No speak English, no speak

Hello, do you know where I am now? No, I'm not in Malaysia anymore. I caught an aeroplane to another country. It is called Vietnam. It is still in South-east Asia but it is a long way from Malaysia. I've never been here before. Izmaillah, do you still have that atlas? You can look up Vietnam in the atlas to see where your Granddad is. Can you find Hanoi? That is where I am.

Most people here don't speak very much English. They speak a language called Vietnamese. When I came here I didn't know any Vietnamese. When I go shopping the Vietnamese people can say 'hello', 'yes', 'no' and things like 'cheap price for you'. So I can buy the things I need.

In one shop I met all the people you see in the picture. I still didn't know any Vietnamese so I tried to talk to them in English. 'Hello' I said.

They didn't answer.

'Hello, my name is John.'

They still didn't answer. They just smiled or kept pulling their funny faces but they didn't say a thing. Perhaps they don't understand English at all. Maybe now I need to learn to speak some Vietnamese.

I have. I've learned to say 'hello' in Vietnamese. It is 'jow'. So now I'm going to go back and say 'hello' to them again but in Vietnamese. I hope they answer me this time.

love from Grandpa