A Bilingual Story

Multicultural Education, Spring 2004 by Tran, Anh

A Bilingual Story GOING HOME, COMING HOME-VE NHA, THAM QUE HUONG. A BILINGUAL STORY (ENGLISH-VIETNAMESE) By TRUONG TRAN; ILLUSTRATIONS BY ANN PHONG; CHILDREN'S BOOK PRESS, SAN FRANCISCO, 2003; ISBN 0-89239-179-0; 32 PAGES; $16.95.

Seven-year-old Ami Chi goes with her parents for a visit to their hometown in Vietnam. Born in the United States, she is unhappy for the first half of her stay. Only after she gets lost in a market and befriends another girl she begins to love the strange place and discovers what "home" means.

This is a typical story of the Vietnamese-American children whose parents left Vietnam after the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 and settled in various countries around the world. They have been brought back to Vietnam in the hope that they would develop some attachment to the motherland. This does happen to Ami Chi. The good thing is that there is no conflict between the United States and Vietnam in terms of attachment. At the end of the story, she finds out that home is not merely a location but a feeling. She is now both American and Vietnamese, and feels proud of her new identity.

Interestingly, this children's story hints at a natural way of understanding a culture-getting oneself exposed to it with an open heart and mind. Though only seven, Ami Chi has certain biases and negative assumptions about Vietnam. Luckily, in her natural way of learning how to understand and adapt to the new culture, she becomes bicultural.

This bilingual story with beautiful illustrations is not just for the Vietnamese-American children. Children from different cultures will surely identify themselves with Ami Chi.

Anh Tran is an assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum and instruction, Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas.