Cultural Differences Between Vietnamese And The United States

Cultural differences are one of the biggest problems for people moving to a new country. Vietnamese people moving to Unites States are no exception. Vietnam and United States are on different continents. While the primary culture in Vietnam is Eastern culture, the United States is a typical representative of Western Culture. That is the reason why there is a significant difference between Vietnamese culture and American culture. These differences in the way of life cause many misunderstandings to a lot of Vietnamese people. Two cultural differences that might cause misunderstandings when people from Vietnam live in the United States are time orientation and use of technology.
Time orientation is one cultural difference that might cause misunderstandings
When doing something, American people concentrate on finishing it on schedule. In contrast, Vietnamese people are polychromic individuals who are flexible. For Vietnamese people, nothing is too rushed, and life is happening as it is because they care more about the present than the future. Vietnamese people prefer doing multiple tasks at the same time. They often use many excuses such as: accidents, unpredictable events to explain the reasons that they could not complete tasks on schedule. When Vietnamese people live in the United States, they will be misunderstanding with time. In the Unites States, if Vietnamese parents have an appointment with a doctor at 9:00, they should show up at least 5 minutes before the designated time. If they come late, they will lose their turn and have to reschedule the appointment at another day. Some companies in the United States have a strict punctuality policy and the employees will be fired if they go to work late. According to Iowa State University in Cultural Differences, in different cultures, the people have different ways to view and use time. That means Vietnamese people cannot apply the way of using time