Love Vietnamese

In August 2022, the Prime Minister signed Decision No. 930/QD-TTg approving the Project "Vietnamese Language Honor Day in the Overseas Vietnamese Community for the period 2023-2030" and selected September 8 every year as Vietnamese Language Honor Day.

The event is considered an important milestone in the cultural and spiritual life of Vietnamese people abroad. The project aims to raise awareness of overseas Vietnamese about the Vietnamese language, contributing to preserving and promoting the national cultural identity.

Wishing to contribute to preserving and spreading the Vietnamese language to generations of Vietnamese people born and raised abroad, foreigners who love the Vietnamese language... many teachers, volunteers, and overseas Vietnamese have made efforts to teach Vietnamese in foreign lands.

And, Ton Nu Tuong Vy (born 1990, Ho Chi Minh City), a descendant of King Minh Mang, is one of those people. Tuong Vy came to the US with the "mission" of teaching Vietnamese at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill (UNC) in the 2021-2022 school year.

Tuong Vy is considered the first person to reopen the Vietnamese language program at UNC after about 15 years of interruption.

This is the first in-person Vietnamese language course offered by the school in about 15 years. For many years, UNC had a Vietnamese language program taught by a professor.

He originally taught Chinese. However, after learning Vietnamese and visiting Vietnam for a while, he wanted Americans to understand more about this beautiful country. After studying Vietnamese more deeply, the professor began teaching the language at UNC. This Vietnamese course lasted until his retirement.

Tuong Vy said: “After the teacher retired, the program was suspended for a long time. Meanwhile, through a survey, the school found that the need for students to learn Vietnamese has increased in recent years.

Because, from 1975 until now, the children of those who left Vietnam to live in the US or abroad have now reached college age. This generation has a great need to learn Vietnamese because they are starting to have more awareness of their roots, as well as the motivation to learn Vietnamese as a foreign language to qualify for graduation.

“According to the Carolina Asia Center, Vietnamese is the 6th most commonly spoken language in North Carolina homes. However, UNC has not found suitable Vietnamese teachers. Therefore, UNC has partnered with SOAS University of London in the UK to organize online Vietnamese classes," Vy added.

Then, UNC saw the increasing number of students enrolling, so it decided to have Vietnamese teachers directly at the school. And Vy, a girl who has traveled to 38 countries and territories, became the first person to reopen the Vietnamese language program at UNC after about 15 years of interruption.

The course is aimed at students from first year of college to doctoral candidates. The majority of the students in the course taught by Vy are Vietnamese Americans. The rest are white. They come to this course because of their special love of the Vietnamese language.

Some students decide to learn Vietnamese because Vietnamese is a bridge, a window to look back at their past, to answer the question of why they are here.

Others learn why when they were young, their parents always tried to speak a certain accented language with them instead of using English when they went out to work; why they cooked and packed “strange” lunches for them to take to school.

Proud

Meanwhile, white students learn Vietnamese because they have some connection with Vietnamese people or have been to Vietnam. These people also really want to go to Vietnam and see learning Vietnamese as an opportunity to understand more about this country.

Tuong Vy shared: “At UNC, Vietnamese is an elective. Therefore, when choosing this subject, students all have their own reasons, special interests and study responsibly.

Currently, Tuong Vy continues to teach Vietnamese to foreign students coming to Vietnam to study and research.

However, the case that I remember most is that of an American student whose grandmother was Vietnamese. She told me that when she was alive, her grandmother always spoke to her in Vietnamese, but she did not understand. However, she knew that she wanted to talk to her very much.

During my childhood and until I learned Vietnamese, I only remembered the two words “grandma”. When my grandmother passed away, I decided to learn Vietnamese. And I studied very hard”.

Teaching Vietnamese abroad for the first time, Tuong Vy started from scratch. Without any materials or teachers, Tuong Vy had to find her own sources of books and materials to prepare her curriculum. Vy also actively learned from many other teachers in Vietnam and the US.

Vy lets students do projects in Vietnamese with topics of their own choosing, encouraging creativity and taking advantage of each student’s interests and existing skills. The students all realize many profound aspects about Vietnam and their families when doing the project.

In addition, Tuong Vy also conducts extracurricular activities, letting students watch and discuss Vietnamese films, sing karaoke, organize games and activities with themes about Tet, Valentine, outdoor learning...

Teaching time is limited, Vy and students connect and share with each other outside of class by writing diaries. Every Friday, students will submit their diaries to Vy so that at the end of the week, Vy can respond to their thoughts and questions in their own diaries.

Thanks to that, Vy understands more about the lives and thoughts of students and provides timely support. This method also helps Vy realize that she still does not fully understand Vietnamese.

Vy said: “Students often ask very good questions about Vietnamese. It turns out that I still don’t really understand my mother tongue, I just speak and write out of habit without being able to explain why.

From there, I consulted many reading sources and experienced teachers to be able to answer the students. I really admire you. Because, only with a true love for Vietnamese and a progressive mindset, can you study deeply and make such an effort to study."

After 9 months of teaching, Tuong Vy noticed that her students were much better at listening, speaking, reading and writing Vietnamese. However, what made her happiest was that her students were more connected to their families and Vietnamese identity.

After finishing her Vietnamese language teaching program in the US, Tuong Vy returned to Vietnam. In Ho Chi Minh City, the 9X continues to teach Vietnamese to foreign students who come to Vietnam to study and research under the international exchange semester program of the School for International Training organization.

In addition, she also keeps in touch and welcomes some former students from UNC to visit Vietnam with their families. Tuong Vy confided: “The process of teaching Vietnamese in and outside the country left me with many impressions. I realize that currently, the demand for learning Vietnamese among Vietnamese people abroad is very large.

In addition, I also noticed that Vietnamese is loved by Vietnamese people abroad, even foreigners. What makes me happiest and most proud is that my students, although still very young, have shown that they will preserve and teach Vietnamese to their children in the future."

Vietnamnet.vn