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FRANCO-VIETNAMESE HIGH SCHOOLS DURING THE PERIOD

1920 - 1945 AND THE FORMATION OF INTELLECTUAL WOMEN

Cases of the Dong Khanh and Ao Tim Female Secondary Schools

By Thai Thi Ngoc Du, Dominique Rolland, Nguyen Thi Nhan, Bui Tran PhuongGender and Society Research Centre (GAS) - Hoa Sen University

& INALCO Paris

Abstract

This paper focuses on a collection of testimonies from some generations of former students

who attended two female high schools, Ao Tim in Saigon and Dong Khanh in Hue during the

period between 1920 and 1945. Its purpose was to study the memories and thinking of these

students about the process of female students becoming mature in the Franco-Vietnamese

education. Although Franco-Vietnamese schools in colonial times had their imperfections, the

former female students acquired good human values under a system of selecting only those

that were suitable to the Vietnamese culture. These newly-learned human values enriched the

spirit of the nation. Female students became mature in the interactions of the French and

Vietnamese cultures. Through the establishment of the Franco-Vietnamese school system,

Vietnamese females officially obtained their schooling for the first time and consequently

succeeded and participated in various intellectual activities of their society. The self-

confidence from this first generation of intellectual females was improved as a result of the

initial awareness of the important position of women in society.

Key words: high school education, female students, period 1920 – 1945, French language, educational heritage,

train the thinking, cultural interference.

Acknowledgements

The research team would like to express their gratitude to the VALOFRASE Project

(Valorisation du français en Asie du Sud-Est/ Enhancement of French in South East Asia) to

the francophone organizations and to Hoa Sen University for their facilitation in terms of

technique and financing the team to complete this research.

Special thanks are also conveyed to the former female students, from the Ao Tim and the

Dong Khanh schools, who are residing in Ho Chi Minh City, for enthusiastically providing

information and sharing their opinions relative to their studies in the old days at the Franco-

Vietnamese schools.

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1. Background and research question

Education during the French colonial era in the first half of the 20th century contributed to the

training of generations of Vietnamese intellectuals who later served their country during the

era of independence. Combining traditional patriotism with the new values of Western educa-

tion, such as independent thinking, creativity and critical thinking these intellectuals of the

new generation were thirsty for seeking independence for their country and of building Viet-

nam as a modern country, thereby overcoming the backward model of a feudal society.

Colonial schools received female students and became an important factor in promoting the

development of women and the strengthening of women’s positions and roles in Vietnamese

society. In such an education system new thinking had been disseminated and acquired to

contribute to the formation of new identities for intellectuals. They were capable of under-

standing the complexities of socio-political challenges at that time.

From this educational model, one can draw the lessons learned and experienced to strengthen

the current education system and gender equality while aiming at sustainable development.

Through the French language, the culture of a French-speaking community had enriched the

multicultural and multilingual education system of Vietnam.

Two localities selected for this study were Hue and Saigon with the female schools of Dong

Khanh1 and Ao Tim2 (meaning: purple long dress). The research focused on the primary col-

lege years3, or about four years after primary school. The research did not mention the pri-

mary school level because the studies did not have enough conditions for contributing to the

training of future intellectuals.

The study focused on understanding how education was seen through the eyes of students and

what they learned while studying in French schools. The acquisition and transformation of the

students’ knowledge had gone through a process of personalization and changes over the

years. In addition, this personalization process was also influenced by the family environment

and socio-political context in which the students lived and learned. This study also determined

whether the expansion of knowledge did or did not assist female students who were more in-

terested in the plight of the country than in their future or careers. On the other hand, this

study also determined whether the patriotic and socio-cultural movements of that time had or

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had not created a favorable environment for the development of the female students’ personal-

ities.

The research was mainly based on the interviews of former female students, former teachers

and the collection of documents, memoirs and biographies of the families. The research team

performed 12 in-depth interviews of former students at Dong Khanh, a former Marie Curie

student and seven former Ao Tim students. The Ao Tim students were in groups from 1932

to 1940, while the Dong Khanh students were from later groups between 1940 and 1945.

Thanks to these groups, the research team had favorable conditions to compare and follow the

progress during a period of 15 years.

2. Education for female students in the colonial era

Education in the colonial era adapted the French education model. According to Pascale

Bezancon4, an Act dated 28 March 1882, under the time of the Education Minister Jules

Ferry, was an education revolution for the second time when the legislation enacted compul-

sion for both boys and girls from 6 to 13 years of age. Jules Ferry favored female education

and opened many schools for girls. This policy avoided opposition from men because they

believed that they had greater intellectual ability than women.

Education in France during the second half of the 19th century profoundly changed from the

characteristics of sole reservation for a small number of elite male students and religious edu-

cation to expanding into mass education. This change affected the concept of organizing edu-

cation in Indochina in the late 19th and the early 20th centuries.

The Franco-Vietnamese education system5 in the three regions of Vietnam inherited the prin-

ciples of the Jules Ferry laws established during the years 1881-1882; they were free, non-

clerical and mandatory. Along with the complete French education system, the Franco-Viet-

namese education systems were developed in the South of Vietnam in 1879, in the North in

1904 and in Central Vietnam in 1906. Therefore, the schools’ systems were established after

the trial period of 1878-1907, and were produced under the motto of the Ferry policy (1908-

1918)6.

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Because schools in Indochina followed the model of schools in France, girls also attended and

there were high schools as well for them. For females this was the first time they officially at-

tended school because in the old education system, girls were not allowed to attend school

and take examinations.

According to Trinh Van Thao, the number of girls attending school was increasing, although

female students represented only 8% of the total number of students during the years 1918-

1922. This was to dispel doubts from several French officials in the late 19 th century about the

ability of female students to learn in a school environment7.

From the three female public high schools in Ha Noi, Hue and Saigon, the number of students

in primary level colleges (also known as the general level) tripled from 105 females in 1921

to 343 females in 1931. However, there were 4,496 male students and female students ac-

counted for only 7.6 % of the total number of students, with 70 % of them concentrated in

South Viet Nam.

3. Origin of the respondents

Dong Khanh was the unique public high school for female students in Central Vietnam at that

time, consequently, students came from all over the Central provinces, from Thanh Hoa to

Phan Thiet. The majority of students came from the middle and upper classes: civil servants

of the French government, teachers, Southern Dynasty officials and merchants. There were

very few poor students with the exception that for several who lived in Hue, their schooling

was less costly because they did not have to pay for boarding.

Many girls came from families of teachers, one of their parents or a relative. The family tradi-

tion of learning created favorable conditions for those girls to attend school because their par-

ents had more or less acquired the progressive ideas of human beings, especially about the

benefits of learning for both boys and girls. Mothers with less education were also very

earnest about their children's learning; they had “a fear of ignorance for their children” in-

cluding the girls8.

Families of mandarins cum intellectuals often had a tradition of learning continuously from

the Han script to the Quoc ngu script (today Vietnamese script) and French text for genera-

tions of children. The Nguyen Khoa’s family was famous because of having many excellent

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students as their children. Madam Dam Phuong was also very concerned about the education

of her daughters and granddaughters. She said that girls must learn “to obtain a profession

first and to rear their children later on”9.

Not only the mothers but also the fathers were very earnest about their daughters’ schooling

and future careers as they saw learning as a launching platform for them to obtain a career

later on.

Students from the Ao Tim School also belonged to the middle class. Except for a very small

number of students who were from poor families and often had to drop out after one or two

years of high school, the majority of students were naïve and did not face the anxiety and dif-

ficulty of a material life. Perhaps thanks to that, most female students always recalled their

time in high school as unworried, pure and joyful memories.

4. School in memory of former female students

4.1 School brought pride to female students

At that time quite a large number of female students dropped out of primary school after

grade 3 because they had received their elementary school diploma which made it easier for

them to find jobs. Additionally, the number of female students attending high school signifi-

cantly decreased due to the following reasons:

- Students from the provinces were faced with difficulties when they wanted to continue

schooling up to Grade 9 because there were only high schools for female students in Saigon

and Hue.

- Due to thinking that girls did not have the need to learn much, parents often gave priority to

their boys to attend school, especially when it was schooling at a faraway location and quite

expensive. Even those female students who resided in Hue or Saigon were also affected by

the gender-prejudice thoughts of their parents, and a number of them had to discontinue their

schooling after completing primary school. They then stayed at home to help with their par-

ents business and to marry later on.

- The entrance exam to these schools was very difficult so that the number of admitted stu-

dents was very limited and depended on the receiving capacity of the school.

Therefore, being one of few females enrolled in a very reputable school which was not only of

the city but also of a large area, they were all happy about their learning conditions and very

proud of their school. Through our interviews or through their written memoirs, former stu-

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dents in the late 19th century all considered that their years at school was a period in which

they gained much knowledge and at the same time they were able to live and study under the

best of conditions despite the discipline which they felt sometimes was harsh.

4.2 Franco-Vietnamese acculturation became the pride of female students at the two

schools

Students acquired academic content through a learning curriculum disseminated to them by

teachers. In addition, other activities of the school, together with rules and discipline were

also an important component involved in the educational process. The aggregate results of the

training process were not only knowledge of each subject teachers taught, yet also the forma-

tion of students’ personalities, a system of values, and a method of learning and thinking for

the learners.

Deeply ingrained in the perceptions of several students was “a school which trained them on

how to be a human being”10.

So what factors did that training include? According to Bui Thi Me “French education formed

the human being to obtain both morale and skills and not to become robots. The education re-

ceived from kindergarten and primary school was to educate the students by learning from

textbooks in which there was ethical and national literature”.

These female students had mastered an important characteristic by their method of learning

and later on it became one element of their personality, honesty in learning and in work per-

formance. It meant avoiding plagiarism, which was not to copy their classmates’ tasks or

other documents when doing their assignments. Thus, in their thinking, were the values they

learned in school that formed their human personality: responsibility, honesty, patriotism,

love for their family, solidarity, mutual assistance, discipline and politeness in dealing with

others.

Teaching human behaviors also had specific aspects toward female students, such as knowl-

edge of hygiene for women, the process of conception, pregnancy, child-rearing, discrete and

proper dressing, how to walk lightly and how to manage a family. There was also the knowl-

edge of child care in the pediatric nursing course, the understanding of disease and how to

prevent it, embroidering and sewing skills, and cooking and nutrition in the course on home-

making arts. All former students of the Ao Tim and Dong Khanh schools agreed that the

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knowledge they had acquired followed them after they left school and on to their adulthood,

thereby assisting them in how to take care of their children.

A former student from Dong Khanh School said that during her entire period of participating

in the National War of Resistance and while moving through several places she always kept

beside her the memory book autographed by her friends and teachers, as well as the book enti-

tled “Ecole du Bonheur”, which was a detailed manual teaching family management and

child-rearing.

4.3 Francophone contribute d awareness of human values and patriotism among the

students

Most former students interviewed by the research team had participated in the resistance

against the French in 1945 or previous years. Following that they moved to Northern

Vietnam to perform their professional work and then continued to work in Southern Vietnam

after 1975. Very few former students who had not participated in the resistance war and had

always been living in the South were in the interview sample of this research.

The question is whether education in the Franco-Vietnamese schools assisted or hindered

involvement of female students in Vietnam’s warfare. Was there any contradiction between

absorbing French culture and awareness of resistance against the French in order to gain

independence for their country? Why is it that the patriotic females tudents who had joined

the resistance against the French still appreciate their Franco-Vietnamese education?

It should be noted as part of the social and political context of the period 1930-1945. The

French had perfected their ruling apparatus in all three parts of Vietnam (North, Central and

South) and at various levels of society (high and low), and people were already aware of the

French dominance. The activities of the two patriots Phan Boi Chau and Phan Chau Trinh

resonated in many social classes. The generations of female intellectuals during the years

1920-1930 in Hue had an opportunity to meet with Phan Boi Chau and Ms. Dam Phuong and

had taken part in some patriotic acts.

The secret operations of the Viet Minh movement that developed in urban areas contributed a

number of seed organizations among the students. In addition, the Franco-Vietnamese

education program also taught the Vietnamese language and history of Vietnam during the

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first and second year of the primary level, although it was for only a few hours. Thanks to

that, however, those students had knowledge of the history of their country, knew about the

period of independence and understood the situation of the country as a French colony. In

addition they inherited patriotism and commitment from generations of predecessors good

examples in their family.

4.4 Learning about the culture and history of France in the spirit of “selecting the good as-

pects for our adaptation”

Many testimonials from former students of the Ao Tim and Dong Khanh schools demon-

strated that they still remembered the good things and the universal humanitarian values dur-

ing their learning of French literature and history. They also compared it with the plight of

Vietnam dependence and realized that Vietnamese people and society did not enjoy these hu-

man values. Many students spoke of faith while they were engrossed in learning the history

of the French Revolution in 1789. They recognized that the values of "freedom, equality and

fraternity" were what made France a civilized and democratic country. They understood that it

was the fundamental right of all peoples. At that time Vietnam was a French colony and was

not entitled to those rights and they realized it was an injustice to the people of Vietnam.

When learning about Joan of Arc, they recalled and compared it with the undaunted spirit of

Ba Trung and Ba Trieu of Vietnam.

After having several hours of French literature, a number of students were enthralled by it.

Through those hours of learning the French language they also absorbed the liberal ideology

of humanity in Victor Hugo’s works on courage, romance, and love of country. Ms. Nguyen

Ngoc Nghi’s statement generalized a tremendous influence on cultural values: “This showed

that the strength of a beautiful culture overcame colonial intentions to open schools in order to

make students dazzled by the greatness of the "mother country" in order to recruit obedient

minions.”11

The students already had the spirit of criticism and judgment from what they had learned

which mostly related to the history of Vietnam. A large number of former students, even

during their schooling, reacted when they learned the sentence “Our ancestors are the Gauls”.

Others questioned and did not accept the concept of the “mother country”.

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In addition, former students also pointed out other weaknesses of the Franco-Vietnamese

schools, such as their failure to be linked to real life. At that time, the students knew nothing

about the miserable life of the poor under the colonial regime where people who performed

manual labor were despised. The students were also not aware of the role of farmers and

workers. The teaching program was colonial and indoctrinated; students had to learn many

things about France’s history and literature, while they could only learn Vietnamese literature

for two hours per week and Vietnamese history and geography only at the primary schools.

There was also discrimination in terms of salary between Vietnamese and French teachers,

however, in appreciation to the Vietnamese female teachers, patriotism was integrated into

their lectures.

4.5 Students of Dong Khanh School liked to learn homemaking arts, child rearing and

music

French language and math courses were only recalled by a few gifted female students,

however, most of the former students from Dong Khanh School enjoyed the subjects of

homemaking arts and child-rearing; all of them also mentioned the subjects of music and

drawing. They remembered these “supplementary” subjects more clearly because they said

those were the subjects that assisted in perfecting the people. Therefore, those things they

remembered from what they had learned in school were not necessarily subjects of many

hours. The subjects with fewer hours that brought practical benefits were also taught and

learned seriously; the knowledge was well acquired and remained for a long time in students’

memories.

4.6 Students from Ao Tim School admired and learned much from their Vietnamese

teachers

There were several French teachers in both schools and only a small number of Vietnamese

teachers who had been former students of the Ao Tim and Dong Khanh schools. They had

then received a higher education in pedagogy and returned to teach at the two schools. There

was especially Ms. Nguyen Thi Chau a teacher of history and geography at the Ao Tim

School who graduated with a bachelor’s degree from France. In addition to teaching the

Vietnamese language, Vietnamese teachers also gave lessons of science and history in the

French language. Ms. Phan Thi Cua who taught Vietnamese literature at the Ao Tim School

was loved by her students for her good-hearted characteristics as she cared for them and

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especially communicated patriotism through her lectures. “After reading a piece of literature,

my teacher deeply commented about the French and the Vietnamese, as well as about the old

and contemporary times. She mentioned the dark side of the colonial regime which had made

people miserable. She highlighted the examples of patriotism, the profound politeness and

reason in rural and urban areas of the poor and of some patriotic intellectuals.”12

In the Dong Khanh and Ao Tim schools several Vietnamese teachers, although they had

received a French education, expressed the patriotism of intellectuals in the context of a

colonized country. Ms. Ngo Thi Chinh and Ms. Vo Thi The in the Dong Khanh School also

displayed similar actions. However, not all teachers had such high political consciousness and

those teachers who had a more “non-political” attitude were also loved by the students

because of their knowledge, their pedagogical ability and their love. Most students of Ao Tim

School mentioned Ms. Chau, the teacher of history and geography, with love and admiration

because she fluently conducted her lecture in French and with effective teaching methods.

4.7 Memories of the French teachers with love

Former students of the two schools still distinctly remembered some French teachers, female

superintendents and supervisors, including of course the Vietnamese supervisors as well.

The feelings that resulted were all shared by the students during their schooling and today

when they recalled them. The French teachers taught very well because they were trained to

meet the requirements of the job. Every teacher had his/her own style and teaching methods.

Some were quite serious, kept themselves aloof from students, while others were cheerful and

close; however, all former students admitted that their teaching methods were appropriate and

assisted them in understanding and firmly acquiring the knowledge as needed. The teachers of

sciences such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and natural sciences were very good and

students could do their practice in a laboratory.

According to former students, although their French teachers worked in the system of the

French colonials, they were educators following the principles of French education, an

education for justice, progress and science that they had received. As intellectuals, they had

independent thinking and nurtured their own values, not to interject politics into education.

The students also did not let their political views affect the evaluation of teachers and their

teacher-student feelings, because the French teachers never talked about politics in class and

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were completely devoted to their profession as well as to their students.

The preface of the book “Ao Tim on all the ways” also noted: "The students-teachers love was

warm and profound and not dyed with political colors of colonials." (p.8).

Students were treated like adults by their French teachers. This made them feel respected and

they then imitated such civilized manners. For example, the teacher addressed students as

"Mademoiselle". Another case was Ms. Ravinetti in Ao Tim School, who returned a student’s

notebook and said: "Je vous remercie"13 any time she called upon them to recite her lesson

and they completed all questions. Many French teachers expressed love for their students such

as taking them to the funeral of an unfortunate student who passed away14 or providing

scholarships for poor students15.

However, not all French teachers were kind to students, a handful of them who were colonial-

minded scolded the students as "Sale Annamite, idiote!". Students such as Ms. Nguyet Tu,

who later on became a writer and Ms. Phuong Thao protested: "You are not allowed to offend

us!" Apart from a few incidents, most students had good memories of French teachers at that

time.

4.8 The Franco-Vietnamese schools had trained the first batch of female

intellectuals of the modern era

The former students interviewed in this research were in schools in the period between 1932

and 1945. Previous female students had already graduated from Grade 9 (Diplôme d'études

primaires supérieures franco-indigène (DEPSFI), learned baccalaureate, then pedagogy and

returned to school to teach; however, the number was small.

From the generations of former students from around 1920 and onwards, the number who

attended junior high school/ Grade 9 increased. Although this number was still very small

compared to the female population in age, it was enough to form a class of well-educated

women and who appeared more and more in the professional activities of society from the

South to the North.

At that time, after receiving (DEPSFI), female students could study one year in pedagogy also

at Dong Khanh and Ao Tim schools, then after graduation they could teach at primary

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schools. Another situation was that some students could go to Ha Noi to attend midwifery

school. There were also cases of DEPSFI graduates who were appointed as primary school

teachers immediately without going through pedagogy school. The Dong Khanh and Ao Tim

schools did not have a high school; if female students wanted to learn further at that level,

they had to attend Petrus Ky school (Saigon) or Quoc Hoc school (Hue) with male students.

Thus only a very small number of female students attended secondary education, and even

fewer female students continued to a university. Quoc Hoc school began to have baccalaure-

ate level from the academic year of 1936 - 1937, which meant that three more grades were

added equivalent to Grades 10, 11 and 12 today.

Ms. Nguyen Khoa Dieu Hong, later on became chairperson of the Vietnam Women's Union,

was in the final year at the baccalaureate level of Quoc Hoc school, and then was appointed to

teach at Dong Khanh School. The availability of female secondary schools was only one

factor. The reason which made female students discontinue their studies after having

graduated from DEPSFI, was that at the time male students of even middle-class families with

a DEPSFI degree, could take exams for the position of government officials at various sectors

for employment right away. They could seek the teaching profession, become a court clerk,

administrative clerk, railway or post office staff. For many families, females with a DEPSFI

degree were already in the high level of education; they could work as teachers or do

intellectual work. In addition, they also needed to become married and have a family.

In Vietnam society until the 1940s, there were only few people with DEPSFI degrees, thus

they were considered as intellectuals, elites of their families and society. Through the

interviews and memoirs of 52 former female students from Ao Tim and some scattered

articles from those of the Dong Khanh School, one can see that most of them became

teachers, university lecturers, or had medical professions as midwives or doctors; some were

doing diplomatic services, became economic experts, writers, musical artists, and in other

professions as assigned by the State. The women who moved to the North to join the

resistance war became middle or senior government officials. In general, except for a few

women who were housekeepers or traders, most of those with a degree went into an

intellectual profession.

Conclusion

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As mentioned above, for the reason of convenience most of our interviews, memoirs and

articles accessible to us were derived from the former female students of the two schools

Dong Khanh and Ao Tim. After graduation, some joined the resistance war and moved to the

North, then successfully settled down in a regime which was antagonistic to colonialism.

However, all of these women, former students, highly appreciated the Franco-Vietnamese

education they received, although the French government considered that the Franco-

Vietnamese education in Indochina had poor quality. This is strong evidence that there were

positive effects on Franco-Vietnamese education in Vietnam.

A high school education was more meaningful for women; they became women confident in

their capabilities both in their family management and in their professions. They belonged to

the first generations who had proven to the Vietnamese society that women are fully capable

of learning to obtain an intellectual profession and deserve a considerable place in society.

With a career structure which was still simple, the Vietnam society at that time very much

respected the teaching profession. Many former female students became teachers and

therefore changed the perception of society towards women, respecting their skills and virtue.

The DEPSFI education level was a launching platform for female students to join a life of

further education in order to become the elite of intellectuals. Their success also created

confidence and ambition for the younger generations of women , as well as became an

example for the youth to follow.

Compared with today, the quantity of knowledge that these female students received was

much less. However, perhaps because they learned less, they remembered more, had long-

term memory and recalled the main things. A general observation of the research team about

them is that the spirit, a blend of subjects, the way of organizing and the activities in their

schools contributed to building their personality and qualities such as discipline, care,

creation, diligence, scientific spirit and necessary knowledge for women of all ages.

According to the researcher, Dominique Rolland16, education in France since the 19th century

was a scientific, modern and progressive education, which created equal opportunities for all

classes of society to access knowledge. This education was struggling against economic and

social inequality. French colonial authorities wanted to convey these principles into the

education in the colony, though with a specific purpose to train officials to serve the

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administration and economy of the colony. Therefore, education was organized in form of a

pyramid, broad at low level and elite training at the higher level.

However, teachers in colonies were intellectuals educated in the liberal education of France,

they were imbued with the ideology of progress and they were conscious about their own

freedom, so that they had humane behavior in schools. At that time, the Vietnamese youth, in

the spirit of selecting the good things for their adaptation, acquired the progressive ideas of

humankind. Then they demonstrated their consciousness about freedom of thought and they

nurtured patriotism right inside the colonial schools.

Ho Chi Minh City, June 2014.

Translated into English by Le Thi Hanh

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1 After 1975, the school name changed as Trung Trac school during a short time, then later on it changed as Hai Ba Trung school and received both female and male students.2 Changed as Gia Long school in 1953, after 1975 it changed as Nguyen Thi Minh Khai school, and received both female and male students.3 Equivalent to junior high school in Southern Vietnam prior to 1975, or equivalent to Grades 6 to 9 today.4 BEZANÇON, Pascale, 2002, Une colonisation éducatrice? L’expérience indochinoise, 1860 – 1945. L’Hamattan, tr. 25.5 Enseignement franco-indigène.6 TRINH Van Thao, 1995, L’Ecole française en Indochine. Editions Karthala, Paris.7 Trinh Van Thao, 1995; p. 1268 Bùi thị MÈ, 2001, Kể chuyện đời mình [My Life Story].Nhà xuất bản Trẻ, tr. 219 Interview Ms. Nguyễn Khoa Diệu Biên, on August 8, 200910 Interview Ms. Bùi thị Mè, on July 5, 2010.11 Nguyễn Ngọc Nghi, Áo Tím trên mọi nẻo đường [The Ao Tim Students (Purple Dresses) on All the Roads of the Country], tr.2012 Phan Thị Thương, Áo Tím trên mọi nẻo đường [The Ao Tim Students (Purple Dresses) on All the Roads of the Country], tr. 16813 Áo Tím trên mọi nẻo đường [The Ao Tim Students (Purple Dresses) on All the Roads of the Country], tr. 9214 Interview Ms. Diệu Biên15 Đặng Thị Bảy, Áo Tím trên mọi nẻo đường [The Ao Tim Students (Purple Dresses) on All the Roads of the Country]. tr.2516 Lecture of a training course on Franco- Vietnamese school at Hoa Sen University, 2009