Vietlong Travel

VIETNAM GEOGRAPHY

Parent Category: Vietnam

Published on Tuesday, 30 November 1999 00:00

VIETNAM GEOGRAPHY

VIETNAM SUBDIVISIONS

Parent Category: Vietnam

Published on Tuesday, 30 November 1999 00:00

VIETNAM SUBDIVISIONS

The capital of Vietnam is Hanoi (it had served as the capital of North Vietnam), and the largest and most populous city is the Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon, it had served as the capital of South Vietnam). Vietnam is subdivided into 64 provinces, which are further subdivided into districts and municipalities. Vietnamese provinces are in theory controlled by a People's Council, elected by the inhabitants. The People's Council appoints a People's Committee, which acts as the executive arm of the provincial government. This arrangement is a somewhat simplified version of the situation in Vietnam's national government. The provincial governments are expected to be subordinate to the central government. Often, the Vietnamese government groups the various provinces into eight regions. These regions are not always used, and alternative classifications are possible:

SUBDIVISIONS OF VIETNAM
The Northwest ( Tay Bac) contains four inland provinces in the west of Vietnam's northern part. Two of them are along Vietnam's border with Laos, and one borders China.
The Northeast ( Dong Bac) contains eleven provinces that lie to north of the highly populated Red River lowlands. Many of these provinces are mountainous.
The Red river delta (Dong Bang Song Hong) contains the small but populous provinces based around the Red River. There are nine provinces in this region. It also includes the national capital, Hanoi, and the municipality of Haiphong
The North central coast (Bac Trung Bo) contains six provinces in the northern half of Vietnam's narrow central part. All provinces in this region stretch from the coast in the east to Laos in the west.
The South central coast (Nam Trung Bo) contains five coastal provinces in the southern half of Vietnam's central part. Vietnam is wider at this point than in the North Central Coast region, and so the inland areas are separate provinces.
The Central highlands (Tay Nguyen) contains the five inland provinces of south-central Vietnam. Much of this region is mountainous, while mostly inhibited by ethnic minorities, there are many Vietnamese living here.
The Southeast (Dong Nam Bo) contains those parts of lowland southern Vietnam which are north of the Mekong delta. There are seven provinces, plus the municipality of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon).
The Mekong river delta (Dong Bang Song Cuu Long) is Vietnam's southernmost region, mostly containing small but populous provinces in the delta of the Mekong. There are twelve provinces, plus the municipality of Can Tho.

VIETNAM CLIMATE

Parent Category: Vietnam

Published on Tuesday, 30 November 1999 00:00

VIETNAM CLIMATE

VIETNAM PEOPLE

Parent Category: Vietnam

Published on Tuesday, 30 November 1999 00:00

VIETNAM PEOPLE

VIETNAM NATIONAL FLAG & HISTORY

Parent Category: Vietnam

Published on Tuesday, 30 November 1999 00:00

VIETNAM NATIONAL FLAG & HISTORY

VIETNAM LANGUAGES

Parent Category: Vietnam

Published on Tuesday, 30 November 1999 00:00

VIETNAM LANGUAGES

Geographic distribution
As the national language of the majority ethnic group, Vietnamese is spoken throughout Vietnam by the Vietnamese people, as well as by ethnic minorities. It is also spoken in overseas Vietnamese communities, most notably in the United States, where it has more than one million speakers and is the seventh most-spoken language (it is 3rd in Texas, 4th in Arkansas and Louisiana, and 5th in California). In Australia, it is the sixth most-spoken language.
According to the Ethnologue, Vietnamese is also spoken by substantial numbers of people in Australia, Cambodia, Canada, China, Côte d'Ivoire, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Laos, Martinique, the Netherlands, New Caledonia, Norway, the Philippines, the Russian Federation, Senegal, Taiwan, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Vanuatu.

Genealogical classification
Vietnamese was identified more than 150 years ago to be part of the Mon-Khmer branch of the Austroasiatic language family (a family that also includes Khmer, spoken in Cambodia, as well as various tribal and regional languages, such as the Munda and Khasi languages spoken in eastern India, and others in southern China). Later, Mường was found to be more closely related to Vietnamese than other Mon-Khmer languages, and a Việt-Mường sub-grouping was established. As data on more Mon-Khmer languages were acquired, other minority languages (such as Thavưng, Chứt languages, Hung, etc.) were found to share Việt-Mường characteristics, and the Việt-Mường term was renamed to Vietic. The older term Việt-Mường now refers to a lower sub-grouping (within an eastern Vietic branch) consisting of Vietnamese dialects, Mường dialects, and Nguồn (of Quảng Bình Province).

Language policy
While spoken by the Vietnamese people for millennia, written Vietnamese did not become the official administrative language of Vietnam until the 20th century. For most of its history, the entity now known as Vietnam used written classical Chinese, whereas written Vietnamese in the form of Chữ nôm was invented in the 13th century and extensively used in the 17-18 centuries for poetry and literature. Chữ nôm was used for administrative purposes during the brief Hồ and Tây Sơn Dynasties. During French colonialism, French superseded Chinese in administration. It was not until independence from France that Vietnamese was used officially. It is the language of instruction in schools and universities and is the language for official business.

History
It seems likely that in the distant past, Vietnamese shared more characteristics common to other languages in the Austroasiatic family, such as an inflectional morphology and a richer set of consonant clusters, which have subsequently disappeared from the language. However, Vietnamese appears to have been heavily influenced by its location in the Southeast Asian sprachbund, with the result that it has acquired or converged toward characteristics such as isolating morphology and tonogenesis. These characteristics, which may or may not have been part of Proto-Austro-Asiatic, nonetheless have become part of many of the phylogenetically unrelated languages of Southeast Asia; for example, Thai (one of the Kradai languages), Tsat (a member of the Malayo-Polynesian group within Austronesian), and Vietnamese each developed tones as a phonemic feature, although their respective ancestral languages were not originally tonal.[citation needed] At present, Vietnamese has similarities with both Chinese and French due to the influence of the French presence.
The ancestor of the Vietnamese language was originally based in the area of the Red River in what is now northern Vietnam, and during the subsequent expansion of the Vietnamese language and people into what is now central and southern Vietnam (through conquest of the ancient nation of Champa and the Khmer people of the Mekong Delta in the vicinity of present-day Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), characteristic tonal variations have emerged.

Vietnamese was linguistically influenced primarily by Chinese, which came to predominate politically in the 2nd century B.C. With the rise of Chinese political dominance came radical importation of Chinese vocabulary and grammatical influence. As Chinese was, for a prolonged period, the only medium of literature and government, as well as the primary written language of the ruling class in Vietnam, much of the Vietnamese lexicon in all realms consists of Hán Việt (Sino-Vietnamese) words. In fact, as the vernacular language of Vietnam gradually grew in prestige toward the beginning of the second millennium, the Vietnamese language was written using Chinese characters (using both the original Chinese characters, called Hán tự, as well as a system of newly created and modified characters called Chữ nôm) adapted to write Vietnamese, in a similar pattern as used in Japan (kanji), Korea (hanja), and other countries in the Sinosphere. The Nôm writing reached its zenith in the 18th century when many Vietnamese writers and poets composed their works in Chữ Nôm, most notably Nguyễn Du and Hồ Xuân Hương (dubbed "the Queen of Nôm poetry").

As contact with the West grew, the Quốc Ngữ system of Romanized writing was developed in the 17th century by Portuguese and other Europeans involved in proselytizing and trade in Vietnam. When France invaded Vietnam in the late 19th century, French gradually replaced Chinese as the official language in education and government. Vietnamese adopted many French terms, such as đầm (dame, from madame), ga (train station, from gare), sơ mi (shirt, from chemise), and búp bê (doll, from poupée). In addition, many Sino-Vietnamese terms were devised for Western ideas imported through the French. However, the Romanized script did not come to predominate until the beginning of the 20th century, when education became widespread and a simpler writing system was found more expedient for teaching and communication with the general population.

Vocabulary
As a result of a thousand years of Chinese occupation, much of the Vietnamese lexicon relating to science and politics is derived from Chinese. At least 60% of the vocabulary has Chinese roots, not including naturalized word borrowings from China, although many compound words are Sino-Vietnamese, composed of native Vietnamese words combined with Chinese borrowings. One can usually distinguish between a native Vietnamese word and a Chinese borrowing if it can be reduplicated or its meaning does not change when the tone is shifted. As a result of French colonization, Vietnamese also has words borrowed from the French language, for example cà phê (from French café). Nowadays, many new words are being added to the language's lexicon; these are usually borrowed from English, for example TV (though usually seen in the written form as tivi). Sometimes these borrowings are calques literally translated into Vietnamese for example, 'software' is calqued into phần mềm, which literally means "soft part".

Phonology
Vowels
Like other southeast Asian languages, Vietnamese has a comparatively large number of vowels. Below is a vowel diagram of Hanoi Vietnamese.

Front, central, and low vowels (i, ê, e, ư, â, ơ, ă, a) are unrounded, whereas the back vowels (u, ô, o) are rounded. The vowels â [ə] and ă [a] are pronounced very short, much shorter than the other vowels. Thus, ơ and â are basically pronounced the same except that ơ [əː] is long while â [ə] is short — the same applies to the low vowels long a [aː] and short ă [a].
In addition to single vowels (or monophthongs), Vietnamese has diphthongs and triphthongs. The diphthongs consist of a main vowel component followed by a shorter semivowel offglide to a high front position [ɪ], a high back position [ʊ], or a central position [ə].

The centering diphthongs are formed with only the three high vowels (i, ư, u) as the main vowel. They are generally spelled as ia, ưa, ua when they end a word and are spelled iê, ươ, uô, respectively, when they are followed by a consonant. There are also restrictions on the high offglides: the high front offglide cannot occur after a front vowel (i, ê, e) nucleus and the high back offglide cannot occur after a back vowel (u, ô, o) nucleus[10].
The correspondence between the orthography and pronunciation is complicated. For example, the offglide [ɪ̯] is usually written as i however, it may also be represented with y. In addition, in the diphthongs [aɪ̯] and [aːɪ̯] the letters y and i also indicate the pronunciation of the main vowel: ay = ă + [ɪ̯], ai = a + [ɪ̯]. Thus, tay "hand" is [taɪ̯] while tai "ear" is [taːɪ̯]. Similarly, u and o indicate different pronunciations of the main vowel: au = ă + [ʊ̯], ao = a + [ʊ̯]. Thus, thau "brass" is [tʰaʊ̯] while thao "raw silk" is [tʰaːʊ̯].
The four triphthongs are formed by adding front and back offglides to the centering diphthongs. Similarly to the restrictions involving diphthongs, a triphthong with front nucleus cannot have a front offglide (after the centering glide) and a triphthong with a back nucleus cannot have a back offglide.
With regards to the front and back offglides [ɪ̯, ʊ̯], many phonological descriptions analyze these as consonant glides /j, w/. Thus, a word such as đâu "where", phonetically [ɗəʊ̯], would be phonemicized as /ɗəw/.

Tones

Pitch contours and duration of the six Northern Vietnamese tones as uttered by a male speaker (not from Hanoi). Fundamental frequency is plotted over time. From Nguyễn & Edmondson (1998).

Vietnamese vowels are all pronounced with an inherent tone. Tones differ in:

Tone is indicated by diacritics written above or below the vowel (most of the tone diacritics appear above the vowel; however, the nặng tone dot diacritic goes below the vowel).[12] The six tones in the northern varieties (including Hanoi) are:

Other dialects of Vietnamese have fewer tones (typically only five). See the language variation section for a brief survey of tonal differences among dialects.
In Vietnamese poetry, tones are classed into two groups:

Tone group
Tones within tone group
bằng "level, flat"
ngang and huyền
trắc "oblique, sharp"
sắc, hỏi, ngã, and nặng
Words with tones belonging to particular tone group must occur in certain positions with the poetic verse.

Consonants
The consonants that occur in Vietnamese are listed below in the Vietnamese orthography with the phonetic pronunciation to the right.
 

Some consonant sounds are written with only one letter (like "p"), other consonant sounds are written with a two-letter digraph (like "ph"), and others are written with more than one letter or digraph (the velar stop is written variously as "c", "k", or "q").
Not all dialects of Vietnamese have the same consonant in a given word (although all dialects use the same spelling in the written language). See the language variation section for further elaboration.
The analysis of syllable-final orthographic ch and nh in Hanoi Vietnamese has had different analyses. One analysis has final ch, nh as being phonemes /c, ɲ/ contrasting with syllable-final t, c /t, k/ and n, ng /n, ŋ/ and identifies final ch with the syllable-initial ch /c/. The other analysis has final ch and nh as predictable allophonic variants of the velar phonemes /k/ and /ŋ/ that occur before upper front vowels i /i/ and ê /e/. (See Vietnamese phonology: Analysis of final ch, nh for further details.)

Language variation
There are various mutually intelligible regional varieties (or dialects), the main four being:

Vietnamese has traditionally been divided into three dialect regions: North, Central, and South. However, Michel Fergus and Nguyễn Tài Cẩn offer evidence for considering a North-Central region separate from Central. The term Haut-Annam refers to dialects spoken from northern Nghệ An Province to southern (former) Thừa Thiên Province that preserve archaic features (like consonant clusters and undiphthongized vowels) that have been lost in other modern dialects.

These dialect regions differ mostly in their sound systems (see below), but also in vocabulary (including basic vocabulary, non-basic vocabulary, and grammatical words) and grammar.[14] The North-central and Central regional varieties, which have a significant amount of vocabulary differences, are generally less mutually intelligible to Northern and Southern speakers. There is less internal variation within the Southern region than the other regions due to its relatively late settlement by Vietnamese speakers (in around the end of the 15th century). The North-central region is particularly conservative. Along the coastal areas, regional variation has been neutralized to a certain extent, while more mountainous regions preserve more variation. As for sociolinguistic attitudes, the North-central varieties are often felt to be "peculiar" or "difficult to understand" by speakers of other dialects.

It should be noted that the large movements of people between North and South beginning in the mid-20th century and continuing to this day have resulted in a significant number of Southern residents speaking in the Northern accent/dialect and, to a lesser extent, Northern residents speaking in the Southern accent/dialect. Following the Geneva Accords of 1954 that called for the "temporary" division of the country, almost a million Northern speakers (mainly from Hanoi and the surrounding Red River Delta areas) moved South (mainly to Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City, and the surrounding areas.) About a third of that number of people made the move in the reverse direction.

Following the reunification of Vietnam in 1975-76, Northern and North-Central speakers from the densely populated Red River Delta and the traditionally poorer provinces of Nghe An, Ha Tinh and Quang Binh have continued to move South to look for better economic opportunities. Additionally, government and military personnel are posted to various locations throughout the country, often away from their home regions. More recently, the growth of the free market system has resulted in business people and tourists traveling to distant parts of Vietnam. These movements have resulted in some small blending of the dialects but, more significantly, have made the Northern dialect more easily understood in the South and vice versa. It is also interesting to note that most Southerners, when singing modern/popular Vietnamese songs, would do so in the Northern accent. This is true in Vietnam as well as in the overseas Vietnamese communities.

Regional variation in grammatical words

 

The syllable-initial ch and tr digraphs are pronounced distinctly in North-central, Central, and Southern varieties, but are merged in Northern varieties (i.e. they are both pronounced the same way). The North-central varieties preserve three distinct pronunciations for d, gi, and r whereas the North has a three-way merger and the Central and South have a merger of d and gi while keeping r distinct. At the end of syllables, palatals ch and nh have merged with alveolars t and n, which, in turn, have also partially merged with velars c and ng in Central and Southern varieties.

Regional consonant correspondences

In addition to the regional variation described above, there is also a merger of l and n in certain rural varieties:

l, n variation

Variation between l and n can be found even in mainstream Vietnamese in certain words. For example, the numeral "five" appears as năm by itself and in compound numerals like năm mươi "fifty" but appears as lăm in mười lăm "fifteen". (See Vietnamese syntax: Cardinal numerals.) In some northern varieties, this numeral appears with an initial nh instead of l: hai mươi nhăm "twenty-five" vs. mainstream hai mươi lăm.
The consonant clusters that were originally present in Middle Vietnamese (of the 17th century) have been lost in almost all modern Vietnamese varieties (but retained in other closely related Vietic languages). However, some speech communities have preserved some of these archaic clusters: "sky" is blời with a cluster in Hảo Nho (Yên Mô prefecture, Ninh Binh Province) but trời in Southern Vietnamese and giời in Hanoi Vietnamese (initial single consonants /ʈʂ, z/, respectively).

Tones
Generally, the Northern varieties have six tones while those in other regions have five tones. The hỏi and ngã tones are distinct in North and some North-central varieties (although often with different pitch contours) but have merged in Central, Southern, and some North-central varieties (also with different pitch contours). Some North-central varieties (such as Hà Tĩnh Vietnamese) have a merger of the ngã and nặng tones while keeping the hỏi tone distinct. Still other North-central varieties have a three-way merger of hỏi, ngã, and nặng resulting in a four-tone system. In addition, there are several phonetic differences (mostly in pitch contour and phonation type) in the tones among dialects.

Regional tone correspondences

The table above shows the pitch contour of each tone using Chao tone number notation (where 1 = lowest pitch, 5 = highest pitch); glottalization (creaky, stiff, harsh) is indicated with the symbol; breathy voice with ; glottal stop with ; sub-dialectal variants are separated with commas. (See also the tone section below.)

Grammar
Vietnamese, like many languages in Southeast Asia, is an analytic (or isolating) language. Vietnamese does not use morphological marking of case, gender, number or tense (and, as a result, has no finite/nonfinite distinction).[18] Also like other languages in the region, Vietnamese syntax conforms to Subject Verb Object word order, is head-initial (displaying modified-modifier ordering), and has a noun classifier system. Additionally, it is pro-drop, wh-in-situ, and allows verb serialization.
Some Vietnamese sentences with English word glosses and translations are provided below.

Writing system
Main article: Vietnamese alphabet
Currently, the written language uses the Vietnamese alphabet (quốc ngữ or "national script", literally "national language"), based on the Latin alphabet. Originally a Romanization of Vietnamese, it was codified in the 17th century by a French Jesuit missionary named Alexandre de Rhodes (1591–1660), based on works of earlier Portuguese missionaries (Gaspar do Amaral and António Barbosa). The use of the script was gradually extended from its initial domain in Christian writing to become more popular among the general public.

Under French colonial rule, the script became official and required for all public documents in 1910 by issue of a decree by the French Résident Supérieur of the protectorate of Tonkin. By the end of first half 20th century virtually all writings were done in quốc ngữ.
Changes in the script were made by French scholars and administrators and by conferences held after independence during 1954–1974. The script now reflects a so-called Middle Vietnamese dialect that has vowels and final consonants most similar to northern dialects and initial consonants most similar to southern dialects (Nguyễn 1996). This Middle Vietnamese is presumably close to the Hanoi variety as spoken sometime after 1600 but before the present. (This is not unlike how English orthography is based on the Chancery Standard of late Middle English, with many spellings retained even after significant phonetic change.)

Before French rule, the first two Vietnamese writing systems were based on Chinese script:

 

• the standard Chinese character set called chữ nho (scholar's characters,

VIETNAM GOVERNMENT

Parent Category: Vietnam

Published on Tuesday, 30 November 1999 00:00

VIETNAM GOVERNMENT

VIETNAM RELIGIONS

Parent Category: Vietnam

Published on Tuesday, 30 November 1999 00:00

VIETNAM RELIGIONS

Although most Vietnamese list themselves as having no religious affiliation, religion, as defined by shared beliefs and practices, remains an integral part of Vietnamese life, dictating the social behaviours and spiritual practices of Vietnamese individuals in Vietnam and abroad. The triple religion (Vietnamese: tam giáo), referring to the syncretic combination of Mahayana Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism remains a strong influence on the beliefs and practices of the Vietnamese, even if the levels of formal membership in these religious communities may not reflect that influence. One of the most notable and universal spiritual practices common to Vietnamese is ancestor veneration, a practice shared with Chinese and most other Asian cultures. Practically all Vietnamese, regardless of formal religious affiliation, have an altar in their home or business where prayers are offered to their ancestors. These offerings and practices are done frequently during important traditional or religious celebrations (e.g., death anniversaries), the starting of a new business, or even when a family member needs guidance or counsel. Belief in ghosts and spirits is common; it is commonly believed that failing to perform the proper rituals for one's ancestors will cause them to become hungry ghosts (Vietnamese: ma đói).
A 2002 Pew Research Center report claimed that only 24% of the population of Vietnam view religion as "very important".

History
The earliest forms of Vietnamese religious practice were animistic and totemic in nature. The decorations on Dong Son bronze drums, generally agreed to have ceremonial and possibly religious value, depict the figures of birds, leading historians to believe birds were objects of worship for the early Vietnamese. Dragons were another frequently recurring figure in Vietnamese art, arising from the veneration of Lạc Long Quân, a mythical dragon-king who is said to be the father of the Vietnamese people. The Golden Turtle God Kim Qui was said to appear to kings in times of crisis, notably to Lê Lợi, from whom he took the legendary sword Thuận Thiên after it had been dropped into Hoan Kiem Lake. Besides animals, mountains, rivers, and other entities of the natural environment were believed to have spirits, protecting humans who worshipped adequately and punishing those whose worship was lacking. Contact with Chinese civilization, and the introduction of the triple religion of Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism, added a further ethical and moral dimension to the indigenous Vietnamese religion.

Religious freedom
The Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam formally allows religious freedom. In 2007, Viet Nam News reported that Viet Nam has six religions recognised by the State: (Buddhism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, Cao Dai, and Hoa Hao), but that the Baha’i Community of Viet Nam had been awarded a "certificate of operation" from the Government's Committee for Religious Affairs. In 2007, the Committee for Religious Affairs was reported to have granted operation registration certificates to three new religions and a religious sect in addition to six existing religions. Every citizen is declared to be allowed to freely follow no, one, or more religions, practice religion without violating the law, be treated equally regardless of their religion, be protected from being violated in their religious freedom, but is prohibited to use religion to violate the law.
In fact, there are some limitations in religious practice in Vietnam. Foreign missionaries legally are not allowed to proselytize or perform religious activities. No other religions than those 8 are allowed to propagate. Preachers and religious associations are prohibited to use religion to propagate ideologies that are against the government. Many Vietnamese preachers who fled for America and other countries say that they were suppressed by the Communist government for no or unreasonable reasons. However, legal preachers and religious associations working in Vietnam today are aided and honored by the government.
The Vietnamese government has been criticized for its religious violations mostly by the United States, the Vatican, and among overseas Vietnamese who oppose the Communist government. However, due to recent improvements in liberty of religion, the United States no longer considers Vietnam a Country of Particular Concern. The Vatican has also considered negotiations with Vietnam about freedom for Vietnamese Catholics.
Despite some substantial tries by the Vietnamese government to improve its international image and ease restrictions on religious freedom, the cases of dissident religious leaders persecution did not stop in the last years. The general secretary of the Mennonite Church in Vietnam and religious freedom advocate Nguyen Hong Quang was arrested in 2004, and his house razed to the ground [7]. Christian Montagnards and their house churches continue to suffer from state control and restrictions.[8] In March, 2007, a member of the main Hanoi congregation of the legally recognized Evangelical Church of Vietnam (North) Nguyen Van Dai was arrested for accusations relating to his defense of religious freedom, including disseminating alleged "infractions" of religious liberty .

Buddhism
Amitabha Buddha, the master of the Pure Land, blesses a female devotee in this relief at Quan Am Pagoda, Cholon.
Buddhism came to Vietnam as early as the second century CE through the North from central Asia and via Southern routes from India. Mahayana Buddhism first spread from China to Vietnam's Red River Delta region around 300 BC. Theravada Buddhism arrived from India into the southern Mekong Delta region many years later, between 300-600 AD. Buddhism as practiced by the ethnic Vietnamese is mainly of the Mahayana school, although some ethnic minorities (such as the Khmer Krom in the southern Delta region of Vietnam) adhere to the Theravada school.
Buddhist practice in Vietnam differs from that of other Asian countries, and does not contain the same institutional structures, hierarchy, or sanghas that exist in other traditional Buddhist settings. It has instead grown from a symbiotic relationship with Taoism, Chinese spirituality, and the indigenous Vietnamese religion, with the majority of Buddhist practitioners focusing on devotional rituals rather than meditation.
Most, if not all, demographic estimates list Buddhism as the dominant religious belief system in Vietnam, although, due to the unique nature of Vietnamese Buddhist practice, exact membership figures vary. Recent estimates given by Vietnamese sources seem to indicate that, of Vietnam's 20 million religionists, 50%—10 million—were registered Buddhist "followers". Other estimates may vary greatly depending on methodology; some claim that between three-quarters to half of Vietnam's population are at least "nominally Buddhist", whereas others give figures as low as 9% . Scholars have argued that the higher figures would indicate that, even if they fail to identify themselves as followers, a preponderance of Vietnamese at least define their spiritual needs using a Buddhist world view, regardless of differences in practice.

Pure Land
Pure Land Buddhism is a broad branch of Mahayana Buddhism and is said to be one of the most popular schools of Buddhism in Vietnam, in which practitioners commonly recite sutras, chants and dharanis looking to gain protection from bodhisattvas or Dharma-Protectors. While Pure Land traditions, practices and concepts are found within Mahayana cosmology, and form an important component of Buddhist traditions in Vietnam, Pure Land Buddhism was not independently recognized as a sect of Buddhism (as Pure Land schools have been recognized, for example, in Japan) until 2007, with the official recognition of the Vietnamese Pure Land Buddhism Association as an independent and legal religious organization.

Hòa Hảo
Hòa Hảo is a religious tradition, based on Buddhism, founded in 1939 by Huỳnh Phú Sổ, a native of the Mekong River Delta region of southern Vietnam. Adherents consider So to be a prophet, and Hòa Hảo a continuation of a 19th-century Buddhist ministry known as Buu Son Ky Huong ("Strange Perfume from Precious Mountains", referring to the That Son range on the Vietnam-Cambodia border). The founders of these traditions are regarded by Hòa Hảo followers as living Buddhas—destined to save mankind from suffering and to protect the Vietnamese nation. An important characteristic of Hòa Hảo is its emphasis on peasant farmers, exemplified by the old slogan "Practicing Buddhism While Farming Your Land." Hòa Hảo also stresses the practice of Buddhism by lay people in the home, rather than focusing primarily on temple worship and ordination. Aid to the poor is favored over pagoda building or expensive rituals.
Today, as an officially recognized religion, it claims approximately two million followers throughout Vietnam; in certain parts of the Mekong Delta, as many as 90 percent of the population practice this tradition. Since many of the teachings of Huỳnh Phú Sổ related in some way to Vietnamese nationalism, adherence to Hòa Hảo outside of Vietnam has been minimal, with a largely quiescent group of followers presumed to exist among the Vietnamese diaspora in the United States.

Tứ Ân Hiếu Nghĩa
Tứ Ân Hiếu Nghĩa ("Four Debts of Gratitude"), a Buddhist sect based in An Giang Province, is one of the most recently registered religions in Vietnam. It is based on the teachings of Ngô Lợi (1831–1890). Official government statistics report that Tứ Ân Hiếu Nghĩa claimed over 70,000 registered followers and 476 religious leaders as of 2005, centred in 76 places of worship spread across 14 provinces, mainly in Southern Vietnam.

Christianity
By far the most widespread Christian religion in Vietnam, Roman Catholicism first entered the country through Portuguese catholic missionaries in the 16th century and strengthened its influence during French colonial rule. While the earliest missions were only mildly successful at gaining converts, later missions by Jesuit missionaries eventually saw the definitive establishment of Christian centres within the local population.
Jesuit missionary Alexandre De Rhodes, who worked in Vietnam between 1624 and 1644, was perhaps the most notable missionary of this period. Among other achievements, he made a significant and lasting contribution to Vietnamese culture by developing a written system of Vietnamese language in concert with Vietnamese scholars. The use of this system, which largely used the Roman alphabet with added diacritic markings, was originally intended to help reinforce teaching and evangelization efforts. This system, which was based on the work of earlier Portuguese missionaries, is still in use today, and is now referred to as Quốc Ngữ (national language).
The French missionary priest Pigneau de Behaine played a key role in Vietnamese history towards the end of the 18th century by befriending Nguyễn Ánh, the most senior of the ruling Nguyễn lords to have escaped the rebellion of the Tây Sơn brothers in 1777. Becoming Nguyễn Ánh's loyal confidant, benefactor and military advisor during his time of need, he was able to gain a great deal of favor for the Church. During Nguyễn Ánh's subsequent rule as Emperor Gia Long, the Catholic faith was permitted unimpeded missionary activities out of his respect to his benefactors. By the time of the Emperor's accession in 1802, Vietnam had 3 Catholic dioceses with 320,000 members and over 120 Vietnamese priests.
According to the Catholic Hierarchy Catalog, there are currently 5,658,000 Catholics in Vietnam, representing 6.87% of the total population. There are 26 dioceses (including three archdioceses) with 2228 parishes and 2668 priests.

Protestantism
Protestantism was introduced to Da Nang in 1911 by a Canadian missionary named Robert A. Jaffray; over the years, he was followed by more than 100 missionaries, members of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, an Evangelical Protestant denomination. The two officially recognized Protestant organizations recognized by the government are the Southern Evangelical Church of Vietnam (SECV), recognized in 2001, and the smaller Evangelical Church of Vietnam North (ECVN), recognized since 1963[34].
Present estimates of the number of Protestants range from the official government figure of 500,000 to claims by churches of 1 million. Growth has been most pronounced among members of minority peoples (montagnards) such as the Mnong, Ede, Jarai, and Bahnar, with internal estimates claiming two-thirds of all Protestants in Vietnam are members of ethnic minorities. By some estimates, the growth of Protestant believers in Vietnam has been as much as 600 percent over the past ten years. Some of the new converts belong to unregistered evangelical house churches, whose followers are said to total about 200,000.
Baptist and Mennonite movements were officially recognized by Hanoi in October, 2007, which was seen as a notable improvement in the level of religious freedom enjoyed by Vietnamese Protestants. Similarly, in October 2009, the Assemblies of God movement received official government permission to operate, which is the first step to becoming a legal organization.
The Assemblies of God were said to consist of around 40,000 followers in 2009, the Baptist Church around 18,400 followers with 500 ministers in 2007, and The Mennonite Church around 10,000 followers.

Russian Orthodox
The Russian Orthodox Church is represented in Vũng Tàu, Vietnam, mainly among the Russian-speaking employees of the Russian-Vietnamese joint venture "Vietsovpetro". The parish is named after Our Lady of Kazan icon was opened in 2002 with the blessing of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, which had been given in Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra. The representatives of the foreign relations department of the Russian Orthodox Church come to Vũng Tàu from time to time to conduct the Orthodox divine service.
Vietnam is also mentioned as territory under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan of Hong Kong & Southeast Asia Nikitas (Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople), though there is no information on its organized activities there.

Cao Đài
Cao Đài is a relatively new, syncretist, monotheistic religion, officially established in the city of Tây Ninh, southern Vietnam, in 1926. The term Cao Đài literally means "Kingdom of Heaven", or figuratively, the highest place where God reigns. Adherents credit God as the religion's founder, believing the teachings, symbolism and organization were communicated directly from God. Cao Đài's first disciples, Ngô Văn Chiêu, Cao Quỳnh Cư, Phạm Công Tắc and Cao Hoài Sang, claimed to have received direct communications from God, who gave them explicit instructions for establishing a new religion that would commence the Third Era of Religious Amnesty. Adherents engage in ethical practices such as prayer, veneration of ancestors, nonviolence, and vegetarianism with the minimum goal of rejoining God the Father in Heaven and the ultimate goal of freedom from the cycle of birth and death.
Official government records counted 2.2 million registered Cao Đài followers in 2005[13]; most outside sources give 2 to 3 million. Some estimates are as high as 8 million adherents in Vietnam. An additional 30,000 (numbers may vary) (primarily ethnic Vietnamese) live in the United States, Europe, and Australia.

Islam
Adherence to Islam in Vietnam is primarily associated with the Cham ethnic minority, although there is also a Muslim population of mixed ethnic origins, also known as Cham, or Cham Muslims, in the southwest (Mekong Delta) of the country. Islam is assumed to have come to Vietnam much after its arrival in China during the Tang Dynasty (618–907), through contact with Arab traders. Although the Chams follow a localised adaptation of Islamic theology, they consider themselves Muslims. However, they pray only on Fridays and celebrate Ramadan for only three days. Circumcision is performed not physically, but symbolically, with a religious leader making the gestures of circumcision with a wooden toy knife.
A 2005 census counted over 66,000 Muslims in Vietnam, up from 63,000 in 1999. Over 77% lived in the Southeast Region, with 34% in Ninh Thuan Province, 24% in Binh Thuan Province, and 9% in Ho Chi Minh City; another 22% lived in the Mekong River Delta region, primarily in An Giang Province. In Ninh Thuan Province, where most of the Cham in Vietnam reside, Cham Bani (Muslim Cham) number close to 22,000. Out of the 22 villages in Ninh Thuan, 7 are Muslim.

Hinduism
Much like Islam, adherence to Hinduism in Vietnam is associated with the Cham ethnic minority; the first religion of the Champa kingdom was a form of Shaivite Hinduism, brought by sea from India. The Cham people erected Hindu temples (Bimong) throughout Central Vietnam, many of which are still in use today; the now-abandoned Mỹ Sơn, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is perhaps the most well-known of Cham temple complexes.
Approximately 50,000 ethnic Cham in the south-central coastal area practice a devotional form of Hinduism. Most of the Cham Hindus belong to the Nagavamshi Kshatriya caste, but a considerable minority are Brahmins[43]. Another 4,000 Hindus (mostly Tamil, and otherwise of Cham or mixed Indian-Vietnamese descent) live in Ho Chi Minh City, where the Mariamman Temple acts as a focal point for the community. In Ninh Thuan Province, where most of the Cham in Vietnam reside, Cham Balamon (Hindu Cham) numbers 32,000; Out of the 22 villages in Ninh Thuan, 15 are Hindu.

Judaism
The first Jews to visit Vietnam likely arrived following the French colonization of the country, in the latter half of the 19th century. There are a handful of references to Jewish settlement in Saigon sprinkled through the pages of the Jewish Chronicle in the 1860s and 1870s.
As late as 1939, the estimated combined population of the Jewish communities of Haiphong, Hanoi, Saigon and Tourane in French Indo-China numbered approximately 1,000 individuals. In 1940 the anti-Semitic Vichy-France "Statute on Jews" was implemented in French Indo-China (Vietnam), leading to increased restrictions and widespread discrimination against Jews. The anti-Jewish laws were repealed in January 1945.
Prior to the French evacuation of Indochina in 1954, the Jewish population in Indochina (which encompassed Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia) was reportedly 1,500; most of these Jews were said to have left with the French, leaving behind no organized Jewish communal structure. In 1971, about 12 French Jews still remained in South Vietnam, all in Saigon. In 2005, the U.S. State Department's "International Religious Freedom Report" noted "There were no reported anti-Semitic incidents during the period covered by this report. The country's small Jewish population is comprised almost entirely of expatriates."

Bahá'í Faith
Established in the 1950s, the Vietnamese Bahá'í community once claimed upwards of 200,000 followers, mainly concentrated in the South.[48] The number of followers dwindled as a result of the banning of the practice of the Bahá'í Faith after the Vietnam War. After years of negotiation, the Bahá'í Faith was registered nationally in 2007, once again receiving full recognition as a religious community. In 2009 it was reported that the Bahá'í community has about 7,000 followers and 73 assemblies.

Other religions
Đạo Mẫu
The term "Đạo Mẫu" refers to the worship of mother goddesses in Vietnam. While scholars like Ngô Đức Thịnh propose that it represents a systematic mother goddess cult, the term draws together fairly disparate beliefs and practices. These include the worship of goddesses such as Thiên Y A Na, The Lady of the Realm (Bà Chúa Xứ), The Lady of the Storehouse (Bà Chúa Kho) and Princess Liễu Hạnh, legendary figures like Âu Cơ, the Trung Sisters (Hai Bà Trưng), and Lady Trieu (Bà Triệu), as well as the cult of the Four Palaces. Đạo Mẫu is commonly associated with spirit mediumship rituals—known in Vietnam as lên đồng—much as practiced in other parts of Asia, such as Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong. Although the Communist government had initially proscribed the practice of such rituals, deeming them to be superstitions, they relented in 1987, once again legalizing their practice.

VIETNAM ECONOMY

Parent Category: Vietnam

Published on Tuesday, 30 November 1999 00:00

VIETNAM ECONOMY

VIETNAM EDUCATION SYSTEM

Parent Category: Vietnam

Published on Tuesday, 30 November 1999 00:00

VIETNAM EDUCATION SYSTEM

Education in Vietnam is divided into five levels: pre-primary, primary, intermediate,secondary, and higher education.Formal education consists of twelve years of basic education. Basic education consists of five years of primary education, four years of intermediate education, and three years of secondary education. The majority of basic education students are enrolled on a half-day basis.
With one of the highest GDP growths rates in Asia,[1] Vietnam is currently trying to overhaul its education system, with a view to preparing students for the increasing role of English as the language of business and the importance of internationalising the education system to maintain a workforce equipped to maintain the rapid economy growth of the last two decades

In comparison with other developing countries, Viet Nam's population enjoys a relatively high standard of education.
Whilst Confucian-style higher education in Viet Nam may be traced back to the 11th century, the modern pattern of universal primary, secondary and tertiary education has a relatively short history of development. The 1917 Law on Education passed by the French colonial government abolished the Confucian education system and replaced it with an education system modelled loosely on that of France. However, that new system remained fundamentally elitist, reaching only an estimated three per cent of the indigenous population and functioning primarily as a means of training civil servants for colonial service throughout French Indochina.
In the wake of the August Revolution of 1945, and especially after the victory in the war of resistance against the French in 1954, the new government was faced with an illiteracy rate of over 85 per cent of the Vietnamese population and accordingly resolved to make education a priority. The education reforms of 1945 and 1950 established a basic system of national education comprising pre-school programmes, primary and secondary schools, popular education for adults and a network of colleges and universities. Similar reforms were also undertaken between 1945 and 1975 by the Sà i Gòn regime. In the wake of Reunification primary and secondary schools were brought under the control of the Ministry of Education and Training, whilst colleges and universities were brought under the management of the Ministry of Higher Education; since that time a series of further measures have been enacted by central government in conjunction with provincial and municipal authorities to create a fully-integrated national education system.
Primary and secondary education is provided by the government through 13,355 basic and 1,157 secondary schools and is free to all. Since the advent of doi moi a small network of private and semi-private primary and secondary schools has also begun to develop. Primary education commences at the age of 6 (grade 1) and continues to the age of 10/11 (grade 5). Secondary education commences at the age of 11 (grade 6) and continues to the age of 17 (grade 12). In some areas government school facilities cannot accommodate all of the children at once, so students attend in shifts at different times of the day. The school week runs from Monday to Saturday. All children are encouraged to finish secondary school.
In addition to general secondary schools, Viet Nam also has just under 300 secondary vocational schools which allow specialisation in such fields as industry, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, economics, teacher training, medicine, gymnastics and sports and culture and arts.
College or university education normally commences at 18 years of age. There are currently 110 public higher education institutions in Viet Nam, including 23 colleges and 27 universities (including five state Universities, Ha Noi National University, Ho Chi Minh City National University, the University of Hue, the University of Thai Nguyen, the University of Da Lat). Numerous semi-public and private universities and colleges have also been established in recent years; Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam's centre for science and technology, now has 14 such institutions, accounting for around 30 per cent of the country's total. The students attending these schools make up approximately 18 per cent of the total number of university students nationwide.
Since secondary vocational and tertiary education are no longer free, but there is stiff competition through examination for the limited number of places. A limited number of scholarships is available for gifted students.
In the early years of the 21st century the Vietnamese education system continues to face many challenges, including poor infrastructure, lack of equipment and teaching materials, low wages precipitating an acute shortage of skilled teachers and academic staff, and a relatively poor linkage of higher education with research, production and employment. However, against a background of such overwhelming difficulty the achievements of the last half century have been impressive. Official figures currently put Viet Nam's literacy rate at between 78 and 84 per cent, with 97 per cent of school-age children at school, 99 per cent of 6-year-olds in first grade, 90 per cent of 11-year-olds graduating from primary school and 98.5 per cent of children aged 14 completing junior secondary education. A pioneering new bilingual primary education programme implemented in selected mountainous regions to create greater opportunities for ethnic minority children has been hailed as a model of educational reform in the region and is currently being considered by other countries such as Thailand, India, Laos, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. Since the early 1990s too, the quality of university graduates has improved significantly and the reputation of many of the country's numerous research institutions has become firmly established overseas.

Pre-primary education
Public kindergartens usually admit children ranging from 18 months to 5 years of age. Sometimes, four- or five-year-old children are taught the alphabet and basic arithmetic. This level of education tends to be popular in major cities such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Hai Phong, Can Tho and Vung Tau.
Primary education
Children normally start primary education at the age of six. Education at this level lasts for 5 years and is compulsory for all children. The country's literacy rate is over 90%.
Intermediate education

Junior high school includes sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth grade. Until its abolition in 2006, students had to pass the Intermediate Graduation Examination (IGE) presented by the local Department of Education and Training to graduate. This educational level is homogeneous throughout most of the country, except in very remote provinces, which expect to popularize and standardize middle education within the next few years. Intermediate education is not compulsory in Vietnam.
Secondary education

Secondary education consists of grades ten through to twelve. The IGE is a prerequisite entrance examination for secondary schooling. The IGE score determines the schools at which students are able to enroll. The higher the score, the more prestigious the school.

Students are not free to choose what they study. To graduate, students must pass the following courses:

*Literature
*Mathematics (consisting of algebra, calculus and geometry)
*Physics
*Chemistry
*Biology
*History
*Geography
*Civic (generally consists of law and ethics)
*Foreign language (mostly English; Chinese, French and Russian are taught at some specialized schools)
*Technology (consists of Agriculture/Horticulture, Mechanics, Electronics, Design, etc.)
*Information Technology (Recently introduced, yet to be implemented in poorer regions. Students study basic programming in languages such as Visual FoxPro, Visual Basic and Pascal)
*Physical Education
Advanced classes consists of either:
*Natural sciences: Students follow an advanced curriculum (and different textbooks) in mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology.
*Social sciences: Students follow an advanced curriculum (and different textbooks) in literature, history, geography and foreign language.
At the start of secondary school, students can enroll in Specialist Classes if their grades from the previous year are good enough. These students specialize in a particular subject; this can be any of the subjects listed above, except Technology, Physical Education and Civics. Students enrolled in these programs have a heavier workload than regular secondary school students. The workload varies from school to school, but grade 11 students are generally expected to study grade 12 courses concurrently. Other courses include university-level courses. Some schools go as far as requiring their students to finish secondary school by the end of grade 10.
Only prestigious schools offer these classes, and they have yet to be standardized.
Leaving Examination

All students in Vietnam are required to take the national Leaving Examination at the end of grade 12 to get a diploma. The Leaving Examination is administered by the Ministry of Education and Training. Students still have to pass their regular end-of-term examinations along with passing the Leaving Examination.
The Leaving Examination includes six subjects: mathematics, Vietnamese literature, foreign language and three others determined by the Ministry of Education and Training. Students usually sit for The Leaving Examination in late May or early June.
Higher education

University entrance is based on the scores achieved in the entrance examination. High school graduates need high scores to be admitted to universities. Securing a place in a public university is considered a major step towards a successful career, especially for those from rural areas or disadvantaged families. The pressure on the candidates therefore remains very high despite the measures taken to reduce the importance of these exams. In 2004, it was estimated that nearly one million students took the exam, but on average only 20% passed.
Normally, candidates take three exams; each lasts 180 minutes for the fixed group of subjects they choose. There are 4 fixed groups of subjects:
*Group A: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry
*Group B: Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry
*Group C: Literature, History, Geography
*Group D: Literature, Foreign Language, Mathematics
Besides, there are also groups H, M, N, R, T and V.
Candidates have a total of four attempts at the examination.
Most of Vietnam's universities also offer master's (2 years) and Doctor of Philosophy (4 years) degrees.
In addition to universities, there are community colleges, art and technology institutes, professional secondary schools, and vocational schools which offer degrees or certificates after courses lasting from a-few-months to 2-years.
Private universities
According to Vietnam's Ministry of Education and Training, there are currently 23 private universities, accounting for 11% of the total. These private universities are currently training 119,464 students, 11.7% of the total student body. The government is planning to increase the private universities' share of the sector to 30% by 2011.[citation needed]

The presence of foreign universities is increasing. Universities such as RMIT and University of Hawaii offer degrees in fields such as business, English as a Second Language and Information Technology. Running a foreign education system in Vietnam is challenging. Quality control and affordability are key issues, as well as red tape and dealing with corrupt government officials.
Teaching quality issues
The entire higher education system is facing several crises such as outdated curricula, a lecturer-centered method of teaching and learning, a lack of linkage between teaching and research activities, and a large discord between theory and practical training that leads to a large number of graduates being unable to find a job while skills shortages drive inflation to double-digit levels.

Aside from degrees offered by foreign universities, qualifications from Vietnamese universities are not recognized worldwide.
Teaching methods delivered in the public system are teacher-oriented. Class discussions are uncommon, and students are expected to be studious and passively attentive in the classroom. This method is a reflection of colonial influence and is a sharp contrast to American and British pedagogy, where interaction and debate are more prominent.
Advanced and specialized high school students are generally expected to study additional courses, which can amount to a total of nine periods a day. Parents also enroll their children cram schools. The regular teachers usually teach these cram sessions themselves as a means of supplementing their income. Students who do not attend these sessions are usually at a disadvantage.

Public schools are under-funded. Currently, only primary schools are subsidized by the government to 50% of the total tuition cost. The drop-out rate after fifth grade is high and most students cannot afford to attend higher senior high school and university due to poverty. The average monthly salary of local Vietnamese public teachers is between 60USD and 100USD, so many supplement their income by working in the private sector or as tutors.
Private language centers offering English as a Second Language are in high demand in the larger cities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Students flock to these schools to increase their employment opportunities. These classes are usually taught by foreign expatriates who are generally paid between 10USD-20USD per hour, depending on both their qualifications and the quality of the school. Lower standards in some of the lower-paying schools have resulted in low-quality teachers (known to the local community as "backpacker teachers") proliferating.
Teachers have been criticized for engaging in a culture of ignoring students and colleagues' plagiarism.