VNF - For many years, teaching and learning Vietnamese abroad is not only the concerns of many generations of overseas Vietnamese but also of managers. Despite lots of difficulties, there are still many bright spots in this activity thanks to efforts of teachers and overseas compatriots.

Difficult but still sticking to class

Vietnamese community in Ukraine lives concentratedly in three cities: Kharkiv, Kiev, Odessa. Ms Hoang Thi Van, a Vietnamese teacher in Odessa city, said teaching and learning Vietnamese for overseas Vietnamese is very difficult because they are mostly born and raised abroad. They use Russian mainly and consider Vietnamese as foreign language. Although they are taught to read and write, it’s still hard for them to understand each word, each sentence and Vietnamese grammar. However, the teaching and learning Vietnamese in Odessa have been maintained for more than a decade thanks to enthusiasm of overseas Vietnamese parents and the Embassy of Vietnam in Ukraine.

Books are brought from Vietnam so their bookcase is quite perse. With the love for children, Van’s enthusiastically sticking to the class, constantly finding new teaching method. To date, 34 of her students including 18 in Grade 1, 11 in Grade 2 and 5 in Grade 3 are all at good level.

Opening ceremony of the 2016-2017 school year for Vietnamese children at Sen Village, Odessa, Ukraine

Like Hoang Thi Van, Ms Bui Thi Oanh – a Vietnamese language teacher in Japan and her colleagues have paid the rent for the classroom by themselves. So far, she has organized the first Vietnamese class in Japan with the participation of 30 students. Despite many difficulties and shortages, her class still maintains a regular session per week.

"Tiếng Việt còn thì người Việt còn" (When Vietnamese language is preserved, the Vietnamese still retain their own value)

There are about 300,000 Vietnamese living, studying and working in France. Nguyen Thi Song Huong, a Vietnamese language teacher in France is pleased too see that some schools in France now offer Vietnamese language classes. Vietnamese in France, despite regularly contact with French culture still preserve traditional Vietnamese culture. They are interested in the transmission and development of Vietnamese culture and language.

In Thailand, Nguyen Thi Thanh Son, a teacher of Vietnamese in Nakhon Phanom province, said that the third, fourth-generation Vietnamese in Thailand hardly speaks Vietnamese. However, with the moto "Tiếng Việt còn thì người Việt còn", for many years, the movement of teaching and learning Vietnamese is responded enthusiastically and deeply in the provinces and cities.

Many training courses are available for Vietnamese language teachers

According to Nguyen Cong Hinh, Head of the Department of Continuing Education, MoET, besides the successful compilation of two books "Tiếng Việt vui" and "Quê Việt", the government approved the project "Improving the effectiveness of teaching and learning Vietnamese for overseas Vietnamese". To make teaching and learning Vietnamese abroad more effective, in the coming time, MoET will develop the Vietnamese language curriculum in six levels, at the same time compile some materials teaching Vietnamese to overseas Vietnamese; continue fostering teachers and volunteers for teaching Vietnamese to overseas Vietnamese.

Luong Thanh Nghi, deputy director of the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese, said that in the coming time, the committee will strengthen its activities to encourage overseas teachers and students. For some disadvantaged areas, the committee will directly support and mobilize localities, organizations, enterprises to finance the construction or repair or renovation of schools and classrooms.

Ngoc Tran