ViệtSpeakOur voices must be heard
ViệtSpeak
Crocodile, Unicorn and the worlds they encounter are creations from a series of workshops facilitated by Kids’ Own Publishing and ViệtSpeak with parents and children at Cherry Crescent Preschool in Braybrook. The gatherings were an opportunity for the group to talk, listen and draw together. Sitting around the table, the old and new friends shared stories of language pride and shame, identity and transformation, and explored what it means to have, lose, hold onto, learn and pass on language and culture. And the journey continues…
The book was created and published following six workshops and the combined efforts of many. With deep gratitude to Ana Rita Pires, Viet-My Bui and ViệtSpeak committee members for their expert, generous and kind facilitation. The group pulled together and formed a collaborative where the whole truly was greater than its constituent parts.
On the first day participants made eight page books with Rita’s prompt of “how does your language travel during the day?” Paper was folded, collage materials used, markers too, and beauty emerged. The children created in parallel and the story of a farting crocodile emerged as well as a unicorn with stars on its body, as well as other crocodiles and creations. Participants saw that language travels in so many ways. It travels through the body, it travels through food, it travels through family, through relationships, through the world.
During the second session participants created books and spreads that used elements from the eight-page books from the previous week. Rita noted that the eight-page books were so rich and beautiful, language wise, idea wise, and that it would be a lovely jumping off point if we could just stay with these eight page books a little bit more. “The composition, conception, conceptually, all of these universes that are within these tiny books.”
Rita photocopied the work from the previous week, in colour and in black and white. She also enlarged and shrunk the images. The participants took pieces of each other’s work to create something new: a spread, a form of a book, or an eight-page book again.
As she worked on her second week creation, Cecilia stated, “it’s a really interesting process this because I was kind of expecting that we’d all be in a group brainstorming together then coming up with it but for us to do our own stuff and then..it’s a really good way in.”
Building on conversations and artwork created during the first two weeks, Julie Choi, ViệtSpeak member, spoke to the group about a holistic approach to language, emphasizing the interconnectedness of linguistic and cultural identity. All participants appreciated Julie’s insights into language and found much to relate to as she affirmed that languages should not be seen as bounded or kept in separate boxes. Our languages live within us in creative and resourceful ways. Simon noted, “if the book can demonstrate that [resourceful use of languages] in some way that would be a massive success for us.”
Using the pictures already collected and referring back to what had already been created, parents and their children worked together to write up a story. They were invited to use the unicorn, as created by Mira in the first session, the crocodile, as created by Stanley, Jack and Hugh, or other inspirations. Mira and Thanh worked together on drawing the unicorn visiting the heart forest and finding a key. “Unicorn Everything”, by Stanley and Jono had a unicorn taking on features of the creatures it came in contact with. Kim, Evan and Logan worked on under the sea scapes and an elevator taking people to the apocalypse. Tran, Simon, Jack and Hugh wrote about a character looking for a habitable planet. While not every element created this week made it to the final production, it informed the work created, printed up and shared.
In Week Four participants discussed language they wanted to see in the book. There was agreement on the book reflecting a hybrid pool of language demonstrating how families communicate at home. People also discussed images that reflected the process so far, including knowledges and experiences that arose in the first three weeks. It was affirmed that the final book would have a piece of everyone in it. It may have a piece of the drawing that was made in the first session, some ideas that were talked about in the second session, might have some images of this (third) session. Rita said, “It doesn’t mean that every single drawing will be in the book but everyone’s making the book, all of our ideas, all of our drawings, all of our words will make their way into the book.”
Families worked on creating spreads on paper, the size that was used for the finished product. Common themes were food and journeys. One of the participants discussed world-building, leading us to the narrative structure of the book. Hoang noted that “someone’s story might also mean something to someone else’s story. It’s not the same, it might not be the same story, but there’s something that’s being shared here.”
In this session participants explored and discussed the mock-ups Rita and Viet-My had prepared. Crocodile and Unicorn travel through five worlds on a journey that is never ending. The phrase “đi chơi” means to ‘go out’, to hang out with friends and to go play. This sums up the meaning of the book better than a single word in English. It also connected the participants to the story in both language and culture. The worlds Crocodile and Unicorn visit are Food Valley, Language Mountain, Crocodile Island, Home World and Celebration World. Participants discussed the language used and the dialogue between our two main characters, Crocodile và Unicorn, as inspired by Julie’s work and conversations as well as personal experiences from the group.
The characters speak both Vietnamese and English in ways that challenge bounded definitions of language. Their words are playful, fun, joyous, as well as serious and sad as emotions arose. The journey was marked by the five senses with the smells and tastes of Vietnamese food in Food Valley, hearing and visiting Language Mountain, the visuals of Croc Island, the tactile nature of Home, and Celebration World where all the senses are in play.
This session was one for listening carefully, for accepting narrative offerings, for proposing plot lines and for working together to create a world in which “Crocodile và Unicorn đi chơi”. Distinctly Vietnamese while also distinctly Melbournian. Our languages and cultures interplay together with the joy that comes from linguistic and artistic collaboration.
“And that’s what this book is trying to do. It’s not a perfect, it’s not a translation book. It’s not a bilingual book in a sense that everything in one language is repeated in another. It’s trying to get a feeling that this is how you use your language in everyday life.” – Hoang
This week Rita and Viet-My presented us with the final mock-up. The images selected and the order in which Crocodile and Unicorn visit the different worlds didn’t change from the mock-up to the final printed copy but we began adding more Vietnamese words and expressions and more linguistic depth to the work. Three of the parents spent time discussing word choice and nuance. Their conversation testified to the complex nature of language as cultural and linguistic signifier. Strategically the group didn’t want the book to be a bilingual book with each line translated “verbatim”. They wanted the book to represent how they use Vietnamese in community and within the family. The conversation between the parents moved into the WhatsApp chat as more time was needed to discuss the linguistic components. Thought was paid to sonority of the expressions and how they complemented and added to the illustrations.
On the 9th of December, 2023, the book was launched at the inaugural Language in Community Festival in Footscray. Despite the rain’s near constant visitation a small and dedicated group of people were witness to the book being read aloud and performed by a parent and children.
“For me, it’s it’s a very meaningful project. And it’s something that I can bring back home and show my kids and because they’ve been here they’ve seen the process and having that involvement, it actually will help excite them a little bit more with learning Vietnamese and more about our culture.”
“I think outside of like going to an actual Vietnamese school like the kids go, there’s aren’t really bilingual groups that exist. So it’s hard to get that sort of language and play together. It’s interesting to experiment.”
“I know Jono and Stanley have really enjoyed it like a bonding thing for them to do together. And yeah, from like, my perspective, we’re a monolingual family, and it’s just like magical to see Stanley come home from Kinder and the classes he does with Lanny and tell us words that he’s learned to play with his blocks and be counting in Vietnamese and they’re like, it’s just anything we can do to foster that. I think because it’s so special, and we’ve really loved meeting, meeting everyone and feeling more connected.”
“It’s nice to meet other parents who are going through similar journeys as me. It’s nice to kind of just feel like I’m doing okay. And yeah, I was always like quite vocal about being interested in being okay with mixing the two languages and seeing it normalised. Rather than it just all being Vietnamese or English and translated, it’s nice to have a mix.”
The project was made possible by a generous donation from David Nunan.
