Speaking at a workshop held in Hanoi on November 30, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Quang Hieu, who is also Chairman of the Foreign Ministry’s State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs, said to the 5.3 million Vietnamese living in over 130 countries and territories, the Vietnamese language is a national pride and also a “solid fulcrum” for the country’s culture.
The maintenance and promotion of the language, which is a tool for spreading cultural values of the nation, is an important task holding practical, scientific, and human significance, he noted.
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A Vietnamese language class for children in Ekaterinburg city of Russia |
Other participants in the event underlined the necessity for a day in honor of the Vietnamese language so as to enhance the love for and pride in the mother language and encourage expatriates to maintain and bring into play the homeland’s cultural identity.
Dr. Nguyen Thien Nam, former dean of the faculty for Vietnamese studies and language at the University of Social Sciences and Humanity (Vietnam National University, Hanoi), said September 8 should be chosen as the day in honor of the language among overseas Vietnamese.
He explained that this was the day when the Provisional Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam) launched the “Binh dan hoc vu” (mass education) campaign in 1945. On that day in 1962, then President Ho Chi Minh delivered a speech on the Vietnamese language at the third congress of the Vietnam Journalists’ Association.
Echoing the view, an official from the Continuing Education Department of the Ministry of Education and Training supported the date September 8 to be chosen for the purpose. He also recommended organizing a competition on books and documents teaching the language for overseas Vietnamese, and developing a language teaching website for the expatriates.
Meanwhile, a representative of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism suggested commending the individuals, organizations, and communities with substantial contributions to popularizing the Vietnamese language abroad.
Source: VNA