The term "Việt Kiều" is quite familiar to me. My distant relatives are Việt Kiều, so I heard that term a lot of times from my parents when I was young. To me, I just barely understand that Việt Kiều are those who live in other countries, not in Vietnam.
When I asked my English teacher how to say "Việt Kiều" in English, he had no hesitation to reply me: "overseas Vietnamese" meaning Vietnamese living abroad. That's what we can find in any Vietnamese-English dictionary. Therefore, I strongly believe that my understanding is correct and "overseas Vietnamese" is the best translation for "Việt Kiều".
Until I decided to have my own teaching website for Việt Kiều, I really thought of what "việt" and "kiều" separately mean. And here is what I found.
"Việt Kiều" is actually a Sino- Vietnamese word. "Việt" is việt people. "Kiều", according to Chinese-Vietnamese dictionary by Thiều Chửu, means "live in other people's place temporarily, not permanently". As a result, the phrase "Việt Kiều" refers to Vietnamese who live in other country temporarily. They are not the citizen of that place. In the meantime, "overseas Vietnamese" refers to Vietnamese who live abroad but not including the meaning of "temporarily". Now, frankly, are you convinced that "overseas Vietnamese" is not 100% equal to "Việt Kiều"?
Personally, "overseas Vietnamese" should be translated "người Việt hải ngoại".
What do you think?
When I asked my English teacher how to say "Việt Kiều" in English, he had no hesitation to reply me: "overseas Vietnamese" meaning Vietnamese living abroad. That's what we can find in any Vietnamese-English dictionary. Therefore, I strongly believe that my understanding is correct and "overseas Vietnamese" is the best translation for "Việt Kiều".
Until I decided to have my own teaching website for Việt Kiều, I really thought of what "việt" and "kiều" separately mean. And here is what I found.
"Việt Kiều" is actually a Sino- Vietnamese word. "Việt" is việt people. "Kiều", according to Chinese-Vietnamese dictionary by Thiều Chửu, means "live in other people's place temporarily, not permanently". As a result, the phrase "Việt Kiều" refers to Vietnamese who live in other country temporarily. They are not the citizen of that place. In the meantime, "overseas Vietnamese" refers to Vietnamese who live abroad but not including the meaning of "temporarily". Now, frankly, are you convinced that "overseas Vietnamese" is not 100% equal to "Việt Kiều"?
Personally, "overseas Vietnamese" should be translated "người Việt hải ngoại".
What do you think?
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