Ambassadors spreading Vietnamese culture

"I only help my Algerian friends communicate in Vietnamese" - This was the statement of Nguyen Thi Thu Loan, "Ambassador of the Vietnamese Language 2024," a Catholic nun in Algeria, when asked about her activities in spreading the Vietnamese language and culture through teaching Vietnamese abroad.

"Ambassador" Nguyen Thi Thu Loan (wearing glasses) with Algerian friends at the Vietnamese Embassy in Algeria.

Sister Nguyen Thi Thu Loan was born in 1968 in Da Lat ward, Lam Dong province. She has lived, studied, and worked in various countries including France, Italy, Austria, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, and Jordan. By chance, the Little Sisters of Jesus Congregation sent Sister Loan to live and work in Algeria since 2015, a country where she wishes to settle permanently. Over 10 years of living in Algeria, the affection of the Algerian people and the solidarity of the Vietnamese community there have strengthened her in her journey to spread love for Vietnam in general, and the Vietnamese language in particular, in this distant African country.

The Vietnamese community in Algeria is currently very small, consisting mainly of Algerian workers and a group of 48 families with Algerian husbands and Vietnamese wives. They comprise approximately 1,000 individuals who are Algerians of Vietnamese descent or have partial Vietnamese ancestry.

Most Algerians of Vietnamese descent immigrated to Vietnam after marrying their husbands in 1964. Their husbands, Foreign Legion soldiers sent by the French colonialists to fight in Vietnam, married and became sons-in-law of Vietnam. Very few of the second-generation mixed-race children can communicate in Vietnamese, while the third generation can barely speak any Vietnamese at all.

Ms. Loan visited each family, inquiring about their well-being, chatting, and sharing in their daily joys and sorrows. She said, "Only through communication can people understand and connect with each other, and only through communication can they learn to speak quickly. In school and in daily life, they are taught and communicate in Arabic and French. During my free time, on weekends or holidays, I visit the families and chat with them in Vietnamese. Many of the second and third-generation mixed-race children have visited Vietnam, but their language skills and understanding of the country are still very limited."

Deeply attached to the Vietnamese language and with a desire to preserve its purity, Ms. Loan has helped second and third-generation Vietnamese children in Algeria to speak and write Vietnamese, accompanying them in exploring Vietnamese culture through traditional clothing, scenic spots, and cuisine .

In 2015, when she started working in Algeria, Loan lived in the town of Béni-Abbes, in the southwest of the country, nestled in the heart of the Sahara Desert. The only language she spoke was French, but very few people spoke it. Over time, the townspeople taught her Arabic, and she taught them Vietnamese. Once she had a decent vocabulary, Loan began telling the townspeople about Vietnam and listening to their stories about Algeria's history. Gradually, she also taught the locals how to cook traditional dishes from her homeland, such as making Vietnamese sausage, spring rolls, and fried nem (a type of Vietnamese sausage), using chicken instead of pork, and especially how to use chopsticks. She also introduced them to the traditional Vietnamese áo dài dress and conical hat worn by Vietnamese women.

In 2019, Loan moved to live and work in the capital of Algeria. Along with her administrative work at the convent, Loan also volunteers at a library frequently visited by Algerian students.

Upon learning that she was from Vietnam, greetings in Vietnamese were once again uttered by the young Algerians: "Hello, how are you?/ I love Vietnam very much!/ I wish I could visit Vietnam."

One day, the students expressed their desire to perform a Vietnamese song at the school's cultural exchange program. Loan then taught them the song "A Painting of the Countryside" by Van Phung. This is how her journey of teaching Vietnamese to students in the Algerian capital began.

In the following days, Loan diligently volunteered to teach Vietnamese to Algerian students. She provided attentive, one-on-one instruction to anyone who wanted to learn Vietnamese. Day after day, the students...

Algerian students studying with Loan not only learn to communicate in Vietnamese but can also understand Vietnamese song lyrics, short stories, and history.

It was also at this library that Ms. Loan coincidentally met Professor Farouk, who taught English at Bab Ezzouar University. With his four years of teaching experience at the Hanoi University of Business and Technology and his love for Vietnam, he came to the library every day to chat with "Teacher Loan," so as not to forget the Vietnamese he had learned in Vietnam. "Teacher Loan" then read slowly and clearly each sentence and page of the Vietnamese book, recording it for Professor Farouk to use as a learning resource for Vietnamese.

Sharing her plans for spreading the Vietnamese language and culture, Sister Nguyen Thi Thu Loan said: "I'm not teaching, but I'm helping my Algerian friend communicate in Vietnamese. I'm always willing to guide Algerian people or any people from any African country who want to learn and communicate in Vietnamese. Because, no matter where they are, Vietnamese people and

Algeria has always been a true brotherhood, just like when I first came to Algeria and heard the words "Vietnam, Algeria khaowoa, khaowoa" - Vietnam and Algeria are brothers, they are brothers...

Do Anh Ngoc

Source: https://baophutho.vn/su-gia-lan-toa-van-hoa-viet-245069.htm