On a spring day, listen to the "Ambassador of the Vietnamese Language" tell stories about preserving our roots.

Dr. Nguyen The Duong, a linguist, was born and raised in Hanoi and currently resides in Brisbane, Australia. He co-founded and is currently the director of the "Love Vietnamese" school, which teaches Vietnamese to Vietnamese expatriate students. In 2024, he was honored with the title "Ambassador of the Vietnamese Language" by the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese. Living far from his homeland, he constantly reminds himself and connects Vietnamese expatriate children around the world to their Vietnamese roots.

Hanoi is always a place to return to.

Mr. Duong shared: “I remember and love the opening line of the song “Remembering Hanoi” by composer Hoang Hiep: “No matter where I go in the world, my heart will always remember Hanoi.” As a son of Hanoi living abroad, my heart always holds a place for Hanoi, where my parents, many friends, and countless unforgettable memories reside. Hanoi is always present and close to me, from the daily stories in my family to the lessons in class for Vietnamese students living abroad all over the world .”

Dr. Nguyen The Duong, a linguist, during a visit to Hanoi.

Mr. Duong is a descendant of the Nguyen Dong Tac family, a lineage with over 20 generations and approximately 600 years of settlement in Thang Long - Hanoi. In the family's ancestral temple in Dong Tac, there is still a large calligraphic inscription with four characters: "Dich The Thi Thu," meaning "Continuing the tradition of learning and teaching." This inscription reminds every descendant that no matter how times change or where they live, preserving learning and knowledge is the best way to show gratitude to their ancestors. Furthermore, for Mr. Duong, "Dich The Thi Thu" is not just about learning, but more broadly, about cultural conduct. Therefore, he always strives to follow the teachings of his ancestors in his Vietnamese language teaching and daily life.

Currently an administrator for the Nguyen Dong Tac family information page on Facebook, the more he learns about the history and development of the family, the clearer he sees the depth of family tradition, as well as the responsibility of today's generation in preserving and spreading those values. Each old historical source, each story about ancestors, each milestone in the family's development journey makes him feel that he is standing in a very long stream of history, where each generation has contributed to building it with knowledge, character, and dedication to society.

Mr. Duong's family celebrated the Lunar New Year of the Horse in Australia.

In his family, there's an unwavering rule: they always communicate exclusively in Vietnamese. Everyday conversations revolve around various topics, including memories and recollections of Vietnam and Hanoi. This helps his children feel a strong connection to their grandparents, relatives, and cultural roots, even while living far from their homeland.

A few years ago, Mr. Duong participated in compiling the book "Genealogy of the Nguyen Dong Tac Family," published by the Vietnam Writers Association Publishing House. When he brought this book to Australia, his children were very interested in reading it, learning about the history of their family, and frequently asking and discussing things related to the family and lineage.

Duong's family preserves the Vietnamese Tet holiday as a way of preserving their roots and homeland.

He often tells his children about Hanoi, about its old streets, about the family life of the people of Hanoi, about how their grandparents taught their children to live decently and to respect their elders. He also tries to arrange to return to Vietnam at least once a year. Each time he comes back, he always makes time to take his children to visit relatives, the ancestral temple, and walk through the old streets, so that his children can experience it firsthand, not just through stories. For his family, Hanoi is a place to return to.

Mr. Duong, along with his child and students from the "Love Vietnamese" school, on a tour of Hanoi in 2023. For Mr. Duong's family, Hanoi is always a place to return to.

After each such trip back to his roots, Mr. Nguyen The Duong always feels the positive development of Hanoi. New roads are opening, modern urban areas are springing up rapidly, and the pace of life has become much more vibrant. This shows the strong development of Hanoi in its role as the economic , cultural, and educational center of the country. Hanoi is also striving to preserve and develop more green parks and ecological zones to improve the quality of life for its people. The old quarters, traditional cultural spaces, and historical values ​​continue to be preserved so that future generations can still appreciate the cultural depth of the city.

According to him, these are the things that make up the soul of Hanoi and are one of the characteristics that help the capital develop sustainably. And Hanoi will never become a "copy" of any other city. Hanoi will always be unique.

Connecting with the roots of Vietnamese expatriate children.

In Australia, the Vietnamese Language Love School, which Duong co-founded and directs, currently has thousands of students from over 30 countries around the world. They all share a common "denominator": Vietnamese – their mother tongue.

For the "Love Vietnamese" School, teaching Vietnamese is also teaching Vietnamese culture. These two things are closely related and inseparable. Therefore, in its teaching activities, the "Love Vietnamese" School always strives to integrate culture into each lesson. For example, when learning vocabulary about family, students will learn more about the culture of respecting elders; when learning about food, they will learn more about customs, traditions, and festivals; when learning about fairy tales, they will understand more about the philosophy of life and moral principles in Vietnamese culture.

Students from the Vietnamese Language Lovers School performed the song "Floating Water Lilies and Drifting Clouds".

A young Vietnamese child and his father perform the song "Tet Holiday in My Hometown" in Australia.

Children wear traditional Vietnamese long dresses to celebrate Tet (Vietnamese New Year).

Vietnamese children in Australia performed a cultural show showcasing Vietnamese traditions, organized by the Love Vietnamese School.

In addition to classes, "Loving Vietnamese" also organizes many cultural activities such as the annual "Loving Tet" program, the "Loving Art" program to raise funds for flood victims, and annual student gatherings in various locations such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Brisbane, Sydney, etc., so that the children can live in a Vietnamese cultural community and become familiar with many cultural activities such as making Do paper, Vietnamese calligraphy, playing folk games, etc. Thanks to this, the children not only "know Vietnamese" but also "live in a Vietnamese cultural space" even though they are born and raised abroad.

The 2026 Tet Gala program, organized online by the Vietnamese Language Love School, attracted a large number of students from many countries.

This year, during the Lunar New Year of the Horse, the Vietnamese Language Lovers School organized an online cultural program, the "Love Tet 2026 Gala," and received many captivating and outstanding performances from students from many countries around the world. There were songs and melodies from their homeland that evoked deep emotions from the moment the children began to sing. For example, the string quartet performance of "Rice Drum" by four young children from Brisbane. In a setting steeped in Australian culture, a familiar homeland melody resonated, along with the traditional Vietnamese costumes and the rice drum, stirring feelings of nostalgia for home in everyone. Many performances were meticulously staged by amateur "directors"—the parents themselves.

During Tet (Vietnamese New Year), "Loving the Vietnamese Language" also guides students in making New Year's greeting cards for grandparents and parents, and writing about Tet memories. The handwriting may be childish, but it contains so much affection, respect, and gratitude towards their roots, grandparents, and parents.

For its efforts over the past period, the School for the Love of the Vietnamese Language has just been awarded a Certificate of Commendation by the Consulate General of Vietnam in Sydney for its outstanding contributions to teaching, promoting, and preserving the Vietnamese language in Australia.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/ngay-xuan-nghe-su-gia-tieng-viet-ke-chuyen-gin-giu-nguon-coi-733990.html