Ngo Si Lien language festival offers unique cultural experiences

The third international language festival of Hanoi’s Ngo Si Lien Secondary School, “Ngo Si Lien – Inspiration 2019”, took place recently under the theme “Once upon a time”, allowing participants to immerse themselves in a unique cultural space and a colourful fairytale world.

The musical drama “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves” by students from classes 6A2, 7A2 and 8A2 bring a lot of fun and excitement to their audience. (Photo: VT)
The musical drama “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves” by students from classes 6A2, 7A2 and 8A2 bring a lot of fun and excitement to their audience. (Photo: VT)

The event drew representatives from the Japan Foundation in Vietnam and the Atlantic Education Group, together with teachers, parents and thousands of Ngo Si Lien students.

In her opening remarks, Pham Thu Ha, Principal of Ngo Si Lien School, emphasised the importance of studying foreign languages in the current era of information technology boom and rapid economic growth.

“Foreign language brings us many opportunities to find jobs and accumulate the cultural knowledge of humanity, thereby contributing significantly to the demand for integration and cooperation between Vietnam and the world. It is not only the key to success, but also the key to opening the door for each person to enter a new path and new worlds.

Pham Thu Ha, Principal of Ngo Si Lien School, delivers her opening remarks. (Photo: VT)

“The International Language Festival is a playground for students to share foreign language learning methods, interact with rich cultures from countries around the world and use the foreign languages they are studying to introduce the Vietnamese people, landscape and culture, and capital city, Hanoi” said Ha.

During the festival, participants were brought back to their dreamy childhood world through familiar fairy tales retold vividly and delightfully by Ngo Si Lien students in the form of musical theatres, such as “Tam Cam”, “Peach Boy”, “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves”, “Cinderella”, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”, and “Little Red Riding Hood”.

Together with the musical theatres, Ngo Si Lien students stirred up the atmosphere with extremely vibrant traditional and modern dances, including “Setsubun” and “Tokyo Bon” (Japan), or dances with songs playing in the background such as “Doraemon”, “Mama Africa” and “For You”, thus bringing the audience unique and exciting experiences about cultures in different lands from around the world.

The highlights of this year’s Language Festival were the elaborate preparations and staging from costumes to performances. The students proved themselves across diverse aspects, such as language skills, knowledge about different cultures, confidence, professionalism and creativeness, after a long period of training at Ngo Si Lien School.

The 2019 Language Festival opens with the sweet and meaningful melody from the song “We are the world”. (Photo: VT)

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Students from classes 6A4, 7A4 and 8A4 retell “Tam Cam”, an exemplary Vietnamese fairy tale, in the form of a musical drama. (Photo: VT)

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A display of Japan’s traditional Setsubun dance entices the audience. (Photo: VT)

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Students from class 8A1 impress with a funny and adorable dance with the backing music of Doraemon playing. (Photo: VT)

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Girls from class 7A11 look graceful as they perform the traditional Japanese dance, “Tokyo Bon”. (Photo: VT)

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Two schoolgirls are presenting about the origin of Japanese fairy tales as well as the meaning of one of the famous Japanese fairy tales, “Peach Boy – Momotaro”. (Photo: VT)

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An elaborate staging of the musical drama, “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves”, by students from classes 6A2, 7A2 and 8A2. (Photo: VT)