The cradle of Vietnamese language training for foreigners
- Could you tell us what role the initial stage played in laying the foundation for the future development of the Faculty?
Before talking about the establishment of the Faculty in 1968, I would like to mention the predecessor of the Faculty, the Vietnamese Language Group of the Faculty of Philology and Literature, which was formed in the late 50s of the last century. The Vietnamese Language Group made many contributions to the training of Vietnamese language and Vietnamese culture for foreigners in the 1960s. From 1965 to 1969, there were 31 teachers participating in teaching at the Vietnamese Language Group. In 1968, due to the urgent needs of reality, the Ministry of Higher Education and Vocational Training at that time decided to establish the "Faculty of Teaching Vietnamese Language for Foreign Students, abbreviated as the Faculty of Vietnamese Language". The Faculty became the first official institution assigned to carry out an important political task at that time, which was to train Vietnamese language for foreigners.
- What are the most outstanding achievements of the Faculty in the field of training Vietnamese language and culture for foreigners?
The Faculty has trained thousands of foreigners who came to Hanoi to study Vietnamese, history, literature, culture and many other fields, especially participating in training human resources to serve diplomatic work for many countries. Many interpreters and many high-ranking diplomats of many countries have studied university programs at the Faculty of Vietnamese. The Faculty has also sent hundreds of teachers to perform international duties, teaching Vietnamese in Cambodia from 1979 to 1991. Many high-ranking officials of the Cambodian government and the Lao government have studied Vietnamese at the Faculty. During the 1970s and 1980s, the Faculty was the only training facility in Vietnam, so it can be seen that almost any foreigner who wanted to learn Vietnamese systematically studied here.
- Teaching Vietnamese to foreigners during wartime, there must have been many memorable memories, sir?
In his memories of the Faculty, Mr. Phan Van Hai, who joined the Vietnamese Language Department in 1965 and retired in 1995, recalled: “On May 5, 1967, American planes bombed the Thuong Dinh industrial park, a narrow field away from the D building of the University of Foreign Languages and the Me Tri dormitory. On May 6, 1967, the superiors decided to evacuate foreign students. At 4:00 a.m. on May 7, 1967, all teachers and students from the B7bis Bach Khoa building, rode bicycles towards Huu Trang village (Dan Phuong, Ha Tay) to gather. In the context of wartime evacuation, the Vietnamese Language Department and the Overseas Students Management Board were far from the Board of Directors of the University of General Sciences and the Office of the Ministry of Higher Education and Vocational Training. Contact was very difficult. There were many urgent matters that could not be promptly decided by the Ministry and the University. Every time there was a need, the staff of the Overseas Students Management Board had to resign. From Trang to Dai Tu (Bac Ninh), at night by bicycle through the main bombing points of American planes such as Pho Yen station, Thai Nguyen city..."
Recently, at an international conference abroad, I happened to meet Professor Chuc Nguong Tu, one of the famous Vietnamese scholars in China, who translated the trilogy of novels “The Advisor” by writer Huu Mai into Chinese. Professor Chuc Nguong Tu told me about his years studying Vietnamese language and culture at B7 Bis. The echo that the professor remembers most during the arduous war years of Vietnam is the sentence “Attention, attention, enemy planes are… kilometers away from Hanoi’s sky… Everyone, please quickly go to the shelter”.
- There was a funny story that Khoa's "output standard" was... Ambassador?
The main task of the Faculty is certainly not to train Ambassadors, but the reality is that many former students of the Faculty (including the predecessor of the Vietnamese Language Group) have become senior diplomats. Notably, up to now, there are more than 10 former students who have become Ambassadors of countries in Vietnam such as Ambassadors Li Jiazhong, Qi Jianguo, Hu Canwen of China, Ambassador Anteni Valeriou of Romania, Ambassador Fredesman Turro Gonsalez of Cuba, Ambassador Saadi Salama of Palestine...
One afternoon in August, I heard a knock on the office door and saw an elderly Asian man appear. He introduced himself in Vietnamese as a Mongolian, a former student of the Faculty from 1978 to 1982, now the Ambassador of the People's Republic of Mongolia to Vietnam. There was also a former student - the first student in my life teaching Vietnamese to foreigners - named Saadi Salama, a Palestinian. At that time, I was 21 years old and Saadi was 19 years old. 31 years later, Saadi was the Ambassador of Palestine to Vietnam.
I was very touched by such unexpected and precious meetings. We planted fruits and sowed seeds enthusiastically and never expected that we would reap such a bountiful harvest. The students whom we taught wholeheartedly, loved and considered as our own friends and relatives, have now brought all that knowledge and affection to support and promote the development of friendly cooperation between Vietnam and other countries.
Scientific conference on research and training in Vietnamese studies and Vietnamese language on October 19, 2013.
Vietnamese Studies – a new direction with many concerns
- Since 2008, the Faculty changed its name to Faculty of Vietnamese Studies and Language. What change does this event mark in the development orientation of the Faculty?
This is a strategic move. Previously, the Faculty only trained Vietnamese Language and Culture for foreigners, now the Faculty has the responsibility to train Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese Language not only for foreigners but also for Vietnamese students. Previously, the Faculty only trained the Bachelor program of Vietnamese Language and Culture for foreigners, now there are 2 programs: Vietnamese Studies, Vietnamese Language and Culture. In the Vietnamese Studies program, there is major A for Vietnamese people, major B for foreigners. The difference between these two majors A and B is that Vietnamese students focus on foreign languages (English, French, Russian, Chinese), foreign students focus on Vietnamese language skills.
Vietnamese Studies is a highly interdisciplinary field of study that encompasses many fields from language to history, culture, literature, economics, environment, society and development. Research in the field of Vietnamese Studies has also had certain achievements that we can continue. By opening the Vietnamese Studies field, we are following a development trend that is in accordance with the laws of science and current educational practices.
- What is the difference between the Faculty's Vietnamese Studies training and other training units?
Of course, the common point is great because we all have the Ministry of Education and Training's industry code for all Vietnamese studies training institutions. However, what makes the difference is that we provide a broad background knowledge and create conditions for students to delve into specific fields such as: tourism, journalism, office, consulting, language teaching. In particular, compared to other units, our Vietnamese studies students will have a clear advantage in teaching Vietnamese language and culture to foreigners.
We train Vietnamese Studies bachelors to serve the diverse needs of life, society and the country. The Faculty has good conditions to open postgraduate programs in Vietnamese Studies, firstly the Master's program, then the PhD.
We have many advantages to develop a new direction, which are: support and facilitation from VNU and the University of Social Sciences and Humanities; a team of teachers with basic training, qualifications, and much international experience; wide international relations, being the only Faculty of Vietnamese Studies in Vietnam today that has both international students and officially trained Vietnamese students.
- What are the basic difficulties the Faculty faces in carrying out this new task?
Although the faculty has experienced teachers, the Faculty also faces a common difficulty: the upcoming shortage of experienced teachers who have retired one after another, and the generation gap is a big challenge. In addition, although interdisciplinary training experience exists, it is not highly systematic.
However, after only 4 courses of admission to the Vietnamese Studies major for Vietnamese students, the number of students applying for admission has been increasing. With the first course, the Faculty still had to recruit the second choice, last year and this year, the benchmark score of the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese Language was in the "top" 5 among 16 training units of the University. I think that is the first positive and encouraging sign, showing that the social demand for this major is not small and the Faculty has a certain reputation in society.
Teaching Vietnamese to love national culture more
- Being the one who brings Vietnamese culture abroad, and also having the opportunity to experience the cultures of many ethnic groups in the world, is that a happy thing?
For me, it is certainly a blessing. The greatest happiness of a Vietnamese language teacher is to see students speak Vietnamese better today than yesterday and better tomorrow than today. Not only me, but colleagues of all generations are "ambassadors" spreading Vietnamese culture to the world through Vietnamese. We are proud of this. When teaching Vietnamese, we learn more Vietnamese, and our knowledge must also be broader and more comprehensive. Every day in class is a day to feel and discover more about Vietnamese, literature, history, culture and Vietnamese society. We are also proud that many teachers of the Faculty are ambassadors of Vietnamese Language and Culture at Vietnamese Studies Centers and famous universities around the world. Even some retired teachers are still invited to lecture at many famous universities such as the University of Malaysia, Seoul Foreign Language University, etc.
In addition, by being in contact with many foreigners, we have the opportunity to compare similarities and differences in language, culture, lifestyle, cuisine, etc. That brings "multicultural" experiences that are very useful for each individual's work and life.
- As the current Head of the Department, what will you focus on and what do you value?
This is certainly a heavy responsibility of the current Faculty Board. The Faculty will focus on the human resource factor, how to make each person in the unit promote their strengths for the common cause of the Faculty, trying to create conditions for young staff to develop. Connecting generations, connecting sub-systems into a network is one of the goals we are implementing. However, to develop, the Faculty must have a comprehensive strategy concretized into 5 pairs of tasks: Good teachers, good students - Good programs, good textbooks - Good research, good application - Good international relations, good professionalization - Improving the material and spiritual life of the Faculty's staff. In the future, the Faculty will be a leading training and research facility in Vietnam on Vietnamese studies. This is the expectation and task that Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan assigned to the Vietnamese Studies Department of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities during his visit and work at the University in 2008.
- Thank you, sir, and I wish the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese Language success in its new tasks!