Vietnamese Biological Traits

I come from a Chinese-Vietnamese background. Though I do not have Vietnamese blood in me, my parents were born and raised in Vietnam; just like how I was born and raised in America. I grew up with the privilege of learning many languages such as Vietnamese, Cantonese, Mandarin, and even a bit of French. I grew up eating may different things such as dim sum, hot pot, Hong shao niu rou, and more. Growing up as a Chinese-Vietnamese-American was very confusing. I was a living contradiction. My family said one thing, yet American society said another. In Vietnam, I wasn't seen as a "true Asian" and in America, I wasn't viewed as a "true American". It was very frustrating, but as I grew up and learned about the world and myself, I am willing to

Racial identification is harder than ethnic identification for most people to avoid. To explain this, in “Racial Identities” in the

Ethnicity and race are ways to differentiate a group of person from another; therefore, in the 21th century this terms has acquired a powerful meaning in society. A few months ago, I learned how significant this terms are.

We are all born the same way into this earth. We are all the same, with the same type of flesh and bones. How do we distinguish ourselves from each other? Well, we have many ways of telling one from another and one way we use is using culture. The difference between other culture is it ideas and moral values. Culture plays an important role in many people lives. Although being part of a multi-cultural society helps understands one’s self and it also helps understand one another cultural view of our world. Many people identity are also created by our belief. My ethnicity isn’t the only thing that defines who I am. It’s also my culture, my environment and my personality who define me.

There are two different dimensions of our identities: ethnicity and race. Ethnicity refers to one’s belonging to a specific cultural, or racial group that makes up culture, race language, and/or place of origin. For example, one can be African-American but have different ethnicities, one African-American and the other African-Caribbean decent. Race is a social construct that can be changed over time. Historically, referring to its specific characteristics one possesses based on: ethnicity, religion, or language; today's its classified solely based upon the color of one’s skin. Nevertheless, ethnic and racial identities are important and instill a sense of belonging and identifying with that specific group through attitude, behaviors. Moreover,

Trinh Lam, my mother, started with Chinese origins. Generations ago, her ancestors emigrated from China to Vietnam, but the Chinese lineage does not end there. Over in Vietnam, the Chinese lineage continued with descendants (my mom’s, specifically) being full Chinese. My mother made the analogy that it would be similar to how my children, though born American, would have Vietnamese (and Chinese) background. She recalls her father investing time in her childhood trying to teach her Traditional Chinese, able to remember a few characters and fragmented characters here and there. Beyond her ancestors and language skills, though, not much personal connection to her Chinese background is present.

The question of identity is always a difficult one for those living in a culture or group, yet belonging to another. This difficulty frequently remains in the mind of most immigrants, especially the second generations who were born in a country other than their parents. Younger generations feel as if they are forced to change to fit the social standards despite previous culture or group. Furthermore those who wish to adopt a new identity of a group or culture haven't yet been fully accepted by original members due to their former identity.

In order to figure out the true identity of a person, you must search through the midsts of the language they speak. Although language is a device that myriads of matured people can utilize, it is much more complex then one may believe. Language contains many hidden messages about one's identity. Just having a simple conversation with another can lead to the discovery of major revelations, including; the specific cultural origin and heritage of said person, the peers, colleagues, and type of family that person is associated with,the truth behind the motives and values of that person, and the credibility or intelligence level of that speaker.

A person’s identity may be determined by him/her family background and this is proven evident in the essay “Private and Public Language” by Rodriguez. We live in a world in which identities are determined prematurely without hesitation. This means that even without getting to know an individuals personality the first thing that is done instead is determining identities based on your physical state, family, or family background. As a culture we live in a diverse environment in which the majority of people come from a different place, and as a result many are identified differently depending on where he/she and their family are from. Today’s culture is more diverse than ever, and more and more people are migrating to different countries and settling so I feel like it

By welcoming the diverse languages and religions of the world, America is considered a melting pot of both cultural and ethnic identities. In the essay about bilingualism “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldúa she writes, “So, if you want to really hurt me, talk badly about my language. Ethnic identity is twin skin to linguistic identity - I am my language. Until I can take pride in my language, I cannot take pride in myself” (172). Anzaldúa believes that her ethnicity and language are what make her who she is. Therefore, by insulting her language, she is insulted as well. Her identity is “twin skin” with how she speaks. Linguistic identity is the ability for a person to speak freely in any language and ultimately their identity is shown through shared language. The things that define a person are their actions, their behavior, the way they walk, and the way they talk. A person’s culture has a heavy influence on their identity throughout their lives. To disrespect an important part of their culture, their language, is to disrespect the person on an extremely interpersonal level. The person would be, therefore, discouraged from speaking their native language. Anzaldúa shows that her language constitutes who she is; it binds her to the existence of her identity therefore a person’s language defines his/her identity.

Who am I? What is it that defines that personality? Anzaldua argues in her essay that the language is what defines one’s identity. Language is indeed an important component of culture, and culture is known to be a crucial definer of identity. People use language to connect to their identities and communicating their realities and values to themselves and to the world around them… In other words, language is important because people use it to express their thoughts and beliefs. “People evolve a language in order to describe and thus control their circumstances” (Baldwin 109). Consequently, language does not necessarily define identity as much as identity defines language. People decide on

When people speak of affective qualities of a language variety, it is not the language that is being evaluated, but an underlying stereotype of the speakers themselves. For this reason, attitudes toward divergent language varieties “are better understood as attitudes towards the members of language communities” rather than the variety itself (Edwards, 1994, p. 89). In this way, then, by judging the speakers of in-group language varieties, respondents are also indirectly evaluating members of these in-groups as well , essentially making qualitative judgments regarding language and their own group identity (Edwards, 1985). Fundamentally, as Edwards (1985) writes, language attitudes “allow some insights into the perception and presentation of identity” (p. 151). Therefore, by looking at attitudes of learners of Mandarin toward regional accented-Mandarin, we can probably understand whether this language variety is more likely to be used, emulated, and accepted throughout learners of Mandarin.

In contrast to the idea of race, Ethnicity refers to ethnic affiliation, or the “cultural practices and outlooks of a given community of people that set them apart from others” (Giddens, 1997:210). Members of a particular ethnic group see themselves as culturally distinct from other groups of people in a society or culture. There are different characteristics which serve as a way of

Identity can be defined by cultural classification which includes nationality race, religion, gender and social characteristics which includes

Language, culture and individual personal attributes are all things we consider when describing what identity is and how it is influenced. Culture influences many aspects of an individual's life such as traditions, belief systems, norms, personal values and more. A language is a form of expression, it also reveals a person's origins such as what country they are from. Both culture and language shape a person's identity and can make an individual feel as though they belong. Translations by Friel not only does a great job of demonstrating the importance of language and cultural identity but also shows how easily both can be stripped from a society.