I have been fortunate to have spent a lot of time in Vietnam and I find the young people there fantastic. Some young students enjoy practising English language with me and I am always happy to help. They are very polite, hardworking and respectful.

In Minnesota, Vietnamese refusgees came and created an incredible amount of success for themselves quickly. As a dentist I had the opportunity to treat many of the VIetnamese families. Parents have great expectations and sometimes big demands for these young next generation Vietnamese. These kids have had tremendous success. They seem well-adjusted. Having raised an adopted Korean daughter from age 4 months to now age 42, I see how talented and wonderful Asian people can be. Hopefully these kids can make it through the tough developemntal years and stay happy. Great video concept here.

I’m currently in therapy to help with depression (and i’m extremely grateful and privileged to have this resource) as a Viet teenager but of course that doesn’t solve any of the underlying issues. this video really helped communicate exactly what I’m feeling. thank you

@WhatThePho - this is a super important topic, and I wanna give you HUGE props for having the courage to create AND publish this video. As someone who's been in therapy regularly over the years, I'm very personally passionate about this subject, and I love that you're using your platform to open up this conversation. This is arguably my favorite video that you've ever published, and I want to know how much that means, because you crank out quality content all the time - but this one is next-level impactful! 🙏🏼

This worked really well! I was surprised that, having young people stand up in front of a camera, they were able to speak so honestly & freely. Thanks to Rose Bridge for inspiration & work in putting this together.

Really important messages here! I love the Vietnamese people and culture. When I was 20 I served the Viet community in Melbourne Australia. I became fluent in Vietnamese, but have lost a lot of it over the years. I enjoyed watching the Viet vs English subtitles in this vid while listening to the other language out loud.

What an incredibly beautiful video. I love these young people so much. And thank you for sharing their voices.

this video is good at discussing the issues on the surface. in my opinion, this ideology should NOT manifest itself in Vietnam. as an American born Vietnamese, I admire the hard work ethic of the Vietnamese people in Vietnam. in my opinion, these young folks understand the benefits of “sharing” their feelings but they don’t understand the benefits of “sacrifice” at an early age. i’m an older millennial and i have a good grasp on the millennial and Gen Z mindset. the younger generation (now) feel the negative pressures when they are struggling to strive towards “success”. not success in their eyes but success in “real world” terms. it’s “ok” to take a break when you’re feeling the pressures… however, my opinion, the younger generation stays in this place too long. and when they stay there too long, they become complacent. and those that move forward, surpasses them. in the end, this affects their mental state much more negatively. our previous generation also felt these stresses but the difference was, they weren’t able to take breaks. they “sacrificed” and pushed themselves through whatever it was that was holding them back. in today’s world, things move fast and a little more “efficient”. therefore, the younger generation can allow themselves to take a “short” mental break. again, the issue is that most of the younger generation becomes complacent and stay in this place. my opinion is, to embrace the “sacrifices” that need to be made while there is still time. i say it’s very much like a long road trip, it’s ok to drive slowly initially BUT you eventually have to speed back up to make it to your destination in an appropriate time. if the younger generation would like to think about it in another way… as a child, you probably hated eating vegetables, going to bed early and being told to stop watching television by your parents. even though you hated it and didn’t understand why, you listened to your parents. as you get older, you end up deciding to eat vegetables because they’re healthier, go to bed earlier because you get more energy to start the next day early… and now more than ever, you decide to stop being in front of your computer/ipad/cell phone because there’s so much more to life OUTDOORS. to conclude my rant, it’s nice that the younger generation can share their emotions and feelings… i’m glad that they would like to have those around them be just as “open” to their feelings… but let’s also learn lessons for the previous generations about the “positive” outcomes of embracing the “sacrifices” that need to be made NOW! my opinion on what’s happening in America is, a disgrace. the younger generation has no idea on how to make the sacrifices necessary to become successful. please don’t let this mentality integrate itself into Vietnam’s culture

I totally love this video. I'm a Psychotherapist in California, and this is a topic that I deal with on a daily basis, with clients from many cultures. ❤ Thank you Van 🌟

Very interesting Video. I was able to get some other perspectives to something I usually thought to myself about. Thank you very much for sharing!

You are sharing really important information. You are helping people. Mental health is really important. Thank you for producing and publishing.

This video needs to be seen, heard and shared more. The truths in this hit homes. Other cultures also face the same generational disparities.

Such a heartwarming and insightful vlog. I especially appreciated your hug for Ms Ha. Sometimes a simple hug and a set of ears, goes a LONG way.....❤😊

As a person that has bad anxiety and depression at time I can really feel this.

Thank you Van and everyone involved for the sharing. 😭

Wow great job, Van. Keep up the good work. You are wonderful

Great vid. Very important to hear these young people speak their own truths. 👍🏼 Keep it up VV

Thank you so much for sharing this. It’s such an important topic that especially in Vietnamese culture isn’t talked about. I feel so seen and understood by the people who shared their stories ❤

Great job on this video. Excellent content on a totally different topic. Thanks Van.

this video makes me so emotional 😭. Great job and well done guys 👍.

Our Vietnamese people as a culture has this odd mentality of over achieving and expectations of success. Speaking to some of my staff at the coffee shop was a bit eye opening. Heard some suffering from insomnia and overstressing due to college courses. Great episode!

I was depressed before in my life years ago back in the early 2000`s. Thank you Van for touching on topics like stress and depression.

Omg, I was waiting for a video like this ❤ Thank you Van!

Awesome vid. I like the direction you're taking your channel. ❤

Excellent video, and probably your most important one to date. Thank you for taking the time to do it and do it well.

The video was so deep, inspiring and educational, Van. I look to more content like this. Sometimes I feel like you don't know what way you should follow for your channel (maybe I am wrong), but this one reflects your concerns and it's so good.

It's so heartwarming to see young Vietnamese don't want to bother others with their problems. God bless them all! Totally reminds me of our young Ukrainians, especially here at the frontline, in Armed Forces of Ukraine. They wants to prove themselves as a true warriors, defending their Homeland - not only boys, but girls, too. But sometimes it is better to talk to someone, if you have a problem. Otherwise it may cause serious mental consequences - even if you are in peaceful country, not at war.

Very good and touching content, Van!👍 As being parents, I found it is quite relevant and sometimes seeing myself as well so would figure out more for the better parental guidance and sharing with child.🤔 Thanks and lets keep getting more meaningful productions like this. 🤟

Great video. I hope this helps a lot of struggling individuals. Awareness is essential. ❤

I think this is a very important video and a good step into the right direction. Tbh I think it's way more than 3 million young people who struggle a lot with mental health.

Thank you Vân❤️

my vietnamese girlfriend is pretty happy, strongest minded women i could have find in the world and the most compatible. But she's actualy a real vietnamese and not 'americanised'. She doesn't complain about anything do gym a lot and work all the time and still super strong. She also isnt from a City. So impressed!

Great episode!

another great video and info van ❤❤

8.50, thank you for that advice! I'm now 42 and realized that now. Thank You!

Excellent video!

I feel for the younger generation, particularly those from Asian countries where “losing face”, and “filial piety” remain part of their culture. In truth, a lot of children in western cultures want to please and show respect their parents, but the emphasis on going above and beyond isn’t as great as it is in Asian cultures. I’m the father of two adult daughters. I was actively involved in their lives. I was a “classroom Mommy”, grades Kindergarten through sixth. I also coached them in competitive fast pitch softball for 10 years. I never placed unreal expectations on my daughters. My philosophy is: whatever you do, give 100%. If you fail, you know that you tried. I know, just by listening to these young adults that they there appears to be unrealistic expectations from their parents. That being said, I know they represent the first generation of Vietnamese who have the ability to be whatever they dream. The only dream that is unattainable is just a dream away ✨ Postscript: I like the content that you create. I will be a patron.

Awesome video!!!

Love you n your videos Van

keep up the great content van

Such a good video ❤

Very interesting I like this angle you turned at. When it comes to your videos.

I needed a hug after this video 😢😢 🤗🤗🤗🤗

Hello watching from the Philippines

I think the reason why our generation suffers from so much stress and anxiety is because our generation is too emotional and too sensitive about everything.Which ultimately lead to what we are in now the soft language where as they came up with an entirely other term of words because instead of saying what really needs to be said or exactly what something actually means u may hurt someone’s feelings.We put too much emphasis and are too careful to not hurt someone else’s feelings more than we do of just being honest and being genuine.Most people in this world will always get offended of honesty and truth but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t tell it.Our generation need to learn how to put there feelings and emotions aside otherwise people will believe in whatever they feel and not what it is.I ultimately believe this is why so many people are lost today because they aren’t self directed they aren’t self conscious they aren’t self determined they aren’t strong willed they are easily influenced and can rarely do anything completely on their own.Our generation try too hard to be different than past generations well we are different we are more weird more awkward more confused more weaker than them🤔.When I think of our generation there’s nothing authentic that ever comes to my mind 😢.

Van Vu, you are amazing. This is not something I expected from you. You are full of surprises, as usual. Great Job!

Made me so emotional 😢❤ the girl An is eloquent

💪💪💪.... Good Topic ,What the Pho

There is a huge cultural and worldview difference between the pre-1975 and post-1975 generation. - Pre-1975 generation: Witnessed a political event that has been haunting them ever since. You can't really blame them for having negative views toward Vietnam. To them, Vietnam is a war, a dangerous journey on the sea, and political control. - Post-1975 generation: Grew up after the war, few witnessed the events like their parents. GenZ are the most optimistic, some even come back to Vietnam to travel and work. "What The Pho" is an example. She is making a huge difference in promoting Vietnam. I wish I have her attractiveness and talent. Keep it up.

Currently in Vietnam. This seems like a very airbrushed version of the young people I see on the streets of Saigon

When these young folks become parents themselves, they will understand the struggle and sacrifices their parents endured. Vietnamese parents love their children quietly but deeply. They don't show it with warm words, hugs, or kisses. They show it through their determination to do whatever it takes for their children's future.

They seem to have things well provided to them by their parents and family. Their struggles are definitely different from the Asian kids that came to the US in the 80s and 90s, like myself. We call them the privileged struggles that we would love to have anyday when we were their age 😅😅😅

Interesting

Also, many of them talk about I, I, I.... this is pretty common for people who grow up as an only child ( I am one of them). Fortunately, I was able to build up resilience and not let myself fall for the victim mentality. Life is what you make of it. Sure some of us get dealt a bad hand. I grew up poor, and without my biological parents. I had to work full time, and go to college full-time to keep a roof over my head.

All educational systems should have a mental health system to help those with these conditions

So there are studies that show that talking to much about unpleasant things that happen to a person can actually be counterproductive to one's mental health. I'm not saying we should bottle everything up, but reliving a really bad situation can be detrimental. Also, with social media, everyone is self diagnosing. Saying they have trauma. Trauma comes from abuse, rape, etc. Not normal life things we all experience. Like your boyfriend/girlfriend breaking up with you. If your bf/gf leaves you, you feel sad and have to work through those emotions. That is just part of life. Not trauma.

PS: I forgot to tell in 2015, my wife and I had twins (1 boy, 1 girl). They’re 8 years old now and every week we argue concerning their education, because shes traditional (my wife thinks like her mother, so she’s literally a grandma 😓) and, for my part, I’m more “liberal” and “cool”. 😅 (as almost all fathers I think 😉). But we complete each other, so it’s okay. 😉👌❤

English spoken is really addicted many viewers subs and comments... Cãm ơn Vân quãng cáo Phỡ nhiều nhe :)

This is a fantastic and very professionally developed subject and video. Thank You for developing it.

Hi dear Van. 🤗 Very moving video. 😢 As you know, I’m a 53 years old French guy living in Can Tho and married in 2008 with a 32 years old Vietnamese woman (she’s 48 now and still gorgeous 🥰). When I married with her, she was divorced for 5 years and already had a 10 years old daughter; Hân (I renamed “Anna”😊). The first thing Anna asked me : “if you marry with my mom, can I call you dad?” 🥹 I said “of course”, and that also was the main reason I married with her mother, to be the father of this young girl the biological father had left 5 years ago to marry another woman. 😡 Anna’s English was good enough to communicate and she was the link between her mom and I (while I was learning Vietnamese, because her mom didn’t, and still don’t 😅, talk another language than Vietnamese. During the 10 years we lived together, Anna used to talk more with me than with her own mom 😢, because she knew she couldn’t speak freely, she had to listen and accept the (Vietnamese) family rules. 😓 When I used to ask her what was her choice, she always answers “like mom” 😮. She never could have her own opinion but follow the family choices. 😫But discussing with me, she could finally say what did she think! 😉👍 And now, my daughter’s 26 years old and has been living and working in Toronto (Canada) since 2020, and all this because I helped her feel more confident, listen and trust in herself. 🤗♥️ PS: I know some 30/40 years old people who messed their future working and living abroad, because they follow and obey their families and now they will regret all the rest of their lives. 😓 But their love and respect for their families was, is and will always be the priority… 🤗♥️🇻🇳

Nếu bạn đi về nông thôn nhìn mấy đứa trẻ vui đùa Đầu thôn đầu ngõ tự nhiên bạn hiểu !!? CHỉ là khi ở phố thì khác !!!

Tôi cảm thấy những bạn trẻ này thật đáng thương, đáng thương vì sinh ra trong gia đình có điều kiện, lớn lên dưới môi trường như vậy dẫn đến dễ tổn thương khi bước vào xã hội. Các bạn giả vờ cười là vì các bạn sợ người khác đánh giá xấu về mình? Tại sao vậy? Vì thể diện? Các bạn có thể diện gì khi thể hiện bộ mặt giả của mình? Vâng, sự giả tạo đã phơi bày "thể diện" con người bạn - người giả tạo! Là người Việt Nam, tôi chưa bao giờ phải giả vờ cười trước mặt ai đó. Tôi nhớ có lần cãi nhau với sếp vì bà ấy không làm đúng ý tôi (?) thậm chí còn đánh nhau với bà ta. Kết quả đây, suốt gần 1 tuần chúng tôi không hề nói chuyện, cũng không bị đuổi việc. Vậy theo các bạn bà ấy có thể diện hay hạnh phúc vì đánh nhau với cấp dưới trong khi bà ấy có thể sử dụng quyền lực của mình?

That great! Why don't visit Gia Lai? I hear its have 2 bowl noodle and it call ''Phở 2 tô''

Nice comparison between an American Vietnamese and a Vietnamese. Seems like we all struggle with similar issues no matter who we are.

Hello Van Vu :)))))

Nah, interviewing gifted students or students from wealthy families in Vietnam doesnt show real problems that regular, ordinary young Vietnamese students dealing with. Not every Vietnamese young people have a chance, means to study in USA or RMIT Uni ( That's actually a dream of bunch of people), many people have to earn money everyday just to have something to put in their mouths and pay for the rent by doing as a waiter, motorbike taxi rider with only 10$ ( even way lower) per day

It seems like saving face is important in Vietnamese culture, despite the stress or inner turmoil. How about Quanxi, when people support each in networking and building connections, and benefit from lasting relationships?

Check the Universe 25 mouse experiment

lol every comment made in the first 24 hours was hearted except for mine. speaks volumes. truth isn't meant to be kind, it's just meant to be the truth.

Quite sad that mental health just isnt taken seriously in VN. I see people absolutely struggling daily without any help.

Xin chào em gái Vân xinh đẹp, giới trẻ bây giờ rất thích sống riêng và không thích có người quan tâm, học cách sống phương tây nhiều, không như hồi xưa nè em gái Young people today mostly like to live independently

Need actual young vietnamese teen people. Working 5-6 days a week with their parent, Teens that live in a poor district.. Some of these people, seems like they came to America at a young age and never experience the full vietnamese culture..so they are probably just speaking on what they see/hear from others..

So why is it that someone is talking in Vietnamese with the English translation covered up with Vietnamese translation?

I need me one 💙

More like young people should listen to their parents. We been there. We done that. You have no idea what the real world is like until you become a mature adult.

Try living through the Vietnam War as a Vietnamese and coming to the States and learn to accept the abuse and the hits given to you from everywhere. There were no such things as counseling and therapy within the Vietnamese communities. Young people were not allowed to feel depressed or hurt. We had to suck it up and go to school despite all the bullying. And go home and get abused by parents due to their strict traditional rules.

Here in the Philippines... Young Pinoys are very happy.. Happiness on a fantasy mode, intensified by the internet esp socmed... No worries about uncertain future...

Welcome back. Where have you been? You look like a party girl. You marry yet? You marry yet? You marry yet? Hurry up and get marry, your parents are worried.

Sigh… the cost of embarking on openness and economic development…

Without freedom of speech, of course they're not happy.

In Europe we have a big woke Problem and crime leftists and immigrants poeples we don’t like. Hope reset and clean up coming soon! In Vietnam I had great time living there nice poeples!

Honestly young vietnamese is exactly like young chinese.

Not enough of van in this video

Basically, I assume that the residents of a country are happy when the economy and prosperity are growing and the people have a job that satisfies them. 

This doesn't represent young Vietnamese. It only represents those who are well-educated and born and raised in the upper class in Vietnam

Viet women are so pretty, but can be emotional and can be nagging at times, I only dated 1 But you're rarely gonna see a viet student grades under 3.0 WAIT there's me :-(

I was born and grew up in VN, travel, live and even work in many countries (China, Japan, EU etc), now settle my life here in the US for 15 years already. I don't think you have enough background knowldege about depression, mental health related topics to make this kind of content tbh. You should not even compare the youngs in VN vs in the US (a already-well-developed country) because the 2 countries are very very different in so many ways about how we are taught, grew up, and the cultures. Look at how China, the young there they work 9/9/6 way way harder than us in VN to build a big economy from the ashes and they don't complain a single thing. While other asian countries including China enjoy competitively building, foster innovations, and we us in VN are worried with mental health. Making this kind of content is just misleading, creating a problem that we don't have. Don't make our founding fathers' sacrifices end up in a bunch of whining, fragile kids

I bet all the Vietnamese girls are in interrelationships 😂

Short answer is NO. They are stress from their parents giving them money to study bs in America or stress from hardly work a day in their lives?

You interviewed the most privileged class in Vietnam. How about you speak to the average viet. The one who works 6 days a week to support their family. Not these rich kids.

Not ANNE FAN ☠️

Sorry, I am not really liking her/your videos lately, cuz it doesn't really reflect the reality on the ground in VN; from food, to life, to what's actually happening in VN. Sorry if I've offended u and other Viets; but let's see how well they can take my critisism. Usually not that well, and angrily defending how great VN is, LOL... If it were so great, "What the Pho" wouldn't have been in the States. For context: I asked my cleaner how much she makes a month? 7m VND. WTF? $280 USD 😟

Donald Trump could really use some help here..... and he will be getting it in Prison... :)

PHD stand for poor helpless desperate. The school system teach you to think like an employee they don’t teach you about money.

what a childish generation

👍