The Khmer language is spoken in all Khmer families and communities. For official business, however, the Vietnamese language is strictly enforced. About 10% of the Khmer Krom are able to speak and write Vietnamese correctly. The Khmer language is taught at home and in the temples, but it is not permitted in any official business. The struggle for the Vietnamese government to allow the use of Khmer in school or public place has been advocated for years, but no satisfactory result has ever been achieved. In many instances, thousands of Khmer Krom were accused, jailed, tortured, deported, or persecuted for speaking, learning, or teaching the Khmer language. The Vietnamese do not allow books or documents to be written or published in Khmer unless they are to be used as propaganda.
