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as weekly Vietnamese language and
lifestyle classes, cultural exchange
meetings and traditional music per-
formances. It has also attended many
cultural fairs. Furthermore, it has
launched charityable activities to call
for donations for the poor and disabled
in Vietnam.
Weekly Vietnamese language class-
es taught by Ngoc Anh have been well
received by French people before they
marry a Vietnamese person. “I run a
class of around 15 people every Satur-
day to teach them not only Vietnamese
language, but mainly Vietnamese cul-
ture, traditions and behaviours to help
them understand more about Vietnam-
ese people and their lifestyle. My class,
in fact, is not like normal class - it is a
place where people come to exchange
their knowledge and experience to
avoid culture shock when becoming a
member of a Vietnamese family,” says
Ngoc Anh.
Furthermore, Ngoc Anh and her
members have opened classes to teach
Vietnamese to children, especially chil-
dren who are the second and third gen-
eration of mixed French-Vietnamese
families. Thu Thuy, a founding mem-
ber, says the activities help the young
generation to know their origins.
Ngoc Anh also runs cooking classes
to teach Vietnamese traditional cuisine
for the community.
“Despite living far from Vietnam,
my deep love for the country and its life
is always in my heart whenever I sing Vi-
etnamese songs praising the beauty of
the country and people,” says Ngoc Anh.
Organising music and art perfor-
mances is a strong part of the Asso-
ciation Culturelle des Vietnamiens du
Rhône. Ngoc Anh and other Vietnam-
ese members sing while their children
are dancers.
“Our programs always attract both
native French and Vietnamese from
around the area. They encourage us a
lot. It’s a great driving force for us to
create and diversify with many more
activities in the future,” she explains.
Besides music performances, ACVR
also organises annual events on such
special occasions as Vietnamese Lunar
New Year. Many interesting activities
are run, such as a Vietnamese fash-
ion show presenting ancient
ao tu than
dresses to modern
ao dai
. The tradition-
al costumes are tailored in Vietnam and
then sent to France to introduce the his-
tory of Vietnamese traditional costumes.
Lion dances, traditional martial arts and
dramatic performances are also held.
Additionally, they make chung cake
- a traditional Vietnamese sticky-rice
cake. “This is the most exciting chance
for both French brides and grooms to
learn how to make the cake. We also
teach them how to prepare and cook a
Vietnamese Tet feast,” she says.
This year is the French-Vietnamese
relations year, so from March 21 - 30,
2014, ACVR is putting on a series of
events. In June it will attend the Na-
tional Flags Festival march to parade
around the streets and introduce Viet-
namese culture in Lyon.
For more details on ACVR’s activi-
ties, visit www.acvr-asso.fr
41
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Left: Traditional Vietnamese instruments. Above: Children of Lyon dress in
Vietnamese costume
Ngoc Anh teaches some local kids
to make traditional Tet foods