Buzz
I read an article on the Dan Tri Forum by teacher Tran Le Van teaching English in Qui Nhon. I completely agree and appreciate the author's insightful opinions. Here I would like to contribute some additional insights from my own experience.
Due to the habit of studying English in high school and from a rural province to Saigon, at first I was very poor in English but later I improved and was selected as one of three representatives from Vietnam to the Cambridge University in Australia for further English studies in October 2007. By September 2009, thanks to a scholarship, I will study in Germany at Mannheim.
Originally a student from a rural province, I was admitted to Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Electrical-Electronics faculty. On the first day, we had to take an English entrance exam, followed by studying the “Know how” textbook. Honestly, every time I went to class I felt “headache” because I couldn't understand every time the teacher played tapes and CDs for us. Because, we have always been “very lacking” in this listening skill during high school. The high school program mostly focuses on “running through” grammar and “writing according to patterns”.
As time passed, I felt bored and didn't like English at all. Although I realized its importance because when I graduated and looked for a job, every company required English and computer skills. In addition, when Vietnam joined WTO in 2006, English communication became even more important.
So I decided to study “self-study” because only I truly understood how much I knew English? I went to the university library of Nong Lam University, because we studied the first year in Thu Duc, to borrow books, so I diligently reviewed vocabulary again, I set a goal to learn “5 words each day”...
After a period of time, my vocabulary had accumulated quite well. But there was no opportunity to apply it. So a need arose for me “to have an environment to use it”. Every Sunday morning I went to the Youth Cultural House at 4 Pham Ngoc Thach to join the English club, meet many people to improve. From here I also had the opportunity to meet some foreigners which made me happy and started to eagerly learn English. To learn English well, you need to constantly use it and regularly need a communication environment.
After regularly coming to the Youth Cultural House, I thought that to learn English well, I needed to understand their culture. I found the SOZO club on Su Van Hanh Street, District 10, at 8 pm every Friday to have coffee to create an opportunity to chat with native speakers. Because this club was founded by American students to help disabled children. She attracted many friends here every time she came to study or travel to Vietnam.
Talking to them helped me understand more about American culture by listening to them speak. They are teachers, students... from America. So through this, I realized that there are many English teachers who have never been to England, America, or Australia. Understanding the culture of the language you need to learn to be confident in communicating with them. You can go to clubs organized by Americans such as: Master Cup 314/1b Dien Bien Phu, District 3, HCMC
In addition, I also supplement my learning method through the internet, buying American movies to watch. Some useful websites such as: hoctiengnuocngoai.com, nhatao.com, australianetwork, bbc.co.uk... and many more. To study effectively, you must combine multiple sources of information, especially utilizing the Internet.
Finally, to effectively learn English, you must have a curriculum with high updateability, new dictionaries so that when reading, you don't feel bored. You should participate in English speaking competitions. That is an opportunity for you to meet many proficient English speakers to learn from them.
In 2007, I participated in an English speaking competition with the theme “Going to England, how does it affect your future”. I was selected as one of the 3 people to go to Cambridge University after the final round.
To effectively and quickly learn English, based on my own experience, I would like to summarize 5 necessary things:
1. Must be passionate and determined
2. Must have an environment to use it consistently and regularly like “using your own money every day”.
3. Regularly go to clubs, meet English learners, confidently communicate with foreigners. Don't hesitate and don't be afraid of mistakes. “Practice makes perfect”.
4. Combine various means to serve English learning: watch movies, listen to English music, go online to read news such as thanhniennews.com.vn or bbc.co.uk/learningenglish
5. Especially, you must be persistent, gradually there will be progress: you just need to remember 5 words each day, or 5 vocabulary words before going to bed.
