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It’s undeniable that English is very important language for any Vietnamese person. Vietnam even has its own system of English certificates with A as the elementary, B as the intermediate and C as the advanced level. Most office jobs require those kinds of certificates. In a job interview, 9 out of 10 interviewees will say they plan to learn English if you ask them about their status/plan to attend any evening course.
Vietnamese people love practicing English as often as is humanly possible. Don’t be surprised when you happen to see a group of Vietnamese people chatting in English at a bookstore or in a restaurant. Don’t comment about their noisy behaviors, because they’re trying to let you know they are speaking English. They sign up for English speaking channels like HBO, Cinemax, Star Movies, etc. and state that these channels help them improve English a lot, while in fact, they will immediately switch to another channel if the movie doesn’t have Vietnamese subtitles.
Western tourists are easily found as English teachers here in Vietnam, without any teaching skills. Most of them handle speaking classes where they only need to discuss with their students about cultures, Vietnamese one in particular, for their own benefit. Because Vietnamese people like learning English with a native speaker, they don’t even care that they don’t improve at all after those courses.
Vietnamese people like English, whether or not they are good at it. If you’re short of topics to talk about, encourage them to speak of their efforts in learning English.
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