Teaching in Vietnam | Inspired by Locals in Making a Difference

June 24, 2019

The Green Lion

The Experiences of Kim Steinbeck, 14 weeks of English Teaching

At the start of my time participating I would have never imagined that the English teaching program would give me such a huge amount of fulfillment that I experienced in the end. Naturally, I had a few doubts and fears in the beginning, but soon I found that they had all been for nothing.

As a helper, you are in control of what the students learn and how they learn it. You prepare the contents of the lessons and teach it, having maximum interaction with the students. If at some point, you have any problems or questions, the coordinators are always there to help you out, so you never feel lost or on your own. I taught a variety of topics over the course of three months. From fruits, travelling, music, art and love to basic communication in a bar, geography, science and global warming, you name it. I explained the meaning of “mortgage” and “friends with benefits”, we wrote cooking recipes, played games like “Simon says” or “Charades”, enacted different scenarios from bars, restaurants and hotels or discussed the advantages of global citizenship. Every lesson was fun, enjoyable and never boring and I learned a lot of new things myself.

I got to know so many amazing students who became really dear to my heart during my time teaching. Every single one of them was so warm, welcoming and eager to learn, it made teaching them very comfortable and successful and my work and efforts were highly appreciated. I felt like I made an actual difference by doing something that really matters.

Moreover, being able to interact with the participants is a huge opportunity for the students. It opens new doors and gives them new ideas and values. The students take so much from this class, I could see all of them improve and thrive over time and it made me really proud. During the lunch breaks, they would often ask me tons of questions, try to teach me some Vietnamese or make me eat the food they brought for us to try. The work we do as participants is so influential that some of the students said it was one of the most important jobs in the world and if they can, they would want to become helpers as well in the future.

Apart from working with them, we often went out together to drink coffee or have dinner etc. They showed me around the city, gave me a deeper insight into the Vietnamese culture and language and made me feel at home in HCMC. I found some really genuine and inspiring people and also great friends in them.

Furthermore, the program helped me to grow personally. I became much more confident and open and teaching became easier and easier with every day.

All the experiences and friendships that I made, the influential work I did and values I was able to spread make me incredibly glad that I have made the decision to participate in Vietnam. Leaving all of this behind and saying goodbye was hard and the ten guys sending me off at the airport did not make it any easier, but still reminded me of why it was important to do the work that I did.

The Green Lion

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