The proposal was discussed at a workshop held on November 30 by the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Quang Hieu stated, that for the community of 5.3 million Vietnamese people living and working in more than 130 countries and territories, the Vietnamese language is both the national pride and the firm foundation of the Vietnamese culture.
Over the past years, the safeguarding of the Vietnamese language in overseas Vietnamese communities has recorded important results but still faces many difficulties due to the shortage of qualified teachers and learning materials.
The Vietnamese language is facing risks of sinking into oblivion among overseas Vietnamese communities, especially in younger generations.
Therefore, it is necessary to have a policy to honour the beauty, value and history of the Vietnamese language so as to further promote the teachings and learnings of the language in overseas Vietnamese communities.
Participants at the workshop all underlined the importance of a day to honour the Vietnamese language in order to maintain and promote Vietnamese culture in Vietnamese communities overseas.
According to Dr Nguyen Thien Nam from the VNU University of Social Sciences and Humanities, September 8 should be selected, as it was the day when the movement known as Binh Dan Hoc Vu was launched in 1945 to eradicate illiteracy.
He noted that in order to honour the Vietnamese language, it is necessary to organise the teaching and learning of the language in the most effective way.
At the workshop, the Department for Continuing Education under the Ministry of Education and Training also backed the selection of September 8 and proposed organising a contest on writing Vietnamese textbooks and create an online portal for learning Vietnamese.
