40 years of Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese Language Department

On the morning of November 17, 2008, the ceremony to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies and Language (1968-2008) took place at the Nguỵ Như Kon Tum Hall (No. 19 Le Thanh Tong). Many generations of teachers and students from all courses came to reunite.

At the ceremony, Associate Professor, Dr. Vu Van Thi - Head of the Faculty of VNH&TV - reviewed the development history and achievements that the Faculty has achieved over the past 40 years.

In 1956, the Vietnamese Language Department under Hanoi University was established with the mission of teaching Vietnamese language and culture to foreign students coming to study under the agreement between the Vietnamese government and other countries. In 1968, the Vietnamese Language Department was established on the basis of the Vietnamese Language Department.

[img class="caption" src="images/stories/2008/11/18/img_5800.jpg" border="0" alt="Assoc.Prof.Dr. Vu Van Thi speaks at the Anniversary Ceremony" title="Assoc.Prof.Dr. Vu Van Thi speaks at the Anniversary Ceremony" width="240" height="160" align="right" ]

In 1995, the Vietnamese Language Department was renamed the Vietnamese Language and Culture Department for Foreigners with the main tasks of: training Vietnamese language and culture for foreign students coming to study under cooperation agreements between the Vietnamese government and other countries; training Vietnamese language and culture for other foreigners; training and fostering knowledge of Vietnamese language and culture to improve the understanding of the country and people of Vietnam for overseas Vietnamese children.

In 1999, the Ministry of Education and Training decided to allow the Faculty to train bachelors in Vietnamese language and culture for foreigners. The year 2008 marked another important development step of the Faculty when VNU signed a decision to issue a university training program in Vietnamese studies including two majors: Vietnamese studies for Vietnamese people and Vietnamese studies for foreigners. On that basis, the Faculty also officially changed its name to the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese Language.

Since its establishment, the Faculty has trained more than 7,000 foreign students of 40 different nationalities, including 8 Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in Hanoi. Currently, the Faculty has 22 lecturers, all of whom have postgraduate degrees, including 2 Associate Professors, 11 PhDs and 9 Masters. The Faculty has 4 departments, including: Vietnamese Language and Language Teaching Methods; Cultural Studies; Literature and Arts; Comparative Linguistics. Over the past 40 years, the Faculty has built a system of textbooks and lectures to serve the training subjects. The Faculty has compiled 25 textbooks including language teaching textbooks and specialized textbooks, 30 specialized lectures on Vietnamese language, culture, literature and history. The Faculty has organized 4 international scientific conferences, many domestic scientific conferences on Vietnamese language and language teaching methods, Vietnamese culture...; published more than 400 articles, conducted 48 research topics at all levels. The faculty also organizes training cooperation with many universities and international organizations around the world.

For the above contributions, the Faculty has been awarded many awards: Certificate of Merit from the Prime Minister in 1978; First-class ITXALA Medal from the Lao Government in 1983; Certificate of Merit from the VNU Trade Union in 1997; Third-class Labor Medal in 1998; Certificate of Merit from VNU in 2007; Certificate of Merit from the Prime Minister in 2008...

At the ceremony, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Khanh - Principal of the School - spoke to acknowledge the contributions of the Faculty, and also requested the Faculty to focus on implementing the main tasks in the coming time, including: quickly completing the tasks to be able to undertake and implement the training tasks of Vietnamese Studies; actively innovating the content of credit-based training; further enhancing the effectiveness of scientific research activities and international cooperation, especially focusing on building and implementing a number of major topics of practical and theoretical significance....

[img class="caption" src="images/stories/2008/11/18/img_5839.jpg" border="0" alt="Prof. Dr. Hoang Trong Phien - the first former CNK" title="Prof. Dr. Hoang Trong Phien - the first former CNK" width="240" height="160" align="right" ]

Also at the Anniversary Ceremony, the delegates heard the confidences of Prof. Dr. Hoang Trong Phien - the first head of the Faculty - about the memories of the difficult period when the Faculty was first established. He said: “From where we are today, looking back at the past journey of the Faculty, we can affirm: Our scientific thinking in teaching Vietnamese is correct and modern. That is to teach a cultural tool with the characteristics of an isolated form, to teach a set of habits of Vietnamese people in communication activities, to use words expressing language actions as the basis for methods and procedures for consciously teaching practical language. This scientific thinking has been realized through the practical Vietnamese language textbooks and modern Vietnamese language theory textbooks published in the years 1975-1984”. The Professor also affirmed: We have done many great things thanks to knowing how to focus on the combined strength of talented professionals inside and outside the school. Besides, Khoa is also a consensus, impartial and enthusiastic group.

The ceremony was also an opportunity for many generations of foreign students to express their gratitude to the teachers of the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese Language. It is known that in the 2009-2010 school year, the Faculty will enroll the first class of Vietnamese Studies for Vietnamese people.