May | 2012 | Vietnamese American Oral History Project

This past week, I was given the opportunity to transcribe two oral histories conducted by the Vietnamese American Heritage Foundation. Although I have transcribed before, this particular task was rewarding because I was able to examine role-switching, various styles and methods in oral histories, and an oral history “triangle” so to speak.

At first I watched a video of Roger Le’s interview, conducted by Pham Quang Tuan. Previously I had already watched a video of Tiffany Le’s interview conducted by Roger, so it was a great surprise to see him in the narrator seat. Since the video focused on Roger with Tuan’s voice in the background asking questions, I was intrigued by his calmness and quick response to questions. He was incredibly detailed, put a lot of thought into sharing stories, and had a lot to say.

Pham Quang Tuan interviews narrator, Roger Le

At this point, I felt like a middle man between Roger Le, Pham Quang Tuan, and Tiffany Le. What I mean by this is that I was involved in an oral history “triangle.” I watched Roger Le interview Tiffany, I was watching Roger being interview by Tuan, and I was about to see a video of Pham being interviewed by Roger. Little did I know that it was essential to have skill, patience, and have mastered “role-switching” in order to be successful in oral histories.

Roger Le interviews narrator, Tiffany Le

So, how do you prepare to be an interviewer? How do you prepare to be a narrator? When watching Tuan’s interview conducted by Roger, he states that he wishes there was more time to train for the position, but that “it hasn’t been a challenge for me [him] so far” because he’s self-motivated. Similarly, Roger joined the VAHF as a technical director who worked on the website, and ended up being an interviewer as well. Roger and Tuan utilize different techniques in interviewing, which have been successful through many interviews. Yet, there is no “right” way to interview. From my point of view, to master the role of an interviewer, one must be a narrator first, to be in the hot-seat. From there on, practice is what makes perfect.

As a technical consultant, Roger came across interviewing this way:

“ I didn’t expect to interview as much, but it’s been a really eye-opening experience. I’m glad that I got the opportunity to do so, because when else can I travel across the United States interviewing some very prominent Vietnamese people.”

Overall, there is a diverse list of things that can be learned about oral histories. From watching this oral history “triangle” evolve and play both the narrator and interviewer roles, I was able to see how flexibility and determination make one successful in this field. Although Tuan and Roger both had little training in their roles, the influence and success they’ve had is more than extensive. They both have practiced and mastered their roles as interviewers, and have experienced being in the hot-seat themselves.

Roger Le interviews narrator, Pham Quang Tuan

Before watching these videos, I experienced interviewing my dad myself, and watching Tiffany Le’s interview conducted by Roger. Yet after these interviews, I felt like I was in a position of role-switching. I felt like I knew both Roger and Tuan; after hearing their stories, being an outsider looking in, and pretending to be the narrator myself, I learned that oral histories is not an easy, but daunting task that can be greatly rewarding. A mixture of motivation, practice, and skill can make one very successful in oral histories, and I believe that anyone can bring eye-opening style and technique to the table!

By Stephanie Wong

When I first signed up for this project, I just wanted to be “behind the scenes.” However, I had a chance to conduct my first interview with Mr. La Quoc Tam, and I found that I like it a lot. We conducted this interview in a conference room of the Vien Dong Daily News, in Little Saigon. I learned a lot, in this interview: the importance of education and the lives of Vietnamese people before, during, and after 1975. Moreover, I learned more about the hardship that the earlier generations, “the boat people”, had gone through. Tam is currently a senior scientist working in the laboratory for a vitamin company. He is the middle child in a large family. He and his family are known as “boat people”. His family was divided when they left Vietnam. As a result of having such a large family, his parents had to separate their children into two or three groups to go to the refugee camps. His father let his older brothers and sisters go first, and Tam and his younger siblings left a couple years later. He also discussed about the destitution of his family and his mother’s struggle to provide for her children, while his father was in a reform prison. When asked if he could share some of his childhood memories in Vietnam, he said: “the only thing I remember is being carefree and the happiness, which I shared with my friend at school.”

Tam and his family arrived California, but they did not settle there. He only moved to Southern California during recent years. He and his older sibling worked hard to become United States citizens and to sponsor the rest of their family to come to America. With great emotion, Tam explained his feelings about sponsoring his family to the U.S.: “The joy to have one’s family whole again is indescribable.” He also talked about the difficulty in adjusting to the new environment due to the language barrier. After high school, Tam attended a four year college and pursued an engineering major. His reason for choosing engineering as his major was because of the job market’s demand for this field at the time. He thought that people of his generation chose to study a major based on its job availabilities in the market, rather than study anything out of passion. He said, “I needed to have a job right after I finished school, because I need to help my family.” He discussed the importance of education to the Vietnamese culture, and the difficulties, which older generations are facing, of preserving and passing down the Vietnamese culture to their children and grandchildren. He is facing the same obstacle with his two daughters; however, he found that Little Saigon has helped him introduce the Vietnamese culture to them. He said, “Now, they start to accept the culture more and willing to ask more about it.” The VAOHP is designed to preserve and pass on Vietnamese-American’s culture.

La Quoc Tam in front of Vien Dong Daily News. Right: a younger La Quoc Tam

I ask Tam to describe some characteristics of Vietnamese culture and its people, he said: “The best thing about Vietnamese is respect. We respect our elderly and superior. We are also diligent workers.”

UCI student, Tram Vo, interviewing La Quoc Tam at Vien Dong Daily News

By Tram Vo

Please check back for updates on the UCI Libraries’ website with full audio interviews, photos, and transcripts!

Vietnamese American Oral History Project

Stories of Vietnamese Americans in Southern California

Monthly Archives: May 2012

An oral history “triangle”

From Vietnam to Refugee Camp and America