Deputy foreign minister Phạm Thu Hằng gifts Vietnamese language books to students. — Photo from the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan

TOKYO — A ceremony was held on April 6 in Tokyo, the capital of Japan, to launch the Day for Honouring Vietnamese Language 2024.

Addressing the event, which aims to foster Vietnamese teaching and learning among the Vietnamese community in the country, Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Phạm Quang Hiệu affirmed that supporting and encouraging the community to maintain cultural identity and preserve the Vietnamese language are one of the key tasks of the embassy.

The embassy and its community affairs board always create favourable conditions for teachers and Vietnamese language centres to promote the preservation of the mother tongue for generations of Vietnamese children in Japan.

The ambassador asked the Vietnamese community in Japan to be more active in the Vietnamese language teaching and learning movement. He also hoped that more attention will be paid to researching and compiling a curriculum which is suitable for children living in the East Asia nation, adding that the Vietnamese language learning movement in Japan will develop strongly in the coming time, meeting the needs of the community.

Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Lê Thị Thu Hằng, who is also Chairwoman of the State Commission for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs (SCOVA), hailed associations in Japan for organising activities that help connect Vietnamese people at home and abroad and for their efforts to preserve the Vietnamese language.

Hằng affirmed that the SCOVA will accompany the Vietnamese community in Japan through providing textbooks and organising training courses on Vietnamese language teaching skills for teachers and volunteers.

The same day, Deputy Minister Hằng held working sessions with representatives of 10 Vietnamese associations in Japan during which they briefed about the outcome of their activities, including supporting each other to overcome difficulties, integrating into the host society, maintaining the Vietnamese language and national cultural identity as well as providing assistance to local residents who were affected by natural disasters.

The representatives also proposed to strengthen the teaching and learning of the Vietnamese language, connect with mass organisations in the home country, and promote communications work with the goal of building a united, strong community in Japan. — VNS