“It’s not just that I’m teaching English. I’m teaching English in a place where everything surrounding me is completely different.”

Hanson is one of 11 Duke University undergraduate students participating in public service projects in Vietnam this summer.

As part of a joint project, students from both Duke University and Hanoi University have recently completed teaching at the American English Summer Academy, a free three-week course for high school students at the Institute of International Education (IIE) in Hanoi.

The high school students were given SAT and TOEFL test-prep courses and also acted as tour guides for the Duke students on sight-seeing trips.

The Duke and Hanoi students are now providing free English lessons in two Ha Tay Province villages and living with local families there.

They will continue their work in the rural areas through August.

The study materials for the Ha Tay program were prepared by the American English Summer Academy students, who also donated school books to the village children.

Supervisor of the Duke program, Professor Lucy Haagen, said she hopes the American students will return home to America with a greater appreciation for “how smart and hardworking the Vietnamese students are.”

“I also want them to understand how to work cross culturally,” Haagen said.

“They’re going to be leaders of a globalized world and to develop relationships with their fellow leaders, I think, will be very important.”

Haagen said the project would also help Vietnam fulfill its goal of internationalizing local education.

The program is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Duke Endowment and the American Embassy in Vietnam.

The Duke professor said she hopes the program would continue annually.

Hanoi University student Do Thuy Chi said the Vietnamese students were much more confident after their courses at IIE this year.

“The students know their English level and have a more realistic vision of their dream of studying in America.”

Reported by Huong Le