【By Observer Net, Wang Kaiwen】Vietnam will celebrate the 80th anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day on September 2. Reuters reported on the 1st that, on the occasion of Vietnam's 80th anniversary of independence, France's influence is still everywhere, but today's Vietnamese people are rarely aware of it. The report also noted that French, once the language of the Vietnamese elite, is losing its influence in Vietnam.

On September 2, 1945, Ho Chi Minh read the Declaration of Independence at Ba Dinh Square in Hanoi, declaring the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Ba Dinh Square is located in the center of Hanoi, with two of the best-preserved French colonial buildings in the capital standing on either side, now serving as the Office of the President of Vietnam and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam, respectively.

Reuters stated that it randomly interviewed six young people from Hanoi under the age of 30 outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building, and none of them knew the origin of the building.

"I came here because the architecture is unique, and it's a popular spot for celebrities to take photos," said Nguyen Thi Trang (音), 30 years old, to Reuters. The report mentioned that when told about the French origin of the building, Nguyen Thi Trang was very surprised.

After a long period of confrontation, the relationship between Vietnam and France has moved from colonial conflict to friendship. In 1973, the two countries formally established diplomatic relations. In October 2024, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, then President of Vietnam, To Lam visited France, and the two countries officially upgraded their bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

This May, during his first visit to Vietnam, French President Macron signed agreements worth $1 billion with Vietnam, covering aircraft procurement, nuclear energy cooperation, railway projects, Earth observation satellites, and Sanofi vaccine cooperation. Reuters noticed that during a university event, Vietnamese students' fluent French impressed Macron greatly.

Local time May 26, 2025, Hanoi, Vietnam, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam To Lam had lunch with visiting French President Macron. Oriental IC

However, the report pointed out that fewer and fewer Vietnamese can speak French fluently, which reflects the decline of "Molière's language" globally.

According to data from the Vietnamese Ministry of Education, only 400 high school students in Vietnam have chosen French as an exam subject this year, while more than 358,000 students have chosen English. It is worth noting that about 4,400 high school students in Vietnam have chosen Chinese.

"If I must choose, I would rather learn Chinese as a second foreign language instead of French. Because Chinese feels more familiar, and China is our neighbor," said Hoang Thu Ha (音), 25 years old, a Vietnamese content creator.

According to data from the French Embassy in Vietnam, 63,000 people in Vietnam have registered for French courses this year, while there are about 400 French teachers in the whole country.

The French Embassy stated that French still maintains some prestige in this country of 100 million people, but other languages such as Japanese and Korean are rising rapidly.

Another major trace left by France in Vietnam is the influence on local cuisine. Cafés are almost everywhere in Vietnam, and various French pastries are filled with croissants, and French pate often appears in local Vietnamese dishes.

Vietnamese baguettes (banh mi) are common local fast food, but none of the interviewed young people in Hanoi realized their French origin.

60-year-old Nguyen Van Hoan (音) runs a famous bakery in the center of Hanoi. He admitted that the Vietnamese people's love for bread is influenced by French culture. But he emphasized that, in order to survive, French cuisine must adapt to the taste of Vietnamese people.

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