Vietnamese Culture - Notes for health workers

See Vietnamese Culture

See Vietnamese health practices

Interpersonal communication

• the suppression of hostility and negative feelings is encouraged
• smiling is a common social response and may be hard to interpret
• the answer "yes" may be used to indicate that the listener is paying attention - it does not necessarily indicate agreement
• to show respect, Vietnamese will bow their heads to a superior or elder
• direct prolonged eye contact should be avoided when talking to someone respected
• women do not shake hands with each other or with men
• slight bowing to each other or joining hands may also occur
• higher ranking people are usually greeted first
• it is disrespectful to touch another person's head, especially children
• praising someone profusely may be regarded as flattery or mockery
• insults to elders or ancestors are very serious
• smiling should not be interpreted as happiness or agreement
• laughter in situations that other cultures may find inappropriate is not considerd to be ridicule
• breaking a promise may be considered a serious violation
• appointment times may not be considered literal - they may arrive late so as not to appear overly enthusiastic.
• speaking in a loud tone with excessive gestures is considered rude, especially when done by women
• summoning a person with a hand or finger in the upright position is reserved only for animals or inferior people

Naming Conventions

• family name first
• then middle name
• first (given) name last
• family members use different given names (first names aren't passed down)

• a man whose name is Nguyen Van Hai should be called Mr. Hai (given name) and never Mr. Nguyen
• when talking to somebody who is not a close friend, Vietnamese people tend to avoid mentioning his name
• in Vietnamese society the greatest insult you can give to someone is to mention his father's or mother's given names

• does not have any significant meaning
• Vietnamese are never known by their family names (the first element of their names) and are always called by their given name
• the family name appears only in a full name but never in isolation
• there are only about one hundred family names for the whole population of Vietnam (56 million)
• only a few of these are of frequent occurrence
• NGUYEN, LE, TRAN, PHAM, PHAN, TRUONG, etc.

• usually have a meaning
• becoming more frequent to give girls a two-word name (or compound name like Thu-Hong, Bich-Hong, Cam-Hong, Thuy-Hong)
• after marriage, a Vietnamese woman still keeps her own name and never combines her name with her husband's
• the use of given names, especially names of those who are higher in status may be taboo

Common Given names and meanings

• may be used to differentiate a man's name from a woman's name
• may represent a branch of a large family
• may be used by members of the same generation to distinguish them from members of other generations