Appearing on the Tiktok social network for nearly 3 years, Tiktok Ducy channel (@engsoup_ducy) is much loved and followed by many people due to its interesting and humorous content related to learning English and school life. The channel owner is Mr. Huynh Duc Y, 31, often called ‘teacher Ducy’, a Da Nang guy rich in positive energy not only on social networks but also in real life.

Huynh Duc Y's Tiktok channel about English and school stories is loved by many people because of his intelligence and wit. Photo courtesy of Huynh Duc Y.

Making Tiktok initially just for... fun

Graduating from Da Nang-based Le Quy Don Senior High School for the Gifted and then studying Banking and Finance at the University of Economics, a member school of the University of Da Nang, Mr. Huynh Duc Y's main job is project management for a information technology (IT) company. Learning how to record and edit videos on his own and share them on Tiktok, Mr. Y admitted that at first he made videos just for... fun.

Y started building up its personal Tiktok channel nearly 3 years ago, when the COVID-19 situation was still complicated. “My goal is to create a sharing channel and spread positive energy to everyone during the pandemic. At that time, in the context of social distancing in many places, I found social networking platforms like Facebook Reels or Tiktok quite popular. I had to work at home, which gave me the chance to practice making videos.”, said Mr. Y.

At the beginning, for each 1-minute video, it took Mr. Y about 1-2 hours to edit. The first videos of ‘Mr. Ducy’ focus on learning and practicing English, instructions on using commonly - used sentence patterns in the IELTS test, tips on learning English and English grammar in general.

After a short time, he realised that there were also many other tiktokers on this theme, so the original videos made by Mr. Y were not able to spread further and some videos only attracted a few hundred views. From there, he switched to humorous content, still videos about learning English but cleverly integrated with subtle humorous pieces to create a unique impression for the channel as well as increase the enjoyment of viewers on the channel in the spirit of ‘learning while having fun’. This ‘hits’ the psychology of viewers who love funny things.

One of the first videos that he remembers most is the video with the theme ‘Teaching Vietnamese for foreigners’. It includes the content ‘speaking Vietnamese in a classy way”. This video was shared by a large number of viewers and spread on social networks, and also paved the way for a series of videos later released by Y with the interesting stories of school, teachers, students and foreigners in the direction of monologue comedy.

The content of the videos revolves around everyday situations at school such as the types of people singing in class, teachers’ behaviour towards students, types of people pronouncing English in the classroom, performing arts, parent meetings... The content of these videos is all from his own memories and experiences during his school years.

“Slow down, don't stop”

After nearly 3 years, the online community has gradually become accustomed to the image of a ‘bald-headed, glasses-wearing Mr. Ducy’ teaching English with stand-up comedy videos demonstrated by his charming acting, characteristic refreshing smile and ability of actively and flexibly using languages.

Currently, Ducy's Tiktok channel (@engsoup_ducy) has reached more than 900,000 followers, more than 200 videos and 47 million likes whilst his Facebook channel also reached 50,000 followers, becoming a favourite channel of young people, and the community in general, with the aim of spreading positive messages.

Unlike the first days of making videos, later on, like many other content creators, Y encountered many difficulties and pressure in maintaining and developing the Tiktok channel.

“When working from home, I had more time and ideas, but when working in the new normal conditions, I suddenly ran out of ideas, was lazy to make new clips, and had less creative motivation. However, I always keep in mind that this journey will only slow down, not stop. Focusing on making videos regularly is also to both develop personal skills and practice self-discipline.”, said Y.

Also according to Y, seeing the ‘brainchild’ develop day by day in terms of interactions, influence and receiving everyone's love and high applause is really his joy. Many people have continuously texted his to express their feelings. They shared that they found memories of their school days in the videos. After watching some videos, some parents suddenly sympathized with their children about academic pressure.

Not to mention, creating content on Tiktok helps him make new friends, new relationships and join a community of people with the same passion. Tiktok also gives him the chance to cooperate with units and brands for additional revenue.

Without putting too much pressure on creating content and ‘making it fun’ as mentioned, he considers his Tiktok channel first and foremost to be a channel to share knowledge combined with entertainment and spreading joy to the community. In the near future, the Da Nang man plans to develop more positive content and if he has the opportunity and time, maybe there will be new topics about life and interesting things in this city.

Reporting by LAM VIEN - Translating by A.THU