“It was a memorable and emotional time!”

Jackie Chan/USSH

Prof. Dr. People's Teacher Dinh Van Duc.

- Having spent several years as a manager at the Vietnamese Language Department (now the Vietnamese Studies and Language Department), could you please share your impressions about this period?

Prof. Dr. Dinh Van Duc: Thank you, journalist. The Faculty of VNH&TV has a history of 57 years, including the "pre-faculty" period. The Faculty has had many generations of leaders, the longest being Prof. Hoang Trong Phien as Head of the Faculty for 10 years. I only participated in the management of the Faculty for 5 years (1985-1990), but my impressions and feelings about the Faculty are many, both in terms of people, work and colleague relationships.

I returned to the Faculty in 1985 during an extremely difficult period. Internally, at the end of the subsidy period, the economy was in crisis, inflation was 700% after the currency exchange, the Faculty's life as well as at home were lacking everything. Externally, hostile forces surrounded and embargoed us, dividing us from all sides in all aspects. There were very few international students studying at the Faculty. My job at that time was to focus on CK (teaching Vietnamese in Cambodia) and not on integration like in the later period. I wrote an article: "The sadness of CK once, once" to remember those difficult days.

However, as Uncle Ho said: “No matter how difficult it is, we must strive to teach well and study well”, the teachers in the Faculty, old and young, regardless of poverty, still tried to complete their tasks well at home and abroad. It was a memorable and emotional time. There will never be such a scene again in the history of the Faculty. I am proud and grateful to the School and the Faculty for allowing me to participate in taking on those memorable events.

- What do you think about the achievements of the Faculty of VNH&TV?

Prof. Dr. Dinh Van Duc: To evaluate the achievements of the Faculty, I think we must base on the long-term tasks and responsibilities in each specific period and must put it in the historical context of each time as well as in relation to other faculties in the University. Overcoming all difficulties in both prosperous and difficult times, the staff and lecturers for several generations have devoted all their enthusiasm, passion and intelligence to serving the work, as the great poet Nguyen Du once wrote: "Taking on the profession". Thanks to that, what the Faculty has achieved, although not really spectacular, must be said to be very good. Vietnamese and Vietnamese studies are the work of bringing Vietnam to the world, helping our exchange and integration to flourish. Looking back on today's journey compared to several decades ago, the Faculty has come a long way. The goals are clearer, the staff resources are better, the facilities are better, more information, etc.

- In the upcoming development of the Faculty, what are your thoughts and feelings, professor?

Prof. Dr. Dinh Van Duc: “The chess is outside, the cards are inside”. Now my position is an outside chess player, like a passerby who stops by to watch the chess game, so I cannot know better than the person holding the chess pieces. However, “even though we are apart, our hearts are still attached”, I have left the Faculty for nearly 30 years, but my feelings for the Faculty are still intact, and I always have discussions with my colleagues about the responsibility of a teacher of Vietnamese Language and Vietnamese Studies. In my opinion, we must take the mindset of “With the unchanging, responding to all changes” as the foundation. As mentioned, the Faculty must not stray from its goals, must always take care of and supplement its staff resources, and maintain a leading position in its activities. We must increase professionalism in all teaching and research activities. The Faculty needs to further promote scientific research because a good Vietnamese scholar is not only a good teacher but also a good researcher, with quality products. That is also a specific mission within the mission of a university.

There is a lot to say, I just want to outline a few small ideas like that. On this occasion, I wish the Faculty, teachers, staff and students always success in the new development path.

- Thank you professor for the conversation and hope that you will continue to accompany the development and success of the Faculty in the future!