Le Ha, director of a limited liability company, says she will never forget the lucky day when a friend introduced her to a foreign couple living in Ha Noi who needed a home assistant.

Illustration photo. Source: Internet

As a student at Ha Noi University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ha equipped herself with a good knowledge of English and graduated ready and eager to find work.

When her studies were finished, Ha applied for jobs at several companies but she failed to find work. She was disappointed until a friend introduced her to an English family who needed live-in help.

"While living with them, I took the opportunity to learn English from them," she says.

Recognising her intelligence and knowing about her literature background, the couple asked Ha to help them revise their documents and teach them Vietnamese.

"I worked hard to satisfy their belief in me," Ha recalls.

After working together for more than one year, they were all very happy with the arrangement. In addition to paying Ha's salary, the English couple also gave her a motorbike.

"I have become a successful businesswoman, but I will never forget those days," she says.

In recent years, an increasing number of foreigners have come to live and work in Viet Nam, many of whom want to learn Vietnamese to facilitate their studies, business and communication.

A contingent of Vietnamese tutors has emerged in Ha Noi and HCM City to meet the demand.

Tran Van Tam, a Russian language student at the Ha Noi University of Foreign Studies, who has been a tutor for three years, says: "Once, I attended a birthday party at a friend's house, and I sat next to a young Russian woman, Olga Ivanovna, who was planning to open a fashion shop. During our talk, she asked me to teach her Vietnamese."

Tam says they both were embarrassed during their first lesson.

"Then I began to teach Olga how to communicate in different situations, from simple to complicated levels. Now she can speak Vietnamese fairly well. She also introduced some of her friends to me, so this job helped me earn money during my last academic year."

Many people may think that teaching Vietnamese to foreign expats is like a walk in the park, but this is totally untrue.

Tutors must have good foreign language skills to easily communicate with foreigners.

They must also have good knowledge of Vietnamese history, culture and customs, and know the location of interesting places in Viet Nam in order to respond to their student's questions.

Le Hoa Mai, a tutor, says foreigners often take learning very seriously.

"They know how to take full advantage of their tutor's knowledge. Over the course of two hours, the lessons are often very hard and strained. My students often ask me many questions about the literal and figurative senses of words, and even the slang meaning of words.

"After a hard lesson, I realise that the sum they pay me is worth all of the work I put into it," she says.

Mai says some of the students are very generous.

"A lesson costs about US$10, but sometimes students like their teachers and give them a gift of $100-200."

Some teachers also found good jobs thanks to help from their foreign students, many of whom are business people.

However, not all teachers are so successful.

Do Long, manager of a Vietnamese-Japanese joint venture, says: "When I was a student, a friend of mine was making good money teaching Vietnamese to a foreign woman so I tried to teach Vietnamese to an American businessman. But after only two lessons, he rejected me and said: "You don't have enough knowledge so I cannot continue. If you want to teach us, you must improve yourself first."

"I felt very ashamed. But thanks to that failure, I learned something and have a good job today," Long says.

A foreign expat in Ha Noi, Kathy Shea, says it's important for students to be direct with teachers and learning centres about their needs.

"My learning centre paired me with a teacher who I found unresponsive and patronising. I called the director and she immediately switched teachers to a younger guy who had more experience with direct teaching. He was great and I learned a lot from him."

Although there are unavoidable shortcomings during the process of teaching Vietnamese to expats, there are always cultural and lifestyle exchanges between teachers and students.

Khamphay Siriwong, a Thai businessman, says he has learned Vietnamese from several Vietnamese students.

"I have chosen teachers who are all friendly and have good teaching methods. They are whole-hearted in their correction of my mistakes in pronunciation, and they give simple examples for me to easily understand what should be said in specific circumstances."

Tutors often design their lessons around Vietnamese textbooks for foreigners and some also have their own teaching methods that they combine with extracurricular activities, like going to the market and book shops together, and eating together, allowing the teacher to instruct and correct the student in a real world situation.

Many students attending the HCM City University of Social Sciences and Humanities currently teach Vietnamese to South Korean businessmen and students.

Minh Trang, a Sociology student says: "I also learned a lot about other cultures and lifestyles by teaching Vietnamese to foreigners.

"The South Koreans are friendly and respect teachers, so the lessons are often lively and amicable."

Jae Chang Shik, a Korean student, says he plans to work in Viet Nam for a long time so he has studied Vietnamese for nearly two years.

"I've studied with about 10 Vietnamese students. Koreans have a lot of difficulty with pronunciation when learning Vietnamese, and the Vietnamese students help us correct these mistakes very effectively.

"I think this method is interesting as we can exchange and further understand about each country's culture," he says.

Now in addition to common part-time jobs such as sales promotions, delivering advertising brochures and teaching children, many students tutor foreigners because they can earn a good income.

More importantly, the job creates opportunities for them to exchange with foreigners and study other cultures.

These tutors often joke: "We do not ‘knock on children's heads' (Vietnamese slang which means ‘be teachers for children') but we knock on expats' heads'." 

Source: VNS