Young software developer builds app to preserve Hmong culture

SAN FRANCISCO — If you want to attempt to preserve an total lifestyle, there is an app for that.

Annie Vang produced Hmong Phrases immediately after she commenced to realize the youthful generation of Hmong Individuals ended up no lengthier talking their indigenous language.

“When I created the app, I actually required to use it as a review tutorial and a special reward to myself that, yeah, I exist, I am out there,” stated Vang.

The Hmong are described as folks devoid of a country or state, regarded an ethnic group but not nationality.

“We can not say we are from a sure place,” reported Vang. “Hmong men and women did not have a place we just occupied southeast Asia.”

Following combating alongside the Us citizens through the Vietnam War, the Hmong ended up compelled to flee to the United States where an approximated 330,000 dwell in the country, almost 96,000 in California.

Annie’s family was component of the very first wave of Hmong immigrants. She was born in a refugee camp in Thailand and came to the U.S. in 1978 with her dad and mom.

Today she is fearful, her heritage and lifestyle are starting to fade absent.

“There is a huge language gap in between the elders and younger technology that if we don’t go on educating Hmong to our little ones everybody will English and not know what Hmong is,” claimed Vang.

She established the application, by first training herself how to code in 2009.

“I bought myself an Iphone, went to local community higher education and figured out Apple iphone application growth,” she explained.

That is when she caught the eye of Apple, who invited her to their Entrepreneur Camp for Female Founders, where by she met with Apple engineers to enable strengthen Hmong Phrases.

Today, she is CEO, developer, and promoting director and if you pay attention to the application – it is her voice translating the two Hmong dialects from English.

“A great deal of Hmong words and phrases are extremely uncomplicated, they are primarily based on vowels and tone makers at the end,” stated Vang.

At the moment, Hmong Phrases is available in the App Retailer she hopes to soon make a model for Android.