In the context of globalization and integration, many Vietnamese families overseas are facing the risk of losing their mother tongue in the younger generation.
In Australia alone, where there are more than 320,000 Vietnamese people living, studies show that only about 68.8% of Vietnamese children can speak Vietnamese and less than 14% have a strong vocabulary like children in Vietnam.
Meanwhile, only 36% of families actively create a “Vietnamese space” at home. These figures show a significant challenge in maintaining the original language and culture.
With that concern, with the sponsorship of ASIF Foundation (a charity fund operating in Australia and Vietnam), the Association of Vietnamese Intellectuals and Professionals in Australia (VASEA) has collaborated with VietSchool Vietnamese Language School in Sydney to implement the VietNEST project - a platform and application for learning Vietnamese for children of Vietnamese origin, aiming to provide a vibrant and rich Vietnamese learning environment in this Oceania country.
On the afternoon of August 7, in Sydney, the event to introduce the VietNEST platform officially took place in a solemn atmosphere, with the presence of Party Central Committee member, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Manh Cuong; Vietnamese Consul General in Sydney Nguyen Thanh Tung, educators, experts, parents and a large number of Vietnamese people.
VietNEST is a Vietnamese language learning program on a digital platform, applying artificial intelligence (AI), for Vietnamese children living abroad.
Abbreviated from the English phrase "Vietnamese Nurturing Education for Science & Traditions", the name VietNEST means a "technology nest" - a place to nurture Vietnamese language, knowledge and cultural identity for the young generation, especially Vietnamese children in Australia and Vietnamese communities around the world.
The program combines modern science education and traditional values, helping students develop academic skills, preserve the Vietnamese language and foster national pride.
VietNEST also equips students with the ability to use Vietnamese to introduce to their friends in their homeland the culture and customs of the country where they live, thereby contributing to promoting two-way exchange between the Vietnamese community in the country and around the world.
Deputy Minister Nguyen Manh Cuong highly appreciated the contributions of VASEA, and emphasized that science and technology and education are two key focuses in socio-economic development.
The Deputy Minister said that recently, the Party and Government have reformed the legal system to remove barriers to domestic scientific research and application activities.
In that context, the Deputy Minister affirmed that the application of modern technology to build electronic textbooks to serve Vietnamese language learning for Vietnamese children abroad is a breakthrough direction that needs to be promoted and expanded.
Deputy Minister Nguyen Manh Cuong also asked Vietnamese diplomatic agencies in Australia to continue supporting VASEA to effectively implement the VietNEST project, as well as develop similar initiatives for the benefit of the community.
For his part, Consul General Nguyen Thanh Tung acknowledged and highly appreciated the contributions of VASEA, Vietschool Vietnamese Language School and ASIF Foundation in preserving the Vietnamese language and maintaining Vietnamese culture in the community.
It can be said that VietNEST is considered a creative solution to overcome the generation and language gap in Vietnamese families in Australia. Through familiar digital technology games combined with AI, VietNEST brings a lively, innovative learning experience, arousing curiosity and interesting surprises for children.
Designed specifically for Vietnamese children aged 5-15, VietNEST integrates many modern AI features such as voice recognition and conversion, game-based learning and especially the ability to self-adjust content, speed, and learning methods according to each child's ability and learning style.
VietNEST is currently in the testing phase to receive feedback from teachers and students of Vietschool. Expected to officially operate to serve the community in November 2025, the VietNEST platform and application will be provided completely free of charge to families and Vietnamese community schools in Australia, in line with the ASIF Foundation's mission of reducing inequality in access to language and cultural education for Vietnamese children around the world.
The project is expected to become a model that can be expanded to Vietnamese communities in other countries, where the story of preserving the Vietnamese language is increasingly urgent.
Mr. Tran Trung Hieu - representative of ASIF Foundation - said that preserving the Vietnamese language abroad is not only the responsibility of each family but also requires the cooperation of the whole community.
With the VietNEST project, ASIF Foundation hopes to create a meaningful, modern learning ecosystem imbued with the spirit and culture of Vietnam. This is also a gift that ASIF Foundation wants to send to the young generation of Vietnamese origin in Australia so that the Vietnamese language is not only preserved and protected, but also continues to develop, which is a very good preparation for them in the process of global integration in the future.
Meanwhile, introducing VietNEST, Mr. Nguyen Tuan Nghia, AI expert and member of VASEA - said that VietNEST was developed with the mission of teaching Vietnamese language and culture through a diverse and rich system of lessons.
The program is built by a team of teachers with extensive experience in teaching and preserving Vietnamese in the Vietnamese community in Sydney.
The learning content is designed according to specific topics, harmoniously combining lectures with illustrations, vivid short videos and interactive games (games and quizzes). This method helps students acquire knowledge about Vietnamese language and culture naturally and effectively.
VietNEST provides a comprehensive management system, including tools for editing and managing lecture content, a classroom and student profile management system, diverse communication channels (public and private) between teachers and students, and tools for tracking individual learning progress, allowing teachers to adjust teaching methods to suit each student.
In addition, VietNEST also integrates modern AI technologies to improve the quality of teaching and learning, supporting teachers through smart tools that automatically suggest lecture content based on input documents, have a system of statistics and predict personal learning outcomes, effective classroom management and interaction tools.
For students, VietNEST has technology to analyze and evaluate pronunciation by region, a system to evaluate and suggest improvements in writing skills, and the Funbox application helps students practice speaking by creating content and main ideas from a specific topic, then allows them to record their speaking passages, from which they use AI technology to guide them to revise their writing, improve the quality of their speaking while still maintaining the original content and spirit expressed by them.
Funbox allows kids to choose a favorite character and uses AI to transcribe the speech in the voice of the character they choose, making learning fun. AI is also used to evaluate and score the speech, thereby providing recommendations and suggestions to improve the child's speaking skills.
As a Vietnamese living and working in Australia and always thinking about his homeland, Professor Nghiem Duc Long - Chairman of VASEA - affirmed that the VietNEST project is not only implemented to meet the practical needs of the Vietnamese community abroad, but is also the passion and contribution of VASEA to both Vietnam and Australia.
Not just a language learning application, VietNEST creates a miniature world with strong Vietnamese colors, where children can "learn while playing, play while learning." The learning content is built into 10 modules with unique cultural themes such as: Tet feast, Hanoi pho, folk songs, famous landscapes of Vietnam, Australia... helping children improve their Vietnamese language skills, while fostering love for their homeland and national pride.
Dr. Tran Hong Van, a linguistic expert and founder of the Vietnamese language school VietSchool, likened VietNEST to a “full sail” for the journey of preserving the Vietnamese language in a foreign land, a huge step forward in teaching and learning Vietnamese.
She hopes that with the VietNEST platform and application, Vietnamese children in Australia in particular and in the Vietnamese community around the world in general can speak their mother tongue fluently, deeply understand Vietnamese culture and proudly bring that heritage around the world./.
Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/du-an-vietnest-to-am-cong-nghe-giu-lua-tieng-viet-tai-australia-post1054519.vnp
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