Preserving the Vietnamese language in remote areas.

After the Covid-19 pandemic subsided, my family began welcoming Vietnamese expatriate relatives home more frequently. Besides the usual family gatherings and celebrations, a new trend has emerged: some relatives with young children are now asking us to find and buy Vietnamese language textbooks for them to teach their grandchildren.

A Vietnamese language lesson at White Center Heights Elementary School, Burien, Washington, USA

My cousin, Kim Nga, who lives in the Aurota neighborhood of Little Elm, Texas, laments that her nieces and nephews are increasingly reluctant to speak Vietnamese. Partly because their parents are too busy and have little time to talk to them at home. Even more regrettable is that many young parents haven't started teaching their children to speak Vietnamese from a young age.

Ms. Nga recounted that in this rare house where three generations still live together within the Vietnamese community, the only Vietnamese the children hear is their mother telling them to study, urging them to eat quickly, and telling them not to play games… And they only speak Vietnamese when they ask for a particular dish.

Ms. Nga said that to encourage children, many families prepare Vietnamese dishes on weekends, enticing the children to choose their food, then pretending to ask many questions to get them to speak Vietnamese. Or they take them to Vietnamese restaurants so the children can read the menu and order food in Vietnamese. Little by little, they hope that through describing the dishes, recalling the ingredients, names, etc., they will help the children increase their vocabulary. On weekends, many parents also play Vietnamese game shows for their children to listen to, organizing fun games with prizes…

According to incomplete statistics, there are nearly 200 Vietnamese language teaching centers and facilities in the US, concentrated mainly in states with large Vietnamese populations such as California, Texas, and Washington... but they primarily rely on volunteer teachers, mostly operating on a small, informal scale. They independently source and purchase Vietnamese language textbooks, books on Vietnamese culture and history, and consult images and videos online to create their own lesson plans.

In fact, some temples and churches with Vietnamese communities offer weekend Vietnamese language classes organized by retired senior citizens. However, according to Thuyen Nguyen, a doctor living in Renwick, Houston, Texas, this method is becoming less effective. Transporting children to these Vietnamese classes is also not easy for working parents.

The Covid-19 pandemic, along with the development of technology, has created opportunities for many groups to offer online Vietnamese language lessons via the Zoom platform. In addition, some online resources, such as the VTV television channel's Vietnamese language teaching YouTube channel for first graders and the Monkey Junior app, have gained the trust of many parents.

A Vietnamese language lesson in the Vietnamese-English bilingual program at Windmill Springs Elementary School in San Jose, USA. Photo: FRANKLINMCKINLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT

Returning to Ms. Nga's story. Following recommendations from many friends both domestically and abroad, she purchased the "Hello Vietnamese" series – a Vietnamese language learning book for overseas Vietnamese children that won the 2023 national A prize by Ms. Thuy Anh; the "Fun Vietnamese" series; the A, B, C level Vietnamese series by Doan Thien Thuat; the basic Vietnamese series by Nguyen Viet Huong… and even a Vietnamese history series with color illustrations in both Vietnamese and English. She also asked for Vietnamese comic books and Vietnamese folk songs with pictures… so that when she returned home, her grandparents could "entice" her grandchild to look at the pictures and learn at the same time.

Teaching Vietnamese to Vietnamese people abroad, especially the younger generation, is receiving increasing attention and promotion. Besides learning basic grammar and vocabulary for beginners in reading and writing, students are also supported in communicating effectively in real-life situations. Several prestigious universities in the US, such as Yale University, Brown University, Princeton University, the University of North Carolina, the University of Houston, the University of California, and the University of Washington, have also offered Vietnamese language courses for students as part of their credit programs, although the number of courses is still relatively small.

For preschool and elementary school children, Vietnamese has been officially taught as part of the curriculum in some elementary schools, initially in California. Although the number of students enrolled is not yet large, this is a positive sign that Vietnamese is being recognized as an official foreign language in the US public education system.

XUAN HANH

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