Every movement started somewhere with someone who had an idea.
Kuv lub npe hu ua Paj Hnub Vwj.
Kuv tuaj Meskas teb thaum kuv nyuam qhuav muaj tsib xyoo xwb. Thuam ntawd ces kuv yeej hais lus Hmoob xwb. Tab sis txij thaum kuv pib kawm ntawv ces kuv cia li kawm lus Askiv sai cuag li lawv cia li niaj hnub muab lus Askiv rau yus noj rau yus haus. Tsis ntev ces kuv hais lus Askiv ntau lawm xwb. Lus Hmoob ces cia li zoo nkaus ib yam khoom es nyob hauv yus lub hnab tshos es yus lam muab thau tawm ib ob zaug los rau luag saib kom luag ho paub hais tias yus yog Hmoob no xwb.
Tsis tas li ntawd kuv ua hauj lwm hauv tsev kawm ntawv qib siab tau muaj li kaum xyoo. Lub sij hawm ntawd kuv tau pom tau paub hais tias cov tub ntxhais kawm ntawd tu siab rau txoj kev tsis paub hais lus Hmoob. Kuv tau pom hais tias cov niam txiv es tuaj loj hlob los sis tuaj yug tim teb chaws MesKas no los feem ntau lawv tsis paub qhia lus Hmoob rau lawv cov me nyuam lawm thiab.
Ib qho ntxiv yog kuv pom neeg Meskas tseem yog cov es qhia lus Hmoob rov qab rau peb cov neeg Hmoob thiab. Qhov nov haj yam ua rau kuv mob siab thiab tu siab heev. Kuv thiaj li xav hais tias ua cas ho zoo li no es peb cov tub ntxhais hluas tseem ho yuav mus kawm peb tej lus Hmoob ntawv neeg MesKas thiab.
Yeej yog vim li no ntag es kuv thiaj li tau muaj lub tswv yim los tsim Hmong Language Movement, LLC. Kuv xav tsim tej yam kev kawm thiab tej yam khoom kawm lus Hmoob pab peb haiv neeg Hmoob tig rov qab los hais lus Hmoob rau lawm yav tom ntej.
Thov caw koj los koom nrog kuv mog.
My name is Pa Vue.
I came to the U.S. when I was five years old and spoke Hmong, my first language, until I started school. Once I started school, I learned English so quickly that it became my first language. The assimilation process was extremely strong—I began to think in English and even dream in English. I sometimes joke that Hmong became a trick I would pull out of my pocket to show that I was indeed bilingual.
After nearly a decade working in higher education, I witnessed the pain and ambivalence students felt at not being able to access their heritage languages. I saw parents struggle to pass Hmong on to their children because of the overwhelming presence of English, the lack of Hmong language learning materials, and because they themselves don't know Hmong as much as they want to.
Lastly, I saw that Hmong people were learning Hmong language from non-Hmong teachers. This really frustrated me. It made me wonder deeply about the histories and power dynamics that have shaped Hmong people’s relationship to our language. Instead of reacting to these things that were happening, however, I wanted to get ahead of them.
I created Hmong Language Movement, LLC as a way to interrupt language erasure and as a path forward. I want to offer affordable, effective, and relevant Hmong language learning to Hmong people who want to (re)learn their language.
Please join me in creating a Hmong language movement.