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Vietnamese Culture

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Vietnamese Culture
Running Head: Vietnamese Culture

Vietnamese Culture:
A Comparative View of Vietnamese and U.S American Values

Intercultural communication and differences among cultures is something that I have been interested in since I began in my communications major. I had never been directly affected by intercultural boundaries until I began working at an after school program in Elk Grove. Many of the families that I work with are Vietnamese and it has been difficult for me to communicate with them due to our language/culture boundary. My lack of understanding and apprehension has made it so that I do not communicate with the parents at all but rather use the children (who speak English) to communicate with them. It is important to develop a relationship with the parents at my job and this particular cultural boundary had not allowed me to do so. I plan on studying this topic further in order to give myself an understanding of their culture and values so I am better able to communicate not only at work but in other aspects of my life. I find it fascinating how different the attitudes, beliefs and norms are among cultures and I believe that it is important to recognize these differences in order for any two cultures to get along. Although it is a challenge, there are steps that can be taken to improve the way we interact with cultures around the world and to help us to better understand how to successfully communicate with other cultures in different situations. In this paper I will focus on the Vietnamese culture and values in comparison with that of the United States. I will discuss their values/orientation and explain how these cultural values affect the way they communicate with one another. U.S. Americans value their time. Unlike the Vietnamese, time is money and their goal is to get as much accomplished in as little time as possible and still make the biggest profit. In regards to the value of time, efficiency and progress are often in expense of



References: Nghe, L.T., Mahalik, J.R., & Lowe, S.M. (2003). Influences on Vietnamese men: examining traditional gender roles, the refugee experience, acculturation, and racism in the United States. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development. 1, 27-35, 42. Paulus, T.M., Bichelmeyer, B., Malopinsky, L., Pereira, M., & Rastogi, P. (2005). Power distance and group dynamics of. Teaching in Higher Education. 10, 43-55. Quang, T. & Vuong, N. T. (2002). Management Styles and Organisational Effectiveness in Vietnam, Research and Practice in Human Resource Management, 10(2), 36-55. Shapiro, M.E. (2002). A collaborative project between NTAC-AAPI and the Center for International Rehabilitation Research Information and Exchange (CIRRIE) at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Asian culture brief: Vietnam , 2, Retrieved November 17, 2007, from http://www.ntac.hawaii.edu/downloads/products/briefs/culture/pdf/ACB-Vol2-Iss5-Vietnam.pdf Weil, J.M., & Lee, H.H. (2004). Cultural considerations in understanding family violence among american pacific islander families. Journal of community health nursing. 21, 217-227. Samovar, L.A., Porter, R.E., & McDaniel, E.R. (2006). Intercultural Communication: A Reader. Qing, T. (2004). A Transcultural Study of Ethical Perceptions and Judgments Between Chinese and German businessmen. Martin Meidenbauer. Yammarino, F.J. & Dansereau, F. (Eds.). (2006). Mulit-level issues in social systems. Buffalo, New York: Elsevier. Smith, A. (2005). Pho - Vietnam 's National Soup. Retrieved November 18, 2007, from China town connection Web site: http://www.chinatownconnection.com/vietnamese_pho.htm

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