Poland – the nation may not sound unfamiliar to many Vietnamese people but there remains a chance to help you know more about the Central European country – it’s a writing contest initiated by the Polish Embassy in Hanoi. 
Poland - the beautiful Central European country with lots of things for you to discover
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With an aim to encourage Vietnamese people to learn more about Poland, the embassy launched a writing contest on Poland for Wikipedia and internet users.
The contest attracted more than 1,800 articles from nearly 50 candidates across Vietnam after two months and a half of the launching.
The event has generated new entries about Poland in Vietnamese language as well as blog post about Polish geography, places of interests, cities, sights, rivers, lakes, mountains, sea ports, beaches, and some contestants even wrote about tiny villages.
Why the writing contest?
Polish Ambassador to Vietnam Wojciech Gerwel. Photo: VNA
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Ambassador Wojciech Gerwel said Wikipedia is an important and recognized source of knowledge and a universal tool for popularization of knowledge.
Wikipedia as an internet and open-source encyclopedia, is a universal and self-regulating tool, which allows ordinary people not only to use it, but also to become editors and propose and create new content for other editors to review and finally to be posted online under many Wikipedia language versions.
Regarding the number of users and numbers of edits, Polish version of Wikipedia is as high as in top five worldwide, while Vietnamese version is almost as high as that.
Deputy Head of Mission of the Polish Embassy in Hanoi Maciej Duszyński (3rd right)and Ho Chi Hung (2nd right), deputy head of the Vietnam - Poland Friendship Association (VPFA) at an event in Hanoi in April. Photo: VPFA
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Initiated by Deputy Head of Mission of the Polish Embassy in Hanoi Maciej Duszyński, the competition, with the topic Geography of Poland for young people (aged 18-25), is expected to help young people know more about Poland which is a great country to visit, with snowy Tatra mountains, vast lakes in the North, Baltic Sea beaches and numerous rivers, bustling cities and nice villages as described by Ambassador Wojciech Gerwel.
Fruitful results
The contest made the Embassy of Poland and the ambassador himself pleasantly surprised to see that it attracted huge response from Vietnamese Wikipedia editors with relatively short deadline.
Head of the jury, Dr. Hoang Viet Giao said the number of articles is beyond the jury’s expectations as it showed great interest in Poland.
The contest, to some extent, greatly contributes to promoting the long-lasting bilateral relationship, he said, adding that up to 14.1% of writing pieces got good marks (at least 8 out of 10).
Many of the articles show the writers’ own ideas and writing style but not information provided by the organizing board, surprising the jury, Dr. Giao exclaimed.
Efforts from dedicated individuals
The contest is a chance which the organizers expected to boost the understanding of Poland among young people who may partly hear about the country from the old and grandparents who spent their youth in Poland.
In addition, the contest means to enrich love for Poland among the youth who should inherit the affection for the Central European country from their older generations and for a vision to keep the sentiment last for generations as initially expected by Deputy Head of Mission Maciej Duszyński.
Ambassador Wojciech Gerwel, meanwhile, supposed that the decades-long relationship must be strengthened in some ways which cultivate the love for Poland like their grandparents have been dedicating to.
Echoing the ambassador, Ho Chi Hung, deputy head of the Vietnam – Poland Friendship Association, said he expected young Vietnamese people will have chances to know and visit the beautiful Central European country which he spent years studying there.
Indeed, the contest has received great support by a number of scholars who spent years studying and living in Poland – the country which many of them considered the second home.
Officials and experts who are jury members and partners with scientific supervision over the contest include Associate Prof. Dr Lai Vinh Cam from the Vietnam Institute of Geography, A/Prof. Vu Cao Minh from the Vietnam Institute of Geology, Dr. Hoang Viet Giao and Mr. Ho Chi Hung from the Vietnam- Poland Friendship Organization, and Mr. Nguyen Minh Khoi from Wordpress Vietnam.
