what "volunteering" (here at least) is really like

All of the other posts are in German. The reason for that is that this blog is only supposed to be firstly an online journal for me and secondly to keep my friends and family updated. But I want this post to be in English since (I guess) it could also be interesting for future volunteers, no matter where they come from. So whoever is not interested in my project, volunteering in Vietnam or just in general volunteering abroad should maybe not read this, I guess it's a bit boring to you guys, haha.

What exactly did I do and for how long?

I volunteered for 18 weeks at Nguyen Tat Thanh Secondary School in Hanoi, from November 2017 until March 2018. I taught middle school students (Grade 6, 7, 8) English. My main task was to better their pronunciation as well as their communication skills. 

What did I expect before I came there?

I thought that my students would be comparatively bad in English. That they are not really able to have a proper conversation with someone. But guess what? Most of them are better than we were back then in middle school. Their vocabulary is insane, most of them take extra classes in English which is very common here in Vietnam for students. And I have to be honest: some of them were better than their own teachers when it comes to pronunciation and communication skills. I also taught high school students for 2-3 weeks at first and what I really noticed is that you can clearly see Vietnam's current development regarding their education system. The middle school students are actually better in English than the high school students.

But then again: I cannot generalize this, they were still some students who were very shy or didn't know a lot of English but I mean, that's the case with every school - worldwide. Furthermore I only taught in this one public school, there are maaany many more secondary schools in Hanoi, public ones and also private ones (where volunteers also get sent to), so I can only tell you about my experience there.

What were the difficulties / challenges that I faced at my school?

- Well, firstly I didn't know how to handle the students' different levels. In my second month one teacher told me that you can kind of see the different levels of the classes by their numbers (e.g. 6A1-6A8) which was very helpful. But especially at the beginning I struggled a lot. Some classes are incredibly good and you finish several exercises within minutes, some classes simply need more time.

- I didn't feel supported by some teachers. Sometimes they didn't show up at all, without warning me. After a few weeks I was able to handle the classes completely alone but in the beginning? Well, I was definitely overwhelmed, haha.

- Their expectations were unclear. There was a lack of communication between me and the teachers, which was also my fault. Some of them wanted me to simply continue with the book (which is really not my job), some of them wanted me to keep on playing games.

- I was too insecure. Very simple. That's the reason why I only had high school students in the first 2-3 weeks, I didn't want to continue because I didn't feel comfortable teaching people who look like they are in the same age as me. Don't get me wrong, I liked them and I could definitely see myself spending time with them, but that's actually it: spending time with them maybe in my free time since they have the same interests as me but not being an authority person for them. 

My advice for future volunteers?

Try to communicate a lot with the teachers you work with. Don't be too harsh with the kids, they have to respect you, yes, but a volunteer should make them feel comfortable, they should enjoy it to talk to you. The phrase "Teaching English" doesn't represent what you are actually doing there, it's more about communication skills and gaining confidence. Ask for weekly or monthly feedback, I was too afraid to do so but it's necessary. Observe some classes, not only in the beginning but also during your time as a volunteer there, you can always learn something new. Even for me, after doing this for more than four months, I think I never actually mastered it since I didn't observe enough to learn more about how to teach them. And try to remember yourself why you are doing this. 

Am I proud of my work there?

To be honest? I don't know. I wasn't as passionate as I should have been. I didn't try hard enough for them. A lot of my lessons were pretty chaotic. But one of the reasons is probably that I never wanted to become an actual teacher, I'm definitely not interested in the job itself. I wanted to experience Vietnam and get to know Vietnamese education. Actually, I'm not really sure whether I taught them something useful.

Am I happy about my time there?

To 100%: Yes. I have never learned that much in my life within such a short amount of time. I got more independent, confident and reflective. I got to know so much about Vietnamese culture, education, the younger generation and their current development. I don't mean that I was always happy throughout my time here, I think I never experienced something like this, it was an emotional roller coaster ride with the highest Up's and the lowest Down's ever. But all in all it was the best experience ever for me. And besides that: I love, love, love my students so much, most of them get very excited about volunteers and they are full of joy. It's indeed heartbreaking to leave them now. 

Would I recommend volunteering?

It depends. It's not a thing for everyone and you should be aware of the fact that you will be in charge of someone, in this case young students. They will become attached to you, in some kind of way, even though (and that's sad) you are "just" one out of a lot of volunteers. The truth is that here in Hanoi most students are used to foreign volunteers coming and going, and in my opinion that's shit. Volunteering is not only something to fill your time with. Of course it's nice for us foreigners that organizations like UBELONG (my sending organization) are so accessible and flexible but do the kids really benefit from that? It's an amazing opportunity for the volunteers to see the world and grow but questionable when it comes to the people we're in charge of and who should be the priority. So in my view, volunteering for only 1-4 weeks doesn't make a lot of sense and the organizations could also think more about that. 

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Well, I guess these are the main points I wanted to mention. Very specific, probably boring to most people but maybe it's a bit helpful for at least some of you who are interested in something like this. Moreover I want to emphasize again that all of this is my view on that, based on my experience. You can definitely not generalize it. But it felt wrong to not share my opinion with potential future volunteers.