Studying Vietnamese for VCE, HSC or SACE: A Revision Plan for the Four Skills

Vietnamese is one of the most widely spoken community languages in Australia. In the 2021 Census, about 320,000 people reported speaking Vietnamese at home, the third most common language other than English after Mandarin and Arabic. Many students from Vietnamese-speaking families take Vietnamese as a Year 11 and 12 subject, and it is offered in several state senior secondary certificates.

This guide outlines how the subject is assessed in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia, then sets out a revision plan for the four skills. Course details change between study designs and syllabuses, so always confirm the current requirements with the school and the official curriculum authority.

Summary: Senior secondary Vietnamese is assessed across listening, reading, writing and speaking, through school-based assessment and an external oral and written examination. Effective revision combines regular vocabulary retrieval, timed listening and reading practice with past papers, planned writing in the required text types, and weekly speaking practice on the prescribed topics.

How the subject is assessed

Victoria (VCE)

The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) offers Vietnamese First Language and Vietnamese Second Language, with different eligibility rules. Students who have had substantial education in Vietnamese usually take First Language. Both studies include school-assessed coursework and external examinations. For Vietnamese Second Language, the VCAA publishes specifications for a written examination and an oral examination. Past examinations and examination reports are available on the VCAA website.

New South Wales (HSC)

The NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) offers Vietnamese Continuers. For school-based assessment in Year 12, NESA sets the component weightings: listening 30%, reading 30%, speaking 20% and writing 20%. The HSC examination has an oral component and a written paper covering listening, reading and writing. NESA publishes past HSC examination packs for the course.

South Australia (SACE)

The SACE Board offers Vietnamese (continuers). The external assessment consists of an oral examination worth 30% and a written examination worth 70% of the external assessment. The written examination has sections on listening, reading and writing.

Other states and territories offer Vietnamese through their own certificates or through collaborative curriculum arrangements. Students attending a community language school should check how that study is recognised in their state.

Revision plan by skill

Vocabulary: the foundation for every skill

Most errors in listening and reading questions come from unfamiliar words, not from the question itself. Build vocabulary by topic, following the themes in the study design or syllabus: family and relationships, education and work, the Vietnamese-speaking community in Australia, culture and traditions, technology and society.

• Keep a list of 20 to 30 words per topic, with Vietnamese, English and one example sentence.
• Practise with short self-tests instead of rereading the list. Retrieval practice, recalling an answer from memory, produces stronger long-term retention than review alone.
• Revisit each list after one day, three days and one week. Words answered incorrectly return to the next session.

Listening

• Use past examination recordings under timed conditions, then check against the transcript where one is available.
• Note the question types that cause errors: numbers and dates, speaker attitude, or the main idea.
• Listen to Vietnamese radio, podcasts and news for 15 minutes a day. SBS Vietnamese is a useful Australian source.

Reading

• Read the questions before the text, then underline the information each question needs.
• Practise both literal questions and questions about purpose, tone and audience.
• Read one Vietnamese article a day on a topic from the syllabus, and summarise it in three sentences.

Writing

• Learn the conventions of each required text type: for example, a letter, an article, a speech or a report, depending on the course.
• Plan before writing: purpose, audience, three main points and a conclusion. A five-minute plan prevents most structural errors.
• Check diacritics and spelling in a final review. Errors in tone marks change meaning and are noticed by examiners.

Speaking

• Prepare responses on each prescribed topic, but practise them as conversation rather than memorised scripts. Examiners ask follow-up questions.
• Record a two-minute answer once a week and listen for fluency, range of vocabulary and accuracy.
• Practise with a parent or grandparent in Vietnamese at home, keeping to the formal register expected in the examination.

An eight-week revision timetable

• Weeks 1–2: vocabulary lists for all topics; one past listening section and one reading section per week.
• Weeks 3–4: writing practice, one text type per week with feedback from the teacher; continue vocabulary retrieval.
• Weeks 5–6: complete past papers under timed conditions; review every error and add new words to the topic lists.
• Weeks 7–8: oral examination practice twice a week; mixed vocabulary quizzes on the words answered incorrectly most often.

Building practice quizzes

Teachers at schools and community language schools can turn topic vocabulary and reading questions into short online quizzes. rayQuiz supports Vietnamese text with full diacritics, gap-fill questions that accept several correct answers, and listening questions with audio. Students see their results on submission and can retry the questions they answered incorrectly. Teachers can review the most-missed questions for the whole class; see rayQuiz for teachers.

Frequently asked questions

Should a student born in Australia take First Language or Second Language in the VCE? Eligibility depends on the student's previous schooling in Vietnamese and time spent living in a Vietnamese-speaking country, not on place of birth. The VCAA publishes the eligibility criteria, and the school makes the application.

Does Vietnamese count towards the ATAR? In general, yes: language studies are scaled and contribute to the ATAR like other subjects. Scaling outcomes vary by year and state, so check the latest report from the relevant tertiary admissions centre.

How much time should be spent on vocabulary? Around 15 minutes a day of active recall is more effective than a long weekly session. Consistency matters more than session length.