Soc Trang is a unique place with regard to languages. There are several different people groups living in Soc Trang who have their own distinctive cultures: Kinh (another name for Vietnamese), Khmer, Hoa (a name for people whose ancestors came from different parts of China) and Cham.
Khmer people are the "indigenous", or native, people of this region. That is why many of the places you can visit in Soc Trang and throughout southern Vietnam have Khmer names. The name "Soc Trang" too comes from the Khmer language.
Vietnamese people actually came to this region after Khmer people were already here. However, after many years of fighting between the two groups, the Vietnamese today have more power than many Khmer people. That is why the most common language spoken at school and work in Soc Trang is Vietnamese. If you talk to Khmer people who live here and if you spend time with their families or visit their homes, you will see and hear people use Khmer.
Different forms of Chinese and the Cham language are spoken in Soc Trang too. This makes Soc Trang a really interesting place because all of these cultures and languages exist together here.
