Why did French want to educate the natives ?
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Why did the French want to teach their culture to the Vietnamese?
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Dyung Le, lived in Vietnam
Updated Nov 30 2015
The French never had as goal to teach Vietnamese their French culture. As colonial power, their interest is to exploit. However, the French understand that they can control a county of millions with a few thousand troops and staff. They have to train and develop a middle class of French speaking Vietnamese - for lack of a better word - collaborators to help them manage the country. Thus railroad was built to better transport troops and export raw materials, post offices were built to allow faster communication so the central power can react, and cathedrals were built to promote a religion friendly to the French. And schools were built to train a cadre of French speaking civil servants who can help administer the country. Educated Vietnamese in earlier generations were taught that "Nos ancêtres sont des Gaulois!" and can sing "La Marseillaise" by heart. Culture is treated as an instrument of the state for control. That's pretty clear at the strategic and policy level, which the French dubbed "Mission civilisatrice" to avoid the imperialistic connotation.
At the individual level, many French have displayed frienship, respect and understanding of the Vietnamese, perhaps because there is a lot of cultural compatibility between the French and Vietnamese behavior and thinking (as opposed to say, the US's sometimes directness, raw power and arrogance that turn many Vietnameses off). And Vietnamese love to passionately argue philosophy at a sidewalk café all day long, just like the French would, smoking a Gitane! This cultural mind melt affinity does not exist with the US.
Still have a question? Ask your own!
What is your question?
5 ANSWERS

Dyung Le, lived in Vietnam
Updated Nov 30 2015
The French never had as goal to teach Vietnamese their French culture. As colonial power, their interest is to exploit. However, the French understand that they can control a county of millions with a few thousand troops and staff. They have to train and develop a middle class of French speaking Vietnamese - for lack of a better word - collaborators to help them manage the country. Thus railroad was built to better transport troops and export raw materials, post offices were built to allow faster communication so the central power can react, and cathedrals were built to promote a religion friendly to the French. And schools were built to train a cadre of French speaking civil servants who can help administer the country. Educated Vietnamese in earlier generations were taught that "Nos ancêtres sont des Gaulois!" and can sing "La Marseillaise" by heart. Culture is treated as an instrument of the state for control. That's pretty clear at the strategic and policy level, which the French dubbed "Mission civilisatrice" to avoid the imperialistic connotation.
At the individual level, many French have displayed frienship, respect and understanding of the Vietnamese, perhaps because there is a lot of cultural compatibility between the French and Vietnamese behavior and thinking (as opposed to say, the US's sometimes directness, raw power and arrogance that turn many Vietnameses off). And Vietnamese love to passionately argue philosophy at a sidewalk café all day long, just like the French would, smoking a Gitane! This cultural mind melt affinity does not exist with the US.
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to get a medium of people who are educated and can help them is setting relation ship with the king or queen of that country . So that it can help them in trade.
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