Prague (VNA) – The 2025 summer Vietnamese language class recently opened at the Sapa Trade Centre – a bustling Vietnamese hub in the Czech Republic, marking the latest step in a quiet but determined effort to preserve the mother tongue for a generation growing up far from their homeland.
In his opening remarks, Director of the Vietnamese language centre at Sapa Nguyen Van Son looked back on its 23 years of spreading the Vietnamese abroad. He also unveiled this year’s summer curriculum, which will be delivered by a team of four experienced and dedicated teachers.
The effort has garnered a mix of public and private backing. First Secretary of the Vietnamese Embassy in the Czech Republic Nguyen Ngoc Long pledged to supply teaching materials and strengthen ties with similar centres abroad.
Duong Viet Dung, head of the education board, highlighted the expansion of the Sapa-based teaching model to other Czech cities, fostering a robust cultural education network. He also shared progress of an online Vietnamese language scheme targeting children in remote areas, aiming for 80% of Vietnamese-origin kids in the Czech Republic to be fluent by 2030.
A notable contribution came from Nguyen Quyet Tien, a local engineer and translator, who donated a set of Vietnamese-Czech-English dictionaries and phrasebooks he compiled himself. He also offered to translate Vietnamese poetry into Czech at no cost to serve teaching.
Hoang Dinh Thang, President of the Saparia company running the trade centre, said if more students keep signing up, he will expand classroom facilities and waive rental fees entirely./.
