New rules on spelling standards are coming soon

The draft sets out specific, frequently used provisions.

Accordingly, for personal names, geographical names in Vietnamese and monosyllabic languages, the first letter of each syllable that makes up the name will be capitalized. For example, Trieu Thi Trinh, Tran Quoc Tuan...

For personal and place names in polysyllabic languages, capitalize the first letter of each part of the name; if the part consists of several syllables, use a hyphen to connect the syllables. For example,Y Bih A-le-o, Y Blok E-ban, Serepok, Ea Drang...

For personal names and geographical names, proper nouns are formed by combining proper nouns with parts that are not proper nouns (common nouns, numerals, directional words), depending on the case, written according to the rules applicable to monosyllabic or polysyllabic languages. For example,Do Chieu, De Tham, A-ma Thuot, East Sea, Hoan Kiem Lake, (district)New Market, (district)Krong Ana,(region)South Central Coast...

For names of celestial bodies (used as astronomical and earth science terms), names of lunar years, and names of ethnic groups, depending on the case, they are written according to the rules applicable to monosyllabic or polysyllabic languages. For example,Sun, Earth, Moon, Venus; At Mui, Quy Ty; (nation)Ha Nhi, (nation)Ba-na...

For other proper names: Capitalize the first letter of each word or phrase that distinguishes the proper name from other proper names.

For example, names of holidays:Lunar New Year, Mbang Kate; names of agencies, organizations, units:Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, Tran Van On Primary School, Hanoi National University of Education...; names of legal documents:Education Law, Marriage and Family Law...; names of medals, titles, awards:Labor Medal, Gold Medal, Labor Hero, People's Artist, Creativity Award...; names of majors, subjects, scientific specialties: (major)Education, (subject)History, (specialized)Genetics...

The draft also outlines cases of capitalizing words that are not proper names. In addition to capitalizing the first letter of a sentence or line, the first letter of a chapter, section, article, etc. is also capitalized. Rhetorical capitalization is used to show respect for a certain person or thing. The first letter of a common noun or a title referring to that person or thing can be capitalized. For example,Fatherland, President, President, Mother, Teacher, Person, Grandfather...

How to write foreign names phonetically

According to the draft, in case foreign names or geographical names are translated or transcribed into Sino-Vietnamese, the first letter of each syllable is capitalized. For example:Du Fu, Lu Xun, Atlantic; Poland, Greece...

Other cases will have to be written in its original form, if it is a name written in Latin, for example:Victor Hugo, Albert Einstein, Paris...; transliterate into Latin if the name is written in non-Latin phonetic script, for example:Volga, Moscow... In case it cannot be transliterated, write it as in English, for example:Tokyo, Cleopatra...

In cases where a proper name refers to more than one country, use the most common name or a name that is appropriate to the specific context. In cases where a proper name is used in a common international form, keep the common spelling, not the original. For example, write the name of the country with the capitalBudapestt is Hungarian, not written asMagyarorszag.

Special regulations for textbooks

The draft also has separate regulations for textbooks for the first three grades of primary school (grades 1, 2 and 3). Textbooks for these grades use phonetic transcription, with hyphens to connect syllables in the same part to form a name, for example:Thomas Edison, Moscow, Tokyo…

For textbooks for grades 4 and 5, next to the transliterated proper names, there are original or transliterated names in parentheses; for example:Thomas Edison(Thomas Edison),Moscow(Moscow),Paris(Paris),Tokyo(Tokyo).

Professor Nguyen Minh Thuyet, Editor-in-Chief of the New General Education Program, said that building a common standard is very necessary because there are currently many relatively "inconsistent" spelling regulations.

Even the Ministry of Education and Training from 1984 to 2003 had 3 different decisions on spelling in the curriculum and textbooks. Not to mention there were 2 documents regulating by the Government Office and the Ministry of the Interior on spelling in administrative documents.

At the same time, when the National Assembly's resolution is about to be implemented, allowing the implementation of many sets of textbooks compiled by organizations and individuals, if there are no unified regulations, it will easily lead to a situation where each set/textbook will have different spelling standards. This will cause difficulties and confusion for schools, teachers and students in the teaching and learning process.