Best English Teaching Volunteer Program in Vietnam?- Involvement Volunteers International

On my first morning I was certainly apprehensive as this was my first time volunteering. Different scenarios passed through my mind about the briefing and what I might be asked to do. Will I suddenly be switched from young adults to young children? What sort of “games” may I be expected to play/lead”? Would I be the oldest at 60 (I wasn’t)?

The orientation lasted most of the day. Firstly, a run through of the rules, regulations and expectations. A moment of rebellion from me when I was going to be expected to join a social activity consisting of Karaoke. When I refused that I was offered to dance or tell a story, so I had to politely explain that I would be doing precisely none of those things nor anything else that might be deemed a social activity! This seemed to be accepted in good grace, and I explained my stance more in private later. I then was personally briefed on my program for the week and told a bit more about the school, the teaching philosophy and the class composition.

In the afternoon there was an introduction to the Vietnamese language, which of course I have forgotten. We also discussed a lot of cultural aspects. Altogether the briefing was rather well done.

I had asked during my orientation to get a copy of the teaching materials so that I could spend the morning preparing. This seemed to have been an odd request as I was assured I would be briefed for 15 minutes immediately prior to the lesson. Call me old fashioned, or just old, but my ageing brain likes to have a bit of a run up these days. So I was presented with a copy of the course book “Life” published by National Geographic Learning – it’s not too bad! My schedule had the time, room and also the lesson topic, so I was able to read through the relevant chapters and think through how I would approach different exercises with the students. As it turned out, my time was not wasted time as it forced me also to revisit my previously assessed teaching assignments, but the review of the materials wasn’t directly related to the lessons core subjects. The teacher had her own ideas of what we should do, and had prepared 3 good exercises based on different chapters of the book. All was fine, and the lesson went reasonably smoothly. The students were between 16 and 18 years old, were in the hospitality management stream, and their command of English was varied. A couple were very good, a couple of were very confident but not quite as good, a couple were struggling. But all in all the hour went quite quickly.

The teaching sessions can be very enjoyable but exhausting. Adapting to different learning needs of the different groups requires quick thinking when you first encounter them. Also the teachers have different styles that you have to react to.

Two of the groups were majoring as Chefs, and it was interesting to see them get more animated when talking about food. I ended up in both sessions this afternoon describing how to make a Wiener Schnitzel!

In one class I was able to have 2 mini-groups work on their own through an exercise while I monitored what they were doing, and then we went through the answers together. The silence when they were working on their own was blissful! It wasn’t just that it was quiet in the room for once, but you could see that the students were concentrating. What’s also apparent is that in any group there is often one bully that thinks they know it all and try to dominate the others by telling them answers or trying to coach them in Vietnamese. It’s always a little amusing when you have to correct the bully! All that being said, there is a wide spectrum of ability/knowledge and the Vietnames teachers have been honest in saying they don’t have the resources to be able to differentiate the groups by ability. So this morning was tiring but enjoyable.

So, my advice to future volunteers is simply follow the lead of the teachers who will have a clear idea about what they want you to do. Be humble about your own abilities and the impact you can have, but be thirsty for knowledge and experience YOU can gain from the volunteer work.

Team, food and accomodation: 

The local team who run all the volunteer programs in the country are warm and engaging, and very well organized.

We get three meals a day provided, although so far I tended to skip breakfast in favour of getting a decent coffee at Highland Coffee and a croissant. Lunch in the staff restaurant was fine: simple rice with vegetables and meat (plus a small bowl of soup) on Monday, and a big bowl of noodle soup on Tuesday, steamed rice, green beans (which I put in my small bowl of vegetable soup to warm through) and a small portion of pork and shrimp another day. You won’t go hungry.

Meals in the evening are provided at a small family-run restaurant across the road from the college and we have to pre-order the day before. One night I had fried rice with chicken and a pepper sauce. There was a lot of rice and a chicken drumstick, but it was very tasty.

I opted for a single room and got a single bunk in a dorm with eight beds. It was fine for a week but if I were to volunteer for longer I would want to pay for a hotel room. I think this should be an option.

-Ian