English Corner

Gee, and maybe they might spring for an occasional drink for the english speaker too. What a deal

That would be great but there is no they.  It is a strictly volunteer thing and no one is getting paid.  It is only a forum for people to meet and talk.

great idea, how many people turn up ?

I was only joking about the drinks, It looks like a great opportunity to meet people

Hi Gary,

It is a great idea for language exchange as well as a way to make new friend. Too bad I don't live Nha Trang, or else I might join you.


Tom

Yes, it is going very well so far.  Last week over 30 people.  Mostly college  students and people from hotels and restaurants.  We try to keep the cost down so they can feel comfortable coming. Everyone is welcome.

Hi Gary

Do you know english coner like this in ho chi minh city ? I dont know where I can meet foreigner to learn language from them

There is a place in Youth House where people love english come every morning and afternoon in sunday, but no foreigner here and so boring when we can't learn form native spreaker.

Thank for your help.

nhandong wrote:

Hi Gary

Do you know english coner like this in ho chi minh city ? I dont know where I can meet foreigner to learn language from them

There is a place in Youth House where people love english come every morning and afternoon in sunday, but no foreigner here and so boring when we can't learn form native spreaker.

Thank for your help.

Is the Youth House near Diamond Plaza just above Notre Dame Cathedral? Who does a volunteer ask if they go there?

Some people were meeting at the Turtle Pond and when it rained they migrated to the nearby KFC.

Hi Jaitch

Yes, that's right. I come there some times, but this place isn't interesting. If they dont change the way to operate this club, maybe less people go there in the future.

I brought the idea of English Corner from CHina, where I lived previously.  If you can find one or two foreigners who would be interested in volunteering their time, you can start one in HCMC. I am sorry I do not know anyone there.  Don't be shy to ask a foreigner you see or meet.  You maybe surprised at the positive response.  Good luck.  If you need any other information, please let me know.

Hi Gary

Thank you very much for your help. If you have any foreigner friend live in Ho Chi Minh city now,pls introduce them to me so that I can open a club to meet at weekend at Van Thanh tourist area for my vietnamese friend and foreigner to exchange culture, language, travel...furthermore, native vietnamese can help expat when they have just came this city to feel more easy ^_^

If you go to ho chi minh, pls contact me ^_^

nhandong wrote:

.., pls introduce them to me so that I can open a club to meet at weekend at Van Thanh tourist area for my vietnamese friend and foreigner to exchange culture, language ...

And where exactly is that? (Too lazy to check my Gazette)

Seems that the Youth Centre is more central, the only trouble is parking, the local toughs from the Cong An usually swoop in and cart away motorcycles.

The loudspeakers across the road are pretty impressive, too, the lower notes can make your body sake.

You need rules, when I visit NanNing, GuangXi Province (we play spot the undercover cop there) too many Gwei Lo (Foreigners) used t as a place to pick up students for teaching business - which made it a bit of a hustle.

We could always set up in the corner of the park opposite the youth centre - the cleaners usually finish cleaning up after the hookers by 08.00H. And there is (expensive) coffee at Highlands.

Hi nhandong,

I was actually in D1, HCMC at the park in front of Pham Ngu Lao last Sunday before I flew back to Singapore. I met some of the Youth House students speaking with a Scot and a French and I joined in as well. You just need to open up and most foreigners are quite friendly.

Hi Jaitch

Van Thanh Tourist Area located at 48/10, Dien Bien Phu street, 22 Ward, Binh Thanh district. This place is very beautiful: have coffee shop near lake, have place for party, many beautiful sightseeing, can go camping here...=> go there can help us feel comfortable after a hard work week.

Youth Culture House in center, have parking lot but this place is not have beautiful sightseeing.

I know that park near diamon Plaza, I went there 3 times, but one time I met a bad guy so our group have to go home soon. It is not safe for girl when go out in park.

Many vietnamese students want to make friend with foreigner to learn language, but difficulty is we dont know how to meet them that why we learn english over 10 yrs but we can't speak...

Hi Michael Chan

Somtimes I went to the park in front of New World hotel to practice english with foreigners. I had chance to meet many people from around the world and still contacted with one of them after 4 yrs. A girl show up and make friend first with a straneg person is very strange in vietname's culture but we have to do like this so that we have opportunity to pratice english ^_^.

I wil go to singapore 4 days in 17-21/May. I wil contact with you when I go there. Hope to meet u here and I can learn english and chinese with you .

thank in advance ^_^

would love to be able to meet new people and begin to learn the language.  have spent time in saigon and hanoi on business and have been to nha trang on holiday.  am beginning to get my ducks oin a row to make this happen.  glad to see there are opportunities to connect with people who have info about housing etc.  thanks for starting this.  gail

Hi Gail:
Welcome to our english corner in Nha Trang when you come to town.  Always a need for more foreigners.  We now usually have around 30 vietnamese each sunday. Also starting a new one on friday nights. My phome is 01678692851

I don't mean to change the subject but there is a history to phrases being used.

Jaitch wrote: Gwei Lo (Foreigners) . . .

"Gwei Lo" generally refers to Foreigners in a Cantonese phrase.  particularly "Gwei Paul" refers to a female caucasian and Gwei Lo refers to a male caucasian.  But the word "Gwei" by itself means "Devil".  Years ago before airplane age, people in China thought that any human being who doesn't look like them were thought to be a devil.  So the words "Gwei Lo" went out once and it could never be taken back.  In Vietnam, Chinese people are called "Tau".  Tau really means Boat.  The Ethnic Chinese migrated to Vietnam by Boats mostly before and after WWII.  So they are called Nguoi Tau or Boat People.  Chinese Language is called Chu Tau or Boat Language.  This is interesting history to some people.

docwood wrote:

The Ethnic Chinese migrated to Vietnam by Boats mostly before and after WWII.  So they are called Nguoi Tau or Boat People.  Chinese Language is called Chu Tau or Boat Language.  This is interesting history to some people.

The Chinese has immigrated to Vietnam for more than 2000 years. There is a popular Vietnamese saying: "where there is smoke (coming from cooking), there is Chinese people". The majority came, however, around the end of the Ming dynasty (late 17th century) because many Ming loyalists did not want to capitulate to the Qing dynasty.

In the beginning of the 20th century, the French also lured many Chinese to Vietnam to explore/develop the naturally rich South. It is true that some Kuomintang loyalists fled China after the WWII but they don't make up the majority of the Chinese in Vietnam.

The biggest group of refugees after WWII in Vietnam was the mass movement from the North to the South due to the Geneva convention in 1954 which effectively divided the country into two. Over 1 million North Vietnamese (around 800,000 were Catholics) fled from the North to re-establish in the South. Many died along the way. Families were split and did not see each other for over 20 years (until after 1975). Many of them are therefore boat refugees twice: once in 1954 and once again after 1975.

The Chinese has been called many names. One of the derogatory terms is Ba Tau. The term "Nguoi Tau" is less derisive, rather more vernacular.

Chinese Language is not called Chu Tau; it is akin to calling English "Yankee language", grammatically correct but no one uses the term. Tieng Hoa, Tieng Trung Quoc,... are more commonly used. One can, however, use the colloquial term: "Tieng Tau".

Hello Everyone:
The English Corner in Nha Trang is on going and very successful.  WE now have over 50 people attending.  Always need native english speakers to help out.  We have moved the location again.  The hotel did not want us any more as everyone did not order something to drink. I dont think anyone should have to buy something to attend as many of the attendees are college students.  Call me if you are interested in participating.  THanks to everyone for their help.  01678692851

Hey Garyww, Thanks for the heads up sorry to change the subject again . . .

Thanks Anata for expanding our horizons.  I think it's good for the younger local folks to know that most Vietnamese have Chinese Ancestors.  Those Chinese who migrated to VN much earlier than WWII became Vietnamese through the generations and today only speak Vietnamese due to many years (thousands) of adaptation and integration.  Originally VN only had a bunch of different tribal groups (around 20?) that make up today's ethic minority mountainous people like Meo, Mun, Hoa, Tay Son, Hmong etc . . .  The Mekong Delta used to belong to the Khmer Kingdom so they have their own history also.  Vietnam used the Chinese Characters until the French Missionary Priest invented the Vietnamese Language back in 1850's.  The groups that came around WWII were able to keep their own ethic Chinese Language and Dialects and culture such as Teo Chew, Cantonese, HaucKien, Hai Nan and others etc . . . due to their subsequent prosperity and economic power up to the 70's.   Cantonese and Teo Chew today make up the majority of the remaining Ethinc Chinese who still maintain and speak their respective dialects in VN today.  There are so many historical evidence with Chinese Characters engraved and scattered all over mostly North and Central Vietnam in pagodas and neighborhood gates etc . . .  I was brave enough to visit the small hamlets on my motorbike alone, in the outskirt vicinity of Ha Noi, and found very similar housing structures to China's counter part.  For example, each neighbourhood has a common yard for kids to play and each home is quite deep in length that includes a small open yard beyond the front door etc . . . The Cidadel in Hue is another Land Mark like the Chinese's emporer's court.  99% of the Vietnamese family names have Chinese Origins.  Nguyen, Tran, Truong, Lam, Ly and many others etc . . . can be found in many parts of China although they all spelled differently in western alphabets due to the phonetic sound of different dialects. . .

Gary- To get more foreigners, why don't you post something over on Craigslist? That's where all the visiting foreigners go.  Could also try: community.vdict.com/index.php, and asia-expatsforum.com (there seem to be a lot of life over there too).

Having lived in HCMC/Bien Hoa for 3 months, something tells me that 50 will soon be not much!  You know how enthusiastic the Viets are to learn and improve their English!  As an ESL teacher, I think 50 in a conversation "club" is way too many. They can't get as much out of it as the intended purpose.  I think this is going to be one of those things where you've created a monster.  But a good monster!   Might consider creating other times/days for these meetings.  I respect you for not forcing them to buy food and drinks.  They really don't need the extra expense seeing as how poor they already are.  Keep up the good work!

Great, thanks.  I will try the other addresses.  Yeah, I am afraid it will get too many people so am trying to get more foreigners to help out.  We now usually have 4 to 6 vietnamese to each foreigner at separate tables.  So far so good.  We also have one on friday nights from 5 to 7.  It is just difficult to find a place and get everyone to agree on what night.  Same old.  ANyway, thanks again.

Hi Gary, My name's Ngọc. My hometown is Nha Trang and i am going to have a summer vacation in Nha Trang. Your activity is very great. I want to improve my E in this summer, my E is not good. So can I join in it, and how can I join in? Are there a lot of people? Please help me having further information because i am new, so, may be having a litte shy, hihi.I will come back to Nha Trang next Thursday. Thank you.

Hello Ngoc:
Welcome to our English Corner.  We meet every Sunday morning at 09:30 at the Nguyen Long Coffee Shop at 05 Tran Hung Dao Street. Don't worry about being shy!  Everyone is when they first come but soon become friends with all of us.  Unfortunately, I am leaving next Tuesday and will be gone for two weeks but there are other foreigners that will be there to talk to.  Come and enjoy.  It is more a social gathering than a class so be comfortable.  See you there when I return. If you have any questions my telephone is 01678692851. CYU
Gary

Anatta wrote:

The Chinese has immigrated to Vietnam for more than 2000 years. There is a popular Vietnamese saying: "where there is smoke (coming from cooking), there is Chinese people". The majority came, however, around the end of the Ming dynasty (late 17th century) because many Ming loyalists did not want to capitulate to the Qing dynasty.

In the beginning of the 20th century, the French also lured many Chinese to Vietnam to explore/develop the naturally rich South. It is true that some Kuomintang loyalists fled China after the WWII but they don't make up the majority of the Chinese in Vietnam.

The biggest group of refugees after WWII in Vietnam was the mass movement from the North to the South due to the Geneva convention in 1954 which effectively divided the country into two. Over 1 million North Vietnamese (around 800,000 were Catholics) fled from the North to re-establish in the South. Many died along the way. Families were split and did not see each other for over 20 years (until after 1975). Many of them are therefore boat refugees twice: once in 1954 and once again after 1975.

The Chinese has been called many names. One of the derogatory terms is Ba Tau. The term "Nguoi Tau" is less derisive, rather more vernacular.

Chinese Language is not called Chu Tau; it is akin to calling English "Yankee language", grammatically correct but no one uses the term. Tieng Hoa, Tieng Trung Quoc,... are more commonly used. One can, however, use the colloquial term: "Tieng Tau".

I adore you for the knowledge and translation <3

Yes, very interesting but this is a post about English Corner.  Maybe you could start a history blog.  I would find it very interesting also.

garyww wrote:

Hello Ngoc:
Welcome to our English Corner.  We meet every Sunday morning at 09:30 at the Nguyen Long Coffee Shop at 05 Tran Hung Dao Street. Don't worry about being shy!  Everyone is when they first come but soon become friends with all of us.  Unfortunately, I am leaving next Tuesday and will be gone for two weeks but there are other foreigners that will be there to talk to.  Come and enjoy.  It is more a social gathering than a class so be comfortable.  See you there when I return. If you have any questions my telephone is 01678692851. CYU
Gary

Thank Gary for your information. I'm in Nha Trang now. I will try to come this Sunday. Hoping see you soon. Good luck! )

I always want to attend a club where I can practice English with foreigners. But I don't know any place in HCM. My English is not good as respect so I'm shy and afraid to make friend with them.
I don't know what to say if they don't understand me. I need a club where have a group of people ( foreigners and Vietnamese ) so we can help together ( and the price for food or drink is not much expensive ).

I am sorry to say that I and my foreign friends have stopped going to English Corner.  Mr. Khoa has started bringing his paying students and getting free english lessons for them. They now overwhelm EC by their numbers. Last week he invited an insurance salesman to try and find customers.  This was meant to be a free way for local people to practice speaking english. I do not recommend any foreigners go unless they want to be Mr. Khua's free english teachers.  Too bad.

yes that is disappointing, let us know if you decide to start up again somewhere else...

garyww wrote:

Last week he invited an insurance salesman to try and find customers.

Hilarious...

I'm always up for these causes.... however there are those who take advantage of volunteer time....

I enjoy sitting in that park across from New World in Q1....pounding back BaBa's.... I meet the most eager...and genuine students... they even sit attentively listening to me recite US foreign policy...

So English corner is closed down?
I ve back Vietnam for 8 months now and by the time I know this E corner, thing is gone!
How about outdoor gathering? I do have some expat friends here and would like to have more.

it is still running, Sunday morning at 09:30 at the Nguyen Long Coffee Shop at 05 Tran Hung Dao Street

Can you tell me if your group project is still up and running? Is the location the same? Is it wheelchair accessible? I am full time wheelchair dependent but still active and infact play tennis each day, but I cannot deal with stairs independently.I am originally from the UK and have been living and running a Conversational English project in HCMC for over 3 years. I have moved to this beautiful part of Vietnam in the last couple of weeks and intend to become long term resident here.If it is possible to join your group on a Sunday I would like the opportunity to talk to you first to explain my position in Nha Trang so that you know whether you would be comfortable with me in your group. Are you ever online or skype or ?
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Mac McDougall.

Hi, it is still up and running, usually organised by Mr Khoa phone 01215284399. It is ok for a wheel chair I think. It is now held at the Lucky Cafe, 5A Tran Hung Dao St. It is pretty casual, people just sit around in groups having casual conversation in English and drinking coffee or whatever you like.

Thank you for that information - I will give it some thought.

Hi does the English corner still exist and where is it held I be there soon I can teach some English and try to improve my Vietnamese.