As part of activities to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic ties, the new project is co-hosted by the Japanese Embassy and the Japan Foundation Centre for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam.
Speaking at the launch, Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam, Umeda Kunio, said at the International Conference on the Future of Asia in June 2017, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed his wish to enhance the training of Japanese language teachers in three Asian nations.
His embassy and the Japan Foundation highlighted the necessity of this work in Vietnam in their proposal submitted to the Japanese government. As a result, Vietnam was chosen to be one of the three countries in the programme, alongside India and Myanmar.
Emphasising the two countries’ strong relations and the need to train Japanese language teachers, he noted there are about 290,000 Vietnamese in Japan at present, up 6.5-fold in the last seven years. They include 130,000 apprentices and 80,000 students, whose demand for learning Japanese is high. Additionally, the number of people wanting to learn Japanese in public education establishments in Vietnam is also rising.
Therefore, improving the quality and quantity of Japanese language teachers is an urgent need, the diplomat said, adding that 75 high schools in Vietnam teach Japanese, and some primary schools have also piloted the language as a subject.
Introducing the programme, Director of the Japan Foundation Centre for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam, Ando Toshiki, said it comprises of two courses, including one on training new teachers and the other giving intensive training to existing teachers. The first will begin in December and last for about four or five months, while the second will be carried out from now to March 2019.
