STORY KIT

REFUGENE X UNAVSA

SUBMIT A STORY  |  CONVERSATION STARTERS  |  MAPS  |  PRINT VERSION  |  WAIVER

Introduction

Our stories are our history—heirlooms to pass from generation to generation. We believe listening is an act of love, and retelling personal narratives maintains our connection to our cultural identities.

Enclosed in this launch kit are tools to make it easier for you to start conversations with someone close to you on the topic of culture and heritage.

Special thanks to Nancy Nhiêu Lê for translating the conversation starters into Vietnamese.

Who to speak with

• Grandparents
• Parents
• Aunts and uncles
• Cousins
• Siblings
• Friends
• Teachers
• Religious leaders
• Mentors

What to expect

We have found that most people will appreciate your interest in their experiences and they are excited to share their stories and wisdom. If you feel nervous about starting a conversation with someone about their life—don’t be. Just remember that listening is an act of love.

The goal when starting these conversations is to give storytellers an opportunity to talk about topics they want you to know about: culture, identity, heritage, accomplishments, hopes, dreams, struggles, resilience, etc.

Be curious and respectful. Don't be afraid to ask people about sensitive topics. If the respondent doesn't want to talk about it, then they won't talk about it. But don’t censor your curiosity—allow them to refuse to answer your question, and then respectfull move on.

Tips

• Have the conversation in-person (for example, during a meal or while having tea)
• Tell them why you’re interested in having this conversation, and that you’d like to record it with their permission.
• Be curious about everything. Your follow up questions signal your interest and enthusiasm, which will make the storyteller feel comfortable opening up.
• Use Google Translate during your conversation to translate words in real-time. This will help your conversation flow more smoothly by providing quick translations.
• Turn your phone on airplane mode to avoid disruptions to your conversations.

Apps to record conversations

We recommend recording conversations so you can reference later. What you capture could become an heirloom your family passes down for generations. There are few things more valuable than hearing stories told by the person who lived it.

You can record video or audio only—we recommend recording audio only because videos can make people feel uneasy and setting up video interviews is slightly more complicated.

There are lots of apps to record audio, we use Cogi. Download links below:

• iOS
• Cogi for iOS
• Voice Memos (standard on iPhone)
• Android
• Cogi for Android

Photograph the storyteller

Take a portrait of the person as a way of remembering them in that moment. It should be casual—think of it as a picture taken by a loved one.

Here are a few tips.

• For the purposes of book publishing, please take photos at the highest resolution.
• Keep the storyteller in the center of the frame.
• Take the portrait from their waist to the top of their head.
• Position the storyteller in front of a simple background to make it less distracting and to keep our focus on the person.
• If you’re using a phone that has “Portrait mode”, use it.
• Natural light is best so standing outside or near a window will make a great portrait.
• If it's dark, avoid using overhead lighting because it cast undesirable shadows around the eyes. Instead, use just one lamp positioned to one side of their face.
• Don't ask them to say “cheese.” Try asking them to think about a happy and/or meaningful moment of their life and try to capture their reaction. 

What to do with the story?

Preserve :: We recommend saving recordings in a cloud drive (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.). Also consider saving it to a USB or hard drive to have a back up.

Listen :: Make time once a year to listen to the recordings (in your car on the way to work, at the gym, on a run, or while doing chores). Reflect on their experiences.

Share :: Tell your family the stories you heard. There's a chance they haven't heard what you captured. If you and the storyteller are interested and willing to share your stories with The Family Stories Project—we would be honored to know and to share them with the community.

Conversation starters

1) General questions (Câu hỏi tổng quát)

Maps

Map of Vietnam

Map to trace journeys

Map of South Vietnamese Military Corps

Map of Southeast Asia

Map of the world