in 1910, the colonial school system adopted a "franco-vietnamese curriculum", which emphasized french and alphabetic vietnamese. the vietnamese alphabet is a form of the latin alphabet that includes tone marks. on december 28, 1918, king khai dinh declared that the traditional writing system no longer had official status. the civil service exam was given for the last time at the imperial capital of hue on january 4, 1919. the examination system, and the education system based on it, had been in effect for almost 900 years. china itself stop using classical chinese soon afterward as part of the may fourth movement.