For the first 16 years of her life,  Khue Tran lived in Vietnam, spoke Vietnamese, and watched “futball,” yet she now attends Jackson Prep.

Khue moved to Huntsville, Alabama before her junior year and had to learn to speak a new language, live in a new culture, and go to school from at different times. A year later, her host family moved to Jackson, and she moved with them.

Khue grew up in Danang, the fifth largest city in Vietnam. While in Danang, Khue went to school from 7-12 for 6 days out of the week. “School was even more of my life in Vietnam than it is here,” said Khue.

When Khue was not working on schoolwork, she spent the majority of her time playing the piano and watching videos on Youtube. Her favorite Vietnamese food is Chicken Pho. She says, “It is a lot like Chicken Noodle Soup, but much better.”

       The hardest thing about the transition to the United States for Khue was learning to speak English every day. “It was like learning German history in Spanish… Hard.”

Khue has since become near fluent in French as well as Vietnamese and English. Khue said she hated how long she had to go to school each day, but loved having the Saturday off. Since Khue has been in the States, she has taken up guitar lessons.

       Khue plans on going to college at either Rice, Georgia Tech, or Vanderbilt. She does not know what she wants to major in but wants it to be something related to Chemistry which is her favorite subject.

“I like it here,” is what Khue said when asked if she planned on staying in the United States.

Questions and Answers with Khue Tran

Q. What things bother you most about America?

A.  The three things that bother me most about America are the huge portions, Fahrenheit, and “soccer”

(it is “futball”).

Q. What do you miss most about Vietnam?

A. I miss my family and friends, but I have made some good friends in America

Q. What do like most about America?

A. I love Chick-fil-a. Everything about Chick-fil-a is so new to me and I like it a lot.