A recent episode of the quiz show Đường Lên Đỉnh Olympia raised eyebrows and sparked discussions online when it posed the question: "Among the following words, which one is not of Hán Việt origin: bút, bảng, phấn, học, giảng?" Participants, including four contestants, appeared puzzled, with most audience members unable to respond correctly.
The Hán Việt words—which are Vietnamese words derived from Chinese—play integral roles within the Vietnamese language, yet many native speakers often misidentify them as purely Vietnamese. This quiz didn’t just challenge the students’ knowledge of Vietnamese linguistics but also illuminated how deep language comprehension runs. Addressing the importance of this feature, one participant, Hữu Đạt, quickly pressed his buzzard and confidently answered: "There is none of those words which is purely Vietnamese." This unexpected response bombarded the internet with amusing and enlightening comments, with netizens highlighting the irony of being perplexed by one’s mother tongue.
With comments reflecting on the challenging nature of distinguishing linguistic origins, users expressed amazement at how certain familiar words turned out to derive from the Hán Việt lexicon. One user noted, "I thought being fluent would make this easy to grasp, but I’ve learned I’m still clueless about some nuances," indicating how common misunderstandings persist even among natives.
Meanwhile, on December 26, students and parents from Trường trung học phổ thông Trần Hữu Trang, located in Quận 5, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, lodged complaints about significant errors found within their end-of-semester English exams. These reports highlighted flaws across several examination codes, as students pointed out discrepancies where numerous questions were incorrectly numbered, severely affecting their performance.
The principal of the school, Trần Thanh Phong, confirmed these reports, explaining, "The errors were not content-based but were due to technical mistakes made during the mixing process of exam papers." He elaborated on their standard procedure for constructing exams, where teachers draft the content, and departmental heads create multiple versions, but the recent complications arose when aligning answers during paper mixing.
During the English assessments, students voiced their concerns about the mixed-up order of questions and answers, which led to confusion during their testing period. Teacher intervention occurred when students reported the issues, but many felt the errors hindered their ability to perform to the best of their abilities, prompting the school to announce their decision for all affected students to retake the exam.
The school's announcement aimed to resolve fairness concerns, stating, "We must provide our 310 12th-grade students with another chance to assure justice across the board." Considering the significant mix-up, the English exam reassessment is planned for the following week after the New Year break.
Trần Thanh Phong reassured the students, mentioning, "The new examination must closely follow the established guidelines already provided," maintaining fairness and uniformity across the upcoming assessments. He emphasized the importance of diligence when drafting papers, particularly with sensitive subjects like foreign languages.
The backdrop of such language-related educational mishaps showcases how deeply intertwined our appreciation and comprehension of our linguistic heritage can impact academic performance. These incidents serve as reminders of the challenges faced by students, both when learning new languages and grappling with their native dialect.
Discussions about such instances flowing from quizzes like Olympia and assessment errors highlights the larger dialogue around the significant role of language education within Vietnam—and how truly knowing one’s heritage can be both enlightening and difficult.
