Dr. Do Huu Nguyen Loc - Photo: NVCC
Young people have many choices
Having graduated from the English Pedagogy major at Ho Chi Minh City University of Education and having had the opportunity to work in many countries, Dr. Do Huu Nguyen Loc (Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City English Teaching and Research Association) clearly sees the changes in the English teaching landscape at home and abroad in recent years.
For example, according to him, the advantage for English teachers and learners today is that access to online courses, language learning apps and digital resources is becoming more and more convenient.
"People's learning methods are now much more diverse, such as direct learning, online learning, blended learning (a combination of both direct and online learning)... With the development of technology, teachers have more and more tools to research scientifically and effectively without having to spend too much money, effort and travel time...", said Dr. Nguyen Loc.
However, Dr. Nguyen Loc also believes that the challenges need to be clearly recognized. "Because most social networks and mobile applications are addictive and reduce users' ability to concentrate, both learners and teachers will be affected. This poses a big challenge and requires teachers to constantly innovate, constantly update their knowledge and vivid communication skills.
At the same time, because there are many websites that provide both correct and incorrect knowledge, teachers need to help students develop their thinking ability to "separate the bad from the good" and make learning more effective, he said.
Even though the house is far away, learning English online is still effective
Friend Tran Minh Dat - Photo: NVCC
Living in Binh Chanh district and having to travel 45 minutes to reach his favorite English center, Tran Minh Dat (17 years old, Binh Chanh High School, Ho Chi Minh City) still tried his best to win first prize in the district-level excellent student competition in grade 9, gold medal in the English excellent student competition in cluster IV of Ho Chi Minh City in grade 11, achieved an IELTS score of 8.0...
"These achievements are largely due to the effective application of a combination of online and in-person learning, most importantly, regularity.
For example, I set my phone settings and applications to English to force myself to get used to and remember the fonts of this foreign language.
Besides, I also join some English learning forums to practice and learn from my seniors and friends of the same age.
I am an introvert, so I practice speaking with friends on online platforms, thanks to which my speaking skills still achieve IELTS 8.0. When we have clear goals and make efforts, learning a way of thinking, it is not difficult for us to conquer the desired results," Minh Dat confided.
As the head of an association specializing in advising and proposing issues related to the field of English teaching in Ho Chi Minh City, Dr. Nguyen Loc said the good news is that the association has just become an associate member of the International Association for Teaching English.
This enables teachers and members to access valuable resources in the field of English language research and teaching worldwide.
"In terms of supporting English teachers, we have TESOL Connections (a bridge between members and modern teaching trends, professional units and job opportunities within the network), TESOL Journal (an online journal that publishes research articles contributed by the community and peer-reviewed by scientists).
We also have TESOL Blog (a portal for English teachers to learn about new teaching techniques, the latest research trends)… In general, technology has made teaching and learning English much easier and more effective than before," he said.
Free and effective English learning websites:
Learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/: Official website of the British Council.
Newsinlevels.com/: Read news by vocabulary level.
Ted.com: Website with video presentations from many speakers with rich content.
Esl-lab.com: A site that provides listening practice materials.
Tudien.dolenglish.vn/: Website to look up English - Vietnamese vocabulary.
Cambridgeenglish.org/learning-english: Cambridge English's official website for learning English.
Merriam-webster.com: Online dictionary with lots of games and content to learn vocabulary.
(Dr. Do Huu Nguyen Loc)
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