At the Welcome New Students - Welcome Foreign Languages 2026 concert, the song "Vietnamese Youth" by composer Nguyen Van Chung was given a fresh interpretation as it was performed in five different languages.
On stage, students from the University of Foreign Languages (Vietnam National University, Hanoi ) performed songs in Vietnamese, English, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. The performances were linked together into a single act, sharing a common melody and message about the youthful energy, pride, and aspirations of the Vietnamese people.
This product is part of the project "Translating songs and building a multilingual digital music learning ecosystem to serve teaching and people-to-people diplomacy at the University of Foreign Languages (Vietnam National University, Hanoi), led by Dr. Nguyen Song Lan Anh, Department of Japanese Language and Culture."
Instead of introducing foreign songs into the classroom as learning materials, the project chose the opposite approach: translating Vietnamese songs into other languages.
According to the team, this approach helps students learn foreign languages in a context closer to real life, while also introducing content related to Vietnamese culture to speakers of other languages.
It's impossible to translate word for word.
For a song, translation is not simply about replacing words from Vietnamese with words in a foreign language.
New lyrics must convey the content and emotions of the work while also fitting the melody, rhythm, and length of each line. The expression should also feel natural to the target language, while preserving the imagery and cultural values of the original.
Four lecturers from the University of Foreign Languages (Vietnam National University, Hanoi) participated in translating the song.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ha Le Kim Anh - Vice Rector of the university, prepared the Chinese version. Dr. Nguyen Thi Linh Yen, Department of English Language and Culture, translated it into English. Dr. Nguyen Song Lan Anh prepared the Japanese version and Dr. Nguyen Le Thu, Department of Korean Language and Culture, translated it into Korean.
The lyrics were then performed on stage by the students.
According to Dr. Nguyen Song Lan Anh, music has the ability to connect people, helping to overcome differences in language, culture, and nationality.
"Music can touch emotions, help people open up, and bring them closer together," she said.
Originally a song written for young Vietnamese people, the work has been translated into four other languages and has become a learning resource combining music, foreign languages, and culture.
Using a foreign language to tell stories about Vietnam.
In foreign language training, students are typically prepared to communicate, study, and work in an international environment. With this project, the foreign language is used in the opposite way: Not only do students absorb culture from outside, but they also use the international language to tell the story of Vietnam.
Dr. Nguyen Song Lan Anh believes that translating Vietnamese songs into other languages could open up a new approach to culture, in which music plays a bridging role.
On the stage of the 2026 Foreign Language Welcome Night, the five versions of Vietnamese youth therefore differ not only in language. They all begin with a Vietnamese song, processed professionally by foreign language teachers and learners, and finally return to the audience through music.
Source: https://svvn.tienphong.vn/sinh-vien-ngoai-ngu-hat-thanh-nien-viet-bang-5-ngon-ngu-post1882204.tpo
