While riding through the Delta on the Yamaha I met many people who tried to say a few words more than hi. Nearly all had as little command of English as I have of Vietnamese. In Soc Trang I met a high school English teacher who gave me a thought about learning a second language after realizing that her tongue, pallet, mouth or all inoperative together are unable to pronounce certain foreign words. A pretty common problem.
I thought then that second language classroom instruction should include synonyms and antonyms in addition to teaching definition, pronunciation, etc. to encourage fledgling learners obtain a wide range of words to consider when expressing an idea. Where the tongue can't curve for clarity the brain might strain for a similar meaning more pronounceable.
But in Bac Lieu I ran into a different challenge, one that in spirit spoils my theory. The Vietnamese pronounce "tr" so it sounds like "j" to my ears. Checking out on on the sixth day I mentioned to the receptionist at the King Diamond hotel I was traveling to Soc Trang and she replied something to the effect of: "oh, sep jen". I thought a road had been washed out so I pressed her for clarification. We tried for ten minutes before it became clear that "sep jen" is Soc Trang. However useful a thesaurus would be alongside a dictionary in a language course, there simply isn't a comparable word for a city name. This brought about the challenge that the problem is not with the Vietnamese speaker but with the non-native listener. Whether I accept their speech or insist my hearing predominate displays only pretension if not arrogance.
Soc Trang, the province and city, are located in the south central Delta and however many times I told people I was going to Phoung Hiep or Phoung Loc, cities in the province, people said seemingly with pride, "sep jan". Elsewhere, such as in Ben Tre or Saigon, people pronounced Soc Trang with slight variations such as "sept jen" or "soc jane". By that time I was ready for it and heard the distinction. I heard the tongue and anticipated the inflection or accentuation; I let my listening ears and literate third eye disengage.
So to get along it became necessary to find alternative ways of thinking about language in its communicable role. Even now, back with the cat in Brooklyn I realize there's learning gained in the self-reflection that helps me to tell these travel stories with honesty.
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