You live in the States where the emphasis for Asian parents is to fulfill the American Dream. If you lived in Vietnam, you may have had a different perspective. Language can, indeed, be a barrier but I agree with you that the parent’s cultural experience (in your case Vietnamese) can have a greater impact.
In the American Dream, parents work hard to provide a good standard of living for the family and to save for the childrens’ education to enable them to progress in life to an even better living standard. They are ambitious for their offspring.
I live in Thailand which has a different culture, slightly different from that of Vietnam and vastly unlike that of America.
In reality, Thailand is more of a feudal society than the claimed constitutional monarchy. The Thai does not believe that all are created equal and don’t accept the concepts in the American Declaration of Independence. They believe that in making merit in this life, they will be reborn as a wealthier person in the next.
Thai society is highly structured. Thais respect their parents, elders, teachers, and their bosses. So much so, that they will rarely go against them. This is so unlike American culture where children are encouraged to become independent and think for themselves.
There is a correlation between the Thai avoiding conflict and not having strong ambitions. Those are not American traits.
Because striving for security is paramount in Thai culture, there is a constant struggle for more and more money to buy food and essential living needs. They do not plan for the future. The word for “tomorrow” doesn’t really exist in a Thai’s vocabulary!
Although most parents want their children to stay in school after the compulsory leaving age of 14, many children leave before then. The government do not enforce the regulations. Many hill-tribe children have never been to school.
The brighter children (usually from wealthier families) take degrees such as engineering and medical degrees while others go for easier subjects and end up as bank clerks or jobs that are not relevant to their degree. I’ve not known any Thai to fail an exam!.
Passing appears to be automatic. The parents tend to boast about their children having been to university. The idea that higher education is beneficial in its own right does not enter their mind. Thais are not particularly ambitious. Very different from the American model and cultural attitude.
