If we do not talk to people, the local community here cannot come to understand us.
Because if we do not treat them as close friends, they will not treat us as close ones either. I am describing the general pattern, not claiming no Vietnamese person here has close local friends.
The gap does not stay still
Left alone, they do not understand us and we do not understand them.
Over time, two groups living next to each other without understanding each other sometimes produces friction.
Part of what is happening now
I think that is one of the things sitting underneath the recent conversations about immigration, online and in British politics.
Not the whole explanation, obviously. But part of it comes down to the plain fact that the two sides do not know each other.
When you do not know someone, you are far more willing to believe what others say about them.
Why I do this work
What I want is to connect people, so that those living here are happier in it.
And so local people come to see that Vietnamese people are good people, much like themselves.
That is why I think learning English is not only about scores or jobs. It is about whether you exist, at all, to the people living around you.