New center for Vietnamese

Billy Lam, born in Danang City of Vietnam, located between Ho Chi Min and Hanoi, two cities almost every American knows because of the Vietnam War, came to the United States in 1989.

Lam, 22, is one of 60 students enrolled in "Vietnamese in America," a new class instituted this semester in response to the rising number of Vietnamese immigrants attending SF State.

There were 581 Vietnamese undergraduate students attending SF State in the fall of 1995, according to the office of University and Budget Planning.

Lam enrolled in the class to learn Vietnamese history.

"I was only in school for a year in Vietnam," Lam said. "I know how to speak Vietnamese, but I don't know Vietnamese culture."

This is exactly what Chuong Chung, associate professor of Asian American studies, addresses in his class.

"Vietnam has always been associated with the war, with devastation, with killing, it's negative," Chung said. "We basically look at their own (Vietnamese students) experiences. The circumstances of their own migration. Their adaptation (to American society)."

According to Chung, the class is 60 percent Vietnamese.

Chung is the director of SF State's new Vietnamese American Studies Center. The center is the first and only place in the United States dedicated solely to the education of Vietnamese-Americans, Chung said.

"The center I'm heading is to look at the research aspect of this education," Chung said.

The center was created to look at three major activities, Chung said; the exchange of students and scholars between SF State and universities in Vietnam, to conduct research in the area of Vietnamese-Americans with new findings and materials, and a place to establish an archive of Vietnamese-American materials.

"We have a lot of support (for the center) from various parts of the county," Chung said. "Right now the center is my office. I'm waiting for the retrofitting of all the buildings."

The biggest asset Chung has to offer to his class is his own Vietnamese heritage.

"I closely identify with many experiences these students are facing," Chung said. "I was a foreign student also. I came here as an immigrant in 1968."

Chung said names are sometimes taken for granted, such as when a professor has trouble pronouncing them during roll call. Chung's roll call would give any veteran teacher a challenge.

"It's always a problem (the pronunciation of names)," Chung said. "It's a nice feeling to be recognized, somehow empowered to say 'I have a real name. I have a real history. I have a real culture.'"

Lam said he can identify with Chung because they share the same experiences.

"(Chung) can empathize with the difficulties of immigrants," Lam said.

As Chung stood in front of his class there was a certain ease in his interaction with his students. He revealed a little anecdote about how people confuse accents with stupidity, eliciting a nervous laugh from his class. He coolly explained it's not accents, but the differences of language and education which contribute to this perception.

"Language and education are the two biggest challenges Vietnamese immigrants face," Chung said after class. "Learning how to access opportunities is another challenge."

Lien Pham, 24, came to the United States five and a half years ago. She said her father was a general in the Saigon army. After attempting to escape Vietnam, her family was given permission by the Vietnamese and American governments to emigrate from Vietnam.

Having attended three different colleges, including CSU Long Beach, Pham points out the lack of Vietnamese classes offered at the collegiate level. When SF State offered "Vietnamese in America" she enrolled.

"I know about my culture," Pham said. "This class gives a lot of information to Vietnamese-Americans."

Chung not only teaches the class, he wrote its textbook.

The "Amerasian from Vietnam: A California Study," was written by Chung and Le Van of the Bilingual Education Office. It chronicles the struggles of Vietnamese immigrating to United States.

[ Golden Gater Online October 3, 1996 ]

[ Top]