Tieng Viet lovers club

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Vietnamese woman in South Korea commits suicide with two children
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VietNamNet Bridge - A Vietnamese woman committed suicide with her two children in the port city of Busan, South Korea, on November 23.


The Korea Times quoted local police as saying that the woman had committed suicide by jumping off the 18th floor of an apartment building, with her 7-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son in her arms.

The woman has been identified as Vo Thi Minh Phuong, 27, from the Mekong Delta city of Hau Giang, Vietnam.

After eight years of marriage, Phuong recently filed for divorce with her Korean husband. However, the 47-year-old husband did not accept. That day, Phuong locked the door from the inside and then held her children to jump off from her apartment.

Police said they would consider the suicide note written in Vietnamese that she left and questioned the husband to shed light on the incident.

On November 24, Mr. Vo Van Ro from Hoa Quoi Village, Hoa An commune, Phung Hiep District, Hau Giang province went to HCM City to fulfill procedures to got to South Korea to receive their daughter's body, according to the wishes of the women in the suicide note.

On November 23, the parents were informed of their daughter’s suicide. Her husband, Kim Yeong Hwa, a worker at a car part factory in the city is being questioned by police in order to clarify the cause of the death of his wife.

Before committing suicide, Phuong called to mourn with her mother in Vietnam, saying that she wanted a divorce because her husband was jealous for no reason and usually beat her. She also mentioned domestic violence in the suicide note.

Phuong’s family said that in 2004, Phuong went to Ho Chi Minh City to attend an "eye view" of foreign men. She then returned home and asked her parents’ permission to get married Kim Yeong Hwa, nearly 20 years older than her. Despite all objections, Phuong decided to marry this man though they knew each other for only one week.

A year later, Phuong gave birth to a baby girl. She then learned Korean and worked at a factory near her house. In 2010, she had the second child, a boy. She invited her parents to Korea to take care of her baby. Just a few months after the visit, she called home to mourn with her mother, saying she wanted a divorce because her husband was jealous for no reason and often beat his wife mercilessly.

More than four years ago, Tran Thi Lan, 22, a Vietnamese girl, also from Can Tho City, who married a Korean man also jump off high-rise building to commit suicide. Lan committed suicide just less than a month since she went to Korea with her husband.


Each year thousands of Vietnamese girls marry Korean husbands. According to data announced last month by the Korea Health and Social Institute, for the first time, the number of Vietnamese brides in South Korea ranks first among foreign brides, up to 7,636, outnumbering Chinese brides.

The Vietnamese brides mostly come from the Mekong Delta and get married with rural men in South Korea. The cultural gap as well as age often leads to difficulties in their family life.

The wave to marry foreign women of Korean men began in the early 2000s. By the end of last year, this country had a total of 124,000 foreign brides. They come mainly from Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia and also China.

Compiled by My Linh

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Vietnam becomes “job paradise” for English native speakers
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VietNamNet Bridge – Foreign language centers have never before had so many foreign teachers. The increasingly high demand for foreign English teachers has turned Vietnam into a promising land for many English native speakers.

There are two reasons that make Vietnam become the destination for many foreigners, who like traveling and want to make money. It is very easy to find a job as an English teacher in Vietnam because of the very high demand in the country. And secondly, the subsistence allowance is very low in Vietnam.

The country is the place where the demand and supply can easily meet each other. Vietnamese students now tend to learn English with foreign teachers rather than Vietnamese teachers. Meanwhile, foreign teachers find Vietnamese students and their parents friendly who can bring them stable income.

The hospitable land

Susan, an US teacher, said she arrived in HCM City in October 2011 and stayed idle for one month only before she got a job as an English teacher at a prestigious foreign language training center.

She said frankly, that it was so easy to find a job in Vietnam and that she did not have to spend too much time and efforts to find the job.

Susan said that teaching English is just a short term job which helps her earn money for the time being. However, the monthly income of 1700 dollars a month from the job of English teacher, Susan can live very well in Vietnam.

Andrea B, a US teacher at a big English center, also said she can live well with the job of teaching English in HCM City, and that she feels better with the life in HCM City than in South Korea, though she has been staying in HCM City for eight months only.

The woman, recalling the days in South Korea, said English teachers here were treated like robots and they were always asked to work harder. Meanwhile, she feels more convenient and flexible in Vietnam.

Michael Tatarski from the US, admitted that he won’t easily find a teaching job in Europe, because everyone can speak English there.

Therefore, he feels happy with the job as an English teacher in HCM City with which he can earn 1300-1400 dollars a month, the salary he won’t get if he goes to a European country.

Most of polled foreign teachers said they can earn from 800 dollars to over 2000 dollars a month from the job of teaching English, depending on the number of teaching hours.

One of them affirmed that the total income may be up to 2500 dollars a month, if she has more teaching hours.

She also said one of the reasons that makes HCM City a favorite destination for many US people, is that while they can earn much money, they only have to pay a little to cover the basic needs of their lives, because everything is much cheaper in HCm City.

Rusty Massie from Virginia State in the US said he came to HCM City in 2009 after spending six years teaching English in Czech Republic, where he earned 1200-1400 dollars.

Here in HCM City he earns 1500-2000 dollars and he feels better than in Czech because everything is very cheap in Vietnam, from house rent, meals to Internet service fee.

In fact, he can expect higher income if he goes to China or South Korea, but he would also have to spend more money because everything is very expensive in the countries.

Tien Phong

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Students like western style, parents keep fearful
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VietNamNet Bridge – While Vietnamese students feel excited with the new teaching method applied by foreign teachers, their parents, who have generation differences with their children, have expressed their worry that the new method may do more harm than good.


Western is better than Vietnamese

Educators say the biggest advantage of the western teaching method is that it allows to establish friendly and open relations between teachers and students. In general, foreign teachers are always very enthusiastic, who always come to class earlier and stay late at school to clear up students’ queries.

Being open minded, dynamic, European teachers are always creative, generating the games so as to attract students to join. Especially, in the classes, students do not play a passive role, sitting and listening to the teachers. With the student-centered teaching method, students can be the subjects of the lessons, which allows them better understand the lessons.

Thu Anh, a 10th grader, now going to ILA English Center at No. 49 Hai Ba Trung Street in Hanoi, said she enjoys the English lesson with a US teacher very much.

“The teacher is so enthusiastic. If we cannot be present at the class, the teacher would correct our school works and then email us back,” he said.

David, the teacher, understands that the biggest problem of Vietnamese students when learning foreign languages is the hesitance to communicate. This leads to the bad speaking skill and the bad pronunciation. Therefore, he organizes a free pronunciation lesson a well opened to all students.

An officer of Sao Viet English Center at No. 155 on Xuan Thuy Road in Hanoi, said the center has employed six foreign teachers to satisfy the increasingly high demand for learning English with native speakers.

She said that a lot of children said they really enjoy learning with a teacher named Sam from the UK. They said they don’t feel tired during the lessons, but they feel as if they play very attractive games.

Thu Thao, a parent whose daughter is a student of the teacher, also said she found the teaching method of Sam very interesting.

“He always suggests games during the lessons for students to join. My daughter really enjoys the games which help her remember words very quickly,” Thao said.

When asked about the western teaching style, the students of an English center on Lang Road in Hanoi, said that they “like the western teachers more than Vietnamese ones” and that they also like the English lessons provided by the western teachers more, because they can freely speak, smile and play during the lessons.

More harm than good?

While a lot of parents, who have been influenced by the western lifestyle, applaud the western teaching method, conservative traditional Vietnamese parents feel worried that the western style may badly affect their children’s characteristics.

A parent said that she once attended an English lesson with a foreign teacher, where she felt inconvenient in a noisy classroom. Students laughed and talked, answered the teacher’s questions and ate popcorn. The teacher did not stand on the lecture hall dais, but sat on students’ table.

The foreign teachers not only teach English, but also bring western lifestyle. In many cases, the teachers expressed their satisfaction with students’ answers by embracing students, thus making female students feel insecure.

Thu Minh, a parent in Tay Ho district, said she has prohibited her daughter to go to the English class on Lang Road, after finding out that the girl really likes the US teacher. The girl gave up official lessons at school, but she attended all the picnic parties organized by the US teacher. As a result, she got a lot of bad marks from the teachers at school.

Compiled by Kim Chi

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Multi-level companies close due to economic difficulties
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VietNamNet Bridge – As many as 14 multi-level marketing companies in HCM City have stopped their operations due to inefficiencies, the city's Industry and Trade Department said.


One multi-level distributor had its business licence revoked because of violations in sales.

There remain 21 multi-level businesses and about 10 branches of other multi-level companies operating in the city.

Multi-level marketing has developed quickly in the past few years. Both the number of businesses and people involved in the trade have increased, according to statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

The MoIT's Department for Competitiveness Management has proposed the ministry revise its decree on multi-level business control in order to tighten management over the industry.

The department suggested increasing the amount that fraudulent companies are fined. Under the current regulation, a multi-level business must have its business licence revoked when its business registration is withdrawn or faults are found in the business's files or operation.

The move stems from the fact that some businesses took advantage of the multi-level-marketing model to appropriate money belonging to salesmen in their systems.

The most recent case of such behavior concerned the Muaban24 Online Trade and Training Co (MB24). Many people reported being victimized by the MB24 network, in which one had to pay VND5.2million (US$248) to buy a "store space" online.

Ha Noi police seized managers of the online trading company in August following allegations the company had appropriated billions of dong from customers.

VietNamNet/VNS

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The tragedies of the children from rich families
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VietNamNet Bridge – A lot of children feel they are so unlucky just because they were born into rich families, where parents are too busy to take care of them.

T, director of an import-export company in HCM City, had always taken pride of the son until the day his wife called him and informed the son left the home and got addicted.

His son was an excellent student and obedient boy. Therefore, T felt secure about the future of the son. He believed that the only thing he needed to do is to work harder and earn more money to ensure a bright future for the son.

A working day of T lasts 14-16 hours. Three years ago, the man decided to make investment in the Cambodian market. Since then, T has been living far from home and he only returns to see his wife and the son when he needed to go on business to Vietnam

The members of his family all were busy. While he was away in Cambodia to take care for his investment project, his wife was busy at her work and the son was busy with his school works at an international school. The boy was given the “power” to decide everything relating to his study and daily life.

If he needed money, he could freely take the money left in the wardrobe by the parents, as much as he wanted.

Since the day he started business in Cambodia, the boy lived with the mother. As his wife was also busy with her work, she did not have time to take care for the son. She only had time to repeatedly ask the boy to learn hard and obtain high learning achievements and go abroad following the university education.

As the boy was given too much freedom, he could do everything he wanted, including making friends with bad people. The mother only realized the truth when the boy left home and got addicted. She immediately called her husband, asking him to return to deal with the naughty boy.

T and his wife regularly have arguments about the son, blaming each other on the current situation of the boy. T admitted that since he was away from home, he had not talked to the son and asked about his learning. Every time when he returned to Vietnam, he only met the boy several times, mostly to give him money to “cover his basic needs.”

“I remember that sometimes I called him once every several months. Sometimes I promised to call him when I finish working, but I later forgot the promise,” he said.

The one-day obedient boy has become a naughty child. He only gets home when he runs out of money and needs the “financial support” from parents. If the parents refuse to give money to force him to stay at home, the boy would sell the assets in the house for money, or threatened they would commit suicide.

An educator said he was so shocked when reading the notebook of a student of a school in Phu Nhuan district in HCM city. The student wrote that she and her friends many times thought of committing suicide because their parents did not have time to talk to them and share ideas with them.

“My parents have never asked me about my learning. I really don’t want to return home after the school hours, because I feel lonely at my home,” the diary of an eighth grader, an excellent student from well off family, who goes to school every day by car.

VTC

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English teaching programs mushrooming in big cities
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VietNamNet Bridge – Most of the primary schools in Hanoi now run the international English teaching programs together with the standard program set up by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET).


Rushing to learn English

Under the MOET’s program on teaching foreign languages in the national educational system in 2008-2020, students from third grade would learn English at school.

However, in fact, not only third and subsequent graders, but the students, who begin going to school, now also learn English under the programs arranged by the schools where they go to.

Vice Headmaster of the Trung Van School in Tu Liem district Giang Thanh Thuy said the school’s first and second graders now follow Phonics English teaching program.

Nguyen Thi Xuan Lan, Headmaster of the Khuong Thuong School, also said the English teaching in accordance with Phonics curriculum for the last five years. The curriculum has been provided by VP Box Company.

Lan went on to say that all the schools in Dong Da district all run extra English teaching programs to help first and second graders get familiar with the subject.

A parent whose child goes to the Ngoc Thuy Primary School in Gia Lam district said that the first and second graders of the school now follow either Language Link or Phonics, and third graders, besides the MOET’s standard curriculum, have to learn English with Phonics as well.

Thuy of Trung Van School said though the English programs are not compulsory for first and second graders, most of the students have registered the English learning. The teachers are the school’s teachers who have attended training courses to obtain better knowledge and new pedagogical methods.

Students have two English lessons a week, for which they have to pay 50,000 dong in tuition.

Since the 2012-2013 academic year, students would have four English lessons a week with Vietnamese teachers and the other four lessons with Australian teachers provided by the school’s partner. Therefore, the tuition has increased to 120,000 dong.

Meanwhile, the students of the Thai Thinh Primary School in Dong Da district reportedly pay 150,000 dong a month for two lessons a week. A parent of a Hoang Dieu School’s student said he was asked to pay 6 million dong for one-year English learning, or 600,000 dong a month.

How high are the teachers’ qualifications?

Lan affirmed that her students have been very interested with the international English curriculums, while they also have the opportunities to talk with native speakers. This explains why parents all let their children to attend the extra English classes. The standard curriculums compiled by MOET are believed to be too focusing on grammar.

However, some parents have complained that their children have been forced to follow the English teaching program, though they don’t want to. The parents said they still have doubts about the teachers’ qualification.

Phuong, whose daughter goes to the Ngoc Thuy Primary School, said that the girl, who began learning English with American teachers from an early age, discovered that the teachers at the school had bad pronunciations.

“I reported this to the school and asked for another teacher,” he said.

Phuong also thinks that with 60 students in every class, a teacher would not have time to take care for everyone.

“An ideal class should comprise of 25 students only,” he said.

Meanwhile, another parent said though paying 6 million dong a year for the child’s English study at the school, she still brings the child to an English center as well to be sure that the child can learn in a best environment.

Van Chung

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Vietnam kicks off pilot program on teaching science subjects in English
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VietNamNet Bridge – Science subjects have been taught in English at many general schools in big cities, where students can start learning English very soon and have good basic English skills.

The guests, who attended the mathematics lesson at the Luong The Vinh High School in district 1 of HCM City on November 8, all said that they were so surprised when seeing the lesson going so smoothly. Both the teacher and students communicated in English with no trouble.

Nguyen Minh Chau, MA, a mathematics teacher of the school, when students learn mathematics in English, their foreign language skills can be improved quickly. This would help the students read math materials at their suitable levels.

Hong Vinh, a 7th grader of the school affirmed that he understood what the teacher said. When the teacher raised questions, a lot of students raised their hands.

Sixth and seventh graders of the school have one math lesson in English a week. Meanwhile, 10th graders have two math lessons in English a week. Besides, physics and chemistry have also been taught in English.

The schools’ leaders admitted that it is really a difficult job to teach in English, therefore, the school began preparing for the program in 2006. To date, only 10 high schools in HCM City teach mathematics and other science subjects in English in the classes gathering 1600 students.

An official of the HCM City Education and Training Department said that the aim of the program is to improve the English skills of students. He also said that this is an optional subject, not compulsory, while the result of the learning would not be referred to when teachers assess students’ capability.

Cao Huy Thao, President of the Vietnam-Australia International School, said teaching science subjects in English at general schools is completely a “reasonable decision” which can help Vietnamese students improve their foreign language skills.

What curriculums to be used?

To date, there has been no official guidance from the Ministry of Education and Training on the curriculums, class organization and teaching staff. General schools choose teachers, curriculums and do everything themselves after consulting with experienced educators.

The board of management of the Nguyen Thi Minh Khai High School in district 3 in HCM City said the teachers here have to read documents and improve their English skills to be able to teach students.

Regarding the curriculum, the teachers follow the lesson plans compiled on the basis of Australian textbooks for mathematics, Australian and American textbooks for physics.

Meanwhile, at Luong The Vinh School, the teachers follow the curriculums of College Mathematics.

The representatives of the 10 high schools have agreed at a meeting gathered by the HCM City education department that they all would use Cambridge’s curriculums.

The educators said Cambridge’s curriculums have 80 percent of the content similar to the content in Vietnamese textbooks. Therefore, this is really a reasonable choice.

However, it is the teaching staff, not curriculum, which is the biggest problem for schools. The English skills of the majority of Vietnamese teachers remains weak, while the teachers have not been retrained.

Dr Nguyen Dong Hai, Deputy Director of NSETC, a foreign language center that provides teachers to the high schools running the program on teaching science subjects in English, said the center has just finished the training of eight physics teachers. Meanwhile, the other 60 teachers are following the training courses at the center, whose English skills are at different levels.

NLD

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Students beat teachers – a signal of morals degrading?
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VietNamNet Bridge – Local newspapers have repeatedly reported the serious cases of students beating teachers. The behavior is “unacceptable” in the eyes of old people, who, at their ages, were told that teachers should be the most respectful people.


The story about Tran Van Viet, born in 1995, a 12th grader of the Dang Thai Mai High School in Nghe An province stopped teacher Hoang Xuan Dong on his way and hit him to unconsciousness, appeared on all local newspapers these days. The injury was so serious and the teacher was brought to the Thanh Chuong general hospital in the province immediately.

Educators have warned that the number of cases where students beat their teachers tends to increase rapidly.

A lot of students have expressed their discontent over the “school hooliganism” which has become the topic of many education articles these days. When an adult beats a child, this would be a “normal thing” in the Vietnamese eyes. However, it would be a big problem if a student beats his teacher.

Kieu Thi Hang, an 8th grader of the Tich Giang Secondary School in Hanoi, said when hearing the news on TV, she feels worried and fearful, because she cannot imagine that there exist such rude students.

“Beating teachers must not a behavior of a student. This would be done only by a professional ruffian,” hang said.

However, Hang does not think that the cases reflect the current Vietnamese education panorama. Though the number of such cases has increased, this does not mean that the majority of Vietnamese students behave like this.

“Most of the Vietnamese students still follow the “teacher veneration” principle which has existed for the last many generations,” Hang said.

“As far as I know, the students who beat teachers are the bad students, who regularly violate the school regulations. I mean they are all naughty students,” she continued.

“Teachers need to be respected, and they should be considered as the second fathers of every student,” she concluded.

Do Van Tu, a 10th grader of the Hong Thai High School in Hanoi, after reading the story about Vietnam, also said this is unacceptable and unmannerly behavior which must be condemned violently by the society.

Meanwhile, Do Thi Lan, a student of the Dan Phuong High School, said that students in the modern times are no more obedient. In the past, students one and all had to follow the teachers’ instructions. However, nowadays, students dare to express their viewpoints and disagreements with the teachers.

However, Lan still believes such behavior must not happen at school.

“Students have the right to express their viewpoints and the disagreements, but they don’t have the right to beat others, especially their teachers,” Lan said, adding that the naughty students seemed to “abuse” their personal freedom.

There are many reasons that lead to the students’ extremist behaviors. Pham Ngoc Hai, a student of the Kim Bang district continuation training center said in most cases, students hit teachers simply because the teachers gave them bad marks or asked them to do too many home exercises.

“Most of the students at my schools just go to class everyday in order to obtain the high school degree. Therefore, they do not spend much time on studying, but on teasing teachers and classmates,” Hai said.

Hoang Van Tuyen, a local resident in Kim Bang district in Ha Nam province, has noted that students nowadays are too lazy about working, while “idleness is the mother of all evil.”

Compiled by C. V

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City schools hesitate to use Filipino English teachers
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Higher pay and quality concerns have prevented Ho Chi Minh City schools from accepting Filipino English teachers under a pilot program by the municipal education department.

City schools have registered to receive only 29 Filipino English teachers from the department, which plans to recruit 100 such teachers for the K-12 education system in this academic year.

The teacher recruitment is part of a pilot program to help improve school students’ command of English, according to the city Department of Education and Training.

Each student will chip in VND120,000 (US$5.8) a month to cover the $2,000 monthly salary for the teachers, it said.

An elementary school principal in District 3, an area whose schools have not registered for any Filipino teachers so far, said that it is hard for them to ask their students to pay an extra VND50,000 a month to hire Filipinos because they have had to contribute a monthly sum of VND70,000 to study with British teachers for many years.

A District 6 education board leader said that no schools there have signed up for Filipino teachers for the same reason.

“Our students are paying VND50,000-70,000 a month to be taught by native speakers from Canada and the U.S.,” the official said, “so district schools feel hesitant employing Filipinos at a higher tuition fee even when they use English simply as a second language.”

Uncertainty

Nguyen Thanh Hai, chief of the Tan Binh District education board, said that his schools are willing to take Filipino English teachers as long as they are paid by money from the state budget.

“Otherwise, we need time to think about it before asking for payment from the parents,” Hai said.

The official revealed that Tan Binh District schools will be watching how Filipinos teach English at other schools and then act accordingly.

Two schools in District 1 will use two Filipino English teachers in the near future, according to Dinh Thien Can, the district education board chief.

“We will see how they perform at these schools and then plan for the next school year,” Can said.

Willing to fire teachers immediately

Le Hong Son, the education department director, said the Filipino English teachers who have been chosen thus far are expected to start next month.

“We will fire them right away if they fail to meet our requirements or show any bad manners during their work at the schools,” Son affirmed.

They will teach English to students, engage in discussions on expertise with local English teachers, and take part in extra-curricular activities during the contracted time, he said.

Son recently told local media that his department opted for Filipino English teachers because they demanded a lower salary, while their Australian peers asked for $5,000, and British for $10,000.

In the meantime, many expat English teachers have told Tuoi Tre that teaching English can generate US$800-2,500 a month, depending on the number of working hours.

They revealed that a $2,500 monthly income would require long hours of hard work from them.

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City educators debate use of Filipino English teachers
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An education board decision to recruit Filipino English teachers for designated K-12 schools in Ho Chi Minh City has become a bone of contention among local educators.

The city Department of Education and Training recently said it would recruit 100 Filipinos to teach English at elementary, middle, and high schools chosen by education offices at the district level in this school year.

Elementary school principals then wondered why the department decided to employ Filipinos instead of native speakers from the UK, US, Australia, and Canada.

Filipino teachers demanded a lower salary, a mere US$2,000 per month, while their Australian peers asked for $5,000 and British for $10,000, Le Hong Son, the department director, explained, citing a poll.

They are being considered also because of their standard accent thanks to the fact that English is one of the two official languages of the Philippines, Son said.

English is used in government documents and daily conversations in the country, while most high schools and colleges there use the language as the medium of instruction, he elaborated.

The principals said the department should have publicized its requirements and proposed salary so that interested native speakers from the UK, US, Australia, and Canada could apply.

“Who knows how many of them would accept the $2,000 monthly salary?” they asked.

Son clarified that his agency and the municipal finance and internal affairs departments conducted a working visit to the Philippines before making the decision.

“We will return to that country and interview the teachers in person prior to any official recruitment,” he said.

Dr Nguyen Thi Kieu Thu, dean of the English faculty at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities, said that it is advisable to learn English with native speakers.

So great care should be taken in respect to accent, pronunciation, and intonation before hiring teachers from the Philippines.

“We should avoid using those teachers who are too Filipino in their English,” Dr Thu said.

In the meantime, Dr Vu Thi Phuong Anh, with an association of private universities, supported the use of Filipino English teachers, further explaining that their English is the best in Southeast Asia.

“I have been to the Philippines many times and found that local people speak English almost like native speakers,” Dr Anh pointed out. “Thus I go for them.”

The principal of an international school in the city disagreed with Dr Anh, explaining that English is a second language, not the mother tongue, in the Philippines, so their accent is certainly not as good as British or Australian people.

Vietnamese students will speak English like Filipinos, not native speakers, if they are taught by Filipinos, he warned.

“It is always best to study English with native speakers,” the principal insisted.

A local English teacher protested the department’s recruitment policy, saying that it should employ Vietnamese teachers who once studied in an English-speaking country and can speak the language as fluently as native speakers.

“A $1,000 monthly salary would be enough to lure many of them,” the teacher said.

Director Son said that using Filipino teachers is a short-term plan against the backdrop that many Vietnamese teachers are weak in listening and speaking skills.

“This is to encourage local teachers to improve their command of English via frequent contact with English-speaking colleagues.”

Beginning earlier this month, the teacher recruitment is part of a pilot program to help students at the selected schools improve their English proficiency, according to the department.

The teachers, who must have a first degree and be equipped with TESOL skills, will teach English to students, engage in discussions on expertise with their Vietnamese counterparts, and take part in extra-curricular activities during the contracted time, it said.

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VN version......

Police investigate Hai Phong’s teen sex clip
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VietNamNet Bridge - A teen couple had sex in the toilet and filmed by a cell phone. The clip was uploaded to Facebook. The police are tracing the one who posted the sex clip.

In this 9-minute video clip, the young girl was not embarrassed when her boyfriend arranged a cell phone to film their sex scenes. Hot and sensitive positions were filmed closely.

The characters in this video are said to be high school students in the northern port city of Hai Phong. Not long after it was posted on a Facebook page, which is believed to belong to the boy in the clip, the page was removed. However, the clip has been shared widely.

Many people commented that the girl in this clip was "foolish", "indecent" and the clip would affect her future. Many other made rude comments and criticized the girl.

Director of the Education & Training Hai Department of Hai Phong City, Mr. Do The Hung said a high school in the city has confirmed that the girl in the clip is a former student. The girl quitted school and is about to get married.

Senior Lieutenant Colonel Pham Duy, Director of Hai Phong Public Security Bureau, said the local police are investigating the case to identify the characters in the clip and the one who posted it on the Internet.

"We must consider the motives and reasons for launching this clip," Dien said.

A person who spreads porn movies can be handled on charges of spreading depraved cultural products as being defined in Article 253 of the Criminal Code. Those who commit this act can be sentenced from six months’ probation to 15 years in prison.

Compiled by Na Son

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Vietnamese parents don’t know what school to send children to
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VietNamNet Bridge – A lot of parents complain that the education market is now like a “bear garden,” where it is so difficult to distinguish truth from falsehood.


Every parent, who has children at schooling ages, suffers headaches, because they do not know what schools they should bring the children to.

State owned schools have become overloaded with poor material facilities and numerous students in every class.

Meanwhile, no one can say for sure about the education quality of people-founded schools. While private primary schools have to organize competitions to select students, secondary and high private schools cannot attract students. People believe that private schools are reserved for bad students, while good students would prefer studying at state owned schools.

Poor parents would not choose international schools for their children, because they cannot afford the sky high tuitions set by the schools.

Meanwhile, the rich parents do not think much about the high tuitions, but they keep doubtful about the education quality provided by international schools. Local newspapers have cited examples to prove that not all international schools can provide education service which meets “international standards.”

A parent said the first article he red early yesterday morning is the one on Tuoi tre newspaper about the former President of the Quy Nhon University, who got the 4-year jail sentence for illegally collecting 18.5 billion dong from 22,000 students.

Tran Tin Kiet, the former president, was once discovered as “deliberately breaking the state’s regulations on economic management and causing serious consequences” in 2006-2008. However, he was merely sentenced to 15 months’ probation, and he still was on the position of President for two more years, until 2008.

The parent said local newspapers have repeatedly reported the wrongdoings in the education sector, which has made him feel anxious. How can the children be grown up into useful citizens of the society, if their teachers are the ones like Kiet?

Gia Dinh & Xa hoi newspaper reported that parents have got angry when their children, the students of an international school which set the sky high tuitions of 300 million dong a year, have to have frugal meals at the school. Meanwhile, the curriculums have been changed regularly.

Nguyen Nam, a parent in Cau Giay district, who has a daughter going to the S International School, said that earlier this academic year, the school decided that Chinese language must be a curricular subject. After that, the school began teaching mathematics and science subjects in English. Especially, the school has cut the lessons for physical exercises.

Nam complained that though parents have to pay high tuitions, their children still cannot enjoy good material facilities. No one knows about the qualification of the teachers. All of the teachers reportedly have university degrees, but it’s still unclear what universities they graduate from.

No state management agency comes forwards and supervises the education quality of international schools. Therefore, children have become the “white cats” that serve the experiments of the new training models, the result of which remains unclear.

Hundreds of students of Melior School in HCM City have been put on tenterhooks because the school has suddenly shut down. Meanwhile, they still have not received the answers from management agencies about the measures to help students take back the hundreds of millions of dong in tuitions.

GDVN

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Vietnam remains an amateur in developing tourism industry
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VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam has been opening its doors to receive foreign tourists for the last 20 years. However, it remains unprofessional in persuading foreign travelers to spend their money in Vietnam.


Foreign travelers don’t spend big money in Vietnam

Cruise travelers have been well-known as high income clients who are ready to spend big money on shopping at the destination points. However, the travelers do not have many reasons to spend money in Vietnam because of the unprofessional way of organizing sales campaigns.

Though the service fees have been increasing steadily year after year, the money spent by foreign travelers to Vietnam has been increasing very slightly. Meanwhile, if not counting the price spiral, the spending of foreign travelers in Vietnam has decreased.

Thoi bao Kinh te Saigon has quoted the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) as saying that foreign travelers stayed in Vietnam for 12 days in 2011 on average, the same with the statistics released two years before. During that time, a traveler spent 1268.4 dollars, or 105 dollars per day.

Thanh Nien has reported that when the five star cruise ship Voyager of the Seas, which carried 4000 travelers, docked at the SP-PSA international port some days ago, a lot of travelers decided to stay in the ship instead of going visiting HCM City and Vung Tau City as scheduled by the tour organizer.

The travelers turned out to be lucky with their decisions. It was a thorny itinerary to go from the port to HCM City, even though the distance between the two points was not long.

Highway No. 51 was in bad conditions, since it rained heavily some days ago, the coaches carrying travelers could go very slowly. The situation was even worse on the Hanoi Highway, and so was on the way from Suoi Tien to the HCM City center.

It took the travelers six hours to come to HCM City and return to the ship. As a result, the duration for them to visit HCM City was shortened to two hours, which was not enough for them to do the sightseeing and shopping.

In fact, travelers could buy souvenirs on the areas nearly the ship docking places. However, these were just the kiosks set up temporarily by professional vendors. Though they were called “kiosks,” they were just the tents made of canvas which just could help partially avoid the heat from the sun.

Here, except for some “special products” which were hung on the ropes, other products were put together in piles. Meanwhile, the salesmen here were all wearing protective masks. All of that raised doubts about the salesmen and the products available.

The strange decisions by management agencies

Phan Dinh Hue, Director of Vong Tron Viet travel firm, said on Thanh Nien that the unprofessionalism can be seen also in the way Vietnam runs marketing and advertisement campaigns to promote Vietnam tourism.

Despite the limited budget for tourism promotion, Vietnam still keeps the ambitious idea of attracting tourists from all markets. In 2012, the number of travelers from far market decreases dramatically because tourists don’t want to spend big money on air tickets in the current difficult period.

However, Vietnam still spends big money to participate the tourism trade fairs in the markets. Meanwhile, it overlooks the nearby markets with potential growth.

While the tourism industry faces big difficulties in the global economic crisis which has forced travel firms to slash tour fees to attract more travelers, the Quang Ninh provincial authorities have decided to raise the ship service fee for nearly 100 percent, commencing from the fourth quarter of 2012.

Prior to that, the provincial authorities also decided to raise the excursion fee at the Ha Long Bay.

Compiled by C. V

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Foreign travel agencies promote Vietnam’s sea tourism
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VietNamNet Bridge – Many travel agencies in Europe are promoting Vietnam as a destination for tourists rather than a stopover of tours to Southeast Asian countries, said local tour operators after a recent road show abroad.

Promoting Vietnam as an independent destination has started for two to three years, with groups of tourists from France, Germany and the United Kingdom coming to Vietnam since then, but the trend is clearly seen now, they said after attending the World Travel Market 2012 (WTM 2012) in the United Kingdom early this month.

Some agencies such as Kuoni Connection, Southern Cross and Tandem have had publications to introduce and sell tours at the fair.

“If Vietnam is just a stop in a journey, there is little likelihood that tourists will visit Vietnam again, but with promotion publications, the likelihood will be higher,” said Bui Viet Thuy Tien, managing director of Asian Trails Co., Ltd.

A representative of a resort in Danang City said that with this trend, beach resorts in Vietnam, especially those managed by multinational groups, would receive more direct bookings from foreign travel agencies.

“We have a global booking and sales system and global deals, and thus it is more convenient to take bookings from foreign agencies,” he said.

According to Tien from Asian Trails, tourism images of Vietnam are closer to travel agencies in Europe thanks to a series of promotion activities of hotel groups having projects in Vietnam in recent times such as InterContinental, Sheraton and Bayan Tree. Besides, Vietnam Airlines carried out numerous promotion activities when it opened a direct flight to the United Kingdom.

“I met a lot of partners. They said that sales representatives in Europe of international hotel groups in Vietnam have closely cooperated with partners to both sell products of resorts and promote the destination,” Tien said.

VietNamNet/SGT

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The hidden side of ancient Hue
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VietNamNet Bridge – When you talk about tourism in the ancient city of Hue, many people will think about the mausoleums of the Vietnamese kings.

Once those sites have been checked off the list, there is nothing left to see and no need to return. That is the established thinking, anyway.

To me, however, it is very different. I am fascinated by this small and historic city and its surroundings, and I am struck by a great happiness every time I return. There is far more to Hue than meets the eye.

I love the cuisine, the beautiful scenery and the slow pace, and it is easily among one of my favourite destinations.

My love for Hue has been enriched even more after a recent visit to Suoi Voi (Elephant Spring), which is hidden away in Loc Tien Commune in Phu Loc District. In this place, my friend and I swam in the springs, played in the forest and ate delicious local chicken. It was a wonderful day.

Suoi Voi is about 60km from the centre of Hue, and 40km from Da Nang City. Its location between these two cities makes it a popular pit-stop for people making the journey between the two.

While people call it a spring, it would be more accurate to say that it is a network of pure springs, boulders, mountains and jungle which come together to create a truly stunning landscape.

The journey there is unremarkable, and the road is made of cement. We parked the car when we could go no further and clambered up high steps with some uncertainty. Then the spring appeared.

It was breathtaking. Suddenly I became very aware of an incredibly fresh atmosphere caused by the pure and cool pool of water and the green of the surrounding forestry.

Bamboo huts built by local people lined the two sides of the stream, with the water bubbling past creating a natural soundtrack to the idyllic scene.

Visitors here are able to hire a hut, take a rest and enjoy the local cuisine.

We did exactly this, and lay back with our feet dangling into the cool flow of water.

Talking to the hut's owner, I was informed that Suoi Voi was once called Suoi Me (Me Spring – me meaning large elephant in the ancient language).

In spring, she explained while preparing a meal for us, when the weather was warm hundreds of elephants from Bach Ma Mountain would come to the forest and this particular stream to find cassava shrubs and other food.

Oddly, they only came to this one region, and then after some time – just as mysteriously – they left for the last time and never came back.

The elephants left their marks in the shape of large holes surrounding the spring, which over time filled with water to become small pools.

These are clear and cool and instantly attractive to visitors who want to jump in and swim as soon as seeing them. Signposts clearly label which ones are safe for them to do so.

My friend, who comes from northern region of Viet Nam, said that he has visited many places like Suoi Voi in the north, such as Suoi Tien, Khoang Sanh and Ao Vua, but he loved this experience the most.

"They all have the combination of natural fountains, forests, and rocks, but the ones in the north are less beautiful.

Here it is clean and safe for swimming," he said.

To make absolutely sure we were safe, my friend hired a lifebuoy to swim for just VND10,000.

Suoi Voi soon proved to be an equally perfect destination for sunbathing, with visitors tired from their swim able to rest at full stretch on the large rocks to enjoy the sun as it radiated through the canopy of trees above.

While my friend swam, I took the chance to gaze out at the surrounding landscape.

I noticed a big rock shaped like an elephant with a long trunk, and the hut's owner told me that it was artificial, made to memorise the real elephants that gave the site its name.

This elephant marks the nearby Elephant Lagoon, which is perhaps the most beautiful pool as it lies between two waterfalls and is completely translucent.

The hut's owner suggested that I explore further inside the forest – packed with rare animals and plants – in order to discover more beautiful hidden scenes and enjoy many new experiences such as fishing in some pools and picking local vegetable to cook soup. I wholeheartedly approved of this idea, and went for a long walk.

I think that Suoi Voi is a special place not just for its natural beauty but also for the things that it brings to the local people.

Since first opened as a tourist destination in 1994, it has brought jobs to many residents, despite only being open throughout the summer. It is estimated that each household can earn about VND12-15 million (US$600-750) per season from offering services to visitors.

At the end of the day – capped off with a delicious chicken noodle dish – I was extremely reluctant to leave. It had been a truly memorable experience, and one that I am sure I will relive in the future. For me, the beauty and cuisine of Hue and its surroundings are sure to entice me back again and again.

VietNamNet/VNS
Vietnam; tourism; Hue; Suoi Voi; Suoi Me