In 1979, he was one of the first pupils sent to study high school in Thua Thien-Hue by the Overseas Vietnamese Association in Savannakhet province, Laos.
Doctor Tran Kim Lan is examining a patient (Photo: vov.vn)
During his years as a medical student in Hue, Mr. Tran Kim Lan constantly suffered from malaria and poor health. Luckily, he was successfully treated with Oriental medicine by physicians. In this time, Mr. Kim Lan learnt how to cure diseases by the Oriental medicine.
With diligence and hard work, after several years of study, Mr. Tran Kim Lan earned a diploma as a Western medical doctor and gained a better understanding of oriental medicine.
After graduating from university, since 1990, Dr. Tran Kim Lan returned to Savannakhet province to open a private clinic, combining Eastern and Western medicine treatments.
Dr. Kim Lan (Quang Trach district, Central Quang Binh province-origin) has worked with the motto "simple, effective", and offers moderate prices so that poor patients can be treated for a long time. His greatest pleasure is that he can treat some difficult diseases such as malaria, chronic liver, cirrhosis, and women undergoing difficult childbirth.
Seeing his patients overcoming dangers and recovering from their diseases thanks his treatments, Dr. Kim Lan feels more motivated and advises himself to take more responsibility for his work.
Preserving and promoting Vietnamese by writing dictionary
Not only a doctor wholeheartedly for his patients, Mr. Tran Kim Lan is also known as an overseas Vietnamese who has undertaken many efforts to preserve and promote the Vietnamese language in the Vietnamese community living and working in Laos.When his children were small, in addition to medical treatment, Mr. Kim Lan was also responsible for teaching his children. His children understand Vietnamese, but only simple words in daily communication. Worries about Vietnamese descendants born in Laos no longer speaking their mother-tongue made him sleepless.
Recognizing the diversified and imaginative Vietnamese language, and wanting descendants not to forget their mother tongue, Dr. Tran Kim Lan has decided to write Vietnamese-Lao dictionaries.
In fact, he started writing dictionaries while studying at the medical university, but because of limited time, economic difficulties, and few reference books, he had to quit.
In 1997, after collecting money to buy a computer to use for the archives, the doctor decided to do something to make the study of Vietnamese language more effective. This time, he was determined to systematically compile Lao - Vietnamese and Vietnamese - Lao dictionaries.
He said that dictionary compiling brought various difficulties, and he has faced criticisms that made him frustrated. But he has overcome them and written again.
During the compilation, Mr. Kim Lan has consulted how to write a dictionary of some authors and publishers. From reading a lot of books and newspapers, accumulating experience looking for word-classes, in 2003, he completed two sets of Lao-Vietnamese and Vietnamese-Lao dictionaries, and books of Lao-Vietnamese, Vietnamese-Lao proverbs and Lao-Vietnamese synonyms. All of these books have publishing licenses in Laos, but so far, the publisher has just published the Lao-Vietnamese dictionary.
Until 2006, there was a cooperation program between the two Ministries of Education and Training of the two countries, Dr. Tran Kim Lan was officially invited to write the Vietnamese-Lao dictionary. The invitation seemed to add more enthusiasm for him to give his whole mind to research, preserve and promote Vietnamese language among overseas Vietnamese in Laos.
It is expected that by the end of 2017, Dr. Tran Kim Lan will complete the Vietnamese-Lao dictionary with about 2,000 copies, as well as edit the Lao-Vietnamese dictionary. This is a very useful resource for overseas Vietnamese to study and research in Laos, as well as Lao people want to study and learn about Vietnam./.