Club Hanoi
A Club Hanoi is non-governmental
non-profit organization uniting those who are interested in Vietnam – its culture, history and traditions –
or in the life of Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic.
B Club Hanoi was founded as an informal organization
by a group of former students of the Vietnamese studies at the Charles University
in Prague. The
organization was formally registered with the Czech Ministry of Interior on
January 16th 2004. Since then the organization has been comprised of students
and professionals in the field Vietnamese studies, as well as members of
Vietnamese community or individuals interested in Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic
or Europe joined the organization.
C Its mission is to promote
Vietnamese culture and integration of Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic
while emphasizing the preservation of cultural identity.
D The interaction between the Vietnamese minority and Czech majority is
often complicated by the many differences between the Czech and Vietnamese
cultures. The aim is therefore to take these differences and highlight their positive aspects and
value for the society in the Czech
Republic. In doing so, they want to affect
the perception of the role and place
of Vietnamese community in the Czech
Republic. This community
is often described as self-sufficient, hardworking and inconspicuous. However, its full cultural potential has yet to be
recognized – Vietnamese traditions, literature, complex history or natural
heritage remains to the majority of the Czech society unknown.
E Besides, raising awareness
about Vietnam and Vietnamese
culture, they also try to promote and support the principle of equal
opportunities for Vietnamese living in the Czech Republic.
The club seeks to increase participation of the Vietnamese community in the
public life in the Czech
Republic; it supports the
independence of individuals in their own community and active participation on
solving social issues of common interest.
F The members of the club believe that they can contribute in eliminating discrimination against
Vietnamese community including the often mutual prejudices, communication and cultural barriers in the Czech Republic.
This will be achieved by increasing access to information and by organizing
common social and cultural Vietnamese-Czech events. Their goal is to positively
affect change of attitudes and behaviour of particular groups in the Czech
society – Vietnamese community, the general and professional public – in order
to achieve a more open and stronger civil society.
awareness – povědomí
eliminating – vylučující
highlight – zvýraznit
inconspicuous – nenápadná
perception – vnímání
prejudice – předsudek
to promote – propagovat
1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.
1 Mission of the club
2 Differences between our
cultures
3 Eliminating
discrimination
4 Foundation of the club
5 Participation of the
Vietnamese community in the public life
6 Introduction
2) Read the article and answer the questions.
1 What is the article about?
2 When, why and who founded
the club?
3 What is Vietnamese
community like?
4 How do the members want
to eliminate discrimination?
3) Explain the following words.
1 non-governmental
non-profit organization
2 majority
3 heritage
4 independence
5 behaviour
4) Answer the following questions.
What are typical problems
of Vietnamese community in the Czech
Republic? What do you
know about their lifestyle? What other nationalities live and work in the Czech Republic?
