- JICA and Dalat University held a Japanese language education sharing session on July 10–11, gathering 8 JICA volunteers and 12 Vietnamese instructors from top universities across Vietnam.
- Workshops addressed key student challenges such as low speaking confidence, poor pronunciation, and declining motivation at advanced levels.
- Celebrating 30 years of JICA volunteer presence in Vietnam (1995–2025), over 750 volunteers have contributed to grassroots development, especially in Japanese language education.
On July 10 and 11, volunteers from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), in collaboration with Dalat University, held their annual sharing session to promote the development of Japanese language education in Vietnam.
The session gathered eight JICA volunteers who work on Japanese language education and 12 Vietnamese Japanese language lecturers who are working at key institutions such as: University of Social Sciences and Humanities - Vietnam National University, Hanoi; University of Languages and International Studies - Vietnam National University, Hanoi; Hanoi University; Hai Phong University; Quy Nhon University; University of Foreign Languages - Hue University; University of Foreign Languages - University of Da Nang; and Dalat University.
These Vietnamese instructors are the everyday co-workers of the JICA volunteers in their Japanese study classes. While every university has its own curriculum, study materials, and study objectives, the JICA volunteers noticed shared problems among students - particularly shyness when talking, poor pronunciation, and fear of approaching native speakers.
They also found that students' study motivation for learning Japanese decreases, especially at upper levels. In order to solve these problems, the volunteers and their coworkers conducted workshops to share experience and tactics on enhancing the quality of conversational classes, making classes more interesting, creating effective tests, and enhancing student enthusiasm. They also read common case examples in order to derive meaningful conclusions.
During the ceremony, Mr. Kobayashi Yosuke, Chief Representative of the JICA Vietnam Office, reported on the present situation in Japanese language education in Vietnam and described factors influencing it in the future. He confirmed JICA's strong support of Vietnamese Japanese education and its overall socio-economic development through grassroots activities implemented by Japanese volunteers.
One of the most important areas covered under JICA's Volunteer Dispatch Program is Japanese language education. There are 10 volunteers engaged in Japanese language education in Vietnam.
Since 1995, the JICA Volunteer Dispatch Program celebrates its 30th year in Vietnam in 2025. Three initial volunteers were dispatched to teach Japanese at Vietnam National University, Hanoi Foreign Trade University, and Hanoi University of Languages. In the last 30 years, a total of over 750 JICA volunteers have worked in Vietnam, making concrete contributions to grassroots socio-economic development.
Their activities cover a broad spectrum of fields ranging from Japanese language education, healthcare, rehabilitation, local development, tourism, to support for children and individuals with disabilities.
