Pioneering in Educating Chinese for Science and Technology

A technical supervisor at an industrial park in Bac Giang shared his “secret” to overcoming language switch challenges: “We used to spend weeks just to accurately translate a single technical document from China. Then, we hired an interpreter skilled in Chinese for Science and Technology. Everything changed, then!”

It’s clear that as international know-how corporations flock to Vietnam, a “new competency” is in excessive demand: proficiency in specialised Chinese for Science and Engineering. With a robust shift in funding from China to Vietnam, lots of of factories, FDI tasks, and R&D facilities are rising in Bac Giang, Hai Phong, and Quang Ninh. These require personnel who not solely have primary technological information but additionally perceive the language of know-how in Chinese.

Leaders of HUST and its School of Foreign Languages with audio system on the International Conference, “Training in Chinese for Science and Technology: Cooperation and Development,” held at HUST (April 2025).

A brand new wave: The rise of Chinese for Science and Technology

The craze for studying Chinese started across the yr 2000, when the wave of labor exports to Taiwan was at its peak. Today, studying Chinese for tourism or basic interpretation has turn into commonplace.

In the context of a nationwide financial system centered on industrial improvement and modernization, Chinese throughout the setting of good manufacturing, excessive know-how, electronics, mechanics, and IT represents a brand new however extraordinarily promising area. It opens up many enticing job alternatives and calls for a high-quality workforce that’s fluent in the language and possesses deep skilled information.

In an August 2024 dialogue with Dan Tri newspaper, Ms. Tran Thi Hoan—Deputy Director of Navigos Search for the Northern area—noticed: “The surge in recruitment for personnel with Chinese language skills in technical industries is causing a major shortage. Not everyone who knows Chinese understands technical terminology. And engineers who are skilled in technology are rarely proficient in Chinese.”

And that’s exactly why Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST) sought to create a “crossover” between language and know-how.

With over 20 years of expertise in coaching overseas language majors, HUST’s School of Foreign Languages has established its pioneering place with two English Language packages accredited by the ASEAN University Network-Quality Assurance (AUN-QA). It has provided the labor market with hundreds of overseas language graduates who’re able to working successfully in educational environments, companies, organizations, and companies.

Building on this success, beginning in 2023, Hanoi University of Science and Technology—a college famend for its engineering disciplines—started researching a particular coaching course: the Chinese for Science and Technology program (FL3). In 2025, FL3 was launched, enrolling its first cohort based mostly on thorough preparations in curriculum, school, and amenities. This is the primary program in Vietnam to combine Chinese language coaching with foundational technical information.
Students in the FL3 program won’t solely be taught Chinese however may also grasp specialised vocabulary, perceive find out how to talk in a technical setting, translate technical paperwork, learn drawings, report errors, and talk successfully with Chinese companions.

“Whereas previously, just knowing Chinese was enough to get a job in an industrial park, companies now need people who can speak the language of technology. And to do that, you can’t just study general Chinese,” commented a recruitment officer at Huawei Vietnam.

Envisioning a Practical, Hands-On Chinese for Sci-Tech Class

Exploring the FL3 Chinese for Science and Technology curriculum is actually thrilling—it feels similar to being in a real-world work setting.

In a “Chinese for Information Technology” class throughout the FL3 program, college students do not be taught Chinese in the standard manner. Instead, they’re guided by their instructors to:

* Use specialised Information Technology ideas and terminology in Chinese throughout numerous in-depth subjects.

* Apply specialised vocabulary and language constructions to conduct simulated communication situations in an IT setting utilizing Chinese.

 Explain technical content material (e.g., working programs, databases, networks, AI) in Chinese to friends or skilled companions.
Similarly, in a “Chinese for Electrical and Electronics Engineering” class, college students discover ways to:

* Accurately use specialised Chinese terminology in actions equivalent to studying technical paperwork, writing reviews, and partaking in primary skilled communication.

* Present technical info in Chinese by designing shows or writing reviews associated to the sphere of Electrical and Electronics Engineering.

“With the FL3 program, students not only become proficient in the Chinese language but also gain a deep understanding and mastery of Science and Technology knowledge,” shared Dr. Pham Van, a lecturer in the FL3 program at HUST’s School of Foreign Languages.
 

FL3 Trains “Crossover Talent”!

MA. Bui Thu Phuong, a lecturer in the FL3 program, famous: “In the past, many parents would anxiously ask me, ‘What can my child do after studying Chinese?’ But now, the question has changed: ‘What is Chinese studied in combination with?'” This displays the present want of fogeys and college students for proficiency in each a overseas language and knowledgeable specialization.

In actuality, with China being the primary investor in Vietnam throughout quite a few sectors—together with electronics, industrial manufacturing, automotive, and vitality—the flexibility to make use of Chinese in a technical context is a strategic benefit.

“My child loves technology but is also good at languages. When I learned that this major combines both, it felt like he had found his own unique path. It’s an option that not everyone has,” shared Ms. Nguyen Thu Huong, a father or mother from Hanoi, after studying about HUST’s Chinese for Science and Technology (FL3) program.

Beyond classroom instruction, FL3 college students additionally work in teams to translate precise technical reviews from company companions.
 

The job alternatives for those that know Chinese for Science and Technology are extremely huge. Graduates of the FL3 program are usually not restricted to being interpreters. A recruiter on the electronics firm Luxshare as soon as affirmed: “A candidate who knows both technology and Chinese, and also understands Chinese workplace culture? We would hire them on the spot, without waiting for the resume screening round.”

A consultant from a Chinese electronics element producer situated in Bac Ninh said: “We don’t just need someone who is good at Chinese or good at engineering. We need someone who is good at both.”

Accordingly, with their foundational technical expertise, HUST’s FL3 college students have a myriad of choices:

* Technical Assistant to a Chinese director.

* Technical workers in Chinese factories.

* Technical doc translator and interpreter.

* Teacher or instructing assistant for specialised technical Chinese.

* Researcher, commerce officer, or company personnel.

While conventional profession paths have gotten more and more aggressive, built-in, interdisciplinary choices just like the FL3 program at HUST’s School of Foreign Languages have gotten a “golden land” for forward-thinking younger individuals who know find out how to “tune in” to the long run.