Free Classes from a 9-Year-Old Teacher

(Baonghean.vn) -A boy in grade 3 opened a free English class at home. There were 7 students from grade 1 to grade 5 in this class. This story, which seemed like a joke, happened in house number 17, lane 3, Pham Huy street, Quan Bau ward, Vinh city.

"Good teacher" class

"Good teacher" class

At 4:30 pm on Friday, when we arrived at house number 17, we saw a group of primary school students just home from school, chattering and knocking on the door. Mrs. Ha, a retired teacher, the owner of the house, came out to greet the children. “Ma’am, has Mr. Gioi come home from school yet?” Mrs. Ha replied: “You guys go to class and wait for Mr. Gioi for a moment.” The children chattered and ran up to the third floor of the house, where a row of tables and chairs and a white chalkboard had been set up. They arranged their chairs one by one, obediently folding their arms and sitting and waiting. A few minutes later, a small, bespectacled boy holding a notebook with the words “Lesson Plan” written on the outside walked in and solemnly greeted the whole class in English. The class stood up to greet the teacher. “Mr. Gioi” opened the “lesson plan” and introduced today’s lesson.

The classroom was dead silent, just hearing a small whisper, the "teacher" immediately gave a serious reminder. To write on the board, the "teacher" had to stand on a rather high chair. The 7 students called up for the test all greeted the teacher very politely. Teacher Gioi divided the board into 3 parts, so that he could teach different "levels", because among the 7 students attending, there were students from grades 1 to 5. The "teacher" also graded and classified each "student" at the end of the session. It was easy to see that in this special class, both teachers and students taught and studied very seriously and enthusiastically. It is known that the "teacher Gioi" class opened in September 2011. At first, it was just Gioi's private lessons with a schoolmate named Tran Manh Tri. Seeing that Gioi taught English easily, Tri asked Gioi to be his "teacher". Every day, Gioi quietly prepared “lesson plans” to teach Tri. One day, the students had not “returned their homework”, and at noon, the “teacher” came out in the sun to…demand it. Then the good news spread far and wide, many curious students came to see “teacher Gioi” teach Tri and were attracted by his teaching style. More and more friends, younger siblings and older siblings came to ask to study, Gioi kept asking and with the consent of his grandmother and parents, opened a free English class at his house twice a week: Wednesday and Friday.

"We really like to study with Mr. Gioi"

That is the sincere confession of all 7 students attending this class. Not only is "teacher Gioi" trusted by his students, he is also trusted by his parents: "I find this class most valuable because of its innocence, without any guidance from adults but still serious and the "teacher's" knowledge is quite good. No one understands children better than children themselves" - a parent who brought his child to attend "teacher Gioi's" class shared. Nguyen Minh Chau, a 5B student at Nguyen Trai Primary School commented: "Teacher Gioi" is very serious but not rigid. Our lessons are fun and of good quality. Nguyen Hoang Quynh Trang and Tran Thi Anh Quynh also found their lessons useful even though all 3 of them are 5th graders, 2 grades above their teacher.

Not only do they love him, they also admire and respect his special teacher. That is why on November 20, Mr. Gioi is still given flowers by his "students". His parents often jokingly call the extra class their children attend "Professor Gioi's" class. Every day, Gioi personally prepares lesson plans and arranges knowledge to "go to class" scientifically. Not only is Gioi good at English, he also has very good teaching ability inherited from his family (his parents and grandparents are all teachers).

Story about special "teacher"

The "teacher" had to stand on a chair to write on the board.



Sharing with reporters: We really like to study with "Mr. Gioi"

This special "teacher"'s full name is Tran Le Huu Gioi, currently studying in class 3A, Nguyen Trai Primary School (Vinh City - Nghe An). His maternal grandparents were Literature and English teachers at Nghe An Pedagogical College. His father is teacher Tran Huu Tai - Vice Principal of Nguyen Du High School (Nghi Xuan - Ha Tinh) and his mother is teacher Le Minh Sao, a teacher at Vinh Technical Education University. From a young age, Gioi was exposed to English through stories and books from his grandmother and mother. When he was a little older, he had a special talent for pronunciation and a very good memory when learning new words. Not only does he love English, Gioi also loves stories and books about knowledge. When playing, he can be absorbed for hours to explore a certain toy. In class, he is a top student. However, Gioi rarely shows his abilities and is quite quiet. Every day, in addition to reading Vietnamese books, Gioi also likes to translate and translates quite accurately the original English stories. He also often writes a diary, and especially writes a letter to Santa Claus every year in English. He once wanted to become an “entomologist” to explore the “developmental cycle of dung beetles” (according to his grandmother), but Gioi’s biggest and most serious dream is to become an English teacher.

We joked with Gioi when saying goodbye to this special "teacher": To become an English teacher, perhaps Gioi doesn't need to dream anymore?

Article and photos: Thuy Vinh