Learning to read and write, even in the mother tongue, is never an easy task for the blind. When it comes to studying a foreign language, the difficulties increase exponentially.

Nguyen Thi Men, a blind Vietnamese girl, will surprise many people when they learn that she is a senior at the Faculty of English Linguistics and Literature (EF), University of Social Sciences and Humanities HCMC (USSH). Although life has never been easy for her, Men has always tried hard to make her university dream come true.

Sad memories

Men was left at the Thi Nghe Center for Orphans and Disabled Children by her mother at the age of eight years old. When she was 14, she was sent to the Blind Association of Ho Chi Minh City (HBA) to learn braille. Men studied well and was moved to a public secondary high school to learn with non-blind friends. Then she spent three years studying at Chu Van An high school.

During the hours off of school, Men sold lottery tickets to earn money for books and her living expenses. Every day, with a cane, a small rain coat and a bottle of water, Men took the bus from the Blind Association in District 1 to other districts to sell the tickets.

When Men began this work, she often got lost on unfamiliar roads. Once she broke ... Xem thêm

Nguyen Van Hau, from Chau Thanh district in the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang, was poisoned shortly after he had won a big lottery as his partner, Nguyen Thi Ngan (50) was not happy with the small share allotted to her.

Hau, a widower, had been living with Ngan, a divorced woman, as husband and wife for more than a year.

Hau and Ngan both have children who have grown up and have their own families. In order not to disturb them, the two built and cohabited in a cottage in the backyard.

When living together, Ngan often complained that Hau only cared about his kids and was into gambling and drinking.

A month ago, Hau won a lottery of VND100 million (US$4800), but only gave Ngan a little bit of the money and let his children have the rest.

Ngan got mad, fought with him and left the house for several days.

On June 29, Ngan came back with an intention to poison him. She put an anti-insect chemical into a dish of prawns and placed it in the kitchen.

Later, Hau came back home drunk and ate alone. After ... Xem thêm

VietNamNet Bridge – While state employees are jealous of teachers’ long holiday in summer, a lot of teachers are afraid of the holiday because they cannot earn money in summer.
While the colleagues all over the country are spending their time to travel and relax, a lot of teachers are hurrying to look for part time jobs to earn some money which can help them live from hand to mouth in summer.

The teachers in Vietnam can be divided into two groups – the ones working as regular members of the personnel, who receive monthly salaries from the State budget, and the ones working under labor contracts signed with the schools.

Of the latter group’s teachers, the ones who have long term labor contracts with schools are considered lucky workers, because they can get monthly pay from the provincial budget. Meanwhile, the teachers working under short term labor contracts only receive modest salaries paid by schools whose main income comes from tuitions.

As for the teachers, summer holiday means no-money time, because when students stay at home, teachers become temporary unemployed.

The three teachers of the Le Mao Primary School in Nghe An provi ... Xem thêm

VietNamNet Bridge – Sending kids to overseas summer camps is believed to be the effective training courses which help improve their knowledge. However, in fact, learning is just a part of the trips.

Going abroad to attend summer camps in summer has become in fashion among well off families in big cities like Hanoi and HCM City. Urban parents all want their children to learn English well, because the foreign language skill is believed to be a big advantage when applying for jobs. Meanwhile, going abroad and communicate with native speakers proves to be the most effective way of learning English.

A lot of overseas courses have been organized by big English centers in Vietnam, such as ILA, Appolo, and the British Council.

Traveling is the main goal of trips

Hong Ha, a parent in Hanoi, said she has got confused with the information about summer courses.

"I cannot imagine that attending overseas training courses is so favored. However, the English centers do not provide detailed information about the advantages of the programs. Therefore, I have made a decision just after considering the service fee and the trip schedule,” she said.

M. Truong, an 8th grader in HCM City, also said that the courses are really not the magic wands which can help improve English skills immediately.

"Most of t ... Xem thêm