(VOVworld) – Two linguists, one Vietnamese, one Czech have been compiling a 6-volume Czech-Vietnamese dictionary to help the Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic overcome the language barrier. 2 of the 6 volumes have already been published. The work is a symbol of friendship between the peoples of Vietnam and the Czech Republic. VOV reports:
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Nguyen Quyet Tien, a cybernetics engineer who is fond of linguistics, has been nurturing the idea of compiling a Czech-Vietnamese dictionary since he was first sent to study in Czechoslovakia, now the Czech Republic. While teaching Czech to Vietnamese children, he found that the language barrier was a huge problem. He thought of compiling a dictionary for the 65,000 Vietnamese living there. To get started he teamed up with Doctor Ivo Vasilijev, an experienced researcher of Vietnamese culture and language. Tien says: “There are many interesting things about making such a big dictionary. I’ve been searching on the Internet and elsewhere to find ways to explain in Vietnamese what is said in Czech. The way people in the Czech Republic talk in their everyday life can be very different from Vietnam.”
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Doctor Ivo lives 200km from the capital Prague so they agreed to spend 6-7 hours every day collaborating on their dictionary over the Internet. Tien says: “We didn’t have much time so we had to take advantage of every minute. Sometimes we had to work 10 hours a day to complete at least one volume a year. I used to go out a lot but since I started doing this I just stay home and work. It’s worth the sacrifice, though.”
The first 2 volumes - 1,300 pages - were released early last year. Truong Manh Hung, who has spent half of his life in the Czech Republic, said he was moved to see the work done by the two linguists, something that has long been awaited by the Vietnamese community there: “When we arrived in the Czech Republic, it was difficult to learn the language and culture in order to integrate into the local society. There is now a 3rd generation of Vietnamese here and this dictionary will help connect the languages of the two nations. It is a gift to us.”
Vietnamese ambassador Truong Manh Son said that through the dictionary readers will learn something about the culture of both nations: “The Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic should be grateful to engineer Tien and Doctor Ivo. It is of historical importance that the two of them worked together on a unique cultural product.”
Tien said much work remains to be done to finish the other 4 volumes but they believe their project will be finished soon: “We want to serve the Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic and also the people in Vietnam. We want this dictionary to be a symbol of cooperation between the two countries.”
Tien said their determination stems from their friendship and love for the culture of the two countries: “Ivo goes to Prague every one or two weeks. We often meet in a small cafeteria at the central station to discuss what should be done. We also discuss our work on the train during our trips together.”