A Vietnamese woman who came to Taiwan 17 years ago is now passing on the love for her mother tongue to local learners and children of cross-national marriages.

Every evening, locals of all ages and backgrounds gather in a classroom in Kaohsiung City in Taiwan to attend a Vietnamese class run by Tran Lam Phung.

The learners are taught to pronounce simple words in Vietnamese such as ‘xin chao’ (hello), ‘cam on’ (thank you) and ‘tam biet’ (goodbye).

The oldest ‘student’ in the class, Hoang Trong Khanh, said he worked at a cellphone store during the day and took Phung’s class at night to learn the basics of Vietnamese for his future plans in Vietnam.

The 62-year-old man had visited Vietnam once with his daughter and had since fallen in love with the Southeast Asian country.

“I want to go back to explore Vietnamese culture and cuisine,” Khanh said, adding that his dream is to travel to Vietnam as soon as he retires three years from now.

For Ngo Gia Hoa, 38, learning Vietnamese is a way of overcoming the language and culture barriers between him and his wife.

“I try to learn Vietnamese so that when I visit Vietnam, I can order my own food without having to ask my wife for help,” Hoa said humorously.

Phuong Di Hung, 49, learns Vietnamese to better communicate with his Vietnamese colleagues at the workplace.

Phung, the founder and teacher of the class, moved to Taiwan in 2000 after getting married to her Taiwanese husband.

“Teaching Vietnamese is my main job,” Phung said.

“Nowadays, many Taiwanese people learn the language to travel and communicate with their Vietnamese spouses. Children of these couples also learn Vietnamese to understand their parents.

“I’m glad to be able to help more Taiwanese understand the language and culture of Vietnam.”  

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