Many of you may be wondering "How did you learn to write in Hmong? "Well, first, like a lot of you, I already know how to speak the language. (Thanks to our parents!) It all started in the summer of ’94 — haha, I was about 9 years old. Back then, we didn’t have smartphones, the internet, or even know how to use email. Communication was old-school: handwritten letters snail mail and landlines only. Now back then, my older sister was a total heartbreaker and that summer she was getting all kinds of love letters from her suitors. Me, being the mischievous little brat, would always tried to sneak a peek and read them out loud — however, I couldn’t read Hmong! I was pronouncing "KUV HLUB KOJ" meaning "I LOVE YOU" like this..."KOOV HLOOB KAWZH" and she'd laughed her butt off! Then one day, she said “Naib, come here, let me teach you.” And that was it. She pulled out a piece of paper, wrote down the Hmong ABCs, the vowels  and just like that — I still remember it all to this day. Today, I’m going to teach you the exact same way my sister taught me. Stick with me, and I promise — you’ll get there!​​

-Mrs. Cha