Teach English in Huaitoutala Zhen - Haixi Mengguzu Zangzu Zizhizhou

In the last two decades Vietnam has seen rapid economic growth, an expanding tourism market and a new openness to international trade. These factors are fueling a rapid growth in the need for language classes, English and Chinese in particular as they are the two most important languages for business and tourism. Certain basic differences in their native language, economic factors, and the age groups of learners contribute to a set of difficulties for Vietnamese English language students. In this essay I will attempt to examine these factors and propose possible strategies to overcome these difficulties among the students that I expect to encounter in my work in Vietnam. I. Who are the students? There are three basic groups of students we can consider: Young Learners (ages 6 to 12), Secondary and College students (13 to 25), and Adult Learners (25+). Secondary and College students will be exempted from this essay because they classes they have access to require more certification than I currently have. A. Young Learners This set of students is typically taking classes at a private language school. Because of their school schedule, their classes will always be on weeknights and weekends. The typical young learner factors apply to these students, with some differences. Teachers receive a great deal of deference in Vietnam so young Vietnamese students are more receptive to teacher authority. However, they may be taking a class at the end of a long day at school so they frequently need activities that require high levels of engagement. Thus, lesson planning needs to include games, competition, and changes to seating. B. Adult Learners This set of students has a similar schedule for classes at a private language school. Unlike the young learners, these students will have usually have a particular goal in mind for their studies. Typically the class is needed to expand job opportunities or move up in their job. At the beginning of the class, these students should be asked about their goals. Lesson plans could take these goals into account (vocabulary lessons based on tourism activities for example). II. Economic Factors Students taking private institution English classes come from all walks of life in Vietnam. These language schools typically run one month class units that are relatively inexpensive for families. Thus, young learners may come from many economic backgrounds. Some of them will be enrolled in the Vietnamese public school system and have no previous access to English classes (those classes are typically only offered in secondary school). Some of the students will be taking class in an international school that includes language classes. Thus a class of students may include a large spread of skill to age differences. Thus, a diagnostic test at the beginning of a class may be important in order to ascertain the differing levels of English skills. Lesson planning can follow from this information. III. Language-Specific Difficulties of Vietnamese-native Speakers Vietnamese is a tonal language and has some unique uses of consonants and vowels, limited uses of pronouns and time specific verb conjugations. On the flip side, Vietnamese use a modified version of the roman alphabet. Thus Vietnamese learners have a relatively quick learning curve for reading and writing English comparative to other Asian countries. However, these students face some difficulties with pronunciation and grammar that are derived from their lingual grounding in Vietnamese. A. Pronouns Vietnamese language does not use gender pronouns. Thus, even advanced learners might say: "Your sister is young, how old are his children?" Lesson plans should add more games and fill-in-the-blank exercises aimed at reinforcing use and understanding of gender pronouns. This needs to be something I return to periodically through the weeks and months of a class. B. Past & Future Verb Conjugation Vietnamese language conveys time by the use of an adverb. Effectively, verbs are not conjugated in Vietnamese. Thus, time conjugation in particular can be difficult for learners. For example: "Your sister got marry last year?" Lesson planning needs to be adjusted to add additional drilling on conjugation, as well as Engage exercises that will help students understand and practice the need for time-specific conjugations. C. Learner DIfficulties Derived From Vietnamese Word Structures One of the first things I noticed in Vietnam was that people had a hard time saying "Chris". Most people repeated my name as "Chis" or "Kis". Upon further investigation I found that words only start with an R sound in Vietnamese. The R sound is not found at any other point in Vietnamese words. Vietnamese have a hard time using an R sound in the middle of a word. There are many other difficulties such as this I and others have found that derive from Vietnamese word structures. These include - Difficulty with multi-syllable words (because most Vietnamese words have one syllable); Voiceless & voiced “th” as in thick or this; F ("fff") sounds in the middle of words; Enunciating the final consonants of words because Vietnamese typically swallow the final consonants of many words; English word tones - Vietnamese learners typically have to learn to drop tones as they first learn English because they literally change the meaning of words in Vietnamese. Grasping the nuances of the tones in a word like "interesting" requires a back tracking for learners at the advanced stage. Combinations of these various difficulties can make some English words seem unapproachable for Vietnamese learners. Ex: Refrigerator - my Vietnamese girlfriend has been struggling with this word for months now. Lesson planning to overcome some of these should include a lot of drilling and word games. Additionally, as a teacher I feel a little out of my depth. I think it's important for me to consult with more English teachers in Vietnam and find additional learning strategies to overcome these challenges. This essay is just a start in my journey learning to teach English in Vietnam. There are many more hurdles and solutions down the road.