Petition for Back Credits
All students (including native speakers of a language) with experience in another language other than English may earn “back credits.” These students may take any UHM course, appropriate to their level, in which there is significant use of that language. (Appropriate level determined by Vietnamese Placement Exam; significant use determined by the course content). Upon completion of this course with a letter grade of C (not C-) or better, the student may petition between 3-16 back credits. For more information, please view the Policies for Back Credits.
Vietnamese Placement Exam
Take the Vietnamese Placement Exam for free. Save time and money by earning back credits, and take a shorter path toward achieving your academic goals.
The Vietnamese Language Program offers free placement exams for students with varying degrees of language proficiency. Students placed into VIET 102 or higher, are eligible for back credits (up to 16 credits). For example, if students who are placed in VIET 301 complete the course with a grade of C or better, then they will receive back credits for VIET 101, VIET 102, VIET 201 and VIET 202 for a total of 16 credits. Students with no prior Vietnamese language experience should enroll in VIET 101 and may do so without consent.
Vietnamese placement exams are administered regularly and by appointment. To set a date and time, please contact Vietnamese placement exam coordinators, Huy Phung (phunghuy@hawaii.edu) and Hoa Le (vinhoa@hawaii.edu). The placement test will assess the following skills: reading comprehension, grammar/vocabulary, writing, and speaking. The PT assesses your current proficiency level in Vietnamese, so review before taking it is not necessary. It takes around 1 hour to finish the test, including the speaking and interview part.
To receive back credits or recieve a language waiver, download and fill out the forms below after receiving your grade and submit it to Ms. Sandra Takeo (stakeo@hawaii.edu), at Spalding 255.
Scholarship Oppotunities
FLAS
Undergraduate/graduate students are eligible to apply for a Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowship to finance their language studies either at their home universities or abroad.
BLAKEMORE
The Blakemore Foundation was established in 1990 by Thomas and Frances Blakemore to encourage the advanced study of Asian languages and to improve the understanding of Asian fine arts in the United States.
Vietnamese Learning Resources
- Downloadable books from National Resource Center For Asian Languages
- Drops Visual Dictionary covers 14 common topics such as food and drinks, travel, essentials, health…
- StoryWeaver by Pratham Books is a platform for multilingual stories. The books on StoryWeaver are licensed under the Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license.
- Let’s Read is an Asia’s free digital library for children with multiple languages available. Similar to StoryWeaver, all the books are licensed under the Creative Commons.
- Online Bilingual Dictionaries:
- Vietnamese Keyboards: You can either install Unikey for Windows (https://www.unikey.org/en) or activate Telex in your Mac.
- Duolingo app for learning Vietnamese. It is good for vocabulary and spelling.
Certificate in Vietnamese
The program offers a certificate in Vietnamese Language and Culture.
Latest News, Events, & Resources
Why Vietnamese is easy
Below is a summary of fifteen reasons that Vietnamese is easy to learn, much easier than many other languages.