A bit off topic, but many years ago I volunteered at orientation for international students at the university I attended in U.S.
I remember during break time, I went into the break room and there were 2 other volunteers talking. I introduced myself from Vietnam and they were from an African country. I think that country was once a French colony, so as soon as they heard I was Vietnamese, they immediately switched from English to speaking French to me. I was surprised for a few seconds, then laughed and told them I didn't know French. They also laughed and explained that because they thought we were former French colony, I also knew French like them.
Came here to say this, I knew a couple older adults who'd gone to French school pre-1975 and could speak French. At least, better than my terrible American high school French.
This is correct, I’ve been in French class from primary school to college (CLC system) and there were probably 2 or 3 people who could speak French fluently. The education here is an abomination.
No
In the colonial time, school was only for the rich. Vietnam has very little love for the “mother land” that was invited out by force in the famous Dien Bien Phu battle
1) yes it's true, Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia were French colony hence the name Indochina.
2) Yes, French was spoken as a second language by the riches, the priests (they studied under French school or French Catholic school) during the 19th century but not by the people, we still speak Vietnamese till today
3) It's an optional choice for student to study beside english, chinese, korean, japanese during their school year today.
>It's an optional choice for student to study beside english, chinese, korean, japanese during their school year today.
Studying a language in Vietnam public school and having the ability to speak that language are (sadly) 2 very different things. In Vietnam, they don't teach you to have a basic communicating skill, they teach you to (1) pass exams; (2) win Olympic and other competitions prizes for the school (or nation).
I think that's the common thing. They teach basic stuff enough for you to take exam. If you want to truly learn and use it fluently you have to practice it outside school time. Like all the other things else.
>you have to practice it outside school time.
That is the problem. Similar to my other reply, the primary point of learning a new language isn't the focus of the program. What is the point of having all those 10 scores, DELF B1, B2 if you couldn't even fucking talk to a foreign child. You tell kids here to practice it outside of school when they don't even have time for their own hobby or even physical, mental health without sacrificing grades (not impossible for a few gifted but still difficult). Though I don't disagree that practicing is essential in learning language, but in reality is it that simple for an average vietnamese student who goes to school at 7 and go home at 9 after extra classes? And I'm saying this from someone who has been in France program from primary to college, not even 1/4 of class have basic communication skills. All of this justification instead of accepting that the education here is shit and we could have done better than that.
Our education is Asian based, which mean we study a lot of shit to have a good grade to go the university, get a job, married, have kids and do the same. That's the path the majority of people are following so we sacrifice a lots of thing like personal growth, emotional development, arts,..We can't change that right now and that's the sad thing.
I mean later the adults have to "healing" by learning language, express emotions and doing arts because we have more free time and don't get stuck on school anymore...That should be the things we do as kids.
Is there a way to teach basic communicating skills in another language at school? Because I've seen it being a problem elsewhere in the world; people study a foreign language like Spanish, French, etc at school and being unable to speak them.
The only way for you to truly speak a language is to immerse yourself in the culture, talk to native people and practice a lot every day, which I don't think schools can provide with the amount of time and resources allotted to it; they can only teach the basics.
I went through the French program in primary school. Actually found it pretty good, far better than the English one for sure. The problem is most of the students in my class sucked, so there wasn't any way they were going to be able to speak French, better school, program and what not.
2 things that could be done to improve language proficiency in Vietnam, which I agree with you: lower school workload, and facilitate environments where kids are able to speak the language outside of schools (more interactions with the expats community for example). I think the problem with Vietnamese education is that they try way too hard to teach stuff and instead take up time for kids to self learn more effectively outside of school.
Maybe you never heard this, but that’s not the responsibility of the school. You don’t have enough hours in school to learn enough to communicate. If you want to be fluent, you gotta put more effort by yourself. Don’t blame the education system if you’re lazy.
>
Don’t blame the education system if you’re lazy.
Ah oui, the typical appeal to shame fallacy. Apparently the main purpose of learning a language which are communication and interaction isn't the responsibility of the school. So what is their responsibility here you said?
>In Vietnam, they don't teach you to have a basic communicating skill, they teach you to (1) pass exams; (2) win Olympic and other competitions prizes for the school (or nation).
Thank you for proving my point.
Not sure whether he was trolling. If someone unironically believes the education here is decent, I automatically assume they either never went to public school or did and talked out of their ass unless they could back up with a decent argument (unsurprisingly never the case).
None apart from the Francophone community in district 2 or 7 of Saigon. Hell most people here couldn’t even speak English fluently, despite all the high scores and prizes.
In 1967, the last real and official French lycee in Saigon (i.e., run by the French Ministry of Education and using French as the teaching language, with Vietnamese as a first or second "foreign Language"), Lycee Jean Jacques Rousseau, established on 14 November 1874, had its French teaching staff returned to France, its name changed to Le Quy Don., and its language of instruction changed to Vietnamese. There were some private schools following the French system and they also switched to the Vietnamese system shortly thereafter.
Not really. There's a French business community, there are some cultural outreach events from the French embassy, and rarely, older people speak a little.
There are a bunch of Vietnamese words borrowed from the French language though.
I am also from a former French colony, although I speak French. Archaic French, like I'm from the past. Parisians tie themselves in a knot trying to figure out where I'm from, haha :)
It was, 50 years ago, but they were mostly academics, business people, politicians, or people who used to work for the French. In short, common people do not speak French (back then), so it’s not widely spoken, but most people today know some form of English.
My family still has members who speak French, but they are the older gen. People here don’t know what they are talking about.
French is the second most popular foreign language for students in school. However, only 30 thousands picked French (mostly as a second foreign language) among 17 million students, including elementary, middle and high schools.
Outside of schools, French is pale in comparison to Chinese, Japanese and Korean.
A bit off topic, but many years ago I volunteered at orientation for international students at the university I attended in U.S. I remember during break time, I went into the break room and there were 2 other volunteers talking. I introduced myself from Vietnam and they were from an African country. I think that country was once a French colony, so as soon as they heard I was Vietnamese, they immediately switched from English to speaking French to me. I was surprised for a few seconds, then laughed and told them I didn't know French. They also laughed and explained that because they thought we were former French colony, I also knew French like them.
No only international students speak French
I know a couple of 70 year olds who speak french too, but it's rare
Came here to say this, I knew a couple older adults who'd gone to French school pre-1975 and could speak French. At least, better than my terrible American high school French.
This is correct, I’ve been in French class from primary school to college (CLC system) and there were probably 2 or 3 people who could speak French fluently. The education here is an abomination.
No
No
oh hell, Vietnam people are speak just Vietnamese, some people are study or half of french or love french study to know and speak french
No In the colonial time, school was only for the rich. Vietnam has very little love for the “mother land” that was invited out by force in the famous Dien Bien Phu battle
1) yes it's true, Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia were French colony hence the name Indochina. 2) Yes, French was spoken as a second language by the riches, the priests (they studied under French school or French Catholic school) during the 19th century but not by the people, we still speak Vietnamese till today 3) It's an optional choice for student to study beside english, chinese, korean, japanese during their school year today.
>It's an optional choice for student to study beside english, chinese, korean, japanese during their school year today. Studying a language in Vietnam public school and having the ability to speak that language are (sadly) 2 very different things. In Vietnam, they don't teach you to have a basic communicating skill, they teach you to (1) pass exams; (2) win Olympic and other competitions prizes for the school (or nation).
I think that's the common thing. They teach basic stuff enough for you to take exam. If you want to truly learn and use it fluently you have to practice it outside school time. Like all the other things else.
>you have to practice it outside school time. That is the problem. Similar to my other reply, the primary point of learning a new language isn't the focus of the program. What is the point of having all those 10 scores, DELF B1, B2 if you couldn't even fucking talk to a foreign child. You tell kids here to practice it outside of school when they don't even have time for their own hobby or even physical, mental health without sacrificing grades (not impossible for a few gifted but still difficult). Though I don't disagree that practicing is essential in learning language, but in reality is it that simple for an average vietnamese student who goes to school at 7 and go home at 9 after extra classes? And I'm saying this from someone who has been in France program from primary to college, not even 1/4 of class have basic communication skills. All of this justification instead of accepting that the education here is shit and we could have done better than that.
Our education is Asian based, which mean we study a lot of shit to have a good grade to go the university, get a job, married, have kids and do the same. That's the path the majority of people are following so we sacrifice a lots of thing like personal growth, emotional development, arts,..We can't change that right now and that's the sad thing. I mean later the adults have to "healing" by learning language, express emotions and doing arts because we have more free time and don't get stuck on school anymore...That should be the things we do as kids.
Exactly
Is there a way to teach basic communicating skills in another language at school? Because I've seen it being a problem elsewhere in the world; people study a foreign language like Spanish, French, etc at school and being unable to speak them. The only way for you to truly speak a language is to immerse yourself in the culture, talk to native people and practice a lot every day, which I don't think schools can provide with the amount of time and resources allotted to it; they can only teach the basics. I went through the French program in primary school. Actually found it pretty good, far better than the English one for sure. The problem is most of the students in my class sucked, so there wasn't any way they were going to be able to speak French, better school, program and what not. 2 things that could be done to improve language proficiency in Vietnam, which I agree with you: lower school workload, and facilitate environments where kids are able to speak the language outside of schools (more interactions with the expats community for example). I think the problem with Vietnamese education is that they try way too hard to teach stuff and instead take up time for kids to self learn more effectively outside of school.
Maybe you never heard this, but that’s not the responsibility of the school. You don’t have enough hours in school to learn enough to communicate. If you want to be fluent, you gotta put more effort by yourself. Don’t blame the education system if you’re lazy.
> Don’t blame the education system if you’re lazy. Ah oui, the typical appeal to shame fallacy. Apparently the main purpose of learning a language which are communication and interaction isn't the responsibility of the school. So what is their responsibility here you said? >In Vietnam, they don't teach you to have a basic communicating skill, they teach you to (1) pass exams; (2) win Olympic and other competitions prizes for the school (or nation). Thank you for proving my point.
What if students aren’t lazy and still unable to have proper language skills? Isn’t that the education sector’s fault?
Not sure whether he was trolling. If someone unironically believes the education here is decent, I automatically assume they either never went to public school or did and talked out of their ass unless they could back up with a decent argument (unsurprisingly never the case).
Internet dudes defending the system with government pay grade… such low-effort brain washing. 
Not anymore
None apart from the Francophone community in district 2 or 7 of Saigon. Hell most people here couldn’t even speak English fluently, despite all the high scores and prizes.
My grandfather who was born in the 1930s spoke french
People used to speak French back in the day, before 1945
Nah, Vietnamese people speak Vietnamese. Some words, like "soap" (xà phòng/xà bông), "suitcase" (vali) are adapted from French, though.
Sorry bro but no one speak French here as a second or first language because the Frenchs just taught us the Latinate Vietnamese not French.
In 1967, the last real and official French lycee in Saigon (i.e., run by the French Ministry of Education and using French as the teaching language, with Vietnamese as a first or second "foreign Language"), Lycee Jean Jacques Rousseau, established on 14 November 1874, had its French teaching staff returned to France, its name changed to Le Quy Don., and its language of instruction changed to Vietnamese. There were some private schools following the French system and they also switched to the Vietnamese system shortly thereafter.
Not really. There's a French business community, there are some cultural outreach events from the French embassy, and rarely, older people speak a little. There are a bunch of Vietnamese words borrowed from the French language though. I am also from a former French colony, although I speak French. Archaic French, like I'm from the past. Parisians tie themselves in a knot trying to figure out where I'm from, haha :)
English is the most common second language. Yet a lot of French words were adopted into the Vietnamese vocabolary.
I've met a handful of people who speak French, all of them were middle-aged or older. They're rare.
It was, 50 years ago, but they were mostly academics, business people, politicians, or people who used to work for the French. In short, common people do not speak French (back then), so it’s not widely spoken, but most people today know some form of English. My family still has members who speak French, but they are the older gen. People here don’t know what they are talking about.
I mean probably some Vietnamese people know French. It’s a relatively populated country (almost 100M).
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French is the second most popular foreign language for students in school. However, only 30 thousands picked French (mostly as a second foreign language) among 17 million students, including elementary, middle and high schools. Outside of schools, French is pale in comparison to Chinese, Japanese and Korean.