Ngo Thi Kim Viet is in a Vietnamese session via Zoom with her nephew, a Vietnamese man living in the US for over 40 years.
Prompted by her love of her mother tongue, Viet has also been teaching at language centres in the US whenever she has spare time. She has bought language teaching books along with those on the culture and history of Vietnam, and also used images and videos from the internet to compile her own lesson plans.
Preliminary figures show that, there are nearly 200 establishments and centres teaching the Vietnamese language in the US, mainly in states with large Vietnamese communities, like California, Texas, and Washington D.C., but most are of small scale and dependent upon voluntary teachers.
The development of technology has bridged all distance. Now, Vietnamese people in the US of all ages don’t need to attend classes at church or at temples. They can easily learn Vietnamese online, through the dedicated efforts of individuals like Mrs Viet.
This method of learning is practical, effective, and accessible to the younger generation of Vietnamese, contributing to the preservation and promotion of awareness about their roots, affection towards the homeland, and the distinctive identity of the Vietnamese nation./.
