Studying in Vietnam, Lao students have the opportunity to gain practical experience and visit many places. This helps them practice listening and communicating in Vietnamese; understand more about the history, traditional culture, country and people of Vietnam, contributing to the friendship between the two countries.
In early March 2023,
T78 Friendship School (Phuc Tho district, Hanoi) organized a visit to the Hung Temple Historical Site - Phu Tho for all Lao students studying at the school. The bus departed early in the morning, taking nearly 200 Lao students and teachers of T78 Friendship School to Phong Chau - the capital of the Van Lang state 4,000 years ago. The space of the relic site is very large, with 4 temples, 1 pagoda and 1 mausoleum in harmony with the natural landscape, with a majestic high terrain, the land is full of the sacred energy of the convergence of mountains and rivers. Mina Xayyavong (19 years old) said: "The road was long, with many high steps. Although we were tired from walking a lot, the stories gave us more motivation. At school, we learned through the internet, and listened to teachers tell us about the legend of the Dragon and Fairy's descendants; the story of a hundred eggs hatching a hundred children; 50 children followed their father Lac Long Quan to the sea, 50 children followed their mother Au Co to the mountains; the eldest son became king of Van Lang and proclaimed himself Hung Vuong... However, the feeling of experiencing reality was so vivid. Through this trip, we learned more about the culture, history, origins, and tradition of "When drinking water, remember its source" of the Vietnamese people. There are few places in
the world that have a common place for the whole country to worship, and there are also few countries where all people worship the same ancestor like Vietnam."
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| Lao students studying at T78 Friendship School during a visit to Hung Temple in March 2023. (Photo: Mina Xayyavong) |
Mina was particularly impressed with the stone stele at the Lower Temple recording President Ho Chi Minh's instructions when he visited the Hung Temple on September 19, 1945 and talked to the officers and soldiers of the Vanguard Army before the army returned to take over the capital
Hanoi : "The Hung Kings had the merit of building the country/We, your uncles and nephews, must work together to protect the country". Meanwhile, Khamphahat Souvongxai (Vietnamese name is Vu Van Hai, 21 years old, a Laotian student at Friendship School 80) did not forget his visit to the "capital" of lychee in Northern Vietnam - Luc Ngan district, Bac Giang province right in the lychee ripening season, June 2023. Hai and his friends visited the 16-hectare lychee garden of Mr. Chu Van Dinh (Phuc Thanh village, Quy Son commune, Luc Ngan district). Here, the children listened to Mr. Dinh introduce the process of producing high-quality lychees that meet VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards for export to EU countries, then visited his family's lychee garden. Hai said: Before coming to Bac Giang, I searched online and learned that Luc Ngan lychees are not only famous domestically but also present in China, Japan, Australia, the US and many other countries... However, when standing in front of the immense lychee garden, turning left, right, in front, behind, all full of fruit, I felt overwhelmed. Laos also grows lychees but not much, the fruit is small and not as sweet and fragrant as Vietnamese lychees. Leaving Luc Ngan lychee garden, Hai and his friends continued to Vinh Nghiem pagoda in Tri Yen commune, Yen Dung district, Bac Giang. Here, the children respectfully worshiped Buddha and attentively listened to the tour guide introduce the "ancient temple" of Bac Giang province. Hai said: this was the first time I had been to an ancient temple in Vietnam. Unlike the colorful and diverse Lao pagodas, Vinh Nghiem pagoda is simply smooth and sharp, but the architecture is symmetrical, balanced and harmonious, including 5 main complexes: Tam Quan, Tam Bao, the first ancestor's house, the bell tower and the second ancestor's house. Hai was very impressed with the wooden bell nearly half a meter long, painted shiny black, with a sound hole with two lines of Sanskrit inscriptions in the pagoda.
Understand and love Vietnam more
According to Ms. Vu Thu Hang, a teacher at Friendship School 80, during the time students study Vietnamese at school, in addition to the lessons in class, the Board of Directors often organizes extracurricular activities for students according to lesson topics such as shopping,
healthcare , services, sports... Students visit Son Tay ancient citadel; Duong Lam ancient village; Vietnamese ethnic cultural and tourism village; visit Uncle Ho's Mausoleum; Ho Chi Minh Museum, One Pillar Pagoda, Temple of Literature - Quoc Tu Giam...
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| Khamphahat Souvongxai (far left) during a visit to Luc Ngan lychee growing area (Bac Giang province) in June 2023. (Photo: Thanh Luan) |
"The trips help students learn about Vietnamese culture, communicate with native people, thereby improving their Vietnamese listening and speaking skills. They also love the country and people of Vietnam more, and have many memories during their time studying at school," said Ms. Hang. Teachers at T78 Friendship School also said: Lessons become more vivid after practical study trips. The teaching method is closely linked to reality, imbued with the breath of life, which is consistently directed by the school's Board of Directors, and each teacher teaching Vietnamese to
Lao students has absorbed and implemented methodically. The students' motivation to learn Vietnamese well has multiplied. In particular, since the 2014-2015 school year, T78 Friendship School has effectively implemented the "homestay" model - taking Lao students to practice at local people's homes. From the initial stage of nearly 80 students, by the 2022-2023 school year, the number of Laotian students participating in the program was more than 160. Although the time staying at local people's homes was short (2-3 weeks), the students participated in many activities such as: cultural and artistic exchanges, learning Lao language, learning Vietnamese singing, Lam Vong dancing, Ba-xa-lop dancing; village sanitation work; visiting martyrs' cemeteries, visiting and studying farming and livestock models of local people... These activities help Laotian students not only have a favorable environment to practice Vietnamese but also have the opportunity to learn about Vietnamese life, culture, customs and people.
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