Teachers consider "Quan họ" folk singing one of the effective methods for teaching Vietnamese to learners. VNA/VNS Photos

PARIS – Hundreds of teachers, researchers, representatives of community organisations, and advocates of Vietnamese-language education gathered at a forum on preserving the Vietnamese language and culture abroad, held on June 21 at the Việt Nam Cultural Centre in France.

Organised to celebrate the fifth founding anniversary of the Global Network for Vietnamese Language and Culture Teaching, the hybrid event brought together nearly 50 in-person participants from France, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Ukraine, alongside online attendees from Việt Nam and other countries.

The forum provided an opportunity for the participants to exchange experiences, share teaching models and discuss ways to improve Vietnamese language education amid international integration and digital transformation. 

Addressing the event, Đinh Ngọc Đức, Director of the Việt Nam Cultural Centre in France, described the Vietnamese language and culture as invaluable spiritual assets of the nation. He stressed that the mother tongue serves as a means of communication and a vital link connecting overseas Vietnamese (OVs) with their homeland, families and cultural roots. He called for renewed teaching methods and more cultural activities to help young people born and raised abroad strengthen their Vietnamese language skills and deepen their understanding of the nation's identity.

Lê Xuân Lâm, head of the forum's organising board, told the Vietnam News Agency that the network has organised a wide range of activities over the past five years, including online exchanges, seminars and symposiums involving teachers, experts and researchers from Việt Nam and abroad. 

He noted that one of the biggest challenges lies with encouraging parents to pay greater attention to their children's Vietnamese language learning, while limited funding has also constrained the network's activities. He expressed hope for stronger support from relevant agencies and experts to further expand this work in the future. 

Le Thi Bich Huong, a Vietnamese language lecturer at Ca' Foscari University of Venice in Italy, said Vietnamese language teaching abroad remains challenging because learners lack opportunities to use the language regularly and often prioritise other foreign languages.

She stressed that language instruction should go hand in hand with introducing Vietnamese culture, helping learners develop a love for the homeland. Many of the students, she added, continue participating in Vietnamese cultural activities after graduation, demonstrating that the language serves as an effective bridge between cultures. 

Hoàng Thị Hồng Hà, Overseas Vietnamese Language Ambassador 2025, highlighted the network's role in connecting Vietnamese language centres and classes across different countries. She said sharing teaching experience, learning materials and initiatives to preserve the language provides an important foundation to help young people overseas maintain their mother tongue and ties with their homeland.

Dang Thao Phuong, a student at the Lạc Long Quân Vietnamese Language School in Warsaw, Poland, said she has studied Vietnamese for five years and was delighted to take part in the forum. Learning the language, she said, has helped her better understand Vietnamese culture and strengthen her connection with her roots.

Participants agreed that stronger cooperation among Vietnamese language centres, the development of shared teaching materials, teacher training and the application of technology will help better preserve and promote the Vietnamese language within OV communities. VNS