Nam Dinh: Volunteering as an English Teacher in Vietnam

Working with kids at kindergarten and elementary school students!

My Duties as a Volunteer

While volunteering, I stayed at Huy's (the owner of the English School I volunteered at and the Worldpackers host) house. His house didn't have WIFI, so I ended up staying in an empty classroom with a mattress to sleep on at the English School. (I know it sounds weird, but that's what I did.)  The school was located right across the street from Huy's house, so it was nice to walk back and forth if I had to get anything or if it was time to eat. Huy's family provided two meals a day and they accommodated me for vegan meals. However, most of the time, I took care of my own meals or got invited to lunches and dinners by the locals. Classes usually began around 5:30 pm and ended around 9:20 pm so I had mornings and early afternoons to explore the city or do my work. 

The school I volunteered for was a private English school where Vietnamese students would come to learn to practice English after their school ended. The classes were about 2 hours long, and one Vietnamese English teacher led each class. The classes were supported by one other Vietnamese teaching assistant as the classes were quite big.  My role was to facilitate discussions among students and lead games. Students who were as young as 5 years and as old as early 40s came to the school to learn English either after school or work. I helped out mostly 5 to 9-year-old kids but did a 1.5-hour full class teaching for 12-year-olds. I enjoyed my time working with Vietnamese students!

Sunday English Club- Informal MeetUp in the City

Every Sunday, Nhung (one of the teachers at the private school) held informal meetings for kids to hang out in the park and do fun activities together. One time I joined their meetup at the park, and we sang Christmas songs together, played games, and made Christmas wreaths. It was nice to see how children in the neighborhood would gather around each week. It was cold in the morning, so not a lot of people came to the meeting on the day I was there, but still, the group was big enough to have fun together.  

We spent time at the park making Christmas decorations!

Spending Time with People in the Community 

The small community here was very welcoming! When I wasn't teaching English in classes, I went to the "Sunday English Speaking Club" (this is what people used to call it) to spend time with children who wanted to talk to me in English or got invited to family lunches to share meals. It was a great experience for me to bond and connect with the locals. Some people spoke English well, but others didn't but we still had no issues communicating. I did pomelo picking at Ha's (one of the teachers at the English Club) house and had lunch with a lot of locals. I was also invited to Cece's (another teacher at the English Club) for lunch. Danny and his girlfriend Linh were so nice and showed me and another volunteer I met at the English Club around Nam Dinh, including pagodas, temples, and local markets. 

Christmas Decorations

Christmas was just around the corner so I helped Huy's wife decorate one of the empty classrooms for students to take Christmas photos with their peers. We decorated one side of the wall with a Christmas tree and put lights around it. We were all happy with our final products!

I was also invited by Hang, who runs a local kindergarten and led English classes in her school too. I helped her with decorating the lobby, although I wasn't able to spend a lot of time helping her due to schedule conflicts. I still had a great time getting all the ornaments together and painting bits and pieces to make the lobby look nice.