Tokyo (VNA) – A total of 889 Japanese candidates participated in the 7th Vietnamese-language proficiency test held at the Japan College of Foreign Languages (JCFL) in Tokyo on June 16.
The candidates from 39 localities across Japan are those who study or do jobs relating to Vietnamese such as Vietnamese language students at universities, translators, and those who want to explore Vietnam and Vietnamese people, especially Vietnamese food.
The average age of the candidates is about 40 while the oldest candidate is 86 years old and the youngest one is just 8 years old.
Fujino Masayoshi, chairman of the association of Southeast Asian nations’ foreign language exchange in Japan, said this year, the test attracted a record number of candidates across Japan.
The association holds the test annually, offering Japanese learners a playground to test their Vietnamese language proficiency except in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.
Ise Yoji, Chairman of the Bunsai Gakuen Non-Profit Education Foundation, said that the record number of candidates shows the increased interest of Japanese people in Vietnamese language.
He hoped that Vietnamese will become a foreign language that is widely recognised across the world.
The Vietnamese language proficiency test is held annually to standardise and popularise the Vietnamese language in Japan. The 8th edition of the test is scheduled for June 15, 2025./.
