What do you know about Hmong? Join us in Sapa, Vietnam; Luang Prabang in Laos; and somewhere a little further afield for this episode of Language Stories.

Why Discovering Hmong?

This almost didn’t become an episode! It was really tricky before we arrived in Sapa to connect with someone online who would be willing to talk about Hmong. I contacted various tour agencies and all of them ignored the bit in my email about wanting to speak with someone about Hmong and went straight to “you can book your tour here!”. So we didn’t.

Instead, we arrived in Sapa, Vietnam hoping we’d find someone who could talk with us for this episode on the ground, which we did.

We then ending up finding more than we expected further down the line…it’s a fun episode across three countries!

The Video

The Podcast

Featuring

Chua – You can message Chua here on her Facebook Page to request a trek and homestay in Sapa. As she said in the video, she can’t read or write English, but tourists are very kind and helpful are reading out and replying to messages for her (I did so myself too!).

Jasmine Tierra – Follow Jasmine and get the links to her latest music on her Facebook Page here.

Further Reading + Resources

Hmong Batik Class, Luang Prabang – This is the link on Backstreet Academy to the Hmong Batik Class we did that featured in the video. It’s a great experience! Make sure you do it early in your visit so you have time to collect your finished piece the following day.

Hmong Vegetarian Cooking Class – And here’s the link to the cooking class that features in the video. It’s also in Luang Prabang and was great too. We got to choose our dishes and picked the ones we were least likely to cook again. This meant we cooked with rattan and banana flower! The family you cook with are very friendly.

Black Singer Soars in Hmong Language – NPR – The NPR article that features Jasmine’s story to singing in Hmong.

Hmong Americans – Wikipedia – Wikipedia has a good overview of Hmong Americans.

History of the Hmong in Minneapolis-St Paul – Wikipedia – There’s even a specific page for Minneapolis-St Paul!

St. Paul: McDonald’s Hmong pitch mangles language – Twin Cities – I found this article interesting about McDonalds attempt locally to appeal to Hmong residents.

Being Hmong in America – The Atlantic – There’s some interesting reads about Being Hmong in America on The Atlantic.

Minnesota Remembers Vietnam: America’s Secret War – PBS – This documentary tells the story of ‘America’s Secret War’.

Our Sponsor

A huge thank you to Lingora for sponsoring season 2 of Language Stories!

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You can support Language Stories by signing up for free to Lingora at elingora.com.

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