According to data from the Ministry of Education and Training, there are currently about 22,000 international students studying at over 160 training institutions in Vietnam. In the past 5 years (2016-2022), Vietnam has received and trained more than 45,000 international students from 102 countries and territories. On average, each year, from 4,000 to over 6,000 international students are admitted to educational institutions in Vietnam.
According to Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Van Phuc, along with the training trend of countries around the world, taking language foundation as the key to open the first door in the promising but also challenging learning journey, the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training always identifies the key factor that determines the quality of teaching and learning of foreign students in Vietnam as Vietnamese proficiency. Therefore, improving Vietnamese proficiency is always considered an important and continuous task in the training process at all educational institutions nationwide.
"Teaching and learning Vietnamese is not only about teaching language and equipping knowledge acquisition tools, but also about promoting culture, spreading national identity and improving intercultural communication skills for students studying in Vietnam in particular, foreigners and those who love Vietnamese language and culture in general."
(Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Van Phuc)
In order to create a more useful playground for all foreign students in Vietnam, in 2023, the Ministry of Education and Training organized the first Vietnamese Speaking Contest for foreign students nationwide. This is an opportunity for foreign students, Vietnamese students, and teachers to have more forums to exchange expertise and culture, nurture and cultivate friendship based on the common language of Vietnamese, while contributing to promoting Vietnamese education and culture to international friends.
That is the name of the contest entry of a group of 8 foreign students (from the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese Language - University of Social Sciences and Humanities - Vietnam National University, Hanoi) at the Final Round of the Vietnamese Speaking Contest for Foreign Students in 2023. The group of international students from 8 countries: Russia, Ukraine, China, Japan, Australia, the US, South Korea and Vietnam wore Ao Ba Ba, Ao Dai, and Lien Anh Lien Chi costumes when singing Quan Ho to show that the Vietnamese language grew up with the national historical culture, bringing Vietnamese culture to the world. With meaningful content and excellent performance, the performance won the overall First Prize.
3 members of the team from the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese Language - University of Social Sciences and Humanities participated in the debate. (Photo: NVCC)
Sharing with us about the contest performance, Okabe Chikara (Japan) - 1 of 3 participants in the speech said: “The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has honored many famous Vietnamese figures, many of whom are poets and writers, and they have used Vietnamese to touch the hearts and souls of readers all over the world. For example, Nguyen Du's Tale of Kieu is loved not only in Vietnam but also in many countries around the world, and has been translated into 20 different languages. That is the idea for the theme of our contest "Vietnamese language touches the hearts of the world". Through the contest, we want to express our love for the Vietnamese language and Vietnamese culture".
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Talking about the training process, Mizuguchi Sayo (Japan) - another member of the team said: “We have planned very closely for the training to make the most of the time. In addition to 2-3 training sessions per week with the director and a few hours of pronunciation practice with the teachers in the department, we also practice at home. During the training process for this competition, my pronunciation was corrected a lot by the teachers. Since then, when speaking Vietnamese in daily life, I have paid more attention to pronounce correctly. Besides, our performance includes folk songs from 3 regions, so I have practiced singing a lot. For a foreigner like me, the rhythm and tempo of traditional Vietnamese folk songs are very difficult, so I had to try hard to complete the competition well.”
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| "The Tale of Kieu" by the great poet Nguyen Du is one of the books that Okabe loves very much. (Photo: Thu Lan) |
Okabe Chikara is currently a fourth-year student at the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese Language - University of Social Sciences and Humanities. She can speak Vietnamese fluently and has a rich vocabulary. Okabe shared that, in addition to studying according to the curriculum in class, she also regularly improves her Vietnamese through reading books, watching TV and paying close attention to listening and speaking in daily life. Okabe is very impressed with the cries and has the ability to "imitate" the cries of the vendors very well.
Okabe said that he has lived in Vietnam for many years and feels attached and close to Vietnam like his second homeland. “I travel by motorbike and know many routes in Hanoi. I often wear a blue helmet (the same color as technology motorbike taxi drivers) so people often ask me for directions. That makes me feel very happy,” Okabe said.
Like Okabe, Mizuguchi Sayo actively learns Vietnamese from many different channels. Mizuguchi has been studying Vietnamese for about 5 years, including 2 years studying Vietnamese at a college in Japan. After enrolling at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, she studied Vietnamese textbooks for foreigners and read Vietnamese articles. Recently, she often uses TikTok to practice listening and comprehension skills, and especially the VTV24 news program to both understand Vietnamese and quickly update news about Vietnam.
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| Three students (from left to right): Peter Stuart Meese (USA), Sotnichenko Ivan (Ukraine), Okabe Chikara (Japan) read books at the Library of the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese Language, University of Social Sciences and Humanities. (Photo: Kieu Giang) |
Coming to the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese Language (University of Social Sciences and Humanities), we visited the lovely study corners of the students. Student Peter Stuart Meese (USA) is quite old, he is an English teacher in Hanoi. Because he wanted to be able to communicate better with Vietnamese students, Peter was determined to learn Vietnamese. "I find that when learning Vietnamese, learning grammar is the most difficult" - Peter expressed.
Meanwhile, Sotnichenko Ivan (Ukraine) - a first-year student shared his motivation for learning Vietnamese: "I want to learn Vietnamese well so that I can play and talk with many Vietnamese friends." Sotnichenko Ivan followed his parents to Vietnam to work and he studied at an international school in Hanoi since high school. He chose the University of Social Sciences and Humanities for his undergraduate degree and improved his Vietnamese language skills at the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese Language.
When interacting with foreign students in Hanoi, a common feeling that we noticed was closeness and friendliness regardless of which country the student came from. Sitting together drinking iced tea on the sidewalk, talking about daily life in Vietnam,… those things helped us overcome the distance or cultural differences. And the Vietnamese language - is the bridge for us to chat, exchange and become close friends with each other./.
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Author:Communist Party Electronic Newspaper
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