Work of great significance
After spoken language, written script is the second language system, like a cultural identity card affirming the identity of an ethnic group. Along with economic and social development in minority ethnic regions, preserving and developing culture — including spoken and written language — plays an important role as Vietnam focuses on protecting cultural diversity and ensuring ethnic equality rights already enshrined in the constitution.
Implementing the Party's ethnic policy, the traditional spoken and written languages of the Cham and Khmer people were introduced experimentally in public schools as early as the 1977-1978 academic year.
In the early 1980s, the languages and scripts of ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands with large populations, such as the E De, Ba Na, and Gia Rai, were gradually taught in primary schools.
Ninh Thuan Province with a large Cham community, Dak Lak Province with a large E De population, and Tra Vinh and Soc Trang Provinces with many Khmer people all have textbook compilation committees and teach ethnic scripts in primary school classes with many ethnic minority students. In Dien Bien Province, the Thai and Hmong scripts have been taught for years.
Using their ethnic languages and learning their ethnic scripts have helped children understand more about traditions and customs, integrate better with one another, thereby helping them to better learn the national language and other subjects, gain confidence in integration, and unite for development.
Rising to develop their culture
The Hmong people have the 8th largest population and have settled in Vietnam for more than 300 years. The Hmong want their own written script because they clearly see the benefits of literacy — being able to record customs, write down rituals, songs, document how to make ploughs, hoes, and how to make skirts and shirts... Many also affirm that literacy will help them become more confident so that “we are not inferior to others.”
Since 1961, the Vietnamese Hmong script has been approved by the government for unified use. In the 1960s-70s, the Hmong literacy movement developed quite strongly, but now due to many reasons, the Vietnamese Hmong script only exists in the memory of those who once learned it.
The international Hmong script using Latin characters has advantages of being easy to read and remember, and the Hmong people adopt it very quickly. To date, the international Hmong script has become widespread throughout the world. In the internet age, Hmong people can easily find materials and learn Hmong script online. Hmong youths can make friends, share films and music, or chat on Facebook using international Hmong script anywhere.
About 30 years ago, the international Hmong script began to appear in Vietnam. In areas with large Hmong populations like Lao Cai, Lai Chau, Dien Bien and Son La, the Hmong script has gradually become popular, with the teaching of the Hmong script to children supported by local authorities and gradually becoming established. The journey of the Hmong people in Vietnam to find and develop their written script is an interesting story about the rise and expansion of ethnic cultural values.
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Hmong students learn Hmong script at primary schools. |
Preservation and expansion
The written script carries cultural distinctiveness and is a tool for communication and preserving memory within the community. The Dao Nom script, which records customs and folk knowledge of the Dao people, has been included in the National Intangible Cultural Heritage list by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism since 2012. This form of script is written on “do” paper, fabric, or carved on wood, expressing the content of family genealogies, moral teaching books, songbooks, embroidery instruction books, ritual texts, folk remedies, and guides for choosing auspicious days for housebuilding or wedding ceremonies.
Books and scriptures on palm leaves bearing unique values of Khmer culture have also been listed as National Intangible Cultural Heritage since 2017 for protection and transmission to future generations. Similarly, many cultural values preserved in tens of thousands of pages of documents written in ancient script are passed down within the Cham community. The script, writing methods, writing materials, and even the objects carrying the script all contain spiritual heritage that ethnic groups are proud of and need to cherish as cultural assets.
According to Associate Professor Vuong Xuan Tinh, former Director of the Institute of Ethnology, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences: "In preserving ethnic scripts, alongside the important role of the state, we need to promote the role of communities and informal folk organisations."
With support from various levels of government and socio-political organisations, in coordination with the formal education system, the teaching of ethnic scripts can be expanded and diversified. Those who are literate and respected within their communities can encourage and inspire young people to learn their ethnic script.
