Romanian Ambassador Valeriu Arteni: Returning to Vietnam feels like coming home!

Ambassador Valeriu Arteni shared: "I had a great advantage in doing diplomatic work in Vietnam because I had already fallen in love with Vietnam with all my heart. From 1971 to 1976, I was a student studying Vietnamese at the Department of Vietnamese Language and Literature (Hanoi University). I recall that there I learned a standard, systematic, and beautiful Vietnamese from the best teachers. In Valeriu's eyes, Vietnamese is a wonderfully beautiful language; its tones and rhythms create a rare melodiousness and expressiveness. Therefore, 'the idea that Vietnamese is difficult to learn and not interesting for foreigners is a hasty conclusion,' he said."

Romanian Ambassador Valeriu Arteni - former student of the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese Language from 1971-1976

Mr. Valeriu learned Vietnamese during wartime, when he and other students from Hanoi University had to evacuate to the countryside around Hanoi. While other foreigners might have been terrified by the bombing and shelling and fled back to their home countries during that extremely brutal period, he was willing to stay and endure hardships with his Vietnamese teachers and friends. Mr. Valeriu always speaks of those memories with pride, calling them "precious" experiences in his life. For him, the Vietnamese language is only truly understood and appreciated when it is present in real life and blends with the cultural values ​​and customs revealed at the most emotional moments. Mr. Valeriu returned to that countryside when he became the Ambassador of Romania and was overjoyed that hundreds of people there still remembered, loved, and welcomed him.

The Ambassador not only speaks Vietnamese exceptionally well but is also warm and welcoming when receiving guests at his home, in the true spirit of a genuine Vietnamese person: "Vietnam is my second home, and every time I pack my bags to go to Vietnam, I feel like I'm coming home."

Just ask him one question about the Vietnamese language, and he can spend an entire afternoon talking about how beautiful and unique it is, how profound it is. He secretly went alone to the 4th floor of B7bis, Hanoi University of Science and Technology (Faculty of Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese Language) to practice Vietnamese daily in order to use it fluently and connect with the hearts of Vietnamese people. “An ambassador must learn a lot and study very diligently,” he said. He listens to, reads, and speaks Vietnamese frequently and for long enough to observe the changes and developments in the language in the context of the internet's arrival in Vietnam, the explosion of media and social networks, and the increasing international integration… – interesting and natural changes brought about by life that, according to him, linguists should not ignore.

Romanian Ambassador Valeriu Arteni and Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thien Nam (Head of the Department of Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese Language) at a meeting in preparation for the 50th anniversary celebration of the Department of Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese Language, which will take place on November 16th.

The Vietnamese driver, who had been with him for decades, was carefully entrusted by him with taking his guests home. He quipped, "This is your most important task today!" And we – his guests – were touched and thought to ourselves, "How approachable and lovable an ambassador like him is!" We quickly asked to take a photo with him to show off: "We met an ambassador who understands and loves Vietnam the most we've ever known!"