 Vietnamese patriots realized the potential of "Quốc Ngữ" as a useful tool to quickly reduce illiteracy and to educate the masses.The traditional Chinese scripts or the "Nôm" script were seen as too cumbersome and too difficult to learn.The use of prose in literature also became popular with the appearance of many novels; most famous were those from the "Tự Lực Văn Đoàn" literary circle.