Culture through English A: Most common names in Vietnam・ベトナムの一般的な名字

Hello!

How are you? Today, let's look at Vietnamese names!

You might notice an important point - that Vietnamese surnames (名字) match to kanji. 

Before the French came and colonized (植民した) Vietnam in the early 19th century, the Vietnamese language was written in Chinese hanzi - the Japanese version of which is kanji. Since then, however, the Vietnamese language is written in a version of romaji. 

In Vietnam, the most common surname is Nguyễn (阮「グエン」).  

Activity/homework
Watch this video about Vietnamese names. Watch it as many times as you want or need, and answer the questions below it in your notebooks. 

(If you cannot see the video here, go to this link, or go to YouTube and look for "Vietnamese Culture #2: Vietnamese Names" at https://youtu.be/dPeSxwvjiTc)

1. How many names do most Vietnamese people have?  

2. Where does the surname (family name) come in the naming order?

3. What percentage of the Vietnamese population uses Nguyễn as a family name?

4. What do women do with their own family names when they get married? 

    * What is one purpose of a woman’s family name when she gets married? 

5. What is the main purpose of a middle name in Vietnamese? 

    * What is another purpose of a middle name? 

6. Who usually decides the given names in Vietnamese culture? 

7. Where do given names come from in Vietnamese? 

8. What kinds of meanings do given names have in Vietnamese? 

I hope you find this interesting!

Image: By Hintha - Lê Trung Hoa (2005) Họ và tên người Việt Nam, Hà Nội, Việt Nam: NXB Khoa học Xã hội (Social Sciences Publishing House), CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21862789

Video uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to the content. All rights reserved to the copyright holder(s). Uploaded for classroom use only. 

Culture through English B: Myths & legends from other countries (Part 2)・海外の神話、伝説、物語 (Part 2)

Hello!

How are you? The picture above shows a statue of Ho Chi Minh, who was the founding father of modern Vietnam. 

Vietnamese culture is very old, however, and has many interesting stories and legends from its past. But like all countries, it has some more recent myths and stories. Today I have a video for you about a very different kind of story from Vietnam - one that is about love and relationships. 

This is more modern, but is also as interesting as their stories of history - and is a funny one! 

Activity/homework

Watch the video below. Watch it as many times as you want or need, then answer the questions below the video. 


(If you have trouble seeing the video, go to this link, or go to YouTube to find "Why you are single for so long" at https://youtu.be/jaPVq3J5IUI)

1. What does the “relationship with the dead” mean in Vietnamese culture? 

2. What is the story behind this legend? 

3. What are the “devil’s hours”? 

4. What is the checklist about a person’s relationship condition that makes ghosts come to you? 

5. What are some things a person can do to make the ghosts go away? 

6. What is the joke solution (解決策) the speaker in the video says a person can do?

7. According to the video, do these things always work? 

I hope you found this funny and interesting!

Now here are the board notes for our class on 12/11: 

See you next time!

Images: Personal photographs. All rights reserved.

Video uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to the content. All rights reserved to the copyright holder(s). Uploaded for classroom purposes only. 

Culture through English B: Myths & legends from other countries (Part 2)・海外の神話、伝説、物語 (Part 2)

Hello!

How are you? The picture above shows a statue of Ho Chi Minh, who was the founding father of modern Vietnam. 

Vietnamese culture is very old, however, and has many interesting stories and legends from its past. But like all countries, it has some more recent myths and stories. Today I have a video for you about a very different kind of story from Vietnam - one that is about love and relationships. 

This is more modern, but is also as interesting as their stories of history - and is a funny one! 

Activity/homework

Watch the video below. Watch it as many times as you want or need, then answer the questions below the video. 


(If you have trouble seeing the video, go to this link, or go to YouTube to find "Why you are single for so long" at https://youtu.be/jaPVq3J5IUI)

1. What does the “relationship with the dead” mean in Vietnamese culture? 

2. What is the story behind this legend? 

3. What are the “devil’s hours”? 

4. What is the checklist about a person’s relationship condition that makes ghosts come to you? 

5. What are some things a person can do to make the ghosts go away? 

6. What is the joke solution (解決策) the speaker in the video says a person can do?

7. According to the video, do these things always work? 

I hope you found this funny and interesting!

Now here are the board notes for our class on 12/11: 

See you next time!

Images: Personal photographs. All rights reserved.

Video uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to the content. All rights reserved to the copyright holder(s). Uploaded for classroom purposes only. 

Culture through English B: Most common names in Vietnam・ベトナムの一般的な名字

Hello!

How are you? Today, let's look at Vietnamese names!

You might notice an important point - that Vietnamese surnames (名字) match to kanji. 

Before the French came and colonized (植民した) Vietnam in the early 19th century, the Vietnamese language was written in Chinese hanzi - the Japanese version of which is kanji. Since then, however, the Vietnamese language is written in a version of romaji. 

In Vietnam, the most common surname is Nguyễn (阮「グエン」).  

Activity/homework
Watch this video about Vietnamese names. Watch it as many times as you want or need, and answer the questions below it in your notebooks. 

(If you cannot see the video here, go to this link, or go to YouTube and look for "Vietnamese Culture #2: Vietnamese Names" at https://youtu.be/dPeSxwvjiTc)

1. How many names do most Vietnamese people have?  

2. Where does the surname (family name) come in the naming order?

3. What percentage of the Vietnamese population uses Nguyễn as a family name?

4. What do women do with their own family names when they get married? 

    * What is one purpose of a woman’s family name when she gets married? 

5. What is the main purpose of a middle name in Vietnamese? 

    * What is another purpose of a middle name? 

6. Who usually decides the given names in Vietnamese culture? 

7. Where do given names come from in Vietnamese? 

8. What kinds of meanings do given names have in Vietnamese? 

I hope you find this interesting. 

NEW! Here are the board notes for our first class on 9/18: 

See you next time!

Image: By Hintha - Lê Trung Hoa (2005) Họ và tên người Việt Nam, Hà Nội, Việt Nam: NXB Khoa học Xã hội (Social Sciences Publishing House), CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21862789

Video uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to the content. All rights reserved to the copyright holder(s). Uploaded for classroom use only. 

Culture through English 2B: Myths & legends from other countries (Part 2)・海外の神話、伝説、物語 (Part 2)

Hello!

How are you? The picture above shows a statue of Tran Hung Dao, who was a powerful warrior in ancient Vietnamese history. 

Vietnamese culture has many interesting stories and legends from its past. But like all countries, it has fond some more recent myths and stories. Today I have a video for you about a very different kind of story from Vietnam - one that is about love and relationships. 

This is more modern, but is also as interesting as their stories of history - and is a funny one! 

Activity/homework

Watch the video below. Watch it as many times as you want or need, then answer the questions below the video. 

(If you have trouble seeing the video, go to this link, or go to YouTube to find "Why you are single for so long" at https://youtu.be/jaPVq3J5IUI)

1. What does the “relationship with the dead” mean in Vietnamese culture? 

2. What is the back story behind this legend? 

3. What are the “devil’s hours”? 

4. What is the checklist about a person’s relationship condition that makes ghosts come to you? 

5. What are some things a person can do to make the ghosts go away? 

6. What is the joke solution (解決策) the speaker in the video says a person can do?

7. According to the video, do these things always work? 

I hope you found this funny and interesting. See you next time!

Image: By Xiaoao - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5238607

Video uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to the content. All rights reserved to the copyright holder(s). Uploaded for classroom purposes only.