Mid-Autumn Festival in Germany: Preserving Vietnamese language for the younger generation
WVR - The Vietnam-Germany Association in the Schwaben region, Bayern state, Germany, recently organized a Mid-Autumn Festival program for children. This event created a space for young Vietnamese born and raised in Germany to play, interact, and learn about their traditional culture.
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A Vietnamese cultural space for children
The participation of multiple generations within the community at the Mid-Autumn Festival program created a special atmosphere. Adults prepared traditional dishes and organized games, while children performed arts, played, and interacted in Vietnamese.
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| The Mid-Autumn Festival space for the Vietnamese community in the Schwaben region, Bayern state. (Source: VNA) |
For many children born and raised in Germany, this festival is a special occasion to experience customs they might only have heard about from their parents or grandparents. Lantern parades, lion dances, traditional games, and feasting became direct experiences, bringing traditional culture closer to children naturally.
According to Le Thi Thanh Huong, President of the Vietnam-Germany Association in the Schwaben region, organizing the Mid-Autumn Festival for children is not merely about creating a playground but also a way to bring Vietnamese culture closer to the younger generation, especially those growing up in a German-speaking and cultural environment.
Through these activities, children have more opportunities to learn about the customs and traditions of their ancestors, while also forming a bond with the Vietnamese language and the Vietnamese community in Germany.
Preserving Vietnamese through community activities
A notable aspect of the program is the continuous use of Vietnamese in games, group activities, and performances.
Songs, narrations, and the names of traditional games became a familiar way to practice Vietnamese, helping children use the language in a joyful atmosphere rather than just during lessons.
Alongside cultural activities like the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Vietnam-Germany Association in the Schwaben region maintains Vietnamese language classes for children. Besides reading, writing, and communication, these classes provide opportunities for children to learn about history, culture, customs, and stories connected to their homeland.
For Vietnamese families in Germany, the ability of their children to use Vietnamese with grandparents and parents, sing Vietnamese songs, and understand the significance of the Mid-Autumn Festival contributes to maintaining the bond between generations. In a multicultural environment, Vietnamese is also a part of family life and a memory of their homeland.
Concluding the program, children received Mid-Autumn gifts and enjoyed traditional dishes prepared by association members. Through these simple community activities, the Vietnamese language and traditional cultural values continue to be preserved, helping the young Vietnamese generation in Germany better understand their roots.
