Last fall there were 24,092 students at El Camino and 11.47 percent of them were Asians, according to the California Community College Chancellor’s Office.

Vietnam is in the southern part of the Asian continent and that’s where Duyen Le, 19, business administration major, is from.

Question: Where are you from?

Answer: I am from the Dong Nai province in Vietnam and I came to the United States to get an education in the business field. I came to this country about three months ago, so I’m still learning English.

Q: Can you tell me a little bit about your culture?

A: We have so many traditions to celebrate, but in spring we always celebrate the Lunar New Year, which is different from what people celebrate here in America. As part of the culture, we wear our cultural costumes. One of the traditional costumes is called “Ao Dai.”

Q: Do you like it here more or do you prefer your home country?

A: I like it more here because there are more things to explore. Also, I can learn more about business and how a company can be built and I want to use every skill that I learn here in my country.

Q: What is a typical dish that is from Vietnam?

A: Pho is one of the famous food that we have. Pho is a noodle soup that has rice noodle, beef, chicken or shrimp and it has vegetables, as well. Another Vietnamese famous dish is Bánh mì, which is a sandwich.The Bánh mì is really famous here.

Q: Do you think El Camino is a welcoming campus?

A: Yes, I think EC is a welcoming campus because I feel safe here and it has a good environment to study. Also, I had an uncle that graduated from here.

Q: Tell me about a time when you had to work with someone from another culture?

A: I remember in my English as a Second Language (ESL) class I had to work with students from Hong Kong and Japan. We were somehow different because we don’t speak the same language and we were learning English, but now we are friends because we used to talk about our culture and how they were different from each other.