Hmong Minor at Fresno State

Hmong Minor at Fresno State Welcome to the Hmong Studies Program! Speaking Hmong helps to communicate with relatives & friends, enjoy culture, festivals, and travels to Asia.

Build your language as foundation for success! Learn a Language--Explore the Culture--Connect to Your Roots Promotion of the Hmong Minor at California State University, Fresno

Big shout out to my newest top fans! 💎 Fong T. Lor, Laetitia Ya, Bauj Yang Garcia, GĂ© VangDrop a comment to welcome them...
06/24/2026

Big shout out to my newest top fans! 💎 Fong T. Lor, Laetitia Ya, Bauj Yang Garcia, GĂ© Vang

Drop a comment to welcome them to our community,

06/24/2026

As a researcher, I sincerely find something fascinating.

Some people openly criticize the use of AI, yet they continue to visit and follow the posters on my page, Hmong Minor at Fresno State.

I've always been transparent: AI helps me create about 50% of these educational posters. The goal has never been to replace teaching, but to reach more people, provide accessible learning tools, and help people become literate in Hmong.

If AI can help someone recognize word families, expand vocabulary, understand grammar, and gain confidence in reading and writing Hmong, then I believe it is serving an educational purpose.

So I'm genuinely curious:

- What keeps bringing you back?
- Do these posters speak to a need you feel?
- Do they make learning Hmong more accessible?
- Do they help you become more literate in Hmong?
- Do they reflect a growing urgency to preserve our language and reconnect with our heritage?

I'm asking these questions not to argue, but because I sincerely want to understand.

(EN FRANCAIS) HOMMAGE A JACQUES LEMOINE, Ethnologue français, l'un de mes mentors durant mes années de formation univers...
06/24/2026

(EN FRANCAIS) HOMMAGE A JACQUES LEMOINE, Ethnologue français, l'un de mes mentors durant mes annĂ©es de formation universitaire (1993–1999).

Quelle perte... 🙁

Lorsque j'Ă©tais Ă©tudiante en doctorat, je lui rendais souvent visite dans son centre de recherche Ă  Paris. Il n'habitait pas Ă  Paris ; chaque soir, il reprenait le train pour rentrer dans son village de Bretagne.

En novembre 1994, je me suis rendue à Jishou, dans le Hunan, avec le Comité français des Hmong afin de participer au premier CongrÚs Hmong/Miao. Jacques Lemoine m'emmena faire des achats et m'enseigna la culture, l'histoire et les langues miao.

Au cours de mon terrain au Laos, en 1996, je suis tombĂ©e gravement malade. Je lui serai toujours reconnaissante d'ĂȘtre venu de Bangkok jusqu'Ă  Vientiane pour me rĂ©conforter. J'avais eu beaucoup de difficultĂ©s Ă  obtenir l'autorisation officielle du gouvernement lao pour effectuer des recherches dans les villages de Non Het (Looj Hej). Lorsque je suis tombĂ©e malade, j'Ă©tais encore Ă  Vientiane et je me demandais si je devais rentrer en France. Jacques Lemoine me raconta certaines de ses propres expĂ©riences de maladie sur le terrain et me dit :

« Si tu rentres chez toi, tu le regretteras peut-ĂȘtre toute ta vie. »

Ses paroles me convainquirent de poursuivre mes six mois de terrain au Laos. J'eus ainsi la possibilité de visiter le village natal de ma mÚre, qui est également le village d'origine du général Vang Pao. Par la suite, impressionné par ma persévérance, le gouvernement lao m'autorisa à me rendre dans la province de Xieng Khouang et dans de nombreux villages de cette région.

La derniĂšre fois que j'ai vu Jacques Lemoine, c'Ă©tait Ă  Bangkok, oĂč je rendais visite Ă  Yves Bertrais, pĂšre fondateur de l'Ă©critre RPA (latin). Jacques Lemoine m'emmena faire quelques achats. Nous Ă©tions en mai 2004. La mousson venait de commencer et les marchĂ©s regorgeaient de fruits et de lĂ©gumes.

Il acheta un durian que nous avons partagé, Yves Bertrais, Jacques Lemoine et moi, à la Mission des Oblats.

Le temps a passé.

Je garde le souvenir d'un chercheur passionné, curieux, généreux et profondément indépendant.

Je mesure aujourd'hui l'immense privilÚge d'avoir été formée et dirigée, durant mes études doctorales, par ces grands chercheurs du CNRS, Jacques Lemoine, Jean-Pierre Hassoun et Charles Macdonald.

En tant que premiĂšre femme hmong et premiĂšre anthropologue hmong diplĂŽmĂ©e en Occident aprĂšs 1975 (j'ai soutenu ma thĂšse en 1999), j'ai eu la chance d'ĂȘtre guidĂ©e par ces mentors. Ils m'ont transmis le professionnalisme, le sens de la dĂ©termination, le respect des exigences de la recherche scientifique et la persĂ©vĂ©rance dans le monde intellectuel. Lorsque j'ai crĂ©Ă© le Hmong Minor en 2016, j'ai accompli une promesse que mes mentors savaient que je le portais depuis longtemps: mettre ma formation en anthropologie, en linguistique et en didactique des langues au service de l'Ă©tude de la langue et de la culture hmong, Ă  partir d'un point de vue indigĂšne.

Il convient également de rappeler que, jusqu'aux années 1990, les études hmong étaient menées principalement en langue française. Je suis l'héritiÚre de cette tradition intellectuelle française qui m'a été transmise par Jacques Lemoine, Jean-Pierre Hassoun et Charles Macdonald.

Merci, Professeur Lemoine, pour votre enseignement, votre confiance et votre engagement indéfectible envers la recherche. Votre influence perdure à travers vos étudiants et les travaux que nous poursuivons aujourd'hui.

Reposez en paix.

Au revoir, Monsieur Lemoine, et merci.

TRIBUTE TO DR. JACQUES LEMOINE., French Anthropologist, a mentor of mine during my graduate studies years.What a loss. :...
06/24/2026

TRIBUTE TO DR. JACQUES LEMOINE., French Anthropologist, a mentor of mine during my graduate studies years.

What a loss. :(

Dr. Lemoine was one of my mentors during my Ph.D. years (1993–1999) in France. As a graduate student, I often visited him at his research center in Paris. His home was not in Paris; he took the train every evening to return to his village in Brittany.

In November 1994, I traveled with the Hmong French Committee to Jishou, Hunan, to attend the First Hmong/Miao Conference. Jacques Lemoine took me shopping and taught me about Miao culture, history, and languages.

During my fieldwork in Laos in 1996, I became seriously ill. I am forever grateful that he came from Bangkok to Vientiane to comfort me. I had struggled to obtain official authorization from the Lao government to travel to the villages of Non Het (Looj Hej). When I fell ill, I was still in Vientiane and wondered whether I should return to France. Jacques Lemoine shared some of his own experiences with illness during fieldwork and told me, "If you go home, you may regret it for the rest of your life."

His words convinced me to complete my six months of fieldwork in Laos, during which I was able to visit my mother's village, the hometown of General Vang Pao. Afterwards, the Lao government, impressed by my resilience, authorized me to visit Xieng Khouang and many villages there.

The last time I saw Dr. Lemoine was in Bangkok, where I was visiting Yves Bertrais. Dr. Lemoine took me shopping. It was May 2004. The monsoon had begun, and the markets were filled with fruits and vegetables.

He bought a durian, which Yves Bertrais, Dr. Lemoine, and I shared at the Oblate Mission.

Time has passed.

My memories of a passionate, curious, generous, and independent scholar remain with me.

I am deeply honored to have been mentored and supervised during my graduate studies by Dr. Jacques Lemoine, Dr. Jean-Pierre Hassoun, and Dr. Charles Macdonald.

As the first Hmong woman and anthropologist to graduate in the West after 1975, I was well guided by these mentors. (I received my PhD in 1999 with summa cm laude, which is outstanding because the French chool standards are very high). They taught me professionalism, the value of determination, respect for academic research standards, and perseverance in the intellectual world. When I created the Hmong Minor in 2016, I fulfilled a long-held promise that they surely saw it: to use my training in anthropology, linguistics, and language teaching to study Hmong culture and language from an Indigenous point of view.

It is also worth remembering that, until the 1990s, Hmong Studies was conducted primarily in the French language. I belong to the French intellectual tradition that was passed on to me by Dr. Lemoine, Dr. Hassoun, and Dr. Macdonald.

Thank you, Dr. Lemoine, for your guidance, your confidence in me, and your unwavering commitment to scholarship. Your influence continues through your students and through the work we carry forward. May you rest in peace.

Au revoir et merci, Monsier Lemoine.

06/24/2026

Can you SHOW ME YOUR POSTERS created with my prompt Blending sounds?
I want to know
if the prompt is efficient.

Symbolic Meaning of the LogoThis logo represents the Hmong Studies Program at Fresno State as a space where cultural mem...
06/24/2026

Symbolic Meaning of the Logo

This logo represents the Hmong Studies Program at Fresno State as a space where cultural memory, identity, critical engagement, and future generations are connected through language, knowledge, and transmission.

At the center of the logo is a traditional Hmong paj ntaub pattern. These geometric forms are not merely decorative. They symbolize houses, roads, fields, migration paths, roots, and community organization. Together, they form a symbolic cultural map of continuity, belonging, and collective memory.

The bright colors reflect life, vitality, movement, and historical memory. In Hmong tradition, vivid colors represent the living presence of people, nature, agriculture, celebration, and survival across generations. The red, green, pink, and white patterns evoke fields, homes, journeys, and ancestral pathways, including memories of migration and return.

The deep indigo-blue batik circle surrounding the center acts as a stabilizing foundation. It symbolizes memory, depth, protection, continuity, and cultural grounding across generations. The complete unbroken circle represents wholeness, balance, safety, dignity, and cultural integrity.

The words surrounding the logo — Excellence, Diversity, Unity, Dignity, Stability, Continuity, Belonging, and Rootedness — express the core values of the program. These values frame the cultural center in the same way that community supports identity and transmission.

At the center, the words Learn ‱ Engage ‱ Transmit reflect the philosophy of the program:
Learn means acquiring language, knowledge, and cultural understanding.

Engage means actively participating in, questioning, practicing, and critically understanding one’s own culture and values.
Transmit means carrying language, memory, identity, and knowledge forward to future generations.

The program therefore does not view culture as something to preserve passively like a museum object. Instead, it views culture as a living system that must be understood, practiced, reflected upon, and continuously renewed through engagement.

This logo ultimately represents more than an academic program. It symbolizes a living cultural continuity that traces the future through the memory of the past — a symbolic Hmong map of cultural continuity. 🌿

(IN MONG LENG) PROMPT to CREATE POSTERS to LEARN TO BLEND SOUNDS.Here is the prompt to PASTE ON ChatGPT.It's more effici...
06/24/2026

(IN MONG LENG) PROMPT to CREATE POSTERS to LEARN TO BLEND SOUNDS.

Here is the prompt to PASTE ON ChatGPT.

It's more efficient to blend sounds by using "Vowel-tone + consonant".

Task: Read the prompt and add your vowel-tone, 6 consonants, and their 6 words and respective English translation.

------------
PROMPT.

Create a poster using the following prompt. Title it: "Let's Blend Sounds"

Hmong Word Family Poster

Create a colorful educational worksheet of Hmong Word Family poster in layout, style, colors, typography, and visual balance.

1. Choose your "Vowel- tone": _____

2. Choose your 6 Consonants: ______

3. Write the 6 Hmong words and their English meanings:

1____/___
2. ___/___
3.___/___
4.___/___
5. ___/____
6.___/___

Poster layout

Show the word family in the left side in a cloud and in big size : "chosen vowel-tone +". Arrows are coming out of the cloud and pointing in an elegant way to each consonant.

Display successively the six consonants one after the other in the middle of the poster with elegant arrows from each consonant pointing to their respective words that are also successively ranked.

Display the six completed Hmong words on the right with a colorful illustration, the English meaning provided above, and numbered labels (1–6).

Keep These Elements

Top Row in small sizes without labels: cat mountain Traditional Hmong mouth organ butterfly

Second Row "npe: __________" "nub: __________"

Bottom in small sizes: on a light-colered table, there are: A Book labeled: kawm ntxiv Colored pencils Fish bowl Binoculars Lunch bag Hmong doll

Below small Banner: "Kawm lug ua ke"

Style

Bright classroom worksheet, cute vector illustrations, white background, thick blue border, large readable fonts, balanced spacing, colorful boxes, and a professional educational appearance.

HOW ABOUT YOU CREATE this kind of poster too. You can develop your literacy skills.Here is the prompt to PASTE ON ChatGP...
06/24/2026

HOW ABOUT YOU CREATE this kind of poster too. You can develop your literacy skills.

Here is the prompt to PASTE ON ChatGPT.

It's more efficient to blend sounds by using "Vowel-tone + consonant".

Task: Read the prompt and add your vowel-tone, 6 consonants, and their 6 words and respective English translation.
----

PROMPT.

Create a poster using the following prompt.
Title it: "Let's Blend Sounds"

Hmong Word Family Poster

Create a colorful educational worksheet of Hmong Word Family poster in layout, style, colors, typography, and visual balance.

1. Choose your (Vowel + tone): ___________

2. Choose your 6 Consonants: ___________

3. Write the 6 Hmong words and their English meanings:

1. __| ___
2. __| ___
3. __| ___
4. __| ___
5. __| ___
6. __| ___

Poster layout

Show the word family in the left side in a cloud and in big size : "chosen vowel-tone +". Arrows are coming out of the cloud and pointing in an elegant way to each consonant.

Display successively the six consonants one after the other in the middle of the poster with elegant arrows from each consonant pointing to their respective words that are also successively ranked.

Display the six completed Hmong words on the right with a colorful illustration, the English meaning provided above, and numbered labels (1–6).

Keep These Elements

Top Row in small sizes.

Falcon dog Traditional Hmong qeej Phoenix

Second Row
"npe: __________" "hnub: __________"

Bottom in small sizes: on a light-colered table, there are: A Book labeled: kawm ntxiv Colored pencils Fish bowl Binoculars Lunch bag Hmong doll

Below small Banner: "Kawm lus ua ke"

Style

Bright classroom worksheet, cute vector illustrations, white background, thick blue border, large readable fonts, balanced spacing, colorful boxes, and a professional educational appearance.

Celebrating 10 Years of the Hmong MinorThrough the Faces and Hearts of Our StudentsThis series honors the diverse backgr...
06/24/2026

Celebrating 10 Years of the Hmong Minor
Through the Faces and Hearts of Our Students

This series honors the diverse backgrounds, experiences, and journeys of students who have participated in Hmong language studies from 2003 to 2026.

The Hmong Minor at Fresno State was officially established in April 2016.
The idea for creating a Hmong Minor, alongside other Asian language minors, was first proposed by Dr. Jean Wang, Professor of Linguistics.
The proposal received its initial approval from Dr. Vida Samiian in May 2014.
Dr. Michael Shepherd, Associate Professor, oversaw the curriculum development process, while Dr. Kao-Ly Yang coordinated the creation and implementation of the program.

The establishment of the Hmong Minor was made possible through the support of Dr. SaĂșl JimĂ©nez-Sandoval, then Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities.
The program also received the enthusiastic endorsement and final approval of Dr. Joseph I. Castro, President of California State University, Fresno.

Over the past decade, the Hmong Minor has served as a place of learning, cultural exchange, and community engagement, bringing together students from a wide range of backgrounds who share an interest in Hmong language, culture, and heritage.

As we celebrate this milestone, we recognize the students whose participation, dedication, and achievements have given life and meaning to the program. Their faces and their stories reflect the continuing growth and impact of Hmong Studies at Fresno State.

Speaking a language and teaching a language are two different skills.A fluent speaker can communicate. A teacher must al...
06/24/2026

Speaking a language and teaching a language are two different skills.

A fluent speaker can communicate. A teacher must also understand grammar, explain patterns, anticipate learners' mistakes, and provide clear, accurate answers. Language teaching requires more than intuition—it requires knowledge, pedagogy, and precision.

Minority languages deserve the same academic rigor as any other language. Our students deserve teachers who can not only speak Hmong, but also explain how Hmong works.

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