First held in 2023, the Search for Vietnamese Language Ambassadors Abroad competition contributes to spreading and preserving Vietnamese in overseas Vietnamese communities.

It aims to identify and honor outstanding individuals who are skilled in using, inspiring, promoting, and teaching Vietnamese effectively abroad. The initiative also helps build a network of Vietnamese language ambassadors - cultural and linguistic bridges between Vietnam and international friends.

After two years, the competition has garnered attention and participation from Vietnamese communities across the globe. These ambassadors have brought renewed energy to the teaching of Vietnamese, especially to younger generations living overseas.

Dr. Tran Hong Van (Australia), a 2023 Vietnamese Language Ambassador, conducts research and communication on the topic of "Preserving the mother tongue" for children of Vietnamese origin living overseas. She has also volunteered to teach Vietnamese at Inner West Vietnamese Language School (2018 - 2019), Montessori Preschool (2018 - 2020), and has opened free Vietnamese classes at her home for young children in the Vietnamese community in Croydon, Sydney.

In addition to teaching, she promotes creative initiatives such as "Just one sentence a day" and "Reading with your child." She is currently applying experiential cultural teaching, videos, and interactive methods to enhance Vietnamese learning and promote cultural identity among the young generation abroad.

Drawing from her academic background in language research and teaching, Dr. Tran Hong Van has helped Vietnamese flourish not only within the diaspora but also sparked interest in Vietnamese among foreigners.

In Laos, Vietnamese has become a second language used in daily life. For the first time, the 2024 Vietnamese Language Ambassador competition honored a foreign national - lecturer Lanny Phetnion from the National University of Laos.

Vietnamese has brought Lanny both professional success and meaningful personal experiences. She has served as a bilingual MC at many significant Vietnam-Laos events.

With her rich vocabulary, she has become a cultural bridge, helping preserve and promote Vietnamese heritage in Laos.

Through her Vietnamese-Laotian language center, Lanny has published two accelerated language textbooks and is currently working on additional handbooks.

She teaches Vietnamese both in person and online, offering free classes to Lao children, children from multicultural families, and Vietnamese children born and raised in Laos.

According to Lanny, while languages like English and Chinese are popular in Laos, Vietnamese holds a vital place. Many Laotians speak fluent Vietnamese and have a deep understanding of Vietnamese culture.

In her role as a Vietnamese Language Ambassador, Lanny Phetnion shared, “The more I work and interact with Vietnamese people, the more I love the language and want to learn more about the country, its culture, and people. I hope to play a small part in connecting the Lao and Vietnamese communities, strengthening the great, exemplary, faithful, and pure relationship between our two Parties, States, and peoples.”

In 2025, after the launch of the next Vietnamese Language Ambassador competition in late March, Vietnamese embassies around the world began sharing announcements and receiving enthusiastic responses from the global Vietnamese community.

Nguyen Anh Dung