Roots Across the Miles: Preserving Vietnamese Heritage for a Global Generation
Preserving and Promoting the Vietnamese Language and Cultural Identity
The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs shared that during his lifetime, President Ho Chi Minh once said, “Vietnamese is the soul of the nation”; “Language is an extremely ancient and extremely precious asset of the nation. We must preserve it, cherish it, and make it more and more popular.” Following his teachings, the work of preserving, promoting and spreading the Vietnamese language and the traditional cultural identity of the Vietnamese people has always received attention and care from the Party, the State and the overseas Vietnamese community, and has achieved many encouraging results.
In particular, over the past two years, the implementation of the Project “Vietnamese Language Honor Day in the Overseas Vietnamese Community for the period 2023 – 2030” has received widespread attention and response from the entire political system, people in the country and a large number of our compatriots abroad. The programs and activities are diverse in form, rich in content and innovative in implementation methods, creating an environment for exchange and improvement of Vietnamese language for generations of overseas Vietnamese, especially the young generation.
These are Vietnamese bookcases serving the community; training courses and workshops on Vietnamese teaching skills for more than 800 teachers and volunteers from more than 30 countries and territories since 2013. These are the proactive and active efforts of overseas Vietnamese and overseas Vietnamese associations in establishing specialized Vietnamese language committees; opening schools, classes, and centers for teaching and learning Vietnamese; organizing annual seminars, talks, and forums to share experiences on Vietnamese teaching and learning methods… Along with that are the passionate ideas, tireless efforts, and inspiring stories of the “Vietnamese Language Ambassadors”.
“The activities to implement the Vietnamese Language Honor Day have truly become activities of the community, by the community and for the community. No one else but our compatriots abroad are the ambassadors of Vietnamese culture and language. The efforts of our compatriots are day by day fostering and spreading the love of Vietnamese language not only in the overseas Vietnamese community but also to local people and friends around the world, contributing to affirming the value of Vietnamese culture in the international arena,” Deputy Minister Do Hung Viet emphasized.
The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs said that the language and cultural identity of the nation are indispensable provisions for each individual when going out into the world, to integrate without dissolving, to affirm one’s position in the host society. How lovely it is when, in a faraway land, we suddenly hear the voice, melody, and verse of our homeland. That is the thread that connects every Vietnamese person no matter where they are, in any circumstance; it is national pride, a spiritual support, a source that nourishes the souls of the children of Vietnam.
Deputy Minister Do Hung Viet hopes that overseas Vietnamese will always pay attention to teaching and learning Vietnamese for their children – the future generation of the community, as well as preserving and promoting the nation’s fine traditional values to the community and international friends.
At the same time, central and local ministries, branches, socio-political organizations, press agencies, associations, Vietnamese individuals abroad as well as individuals, organizations and sponsors in the country, continue to support and respond to the implementation of the Project on Vietnamese Language Honor Day to have more initiatives, ideas and activities to convey love and pride in the Vietnamese language and Vietnamese culture to generations of Vietnamese people abroad.
“This is not only a responsibility, but also a “firm promise” of all of us to together cultivate the love for our homeland, country, roots, culture and quintessence of the Vietnamese people, to ignite national pride, the desire to contribute and join hands to build an increasingly prosperous Vietnam,” said the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.