President of this year’s jury Fujino Masayoshi said although the COVID-19 pandemic has just subsided in Japan, the number of candidates grew by 254 people from last year and by 115 percent from 2017 when the first edition took place.
They are pupils, students, and company staff from across Japan, with the oldest being 77 and the youngest 11, Fujino added.
He said most of them took the exam for work-related purposes, and the number of those doing so for other purposes such as to know more about Vietnam and interest in learning in the language has increased significantly.
Dr Dinh Sy Dien, a member of the jury and the one making the exam questionnaire, said the difficulty level of the annual test over the years has been relatively equal and its scope revolves around Vietnam’s practical business, culture, and life issues.
The JCFL under the Bunsai Gakuen Non-Profit Education Foundation is the first and only organisation so far to host the test, which is divided into six levels, the first is the highest and has yet to record any candidate registered.
The rate of participants passing the exam increased from 16.7 percent in 2017 to 29.8 percent in 2018, and 57.6 percent last year.
JCFL Rector Ise Yoji said the growing Vietnam-Japan ties across all fields in recent years has resulted in higher demand for learning the Vietnamese language among Japanese even during the COVID-19./.
