Venerable Danh Sok Wan teaches a youngster correct pronunciation at the free Khmer language class run by the Pothiwong Pagoda in HCM City. — VNA/VNS Photos

HCM CITY — For over a decade, a free summer language class at Pothiwong Pagoda in HCM City has been helping hundreds of ethnic Khmer children learn their mother tongue, thus playing a vital role in preserving their cultural identity.

Every day at 7pm, the calm grounds of the pagoda in Bảy Hiền Ward come alive with the rhythmic sounds of children chanting the Khmer alphabet.

Driven by a shared mission, the pagoda’s monks pass down their language to the younger generation of Khmers living and working in the city.

The 2026 summer course commenced in June and will go on until late August.

Catering to students aged seven to 17, each class maintains an intimate size of 10-20 learners to ensure quality does not slip.

From Monday to Saturday, the classroom fills up for a 90-minute session.

Despite the challenges of mastering a complex script, the children learn with enthusiasm.

Lâm Trí Dũng, 12, who has attended the class for three years, can now confidently navigate through even basic conversational phrases.

He says: "Spelling is the hardest part for me, so I practise a lot at home. My dream is to become a police officer to help people."

Danh Trần Phương Thanh, an 11th-grade student, said learning her mother tongue is all about family connection. After three years of hard work, she can now read and write fluently.

She says: "Being Khmer, I want to understand my roots. Knowing the language helps me talk to my parents and grandparents easily. In future, I hope to open my own free class to teach younger kids in the community."

Danh Huỳnh Ni, a fourth-grade student, says though she has only attended the classes for two weeks, she can already read multiple words.

"I love studying at the pagoda because I make new friends and get rewards when I study well," she adds with a smile.

The class at the Pothiwong Pagoda in HCM City helps preserve and pass down the Khmer script to the younger generations.

Preserving cultural identity through language

Venerable Danh Sok Wan, one of the instructors, says mastering Khmer is a long-term journey.

"It took me years to become fluent. When teaching the children, I write the Khmer characters and put the Vietnamese phonetic transcriptions right next to them so they can visualise and memorise them more easily."

The children must first master the alphabet, vowels, consonants, and punctuation before moving on to word formation and vocabulary, foundational knowledge that is crucial for everyday communication, he adds.

Venerable Danh Lây, Secretary of Pothiwong Pagoda, says the classes have been entirely free of charge since 2013.

Initially, the monks themselves funded everything, he says.

"In recent years, local authorities have stepped in to support us by providing notebooks and helping the pagoda run these classes."

But as the city modernises, preserving ethnic languages faces new hurdles, and keeping the class running requires more than just the monks’ efforts, he says.

"To ensure the sustainability of these classes, we hope to receive more support and partnership from local authorities and the community.”

Further support in terms of facilities, teaching materials, and scholarships will greatly motivate the children to preserve their mother tongue, ultimately enriching the cultural diversity of the city, he adds. — VNS