-^-for posterity-^-

vietnamese proverbs. (thanks chun)

i asked a group of teachers and students to give me some of their favorite proverbs and here’s what they came up with. (if any of these are interpreted incorrectly or are better understood by those more familiar with the vietnamese language, please email me) (oh, and i’m not using any of the tone markings or vowel markings. that would only complicate things further)

ech ngoi day gieng

the frog that sits at the bottom of a well. a frog that sits at the bottom of a well only sees a small slice of what the sky is made up of. it only sees what the top of the well will allow it to see. it sees a small circle of clouds and maybe, at times, the sun. its perspective is askew. its perspective is not everything but it believes it’s seeing the entire sky because it knows no different. we may all be frogs sitting at the bottoms of wells and only understanding what we can sense around us. there may be so much more.

la lanh dum la rach

the good leaf covers the bad leaf. or rather, more exactly, the not torn leaf covers the torn leaf. during the tet holiday many people eat a sticky rice and meat combination that’s covered with bananna leaves. this proverb states that the good banana leaf should be placed outside of the torn bananna leaf covering and protecting it. take this one and apply it to society.

cang hoc nhieu cang thay minh dot

the more you learn the more the body is ignorant/illiterate. the more you know, the less you really know. the more you understand about the world, the more you realize you really don’t understand. this proverb sums up my existence here quite nicely.

biet thi thua thot, khong biet thi dua cot ma nhge

if you know, speak up. if you don’t know lean on a pillar and listen. an interesting proverb that i would like to see more applied in my classes. most of the students are good at leaning on a pillar and listening but, if they know, they don’t really have the willingness to speak up. maybe i should start shouting this whenever they refuse to fess up an answer.

loi chao cao hon mam co

better to great someone kindly than feed them a feast. treat people with respect and don’t shower them with random gifts. the respect is the most important gift you can give someone and everybody likes a sincere greeting.

co cong mai sat co nhay nen kim

if you polish iron one day it will become a needle. the more you work on something, the more perfect it becomes. practice makes perfect.