A seminar entitled “Understanding Vietnam: Vietnamese language of French origin – Witness of Ages” opened in the French capital city of Paris on Jan. 11.

The event was jointly organised by the General Union of Vietnamese in France, the Centre for Information and Documentation on Contemporary Vietnam (CID) and the France-Vietnam Friendship Association.

At the event, Prof. Nguyen Quy Dao, director of the French National Institute for Scientific Research highlighted the history of formation and development of Vietnamese language as well as its changes through periods.

With a collection of about 600 Vietnamese words of French origin and numerous examples presented at the seminar, Prof. Dao held that French language has had influences on the development of Vietnamese language from the past to the present./.