It seems as if our 5 weeks of teaching English ended in a blink of an eye. The very last week of our program here in Hue was filled with emotional goodbyes between our teachers and students. Our teacher volunteers have built bonds with their students that they didn’t expect to have. Our teacher volunteers kept our last week of the program highly energized with fun games, songs and its artists’ history, hot debate topics, sports, among other activities in and outside of the classroom to remind the students that learning English could be really fun!
On Monday, Level A and B students were led by Caroline, Tri, Patrick, Sang, Phuong, Quan, and Christine to the Roller Skating rink in which they call “Truoc Patin” here in Hue. Over 80 students showed up at the skating rink, ready to get their grooves on! The teachers were excited as they had promised that the top 15 students of their classes who had scored the highest grades on their exams the previous Friday would receive a free entrance into the skating rink. It was quoted by one of the teacher volunteers: “Nearly all the students had their fair share of falling down at some point during the day, but that’s when we heard them laugh the hardest! They just simply got up after they fell and continued skating!” The trip to the Roller Skating Rink was a reward for the students’ enthusiasm and dedication everyday when showing up to class at 8 AM to learn English during their Summer vacation time. Level C students did not attend this fieldtrip because they will be taken to Elephant Spring next weekend! Instead, they were working on putting together a skit for Friday’s talent show, as well as discussing the topic of Vietnamese-Americans. They were curious to know the differences between Vietnamese people in Vietnam and Vietnamese-Americans abroad. They were very proud to learn that there are several Vietnamese-Americans abroad that are very well known such as the recently first Vietnamese-American elected U.S. Representative, Joseph Cao.
On Tuesday, teacher volunteers returned to their regular teaching schedules using a variety of different methods in order to carry out their lesson plans. Level A students learned American Holidays and Months, excited mostly to learn about Halloween! Some Level B students were working on American Idioms that are commonly used, as well as practicing their reading, writing, and listening skills through short stories from Chicken Soup for the Soul books. Level C students learned about the game of American Football as well as practicing their skits for our Talent Show on Friday.
On Wednesday, Level A students were taught their Five W’s: Who What When Where Why along with the remake of The Beatles’ “Hello Goodbye” by the popular hit show, Glee. Level B students were also learning several new songs including Disney’s “A Whole New World”, Blink 182’s “All the Small Things”, as well as Michael Jackson’s “Heal the World”. Level C students continue to creatively plan out their skits for a perfect performance on Friday!
Thursday was a big day! We were interviewed by the local Hue Television Network about ETA4’s program. Our three students from the program were excited as one quoted: “My family will be so shocked to see me on television!” Anh Long, our oldest student who has followed our program since day one, reported to the Television Network: “I am 48 years old. I have never gone to a University or studied English with any institution. I have always tried to learn English on my own. Ever since I have participated with the ETA4 program, my English has gotten a lot better—and I believe that the way in which we are learning English with ETA4 is exciting and effective!” Victor Wilson, the President and Co-founder of the program, was also interviewed by the Hue Television Network. When asked why he decided to begin the program, he answered: “I think that learning English is a tool that mostly everyone could use and that it’s a way for us to create a culture connect.” The television network videotaped our program in action while Level A students were practicing their “Hello Goodbye” performance, Level B1 and B2 students were learning about The Beatles’ history and music as well as having a Kickball competition between Christine and Sang’s classes, Level B3 students were reviewing their vocabulary words through a game of Telephone Pictionary, and Level C students were making props and costumes for their skit performances on Friday.
Friday was the last day of our teaching program, and it sure ended strong with our 2nd Talent Show of the Summer! The first hour of Friday was spent rehearsing for their performances. Melodies of The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Colbie Cailat, Disney Songs, R. Kelly, Miley Cirus, and Justin Bieber were echoing throughout the hallways of the Youth Center. Giggles and laughter were the surround sounds of the hallways as the students were preparing dance moves and perfecting their every pitch for the Talent Show. It was 9:00 AM and it was time for everyone to gather inside of the auditorium. As students were rushing into the auditorium, our two Masters of Ceremonies An and Long were preparing to introduce the Talent Show and the first performance. Each class was sitting in the audience nervous for their turn up to let out all they have learned in the last few weeks. Ngoc-Nhi’s Level C students performed a hilarious skit in which the plot was a scene from Romeo and Juliet. Jennifer’s Level C students performed two different skits with very witty writing all done by students in the class! Victor Wilson and Bao Tran contributed to the program by performing a rap that they wrote on their own to a remix of “Whatcha Say?” by Jason Derulo and Imogen Heap. At the end, the entire auditorium along with all of the teacher volunteers sang to Justin Beiber’s “Baby”. There was laughter, tears, and definitely dehydration at the end of the Talent Show. As the day came to an end, the students were hesitant to leave and the teachers were hesitant to say their goodbyes as they knew it would be another year until we meet again.
The older students from Level B class as well as Level C students remained at the end to discuss our upcoming Elephant Spring Trip as well as the Volunteer Projects that begin this Monday! We will be visiting an orphanage each day from Monday to Wednesday in order to interact with the orphans, do fun activities with them, as well as handing out treats to the kids. From Thursday to Sunday morning, the teacher volunteers along with several students will be staying overnight at an orphanage located in Phu Loc district of Hue City in order to better understand the situation of these orphans, witness their everyday lives, and see what exactly they need fixed so that we can help make their living space a better place. We plan on having close interaction with the orphans like cooking, cleaning, eating, and even spending the nights at their facilities with them! We are looking forward to these projects as our very own students will be joining us in the spirit of Volunteerism!
Anna Huynh
