- "Vinh, who is 20 years old, is a really likeable young man with high ambitions: he wants nothing less than to speak English like a native speaker. Needless to say,he is a long way from achieving his goal but he works hard and has an impressively large vocabulary. He is tremendously polite and respectful, always addressing me as "Sir" even though I have often invited him to call me Nigel. He first studied with me in Nguyen Du Street. Then, when my class closed, I agreed to teach the family of another student called Anh in their home. As a friend of Anh's, Vinh was invited to join this class although as the only non-family member he felt a little uncomfortable studying in Anh's house with Anh's mother, Anh's aunt, Anh's cousins, etc. He told me that he didn't feel as free to express himself as he had done in the old class. Moreover, whereas Anh's family are well-off, Vinh comes from quite a poor family and he explained that he couldn't really afford the tuition fees. I agreed to teach him for free by sending him email exercises to complete during the week and then meeting up with him every Saturday evening for conversational practice. The arrangement is working well. Vinh has a love not just of English but of knowledge,which means that I oftenteach him about other subjects like history, geography and science. He remembers everything and often refers back to a fact that I taught him months ago.He has a problem differentiating between certain sounds, notably B's and P's at the beginning of words and -g and -ck at the end of words. His obsessive desire to pronounce every word correctly often leads him suddenly to interrupt me in mid-flow:
"No, you pluck a chicken. You plug in your computer."
"Pluck, pluck, pluck. I pluck in my computer. Is it right, sir? How many percent?"
"No, you must pronounce the g - guh, guh. Plug."
"Pluck, pluck, pluck. What about ploo, ploo?" (He is trying to say "blue") "Is it right, sir? Oh, I am feeling very ploo today." ..............................................................................
- "Phuc is an advanced-level student, aged 21. Eddie, you may remember him because he often comes to the park in the evenings but always leaves around 9pm. This is because he lives in a pagoda with four other students and five Buddhist monks. Curfew time is 9.30pm and he must return before the gates are locked. Phuc has few financial transactions in his life. His accommodation and meals are provided free of charge as long as he remains a full-time student and does not undertake anypaid employment. He must also do his share of the domestic chores in the pagoda, including cooking, according to a strict rota. Recently, he discovered that I am sometimes free on week day mornings, so he asked if he could come to my hotel twice a week to study with me. He is preparing for his advanced-level TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) exams and even I find the articles in his course books interesting. He also brings with him each time a list of new words gleaned from his wide reading, the definitions and uses of which he wants to understand more clearly. Teaching at Phuc's level is my forte. It is also enjoyable, not least for the purely selfish reason that it actually stimulates my brain! .........................................................................
- "Tuyen is a very gaunt-looking young lady in her early 20's who lives on the other side of Siagon with her mother who has cancer. Her younger sister is studying at University buy Tuyen, it seems, has drawn the short straw, because she must be home to take care of mom 24 hours a day and do the home-based selling job that her mother used to do before she became ill. I teach her almost entirely by email because she lives so far away and has no free time to attend lessons. However, every 4-6 weeks she insists on making a 3-hour bus journey to meet up with me. Between times, I send her email exercises and she sends me her answers for correction. Invariably, a short message is attatched: "You are my good teacher. I admire you, I want to consider you as my friend but I'm afraid you don't agree...The more exercises you send me the more happiness I get." and "You are the kind teacher in my mind. I try my best to study English but sometime I have some problem and i can't find the person who can help me." Tuyen is a sad, lonely girl who is wracked by self-doubt and lack of confidence. She is fearful of the future (especially regarding her mother). She has told me that studying English late at night is the only real pleasure she has in life."
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