb meaning in English

4. Proverb implication with appropriate advice or suggested action in English, if appropriate

5. Similar or identical American proverb, if found, for comparison purposes or illustration of similarities

Sample

Nhập Gia Tùy Tục (Proverb in Vietnamese)

Nghĩa Đen (Literal meaning): Vào nhà ai phải tuân theo luật lệ nhà ấy

Ngụ Ý (Implication): Phải sống hay hành động theo hoàn cảnh hay điều kiện mới

Literary Meaning: In anybody’s house or new situation, we have to behave according to its rules or practices.

Implication: One must respect and behave according to the new situation or conditions.

American Proverb: In Rome, do as the Romans do.

Cross-references are provided to facilitate easy and quick search for proverbs. These cross references include the following: Vietnamese Proverbs In Topical Order, Index of Vietnamese Proverbs in Alphabetical Order, List of Couplets of Vietnamese and American Proverbs, and List of American Proverbs in Alphabetical Order.

This book includes approximately Vietnamese proverbs and American counterparts.

Book Characteristics

This book is simply a collection of the most popular Vietnamese proverbs peculiar to North Vietnam culture, traditions, and values and their American counterparts (if they exist and are found by the author).

About the Author

Born and Raised: Dr. Vuong Gia Thuy was born in Hanoi, Vietnam, to a traditional and middle-class (petit bourgeois) family and raised in a rather typical old-fashioned Vietnamese setting. In he moved to South Vietnam as a young northern refugee.

Education/Schooling: Dr. Thuy graduated from the prestigious Chu Van An High School in Saigon, Vietnam; graduated from the Teacher College and Law School, University of Saigon, Vietnam; did postgraduate studies in Great Britain and earned a doctorate degree from La Sorbonne, University of Paris, France. La Sorbonne is one of the most prestigious institutions in Europe.

Life/Work Experience: Dr. Thuy was a high school teacher in Saigon, Vietnam; Saigon Radio News editor; Vietnam press editor in Saigon; Vietnamese broadcaster at the BBC in London, England; professor at Cornell University in Upstate New York and at Temple University in Philadelphia; Headmaster of Multicultural Academy Charter School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Published Author: Dr. Thuy has published Vietnamese in a Nutshell and Getting to Know the Vietnamese and Their Culture along with numerous papers on Indochinese and American cultures, Indochinese refugee resettlement, and cross-cultural communication. These papers can be found at some of the American libraries and institutions of higher education.

National Lecturer/Speaker: Dr. Thuy has spoken in the United States and Canada on Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia) and on cross-cultural education and communication.

Professional Organizations: Dr. Thuy is the founder and first president of the National Association for Vietnamese-American Education in the U.S (NAVAE); the founder and first executive director of the Indochinese-American Council, a nonprofit organization, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and served on the board of directors of numerous civic and professional organizations in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Last Wish / Paying Back: The author wishes to leave behind something valuable for young Vietnamese-Americans to learn about their invaluable heritage and cultural root. Also, this book was written to pay back the author’s privilege and honor of being a Vietnamese-American for more than half a century and particularly of being enriched by both American cultures and heritages.

Lời Phi Lộ

Tại Sao Có Cuốn Sách Này

Cuốn sách song ngữ Việt-Anh này được viết theo cách hành văn giản dị để dễ đọc and để giúp độc giả thấu hiểu đúng ý của những ngạn ngữ Việt-Nam mà không đòi hỏi phải có một trình độ học vấn hay khả năng đọc cao

Cuốn sách nhằm nhiều mục tiêu và tham vọng khác nhau như sau:

Giúp người Việt, trẻ tuổi hay lớn tuổi, bảo toàn và nuôi dưỡng nền văn hóa và ngôn ngữ Việt- Nam, nhất là những ngạn ngữ Việt

Thăng tiến và đề cao nền văn hóa phong phú và ngôn ngữ Việt-Nam ở hải ngoại

Đóng góp một phần nhỏ mọn vào sự phong phú đa ngôn ngữ và đa văn hoá của xã hội hỗn hợp của Hoa-Kỳ (Melting Pot)

Cung cấp tài liệu cho các phụ huynh Việt không thông thạo tiếng Anh để dạy con em mình văn hóa, sự khôn ngoan, và truyền thống của Việt-Nam

Giúp các thanh thiếu niên Việt-Nam học hỏi cách hành sự đoan trang và chân giá trị của người Việt

Dùng ngạn ngữ Việt để dạy những điều khôn ngoan và cách sống cho phải đạo làm người và theo phương cách cổ truyền của người Việt

Thu hẹp lại khoảng ngăn cách đáng tiếc giữa cha mẹ Việt- Nam không nói được tiếng Anh và con cái của họ không nói được tiếng Việt

Giúp những người Mỹ gốc Việt hiểu biết họ là ai và từ đâu đến để đừng quên nguồn gốc của họ

Giúp những người Mỹ gốc Việt hiểu biết về vài khía cạnh tương tự giữa ngạn ngữ Việt-Nam và ngạn ngữ Hoa-Kỳ

Cung cấp tài liệu bằng tiếng Anh cho những người Mỹ, nhất là các thầy cô dạy song ngữ và song văn hóa, để họ có thể học hay dạy sự khôn ngoan và văn hóa Việt-Nam bằng ngạn ngữ Việt và Mỹ cho các thanh thiếu niên Hoa-Kỳ. Điều này có thể trở nên một môn học mới lạ và hấp dẫn cho các trường tiểu học, trung học và ngay cả đại học ở Hoa-Kỳ nữa

Cung cấp tài liệu để khảo cứu về văn hóa và ngôn ngữ Việt-Nam trong tương lai

Mục đích của việc thêm vào cuốn sách này những ngạn ngữ Hoa-Kỳ là để so sánh sự khác biệt cũng như tương đồng, nếu có, giữa hai nền văn hóa Việt và Mỹ

Cuốn sách này không phải là thành quả của một cuộc khảo cứu công phu mà chỉ là một cố gắng khiêm tốn thu góp một số ngạn ngữ phổ thông của Việt- Nam.

Tác giả chưa tìm thấy cuốn sách nào viết về Ngạn Ngữ Việt-Nam theo hình