How French rule changed Vietnamese writing forever
French colonial influence transformed Vietnamese writing, replacing traditional scripts with the Latin-based Quốc ngữ, which dramatically boosted literacy and fueled national identity.
Vietnam's writing system, Quốc ngữ, uses the Latin alphabet, a legacy of French colonial times. Though Portuguese missionaries developed it in the 17th century, the French actively promoted Quốc ngữ from the late 19th century. They aimed to replace complex Chinese characters and the indigenous Chữ Nôm script, which limited literacy to elites.
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