Ethnic minority children have fun speaking English in remote areas

Many children whose mother tongue is ethnic minority’s language showed their fluency in English when they joined a festival on this international language, which took place on 9-10 January 2016 at a mountainous and remote district in Thanh Hoa province.

“I’m proud to represent my school at the event. I have spoken a lot in English at each part of the competition and made friends with other participants. This memory is unforgettable for me,” says Le Thi Ly, 15-year-old from Muong ethnic minority group.

A younger girl, who is 14 and from Thai ethnic minority, Lo Ly Xoan, adds, “I’m so excited when I took part in the festival. I love to speak in English at the event though my foreign language is not really good. I’ll try to study it better after today.”

The first-ever festival drew the participation of nearly 100 candidates from local primary and junior secondary schools in Lang Chanh district. Among their activities in English were talking about their drawings and making presentation about their favorite topics including example-setting children, their rights and dreams. 

The children’s language skills impressed the adults because the foreign language is not a focus subject at the district.

“I’m so surprised at how well the children, who are from remote villages, have presented their opinions and told stories in English. I’ll advise the department’s managers to promte English at the area as it will support children to grasp good chances for their future,” says Hoa Van Do, a person-in-charge of foreign language teaching in the district’s Department of Education and Traning.

When seeing his child perform, a father couldn’t hold back his joy though he didn’t understand the language. “I so enjoy when I see happiness on my daughter’s face and how her friends praise her. I thought the event was like an international one because all children spoke in English,” says Hoang Van Dinh.

World Vision’s Lang Chanh Area Developlent Programme (ADP) and local Department of Education and Training organised the event, which was also attended by other 300 children and local authority respresentatives as audience. 

The ADP now implementes its activities in seven communes in the district, benefiting more than 29,000 people. The programme will phase out in 2018.

Vietnamese text and photos: Nguyen Hong Hoa – Lang Chanh ADP