Teaching Vietnamese to Overseas Teachers: Preserving Vietnamese Language and Culture Around the World

Implementing the major policies of the Party and Government in preserving and promoting cultural values ​​and national languages
In 2024, the Vietnamese Language Teaching Training Course for Overseas Vietnamese Teachers was held from December 1 to 15, 2024 in Hanoi and several northern provinces, attracting the direct participation of more than 40 overseas Vietnamese teachers from 9 countries and territories in Vietnam. These are teachers who wish to pass on cultural values ​​and preserve the Vietnamese language to their children and many generations of overseas Vietnamese.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Mr. Nguyen Manh Dong - Deputy Chairman of the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese said that in recent years, the Training Course on Vietnamese Language Teaching Methods for Overseas Vietnamese Teachers has received the positive response and participation of teachers and volunteers from many countries; showing that the demand for teaching and learning Vietnamese of our overseas community is very large. First held in 2013, after 11 years, the training course has attracted the participation of nearly 900 overseas Vietnamese teachers, contributing positively to the development of the movement of teaching and learning Vietnamese in many overseas Vietnamese communities.

Emphasizing that language is the soul of the nation, a bridge connecting generations of Vietnamese people wherever they are, Deputy Chairman Nguyen Manh Dong affirmed that the Party and State always pay deep attention to preserving and promoting cultural values, traditions and national languages, promoting the preservation of Vietnamese cultural identity in the overseas Vietnamese community. Notably, Resolution 36-NQ/TW of the Politburo has always been the guiding principle for work on overseas Vietnamese people, including activities to support the community in preserving Vietnamese culture and language.
In August 2022, the Prime Minister approved the Project on Vietnamese Language Honor Day in the Vietnamese Community Abroad for the period 2022-2030. The Project has received positive responses from the community in many places, with many exciting, diverse and practical activities, initially creating a strong change in the movement of teaching and learning Vietnamese in the Vietnamese community abroad.

According to Prof. Dr. Hoang Anh Tuan - Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU, Hanoi, based on the responsibility and mission of the Vietnam National University, Hanoi, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities has implemented many projects to implement the major policies of the Party and Government on preserving and promoting cultural values, traditions and national languages. With enthusiasm, responsibility, expertise and experience, the teaching staff of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities is committed to bringing the best values ​​to students participating in the training course.
The 2024 Vietnamese Language Teaching Course for Overseas Vietnamese Teachers is designed with the traditional prestige of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU, with the pedagogical experience, passion for the profession of the lecturers and the spirit of sincere cooperation with the highest goal: turning lessons into tools for practitioners, fostering love for the Vietnamese language and belief in the eternal value of the Vietnamese language for overseas Vietnamese who are present at the course.

The new point of the training course is that for the first time, the training program is designed with 2/3 of the content being pedagogical practice situations. Accordingly, teachers are not only equipped with effective methods of teaching Vietnamese to foreigners, attending Vietnamese classes at primary schools; practicing teaching skills, but also gaining more useful knowledge about Vietnamese culture, history as well as the richness of the national language through practical experiences at historical sites and relics of Hanoi, Ninh Binh, Ha Nam, Bac Ninh.
The lecturers of the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese Language selected to participate in the program are leading experts in the field of language teaching methods, teachers who have been professionally trained or studied abroad in the fields of literature, social sciences, and humanities. They are also the team of scientists and teachers who are the pillars of the State Project: "Enhancing online Vietnamese language teaching for overseas Vietnamese", who directly and indirectly contribute to the operation of the "Vietnamese Language Teaching Channel for Overseas Vietnamese", launched in 2022 and currently serving hundreds of overseas Vietnamese each year in 25 countries around the world.

That is the respect that Dr. Le Thi Thanh Tam - Head of the Department of Vietnamese Studies and Language, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU, Hanoi, has for the authorities and teachers who are overseas Vietnamese in countries around the world who are participating in the work of teaching Vietnamese to overseas Vietnamese.
Dr. Le Thi Thanh Tam expressed that for the teachers at VNU-USSH, the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese has become a place of constant attachment for more than a decade, marking the path of continuous dedication to the Vietnamese language teaching career of the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies & Vietnamese Language and the University of Social Sciences and Humanities. Through the meaningful activities of the Committee and the very humane policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in promoting the aspiration to spread Vietnamese language around the world, the team of leading experts in Vietnamese language teaching of the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies & Vietnamese Language has continuously participated in training courses on Vietnamese language teaching for overseas Vietnamese since the early years of the 21st century, in which the Faculty has officially participated deeply in professional content from 2013 to present.

 

“The presence of overseas Vietnamese students in Vietnam is always a particularly strong motivation for those of us who teach Vietnamese, because: teaching Vietnamese in Vietnam is already a responsibility, but teaching Vietnamese abroad to Vietnamese people is a noble mission in any context” - Dr. Le Thi Thanh Tam emphasized.

As a core and leading force in the Vietnamese higher education system, Vietnam National University, Hanoi has made particularly valuable contributions to the entire process of teaching, promoting and disseminating the Vietnamese language and Vietnamese cultural identity to the world.
Since 2020, Hanoi National University has built a methodical and drastic investment strategy for the political task of overseas Vietnamese affairs. Pioneering and making efforts to build training programs and large-scale projects of the nation and people, Hanoi National University has left its mark on the humanistic education strategy and sharp university governance vision with a process of nearly 05 years of drastic investment and completion of the "Project to enhance online Vietnamese language teaching for overseas Vietnamese". The model of this key project has contributed to transforming academic values ​​into practical applications of science and technology, aiming to effectively serve more than 5.3 million overseas Vietnamese.
As a member of Vietnam National University, Hanoi, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities has directly carried out the mission of “teaching Vietnamese to international students, developing language teaching methods, and training advanced interpreters” which was granted since 1968 (from the Faculty of Vietnamese Language, Hanoi National University, now the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies and Language, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi). After more than 60 years of tradition and 56 years of establishment, the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies and Language, University of Social Sciences and Humanities has become the most prestigious address in Vietnam for teaching Vietnamese to foreigners.
From 2012 to 2020, the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies and Language, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi has completed 6 leading projects for the international training system on Vietnamese. These are the successful compilation of the Vietnamese Language Competency Framework for Foreigners, applied nationwide and in many countries; Successful compilation of the Vietnamese Language Proficiency Test Format according to the Vietnamese Language Competency Framework for Foreigners, applied nationwide and in many countries; Compilation of a systematic and professional Vietnamese Language Teacher Training Program for Foreigners; Training Vietnamese Language Teachers for Overseas Vietnamese for the Government (more than 10 courses with thousands of teachers from many countries around the world) and meeting the needs of training Vietnamese Language Teachers for Overseas Vietnamese in accordance with the spirit of Resolution 36 of the Politburo; Specialized in charge of the project to Enhance Online Vietnamese Language Teaching for Overseas Vietnamese; Successfully compiled the Vietnamese language teaching program framework for overseas Vietnamese according to the Vietnamese language competency framework for foreigners (under the project to improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning Vietnamese for overseas Vietnamese, Decision No. 14/QD-TTg, dated January 6, 2017).
In August 2024, at the 4th Conference of Overseas Vietnamese around the world, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Minister of Foreign Affairs in recognition of its important, outstanding and typical contributions to the work of Overseas Vietnamese.
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Vietnam National University, Hanoi:Teaching Vietnamese to Overseas Teachers: Preserving Vietnamese Language and Culture Around the World
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The University of Social Sciences and Humanities - VNU is a core and pioneering unit in the journey to honor the Vietnamese language.