Japanese Mizuguchi Sayo, Okabe Chikara and Australian Bennett Arabella from the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies at Hanoi University of Social Sciences and Humanities (USSH) won the top prize of the contest that was held nationwide for the first time this year.

(From L) Wearing traditional Vietnamese customs, Bennett Arabella, Okabe Chikara, and Mizuguchi Sayo receive the top prize of the national Vietnamese speech contest for foreign students.

For the competition on Dec. 1, the three students put on Vietnamese traditional costumes ao dai and ao ba ba. The latter, which includes a pair of silk pants and a collarless, long-sleeved shirt, has become a symbolic attire of southern Vietnamese people.

Together, they sang Vietnamese folk music in northern, central and southern Vietnamese regions while other foreign students danced on stage.

"We put a lot of effort in preparing for this performance and therefore we’re all thrilled when winning the first prize," said Sayo.

Sayo, 23, said anxiety was all she could feel before the competition but once she went on stage, she calmed down and tried to focus.

She found it easier to sing quan ho, a Vietnamese folk music that originated in northern Bac Ninh Province, and more challenging to sing vi giam songs, which are sung by a wide range of communities in Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces of north-central Vietnam.

"It took me by surprise when the teachers praised me for my singing. My voice is suitable for Vietnamese folk songs. But still I am not really satisfied with the performance as I did better during rehearsals," she said.

Chikara, 27, said he was so nervous that he had to hold the microphone as tightly as he could.

He was worried most about the singing.

"I have never sung in front of a crowd before. It was so lucky that I did not forget the lyrics," said Chikara, who oversaw the opening and the closing parts of his group’s speech.

Bennett, 28, was worried about her pronunciation.

She oversaw speaking about Vietnamese famous poets and she feared that her mispronunciation could cause the audience to misunderstand her.

"My part is really interesting as it has allowed me to learn more about major work of famous poet, such as Ho Xuan Huong (1772–1822)," said Bennett, referring to one of Vietnam's most famous poets renowned for her new ideas, unconventional style and simple but evocative use of words.

The team practiced their pronunciation first before training to speak faster. Finally, they learned how to speak with expressions.

They studied Vietnamese in Hanoi and therefore speak Vietnamese in northern accents. They had to learn the central and southern accents to sing vi giam and southern lullabies at the contest.

Each team at the contest had two or three members and seven minutes on stage for a performance and a presentation.

About 22,000 foreign students are studying in Vietnam.

The national Vietnamese contest was launched in August and attracted more than 600 international students from 15 countries studying at 63 Vietnamese schools. 12 teams of international students from Laos, Cambodia, Korea, Japan, China, France, and Australia made it to the final round.

Le Thi Thanh Tam, dean of the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies at the Hanoi USSH, said: "I'm happy not because that my students have won this contest but because Vietnamese has been loved and honored to such an extent by foreign students."

"They had practiced and rehearsed the performances for one and a half months," said Tam.

Sayo recorded the guidance of her teachers and practiced on her own at home. She also watched a lot of YouTube videos of Vietnamese singers.

Chikara chose to read and sing aloud every time he was alone.

"I often imitated the cries of street vendors and mumbled them while driving on the street. I also challenged myself with difficult Vietnamese phrases to help me improve my ability to use Vietnamese," he said.

The three students said it is their love for the Vietnamese language that has helped them persevere.

The two Japanese students choose to learn Vietnamese as they believe it will bring them job opportunities.

Before studying at the Hanoi USSH, Sayo had spent two years studying Vietnamese at a college in Japan. She also loves Vietnamese food and fit in with the Vietnamese environment when studying in Hanoi.

As for Chikara, while taking part-time jobs in Japan, he made friends with many Vietnamese students there and learned a lot about Vietnam from them.

"I became more and more interested in Vietnam and eventually, decided to study in Vietnam," he said.

Currently, he works as a collaborator in many programs for foreigners on Vietnam Television.

Arabella has been studying Vietnamese for a year and is working for a diplomatic agency in Hanoi, before enrolling at the Hanoi USSH.

"Of course, it is joyful we won but most importantly, this is an opportunity for me to become more confident when speaking Vietnamese," she said.

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Source: VnExpress