A Vietnamese language class in Ekaterinburg. (Source: VNA)

Vietnamese language lessons for overseas Vietnamese (OVs), especially young people, have been growing in popularity.

For more than 5.3 million overseas Vietnamese living in more than 130 countries and territories worldwide, the Vietnamese language is a means for them to preserve their traditional culture and establish themselves while integrating in the local communities. The language is also a bridge to connect OVs all over the world with their motherland.

As many as 39 such courses have been opened in Thailand, and there are about 200 Vietnamese language teaching centres and establishments operating in the US. Meanwhile, the numbers of centres of this kind in Cambodia and Laos are 33 and 13, respectively.

According to Le Xuan Lam, a Vietnamese expatriate in Poland who is the Editor-in-Chief of Que Viet Newspaper and Chairman of the Council of Lac Long Quan Vietnamese Language School, the movement to learn Vietnamese among the overseas Vietnamese children in Poland has developed strongly in recent years.

Established in 1999, the school now has 150-180 students aged from 6-14. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, it has switched to online teaching and learning. Through the curriculum, students not only learn listening, speaking, reading and writing skills, but also understand more about the Vietnamese culture, Lam said.

Sharing Lam’s opinion, Vice Chairwoman of the Vietnamese Association in Laos’s Savanakhet province, underlined the urgent task to preserve cultural identity and national traditions.

Teaching and learning the Vietnamese language helps connect and strengthen solidarity among the OVs in the country, she said.

The work has proved effective in improving children's communication skills in daily life and helps them understand more about the history, traditions and cultural identity of Vietnam.

The Prime Minister recently approved a project on designating September 8 as the Day for Honouring the Vietnamese Language in Vietnamese Communities Abroad.

By honoring the Vietnamese language, the project also aims to contribute to building stable, close-knit and strong overseas Vietnamese communities who always think of and actively contribute to their motherland; and and help spread the policies of the Vietnamese Party and State as well as the Vietnamese culture among international friends.