Standard Vietnamese on television: Why not?

(Baonghean) - Television viewers have occasionally been pleasantly surprised to hear reporter Ngoc Chi "reporting from Beijing" in a rather unusual Central Vietnamese accent. And the question of which regional accent should be used when "on air" remains unresolved, at least in the minds of viewers.

No longer stubbornly adhering solely to the Hanoi accent, Vietnam Television has, over the years, incorporated accents from all three regions of Vietnam into its news and current affairs programs, receiving positive feedback from viewers. In particular, editor Hoai Anh, with her rich Southern accent, has captivated audiences. However, to this day, we still cannot definitively define what constitutes a standard Vietnamese accent. A worrying trend is the widespread spelling errors seen recently on many online platforms, especially in comments. While many localities want to promote their local accents on television, not many people are suggesting the need for a program that uses standard Vietnamese pronunciation.

TV presenters Van Anh and Quang Minh - Vietnam Television (Illustrative image - source: internet)

So what constitutes standard Vietnamese pronunciation? Where can one find it? In my opinion, standard Vietnamese pronunciation must first and foremost have an easy-to-listen-to intonation, correct tones, and no incorrect vowels or consonants. Unfortunately, it's not the Hanoi accent, nor the Southern accent, and certainly not the Central accent. With the Hanoi accent, listeners once couldn't help but laugh when a commentator enthusiastically described, "In a quick tackle to steal the ball from the white-shirted players, Quang Chường slipped and fell on the Lạch Chay pitch!"

As for the Southern accent, I heard that some people even wear motorbike helmets when walking outside because the weather forecast said there would be… “coconut rain” that day. Many people were left speechless in their seats when the “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” program asked the question, “Which of the following words is spelled correctly?” In our opinion, it’s time we had a standardized Vietnamese pronunciation system. At least so that Vietnamese people can hear their national language in its true sense.

News anchor Hoài Anh, with her expressive Southern accent, is loved by viewers (Image from the internet).

So who will do it? Who will disseminate it most effectively if not the national television and radio stations? Scientific workshops are needed. But, in my personal opinion, besides local television programs on national channels encouraging the use of local accents, broadcasters using the Hanoi accent need to correct the consonants (tr/ch; s/x; r/d…) to sound accurate.

In my opinion, this isn't difficult at all, at least not as difficult as learning a foreign language, right? The Hanoi accent is easy to listen to, doesn't have incorrect tones (an important factor), and is the original accent of the capital city, so it's naturally prioritized for broadcast. Just adjusting a few consonants isn't that difficult. It might not be possible to standardize all Vietnamese-language broadcast programs simultaneously. But piloting it in some current affairs programs is necessary. I think it would be so much better to strive to speak correctly before trying to speak well.

Khac An