PANO – Coming back Vietnam nearly 4 decades after the end of the war, Paul George Harding, an American veteran, has opened a class to teach English for Vietnamese people for free.

Haunted by the war

Born in 1947 in the countryside of the US’s South Dakota state but Paul George Harding’s family settled down in Los Angeles, California.

After graduating the University of California, he joined the 173rd Airborne Brigade, which operated in the Binh Dinh and Lam Dong provinces in the Vietnam War.

Returning home from the Vietnam War, the US paratrooper was haunted with the war and had heart-breaking sufferings. He thought that he should do something to them so as to make up for his own sin.

The class draws many people

On December 10th 2014, he was back to Vietnam for the first time after the war, and immediately decided to teach English to locals for free of charge.

Thanks to the support of Ms. Nguyen Thi Huyen, former student of the National Economics University in Hanoi, the US veteran could materialize his plan only 10 days after he arrived in Hanoi. At present, Huyen is an assistant to Paul George Harding at the class.

From only four students at first, the class now is attended by nearly 300. The People’s Committee of Trung Hoa ward, Cau Giay district, Hanoi, has provided its meeting room to be used as the class room.

Accordingly, they regularly opened seven classes on every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. Among them, classes on Sunday are for local kids.

The youngest student is only five years old while the oldest is 70 years old. Besides, some officials and people in surrounding areas are participating in the free class.

Mr. Tiep, 70 years old, living on Dai La street, shared that he liked learning English because he did not wanted to be left behind and the US teacher is very enthusiastic.

As Paul George Harding’s knowledge for Vietnamese language is still limited, some young students volunteered to help him carry out his lectures.

Popularizing Vietnam’s history by English

Teacher Paul has made his students interested in the presentations by teaching English skills through various fields, especially Vietnam’s history.

Paul George Harding delivering a lecture on Vietnam's history

He usually talks about Vietnam’s famous persons like President Ho Chi Minh, Hero Nguyen Van Troi, and Martyr Dang Thuy Tram in his lectures.

He explained that Vietnam’s history suits his students at every age and academic level. By this method, he could improve the trainees’ command of English, highlight Vietnam’s history, and help them know more about those who had made remarkable contributions to the national independence and freedom.

In the coming time, the American veteran targets to open one more in Hanoi. The best trainees have to commit to lecture others in the next classes and then to multiply this model.

Paul George Harding is also applying for a license from the Hanoi Department of Education and Training to bring the class to a free English training centre, operating in line with Vietnam’s laws.

Source: VNA

Translated by Van Hieu