UNIT 3: VIETNAMESE FAMILIES NOWADAYS

very society bases on the family. In any societies, there are

nuclear families (two-generation families) and extended
families: grandparents, parents, and children live together. In
the old days, there are only extended families in which women have
no right to decide on family affairs, and children always obey their
parents. However, there are a lot of changes in Vietnamese families
nowadays.
First of all, it is the change in the size of a family. In a typical
Vietnamese family, there are three or four generations living together, but now young
people tend to nuclear families in which they dont want to be controlled by anybody.
Some young couples dont want to see their parents very often because they think that
their parents may interfere with their marital affairs. Moreover, when people realize that
if they have fewer children, their children will have a better life; they will get more
success in their career and have higher positions in society. So now, each family often has
one or two children.
Another aspect is that more and more women go out to work, and they can delay having
children with the help of modern scientific progress. Now women usually have the same
rights as man. They are no longer led by men and can decide on everything in the family,
together with their husbands.
Moreover, children also have more freedom. They seem not always to obey their parents.
They can do what they like. When their parents complain their ways of living or thinking,
they usually say that their parents are old-fashioned.
In summary, Vietnamese families now are quite different from those in the past. Do you
think these changes are good? What are the advantages and disadvantages of these
changes? To have satisfactory answers you are warmly invited to the discussion today.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1. How many people are there in your family? Are they living in the same house?
2. What is a nuclear family? What is the difference between a nuclear family and
extended family?
3. How is your life different from your parents and your grandparents lives? What
do your parents think of family?
4. Do you get along well with your family? Do you get along well with your
brothers and sisters? Do you get along well with your parents-in-laws?
5. Do you live with your parents? Do you live with any of your grandparents? Do
you often argue with your mother or father?
6. As one Chinese saying goes Settle your accommodation before you establish
your business. What is your idea about it?
7. Do you think changes are good? What do think of changes in Vietnamese
families? What are the causes of fast family changes?
8. Do you think family is the foundation, motivation and encouragement for you to
achieve success in life? Do you have to cope with difficulties in your own family?
9. Right now, do you live in the nuclear family or in an extended one? What do you
think your family life will be like in the future?
10. What kind of family will your children and grandchildren live in? What makes a
happy family? What should we do to build a happy family?
11. Who is the breadwinner in your family? Who is the troubleshooter? And who is
usually the troublemaker? Are you one of them?