Nearly 565 candidates of different age groups took the second Vietnamese language proficiency exam at the Japanese College for Foreign Languages in Tokyo, Japan, on June 24^th, a surge from the previous exam which drew 379 candidates.

Candidates make check-in procedures. (Photo: VNA)

The exam was comprised of six levels from basic and advanced. Candidates who were unsure of their level were allowed to register for two exams.

Chairman of the examination board Yanagisawa Yoshio said the exam received great attention from 27 localities across Japan, including prefectures near Tokyo such as Chiba, Saitama, and Kanagawa as well as northern and western prefectures like Hokkaido, Okinawa, Aomori and Kumamoto.

The average age of those who took the exam was 40, with the oldest 82 years old and the youngest 15 years old.

Notably, a significant number of Japanese working in Vietnam had returned to Tokyo to take this year’s exam.

Fujino Masayoshi, chairman of the association of Southeast Asian nations’ foreign language exchange in Japan, highlighted the long-standing friendship between Vietnam and Japan.

Aiming to deepen relations across economy and culture, the association hosted the only Vietnamese language proficiency contest in Japan to increase the number of Japanese who can speak Vietnamese fluently and enhance people-to-people exchanges, he said.

Learning a country’s language is learning about its culture and history, which will contribute to the development of the bilateral relations, he added.

Ise Yoji, chairman of the Bunsai Gakuen Non-Profit Education Foundation, said ties between Vietnam and Japan have been growing strongly in 2018 with the latest State-level visit to Japan by President Tran Dai Quang.

He added that the two countries had historical exchanges several hundreds years ago and both have long-standing culture and history.

Bilateral economic ties have been thriving with many Japanese firms investing in Vietnam while the number of Vietnamese studying in Japan is on the rise.

He hoped the Vietnamese language proficiency exam will attract more Japanese candidates.

The third exam is set to be held on June 23^rd, 2019./.

VNF/VNA