What do foreigners think about VIETNAMESE?
This group is far too large to generalise. There’s no short answer for this question. Here I’ll list a few notable traits that I personally think associate with most of the Vietnamese I know.
Disclaimer 1: “Most of the Vietnamese I know”, not all of the Vietnamese.
Disclaimer 2: Everything listed here is relative to another group I’m familiar with. Please don’t comment things like “you obviously haven’t interacted with [insert another nationality]”.
THE GOOD SIDE
Hospitality. To foreigners, most are generally welcoming and polite. Things like skin colours and races don’t bother them as much (Perhaps unless you are Chinese). They would easily tolerate if a foreigner breached the “code of etiquette”. More and more would approach foreigners for conversation and practicing their English.
Passive. This can be good or bad. Most mind their own business and won’t actively bother or disrupt others. Most don’t want to get into fights or arguments.
Competitive. Seems to contradict with passive . However, a lot of students push very hard. Many would attend top Universities and do well.
Hard-working. Many Vietnamese here work 10 hours a day 7 days a week.
Law-abiding. Overall their crime rate here is low.
THE BAD SIDE
Cunning, greedy, selfish. Have you ever seen someone trying to negotiate the price in McDonald’s? There are many scams. They do many things that are convenient for them without caring what big of a burden they could be on the others. They litter, avoid tax, block the traffic,... Many of them love gossiping, and would do it behind somebody’s back.
Jealous. They are jealous when others do better than them.