In addition to thousands of Hungarian students, SZTE is also the Alma Mater for many foreign students, all of whom bring the reputation of our university to many parts of the world. This time we made an interview with Dr. habil. Vu Hoang Linh, a Vietnamese mathematician who lived in Hungary for more than ten years and studied at the University of Szeged (then JATE). He is currently professor at the Vietnam National University and President of the Vietnam-Hungary Friendship Association.

What brought you to Hungary and what was your motivation to come to Szeged?

In 1985 I was awarded a scholarship to study in Hungary on the basis of my university entrance exam results in Vietnam. After a year of studying Hungarian language, I arrived in Budapest on 4 September 1986. I spent my first year at the International Preparatory Institute in Budapest. At the beginning of September 1987, I started my studies at the JATE as a programmer-mathematician and later as a program designer-mathematician. When I was in Vietnam, I knew nothing about Szeged and JATE. I think that I came that year to Szeged simply because of the course I had chosen and the assignment of the Ministry of Education. I only later learned that the University of Szeged had quite a long history and that world-renowned professors had taught there.

       Vu Hoang Linh in his first year, 1988

According to your CV, you lived in Hungary between 1986 and 1999. What was the most memorable or interesting experience that you remember most fondly from this period?

I spent altogether 13 years in Hungary and I was in 3 cities: Budapest, Szeged and Veszprém. The 5 years I spent in Szeged were the most memorable, and I look back on these years fondly. Back then I made close friends with some Hungarians, with whom I still keep in touch. As a football fan, I have good memories of games at the Herman Ottó dormitory pitch. Besides, the atmosphere and the cultural life of the university town (Somogyi library, the open-air theatre, Virág patisserie, etc.) were great experiences for me.

Between 1987 and 1992 you studied here in Szeged, at the university then called JATE. What would you highlight as the most important experience of your years at the University of Szeged?

At the beginning, although my academic results were not that bad, I was not very serious and motivated in my studies. But later, I started to feel the professional love of my university teachers, which, without exaggeration, has kept me in the professional path ever since. In particular, when I was a fourth-year student, I had the pleasure of meeting a teacher whose lectures and teaching style really impressed me. His name is Lajos Pintér (1928-2019) who was an excellent mathematician and teacher. After I returned home, he wrote me a few letters and sent me his new books. He called me „Kolléga úr” (Colleague) and shared his experiences of teaching mathematics. It was a great honour for me!

Vu Hoang Linh, 1990 

For us, it is often a surprise and an honour when a foreigner learns Hungarian. What was it like to learn such a less widely spoken language? What other languages do you speak besides Hungarian?

The Hungarian language is very complicated indeed, however I think the grammar is quite logical although it is hard to learn but not impossible. Fortunatelly my wife is also speaks Hungarian because she had also studied in Hungary (graduated in chemical engineering at BME). Besides my native language and Hungarian I also speak English. Later in my life I spent relevant time in Germany as a Humboldt scholar researher, so I also speak German at basic level. When I said to my German colleagues I speak Hungarian they were really surprised. This is perhaps understandable, because almost everyone thinks that Hungarian is very difficult to learn.

Vu Hoang Linh with his friend, 1990	Vu Hoang Linh and Pál Gyenizse, 1992   graduation

Is there anything that you might have taken from your experiences in Szeged that you have incorporated into your life in Vietnam?

I think I inherited some of the profession love from my Hungarian teachers, and I try to transfer this attitude to my students.

What advice would you give to the current generation of university students?

It’s really hard to give advice to the younger generations because they live and learn in a totally different time and circumstances. Still, if I would give advice I should say that you always have to trust yourself. Everyone has strengths, both in their personal and work life, from which they can draw a lot and, with the right confidence, they can certainly harness their strengths. Few years ago I found the favourite poem of my teacher Lajos Pintér, which I also liked, so I translated it into Vietnamese and English for my friends. You can read it below: