Second-grade student Nguyen Anh Tuan began learning English eight times a week when he started school a year ago, but his mother feared it would be too difficult or tiring.

Students at Long Say English Centre in HCM City. More activities are being introduced to make learning English more fun for students.

“My teacher, Mr Linh, is very humorous and guides us to play lots of games in Vietnamese and English,” Tuan said.

Like Tuan’s mother, many parents now prefer that their children take eight English sessions during the week, rather than two sessions, an option that is still available.

Thanks to teachers’ efforts and incentives from the city’s Department of Education and Training, parents no longer fret whether their sons and daughters are wasting time and energy in poorly taught English classes.

Nguyen Huy Minh, a second-grade student at Le Ngoc Han Primary School in District 1, said that he liked learning English because it helped him become more confident speaking to foreigners.

“We play roles, sing English songs, and tell stories and play game shows like the ones on TV,” he said.

Another popular activity is the annual trip to primary schools in Singapore to meet and make new friends.

Although new teaching methods have made English classes more popular, some teachers still encounter difficulties.

Ton Tuyet Minh, leader of a team of English teachers at Le Ngoc Han Primary School, said the short attention span of primary school students required a variety of exciting activities.

But many teachers, who have received advanced training, have begun to use computers to plan lessons and create teaching tools to make classes more lively.

Truong Song Duc, former head of the city Department of Education and Training, said the department began offering the option of eight English sessions a week in 1999, but few teachers, parents or schools were enthusiastic about the choice.

The idea to offer eight sessions was proposed by President Nguyen Minh Triet, who was the city’s party committee secretary at the time.

Since then, however, the department has received support from city authorities and the Party Committee to pursue the eight-session a week option.

Duc said most residents, including city leaders, wanted their children to learn English when they were young. Today, English is taught by 355 teachers at 140 primary schools.

Huynh Cong Minh, head of the education department, said that it was necessary for students to have the ability to use foreign languages in today’s world.

Most parents have supported the idea because of new teaching methods.

Minh said teachers of primary students must use games and activities to help students practise speaking and listening, not just reading and writing.

“Playing, co-operating, and learning is a good teaching method,” he said.

Alison Ball, director of the British Council, said the city’s education department had begun to develop new curricula and recruit better qualified teachers.

The department has also worked with the Oxford University Press and other companies to open training courses for teachers, and has held a STAR (sensitivity, teamwork, awareness, responsibility) contest for teachers to encourage them to use English teaching methods that make learning fun.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News