Vietnam Selects Korean as First Foreign Language... Taught from 3rd Grade Elementary School

[Asia Economy Reporter Woo Su-yeon] The Vietnamese government has selected Korean as the first foreign language following English, Chinese, Japanese, French, and Russian.

According to the Korean Embassy in Vietnam and the Ho Chi Minh Korean Education Center on the 4th, the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training added Korean and German as first foreign languages on the 9th of last month.

In Vietnam, the first foreign language is taught as an elective subject from the 3rd grade of elementary school, and the second foreign language is taught from middle school. Previously, Vietnam began pilot education by adopting Korean as a second foreign language in some middle schools starting in 2017, and in 2019, Korean was officially selected as a second foreign language.

With this designation as a first foreign language, from the new semester starting in August, there is now a basis to teach Korean to students from the 3rd grade of elementary school. However, considering the time needed for textbook development and teacher training, it is expected to take a considerable amount of time before classes actually begin in the field.

South Korea's Ministry of Education plans to actively support the promotion of Korean language education in Vietnam through collaboration with the Korean Embassy in Vietnam and the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training, including the development of textbooks, learner workbooks, teacher guides, teacher training, and dispatching Korean teachers.