The Dictionary |
My artifact is a book about two inches thick in width and about the size of a person’s hand. The cover is a faded green and can be easily overlooked on a bookshelf. However, it is not just any old book; it is a dictionary. When opened, the pages are thin, faded, and slightly yellow in color. The ink inside, with endless lines of words, is slightly smudged in some corners, but it is still perfectly usable. When it is opened right down the middle, the first half translates Vietnamese words into English and the second half translates English into Vietnamese.
It was essential to my family assimilation into the new American culture, when we first moved here. It used to be opened countless times every day. It has been used in my father’s office when he tried to decipher letters and bills he received in the mail. It has been used by my mother to understand the directions on my homework to help me complete it. I have used it to describe how my day went, when I do not know how to say “crayon” or “sandbox” in Vietnamese.
This dictionary was used before Google Translate was ever an app on an iPhone. It took a little longer to find the right page and find the right word; however it was priceless to me growing up. It has been over a decade since our Vietnamese American dictionary has been opened or used. Over the years, we forget about it as it sits atop our bookshelf collecting dust. However it always reminds me of the days when I struggled to find my balance between a native language and a new one. The dictionary didn't simply combine two languages into one book, it showed me how two languages can overlap and even complement each other.
Purpose of This Project
Nadia's Interview-Analysis
Sammie's Interview-Analysis
Kenny's Interview-Analysis
Explore the Languages
It was essential to my family assimilation into the new American culture, when we first moved here. It used to be opened countless times every day. It has been used in my father’s office when he tried to decipher letters and bills he received in the mail. It has been used by my mother to understand the directions on my homework to help me complete it. I have used it to describe how my day went, when I do not know how to say “crayon” or “sandbox” in Vietnamese.
This dictionary was used before Google Translate was ever an app on an iPhone. It took a little longer to find the right page and find the right word; however it was priceless to me growing up. It has been over a decade since our Vietnamese American dictionary has been opened or used. Over the years, we forget about it as it sits atop our bookshelf collecting dust. However it always reminds me of the days when I struggled to find my balance between a native language and a new one. The dictionary didn't simply combine two languages into one book, it showed me how two languages can overlap and even complement each other.
Purpose of This Project
Nadia's Interview-Analysis
Sammie's Interview-Analysis
Kenny's Interview-Analysis
Explore the Languages