Bilingual Books Bring Vietnamese Language and Culture to Germans

Book "Modern Vietnamese." Photo: VNA

On July 24, in Berlin, Germany, Ngo Thi Bich Thu, a Vietnamese teacher, and her husband, Prof. Dr. Martin Großheim has introduced 3 German-Vietnamese bilingual books.

This is a project lasting nearly 10 years by two authors, aiming to bring the Vietnamese language and culture closer to those who want to learn about the Vietnamese language and culture and to generations of children of the Vietnamese community in Germany.

Three books were introduced to the Vietnamese community in Germany, including the Vietnamese-German idioms and proverbs book "Die Heuschrecke tritt den Elefanten oder David gegen Goliath", the book "Modernes Vietnamesisch 1" and "Modernes Vietnamesisch 2" (Modern Vietnamese 1 and 2).

The first book, which included about 1,500 common idioms and proverbs, was the first bilingual book of idioms and proverbs to be published in Germany.

These are idioms and proverbs drawn from reality, going through many periods. New variations of widely used idioms are also updated in the book.

The two Modern Vietnamese books are built on different topics, making it easy to learn the Vietnamese language and culture. They also contain up-to-date information about Vietnam in various fields, suitable for German language levels from A1 to C2.

Bich Thu, a Vietnamese teacher at many universities in Germany, says idioms and proverbs are an integral part of Vietnamese. A foreigner who wants to understand and use Vietnamese fluently has to understand and use Vietnamese idioms and proverbs.

Vietnamese students came to congratulate the authors. Photo: VNA

Großheim, a lecturer in Vietnamese History and Southeast Asian History at Seoul National University (Korea), said that idioms and proverbs reflect some unique features of Vietnamese culture. The book was born to help readers understand more about the Vietnamese language and culture.

The author used the method of contrast and comparison, to find equivalent idioms and proverbs in German, to help readers understand the meaning and usage of sentences of the two languages.

For Vietnamese sentences that cannot be found in German equivalents, the author uses methods to clarify, help readers understand and use them easily and effectively.

According to Professor Großheim, understanding idioms and proverbs will also help to understand the two cultures.

Regarding the two books "Modern Vietnamese," Professor Großheim emphasized the need for a modern Vietnamese textbook in the context of the growing demand for Vietnamese language learning and Vietnamese culture in Germany.

Standard Vietnamese pronunciation is extremely difficult for foreigners and Modern Vietnamese books contribute to solving this problem. They help readers learn all 4 skills of listening-speaking-reading-writing in Vietnamese according to each topic, the topics are carefully translated and explained in German.

Book of Idioms and Proverbs (left) and Modern Vietnamese 2. Photo: VNA

To get materials for the books, the authors returned to Vietnam many times and went on field trips to find out more information and take pictures of the books. The content in the books is a distillation of what readers need when they want to learn about Vietnamese.

Professor Großheim said that this is the first time the books have been officially introduced to the Vietnamese community in Berlin as well as in Germany. The books have been published and are now being taught in Vietnamese at some universities in Germany.

Bich Thu said that publishing books are a difficult job, requiring a lot of effort. However, publishing books to help Germans and Vietnamese children born and raised in Germany learn about the Vietnamese language and culture, is a necessary job. It helps them retain their Vietnamese language, and understand their culture and origins.

Speaking at the book introduction, Prof. Pham Ngoc Ky appreciated the work and dedication that the co-author put into the three books. According to him, for the overseas Vietnamese community, preserving the Vietnamese language is important.

Guests attending the book introduction also appreciated the value in the books. They expressed their wish that the books would be known by the Vietnamese community in Germany, shared and discussed on forums.

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