Retired teacher runs free English classes in her village

Every evening at six o'clock, the small courtyard of Mrs Nguyen Thi Hoa's house in a village outside Thai Binh fills with the sound of children reading aloud. There are no desks and no air conditioning, just a whiteboard, a few rows of plastic chairs and a 67-year-old woman who refuses to stop teaching.

Mrs Hoa taught English at the local secondary school for 35 years. When she retired in 2018, she noticed that many children in the village were falling behind, as their parents could not afford extra classes in town. "I had the time and the knowledge," she says. "It seemed wrong to keep them to myself." She started with five pupils, the grandchildren of her neighbours. Today, more than forty children come, and she has had to divide them into three groups.

The classes are completely free. Mrs Hoa pays for paper and pens from her pension, and former students who now work in the city donate books and a small amount of money each month. One of them, Tran Van Minh, now a tour guide in Hanoi, sends dictionaries every year. "She was the reason I chose my career," he explains. "The least I can do is help her help others."

Some of the volunteers who assist her had never taught before. Pham Thu Trang, a 20-year-old university student, comes home at weekends to help the youngest group with pronunciation. "At first I was nervous," she admits, "but Mrs Hoa showed me how to make lessons into games. Now I think I might become a teacher myself."

Parents say the classes have made a clear difference. Le Thi Mai, whose daughter has attended for two years, says the girl now reads English stories to her younger brother. "Before, she was shy and afraid of making mistakes. Now she even talks to foreign tourists when we go to Ha Long Bay."

Mrs Hoa admits that the work can be tiring, especially in the hot season. Her family has asked her to take more rest. But she has no plans to stop. "When I see a child understand something for the first time," she says, "I feel thirty years younger. As long as they want to learn, I will keep the gate open."