Vincent:My name is Vincent and I am 11 years old. I live with my family in London. My family are from a countrycalled Vietnam and today I have come to meet Anna, who's an artist and is also from Vietnam. She is going to tell mewhat she learned about Vietnam when she visited the countryfive years ago.
Nearly 70 years ago, a war started in Vietnam between the Northof the country and the South. The war lasted for 20 years. After the war, lots of Vietnamese peoplemoved to other countries around the world, like the USA and the UK. So you know how your family'sfrom Vietnam.
Anna Nguyen:
Yeah.
Vincent:
How did they end up in London?
Anna Nguyen:
My mom came over in 1979, which was just after the war. She came to the UK. Following that, I think a lot more Vietnamese people came over about 20,000 people, and that's how we have a Vietnamese community here today.
Vincent:
Since you told me a lot about Vietnam, have you ever been there yourself?
Anna Nguyen:
I went there in 2016, and that was a really special journey for me. The main reason that drove me to visitVietnam is because growing up I had a lot of questions. Like you, I grew up in two cultures,so the British culture and the Vietnamese culture. And so I went back to speakactually to a young girl that was the same age as me that also was an artist. But the difference was, her mum and herdad never left Vietnam like mine did. So we actually had a conversation to find out if we would be any differentif our parents had stayed or if they had left. And it turns out we wouldn'thave been much different.
Vincent:
Why did the Vietnam War start?
Anna Nguyen:
The Vietnam War started in 1954. Now Vietnam was split into two parts. So you had North Vietnam and you had South Vietnam. North Vietnam wanted the countryto be one whole country and they wanted to rule it in a certain way. But South Vietnam reallydidn't want that to happen. So that's why they went to war. Now when they started fighting,the North Vietnamese army was supported by Russia and China, and SouthVietnam was supported by America. And this war went on for 20 years Vincent. Millions of Vietnamesesoldiers died during the war. Everyday people like you, me and your mum, also were fighting the warand lost their lives as well.
Vincent:
What did you learn about the warfrom going to Vietnam?
Anna Nguyen:
The war was very much still present in people's minds and people's hearts. I did also find that Vietnamtoday is very developed and there's lots of artists and creativesthat are working there and living there, going back there really made me want to find out more about what hadhappened during that war. So, when I came back to the UK, I started talking to more people that had survived it.
As an artist, I'm currently making a piece of work about mothers and daughters, butvery specific to the Vietnamese family. So we've been speaking to lotsand lots of mothers and daughters in Australia, in Manchester, in London,in France, and America and also Hanoi to understand what that relationship is like after the war.
Vincent:
How do you feel about your Vietnamese identity now?
Anna Nguyen:
I feel very much at peace with my Vietnamese identity now. Before, like I told you,I was a bit confused, you know, whether I should be Britishor whether I should be Vietnamese. Now, I realize that actually I can be both and my identityis two of those cultures together. So I enjoy Lunar New Yearand I have Tết with my mom. But I also have a beautiful Christmasdinner at Christmas time. And, both of them are me at the same time.
Vincent:
What happened during theVietnam War was very sad. But I am glad that I got to learn more about the history of the countryand what it is like today. I hope artists like Annawill continue to create art that helps us understandimportant things about our past.
Video summary
Artist Anna Nguyen talks to 11 year-old Vincent about the Vietnamese migration to Britain after the Vietnam war.
Anna explains how in 1954, a war started in Vietnam between the North of the country and the South. The war lasted for 20 years. After the war, lots of Vietnamese people moved to other countries around the world, like America and the UK.
Anna talks about how she returned to Vietnam in 2016 to learn more about her roots and found that the war was still very much present in people's minds and people's hearts, but that Vietnam also had a thriving community of artists and creatives.
She now feels very much at peace with both her British and Vietnamese identity.
This short film is from the BBC Teach series British Asian History.
Teacher Notes
Learning point
- To learn about the reasons why people have emigrated to Britain from Asia over time.
Key Vocabulary
This film gives you the chance to explore and learn this vocabulary in the context of a personal story.
Vocabulary used in the film:
- War and Civil War
- Community
- Culture
- Rule
- Community producer
Vocabulary useful for discussing the film:
- Immigration and immigrants - coming to live permanently in another country.
- Emigration - leaving one's own country in order to settle permanently in another.
- Asia/Asian - the largest and most populous continent on earth.**
- Britain/ British - "Great Britain" is often used to refer to England, Scotland and Wales, including their component adjoining islands.Great Britain and Northern Ireland now constitute the United Kingdom.
- Community - a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.
- Culture - a pattern of behaviour shared by a society, or group of people.
- Discrimination - the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people.
- Diversity - differences in racial and ethnic, socioeconomic, geographic and academic backgrounds.
- Equality - when people are treated the same, regardless of what they look like or where they come from.
- Inclusion - being a part of what everyone else is, being welcomed and embraced as a member who belongs.
- Legacy - something we inherit from past generations and pass to our future generations.
- Prejudice - a preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience.
- Racism - the belief that people of different races or ethnic groups have different value in society, and using this against them.
Before watching the film
You may want to discuss what your pupils understand by the word ‘immigrant’ and what they already know about people who have come to live in the UK, over time. Pupils could discuss what they understand by the term ‘community’ and whether they identify as being part of any communities.
Please note that in the film, the reasons for the Vietnam War starting are discussed, as well as the emotional impact on Anna’s family. Her father having nightmares after the war is mentioned. You should consider the needs of any children in your class who have lived experience of war, as part of your preparation.
Questions to consider
Depending on the focus of your lesson, you may wish to pause the short film at certain points to check for understanding, asking questions such as:
- Why did some people move to Britain from Vietnam after the war there? Can you make any connections with the other films in this collection?
- Why do you think Anna wanted to visit Vietnam when she grew up?
- Anna says that even years after the war had ended, she felt that the war was ‘still present’ in the minds and hearts of the Vietnamese people. What do you think she means by this?
- Anna says she can be both Vietnamese and British, and she talks about having more than one part to her identity. How does this compare with your identity?
Activities to further explore learning
- Pupils could compare and contrast this film with other films in the collection in examining the reasons why people emigrate.
- Pupils could learn about Anna’s art work in art lessons.
- Having watched the film, pupils could write down any questions they would ask Anna if they had the opportunity.
How this film meets the aims of the National Curriculum in England:
- History
This film will help you to ensure your pupils understand the history of these places as a coherent, chronological narrative, focusing on the 19th Century to the present day. Through this personal story, pupils will learn about the diversity of people who have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world.
Pupils will develop deeper understanding of historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance, and use them to make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends, and frame historically-valid questions.
They will also gain historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts, understanding the connections between local, regional, national and international history; between cultural, economic, military, political, religious and social history; and between short- and long-term timescales.
How this film meets the aims of the Scottish Curriculum:
Social Studies
This film will enable pupils to compare and contrast communities and the lives of people in the past with their own, and to contribute to a discussion of the similarities and differences.They will find out why people and events from a particular time in the past were important, placing them within a historical sequence.
Health and Welbeing Across the Curriculum
This film will help pupils to develop self-awareness, self-worth and respect for others, understanding diversity and that it is everyone’s responsibility to challenge discrimination.
How this film meets the aims of the The Northern Ireland Curriculum:
- The World Around Us
This film will enable pupils to learn about how people and places have changed over time, the causes and effects of people moving from one place to another, and the positive and negative impacts of people on places. Exploring the lives and memories of people from the past is part of the history non-statutory guidance and this film provides an ideal starting point for this.
- Personal Development
This film will enable pupils to appreciate the similarities and differences between themselves and others by providing a starting point for discussing cultural heritage, community and the diversity of people living in Britain.
How this film meets the aims of the National Curriculum in Wales:
History
This film will enable pupils to place events chronologically, identify similarities and differences between ways of life in different places during the 20th Century, and to discuss the consequences to people of historic events.Personal and Social Education Framework
This film will help pupils to see people who have been active citizen and help them to develop respect for others. Through personal stories, pupils will learn the value of diversity and recognise the importance of equality of opportunity.
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