All posts tagged: Culture

SEAD Project offers SEA language, culture, history workshops

Published by littlelaosontheprairie

Image courtesy of The SEAD Project Registration for The SEAD Project’s annual spring language workshops are now open. The eight-week long program in Minnesota offers classes in Hmong, Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese. They will also incorporate lessons in culture and history. The workshops are open to students at least 17 years old and/or those who have heritage backgrounds in the offered classes. All levels of fluency are welcome. However, because the Khmer and Vietnamese classes are pilot workshops, they are only currently allowing Khmer and Vietnamese heritage students to enroll. Early registration pricing starts at $150 until Feb. 18 and will increase to up to $250 for late enrollment. Need-based scholarships are also available for students. Registration closes March 17 and classes begin March 30. More information can be found here or by emailing hi@theseadproject.org Register today!

Dear Guru: How do Lao last names work?

Published by littlelaosontheprairie

Hello there,  I am currently staying in Laos and got interested in Lao names. It would be interesting to me to get to know more about how and if Lao people change their names after getting married. Also if there are any dynasties of families with famous names, as some other South East Asian countries seem to have those.  Hope you can help me out here 🙂 Thanks and cheers! -Curious Reader in Laos — Dear Curious Reader in Laos, Up until the late French colonial era, Lao people did not typically have surnames. French enforcement was weak and then the country fell into turbulent times, so even today in some remote areas people still do not have surnames. Unfortunately, also due to these factors, there is a great deal of duplication of surnames even when two families are not related at all, unlike in neighboring Thailand where surnames are not allowed to be duplicated when there is no relation. When a rural family wants access to social services, such as enrolling a child in school, …