Yesterday, we went to a Vietnamese restaurant. While I was reading the menu and translating it into English for my husband, my daughter suddenly asked me:
“Mẹ dạy ba tiếng Việt được không?”
“Mommy, can you teach Daddy Vietnamese?”
This made me smiled. It was such a simple question, but it made me think about how far we’ve come.
A few years ago, when I first started thinking seriously about raising my kids with Vietnamese, I was full of questions. I read books, listened to bilingual parenting advice, and tried to figure out what would work for our family.
One piece of advice I heard was to pretend I didn’t understand English when my kids spoke English to me.
Honestly, I didn’t get it. How could I pretend I didn’t understand when I spoke English with my husband and in-laws right in front of my kids?
Even so, I tried.
When my kids came to me in English, I would sometimes say, “Mẹ nói tiếng Việt mà,” (“Mommy speak Vietnamese”) or “Mẹ không hiểu. Con nói lại cho mẹ hiểu được không?” (Mommy don’t understand. Can you say it again?). Other times, I simply gave them the Vietnamese word for what they were trying to say.
It wasn’t perfect. We didn’t follow any language strategy perfectly every day.
But over time, something happened.
Vietnamese became part of our everyday routine. It became the language of bedtime stories, songs in the car, little conversations at the dinner table, and the words Mẹ naturally used with our kids.
And now, more than four years later, my daughter is asking me to teach her Dad Vietnamese 🥹
This moment reminded me that bilingual parenting is not always about seeing immediate results. Sometimes, the advice you hear may not make sense right away. Sometimes your child answers you in English. Sometimes they mix languages or don’t know the Vietnamese word you expected them to know.
That doesn’t mean it isn’t working.
Small, consistent moments add up. They help make Vietnamese feel familiar, meaningful, and natural.
So if you’re somewhere in the middle of your own bilingual parenting journey, maybe you don’t need to have everything figured out yet.
Try what makes sense for your family. Adjust when you need to. And when something feels a little strange at first, give it some time.
Sometimes, you just have to trust the process a little.
Because you never know what one small Vietnamese moment today might grow into tomorrow. 💛🪴
