“Let me say that this is my first trip to Asia on my own. It was not as much the teaching I feared but coping with insects and other unexpected things. My challenges was to not let my fear of insects and other animals overcome my desire of making a difference by teaching childeren. So far I dealed with that part but still am not a fan of anything that creeps and crawls into my room or near my feet.
As of the teaching I had a great experience. It is completely different from how I teach in Holland. For starters, this is a summerschool that gives children the opportunity to improve their English. I expected to teach at a school in a local town with children that have no English at their school and through volunteers get the opportunity. Nevertheless I was an overal good experience. I had to teach with little means, smallest classroom, no books, table and little space to do energizers. Some children were eager to speak, others so shy it was hard to get a word out. But still I had to make sure it was an hours lesson well spend. I think i’ve made a difference by making the lessons fun, interactive and with a lot of enthousiasm. The children got more open to speak and I was very positive about their speaking skills.
The director, Mr. Lang and his staff go out of their way to make you feel welcome and at home. They help wherever they can, take you out to see places and trust you with their students. I think childeren are lucky to come to Di La center as all teachers are enthousiastic and loving towards the children.
I am proud of the fact that I’ve always said to want to teach abroad and now I did. And also that despite of teaching being different than what I am used to, I was able to give fun interactive lessons.
I would definitely recommend this program to others.”
by Brigitte Rimann 2018
Language and Cultural Exchange Project in Vietnam
