The Maids at Le Trung Hotel, Chi, Greeny, Minh and Chau

As most of you know, when I went to Vietnam last March, I made friends with several Vietnamese English students in Siagon, who would hang out in a park and look to meet foreigners so they could better their English skills. And you know that I met up with an English guy named Nigel Veal that was starting an English language school. When I returned to the States, I organized a benefit in Dallas, in the home of my friends Rob and Steve. Rob gathered all his friends together and we raised $900 to send to Nigel so he could teach 12 young men and women aged 18-29 for about 6 months, at no charge to them. The next few blog entries I will post some of their stories as told by Nigel. Meet the first 6 students:

• "The maids at Le Trung Hotel. Three months ago,an American Vietnamese lady who was staying at my hotel asked me if I would consider giving free English lessons to the two maids who clean the rooms. Neither could speak more than a few words of English and I don't speak Vietnamese so I knew it would be a challenge. Anyway, I agreed and I now teach them just for an hour, three or four times a week, when they(and I) finish work at 9.00 or 9.30pm. Hotel maids work very long hours for little pay, although meals and basic accommodation are provided. The older girl, Loan (pronounced Long)is 26 and has worked here for six years. The other maid (whose name is unpronounceable for me but sounds a little like Nar) is just 18 and joined the staff earlier this year. They come from the same part of the Vietnamese countryside where they have large families with many siblings. Both girls send the larger part of their meager income homeeach month to help support their younger brothers and sisters. We study on the top floor of the hotel where the maids have their quarters. Teaching at elementary level is not my specialty but I have some good books and have devised some simple but effective teaching strategies. We are making steady progress. The goal is modest: to help them acquire a basic knowledge of English which would enable them to communicate with foreigners. This, in turn, might open the door to better job opportunities in the future ..............................................................
  
• "Chi (pronounced Tea) is a shy, kind and caring girl, aged 26,who desperately wants to improve her English. Her level is pre-intermediate. I met her originally in the park and she visited my old class in Nguyen Du Street on several occasions. She works with very young children (2-4 year-olds) in a kindergarten but finishes work at 4pm and comes to my hotel at 4.30pm for an English lesson four times a week.Because the hotel reception area is generally quiet around that time, it is easy to find a suitable place to sit and study. Sometimes she stays until the car from the Korean school comes to collect me. On other days, when it isn't raining, we go to the park to study. My immediate focus is to help her increase her English vocabulary which is currently quite limited.I am therefore teaching her from an excellent series of books called Vocabulary in Practice. Her approach to learning is very methodical. She needs to understand clearly the meaning of each new word before moving on to the next. A few months ago, Chi experienced a personal tragedy when her elder sister, who suffered from a congenital heart defect and learning difficulties, dropped dead suddenly on Vung Tau Beach when the family were on a Sunday outing to the seaside. Chi has told me (though I am of course paraphrasing her words) that she regards learning English as a kind of therapy in helping her come to terms with this traumatic event. .........................................................................
  
• "Greeny, Minh and Chau are 3 advanced students (20-22yo) whom I teach at their home 3 times a week. Greeny and Minh are sister and brother, and Chau is Greeny's friend. Unlike the other students mentioned here, they can afford a modest tuition fee s they study with me at a subsidized rate. They always pick me up at my Hotel by motorcycle. Greeny and Minh live in a ramshackle house in one of the most densely populated districts of the city with practically every inch of the sidewalk taken up by vendors. The congestion inside their house is even worse. 10 people live there, including their parents, 3 aunts and a cousin and her husband and young child. Greeny's father runs a 2nd hand shop with old bicycles of which there are 70 in the house competing with the humans for space. There is no evidence of beds. When it rains, water leaking through the roof is collected in strategically-positioned buckets. Despite this, it is a homely place and the walls are a shrine to Greeny and Minh's academic and sporting achievements. Greeny and Chau are full-time university students, although Chau (who is very pretty) earns a little money from occasional modeling work. Minh graduated last year and now teaches Tae Kwon Do. (Both he and sister are black belts.) All 3 have an extensive vocabulary and knowledge of grammar although Minh in particular struggles with his pronunciation. We study from a wide range of books (mine and theirs). I help them with their TOEFL reading and listening comprehension exercises and correct their written assignments, after which we play competitive word games. Our lessons are always full of noise and fun."
  

-- Nigel Veal, Siagon