Young teacher cultivate Vietnam-Laos solidarity
WVR - For many years, Truong Van Phuong, a teacher from Son Thuy commune (Le Thuy district, Quang Binh province) has performed a mission in Laos, contributing to preserving the friendly relationship between the two countries.
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In 2011, after graduating from university, Truong Van Phuong registered to teach Vietnamese in Laos. Currently, Phuong is working at Thong Nhat Primary School, Thakhek town, Khammuane province.
The one “sowing” the Vietnamese language
Coming to a completely strange country, not yet fluently in communication, culture and daily life, plus nostalgia cause difficulties for the young teacher.
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| Teacher Truong Van Phuong has been teaching the Vietnamese for more than 10 years in Laos. |
However, with a responsibility, love for the job and youthful enthusiasm, Mr. Phuong has worked hard every day to foster the Vietnamese language stronger in Laos.
In order to better understand the place, in spare time, Mr. Phuong come to visit families of overseas Vietnamese to learn Lao language and get to know more about the culture of local residents.
Mr. Phuong's students are mainly at the primary level, including children from Laos and overseas Vietnamese. Thanks to his closeness, friendliness and devotion to students, Mr. Phuong is always loved by the students. According to him, Lao students are also extremely studious and passionate about Vietnamese, which is the driving force behind his commitment to working in Laos for the past 10 years.
He said: "Teaching Lao students requires a lot of patience because Vietnamese and Lao languages have a big difference. When teaching, in addition to preparing lesson plans, I pronounce words, and, at the same time, my body has to do a lot of work for shaping movements, even shown by drawings on the board to make it easier for learners to understand".
In the lecture hall, as a Vietnamese language teacher, Mr. Phuong often introduces Vietnamese and Laotian cultures and talks a lot about the special friendship and solidarity between the two countries.
Along with that, he includes in his teaching documents many video clips about Vietnamese cuisine, culture, and costumes so to help Lao students become more interested in learning Vietnamese.
“To learn Vietnamese, you must firstly understand the Vietnamese character before you can learn it well. That's why I often take my students to visit and introduce the memorial site of Uncle Ho's house in Khammuane province. I also let the kids experience the Vietnamese traditional Tet, the Mid-Autumn Festival,” he said.
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| Mr. Phuong in his class. |
The biggest achievement that Mr. Phuong has received after many months of performing that task is helping many Lao students to become fluent in Vietnamese and love Vietnam, thereby creating conditions for Lao students to realize their desire to study in schools in Vietnam.
Deep affection for the second homeland
After more than 10 years of living and working in Laos, teacher Truong Van Phuong considers the country of Trieu Voi (million elephant country) as his second homeland. The time living here has given Mr. Phuong valuable experiences that are not easy to obtain in a normal human life. He got the chance of knowing and living in a new culture and teaching students new things.
He confided: “Through the days of living and working here, I feel the sincerity of people. Everyone loves me and gives me a lot of affection. People having vegetables, fish, and chickens all bring them to me. I can live in people’s love as all geographical and cultural distances seem to be erased".
Every year, teacher Phuong, his wife and 2-year-old daughter return to their hometown in Le Thuy district, Quang Binh province to celebrate the Lunar New Year with their family and return to Laos to continue their work.
And every time returning, he himself has an indescribable feeling, because his homeland Vietnam and Laos are the most attached places.
Sharing about his upcoming plans, Mr. Phuong said that he and his wife continue to teach Vietnamese in Laos to overseas Vietnamese and people in need here.
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| Teacher Phuong participates in activities at the Vietnamese Association in Kham Muon province. |
Recently, Mr. Truong Van Phuong returned to Vietnam to participate in a training course on teaching Vietnamese for overseas teachers held by the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Training.
Returning after the training course, he said: "I will apply information technology in teaching, so that the students will be more interested in learning Vietnamese.
I wish to have more attention and support to Lao language teachers. Because teachers are the bridge for solidarity and friendship between the people of the two countries.”
(Source: WVR/Translated by Gia Nguyen)
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