Tue Anh’s interest in Chinese began when she watched Journey to the West. Its characters, stories and language stirred her curiosity about Chinese and Chinese culture.

Her family lives in Lang Son, where her parents run a business near the border crossing. Occasional opportunities to interact with Chinese people deepened her wish to learn the language.

It was not until the beginning of ninth grade, however, that Tue Anh decided to study Chinese systematically and apply to a school for gifted students. In 2024, she earned the highest entrance score for the Chinese-language class at Chu Van An High School for the Gifted.

Pronunciation was her greatest challenge at first. “Sometimes I knew how a word was written and what it meant, but when I said it, the other person couldn’t understand me,” she recalled.

To improve, Tue Anh made pronunciation practice a habit. She would read aloud to friends and repeat anything that sounded wrong until the correct pronunciation became instinctive. She also sought out conversations with Chinese friends to strengthen her listening and speaking skills, and used AI for practice.

Living and studying in a border province gave her more opportunities to meet Chinese students. It also helped her notice the difference between textbook Chinese and the language people use every day.

Her work brought a series of prizes: first prize in the provincial competition for outstanding 11th-grade students, a consolation prize in the national competition for 11th graders, and second prize in the competition for 12th graders, which she entered early.

Vietnam’s representative wins the Asian title

Before entering the international Chinese Bridge contest, Tue Anh had won the national championship and first prize for public speaking in the national round.

When she learned she would represent Vietnam internationally, she felt both excited and nervous. “I never thought I would have the chance to step onto such a big stage,” she said.

Tue Anh began preparing in August 2026, focusing on her speech and talent performance.

For her speech, she recounted a five-day exchange program with Chinese children that she joined in 10th grade. During the trip, she met a Chinese student and the two became close friends.

As they parted, her friend gave her a letter written in Vietnamese. Its grammar was imperfect and its words were not elaborate, but Tue Anh has always treasured it.

She said books, articles and her Chinese studies had already taught her about China. The letter, though, brought her closer to the country through someone she found cheerful, warm and open.

For the talent round, Tue Anh chose to perform yangge, a traditional Chinese folk dance often seen at festivals. With little time to prepare, she went to a dance teacher in Hanoi to learn the basic movements, then choreographed the routine, edited the music and practiced on her own.

From September 8 to 22, Tue Anh traveled to China with her teacher for the contest. She advanced through the rounds into the top 30 and then the top 15 before being named Asian champion.

In the final, she competed with four champions from other continents in rounds including questions, speeches, talent performances and debate.

The topics ranged from space and science and technology to classical poetry. Contestants needed both strong Chinese skills and broad knowledge, as well as the ability to respond quickly.

In the debate round, they had to present and defend a position on whether social media brings people closer together or drives them further apart.

“Although I was quite nervous, I expressed my own view. It was the first time I had tested my limits in rounds like these,” Tue Anh said.

When her name was announced among the global top three, the Lang Son student felt immensely proud. “I was overwhelmed by the result,” she said.

Duong Thi Vinh, Tue Anh’s homeroom teacher who accompanied her to the contest, was impressed by the student’s drive to improve and her ability to set her own goals.

“She always prepared thoroughly and on her own initiative. Whenever we sat together, she took the chance to practice,” Vinh said.

According to Vinh, Tue Anh excels in all four Chinese-language skills. After the contest, she turned her attention to her next goal: this year’s national competition for outstanding students.

If she has the opportunity to study in China, Tue Anh hopes to pursue economics or Chinese-language education.

Thuy Nga