‘Foreigner hunting’ is no longer a strange term for Vietnamese students who want to practise English vocabularies, pronunciation and speaking skills through actively finding and conversing with foreigners.

Le Nhu Tham (right) with his friend Mago Ste from Romania at a coffee shop in Da Nang. Photo: T.Y

On weekends, Nguyen Van Phuc, a student majoring in English Language, Faculty of English, the University of Foreign Language Studies - the ​​University of Da Nang, and a group of friends went to Quang Nam Province’s Hoi An City to ‘hunt’ foreigners.

While walking around the ancient town, Phuc started a conversation with Mr. Brian and his wife from from Scotland, the United Kingdom. After introducing some special cultural features in Hoi An, Phuc assisted the UK couple to buy local souvenirs as gifts.

Phuc said, at first, Phuc followed senior students and observed how they ‘hunt’ foreigners. Gradually, when the initial feeling of apprehension is gone, Phuc confidently starts conversations with foreigners.

After such times, Phuc's English-speaking skill has been improved significantly, especially listening, speaking and pronunciation skills.

Hoi An is also the place where Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, a student of the Da Nang International English Center (IEC), chooses to ‘hunt’ foreigners.

Ha said that in the past time, the center has often organized trips to Hoi An City to facilitate its students to communicate with foreigners.

“We go with foreign teachers, so we feel more secure. However, at first, I didn't dare to open my mouth because I was afraid of all kinds of things, such as fear of insufficient vocabulary, fear of mispronunciation, fear that they would not understand what I said, and fear of falling into awkwardness... Now it's better” Ha happily said.

In addition to Hoi An, Da Nang beaches, the An Thuong Tourist Streets, museums and cafés are ideal places for many young people to meet and chat with foreigners.

Thanks to its fun and free exchange atmosphere, the ‘foreigner hunting’ movement is very attractive to English learners, especially young people. Even, many friendships without borders have been developed from the movement.

Le Nhu Tham, 31, residing in Hai Chau 1 Ward, Hai Chau District said that he loves drinking coffee, so he often goes to cafés with classic and elegant style. Here, he has met and made friends with many foreigners.

“In my opinion, the important thing is not how well you speak English, but whether you speak and listeners understand or not. Thanks to this, I have made friends with many people from the US, Japan and Romania who are working and living in Da Nang", Mr. Tham remarked.

Pham Minh Thien, an English teacher cum founder of the Danang Meetup - a community that connects foreigners who want to learn about the culture and people of Da Nang, affirms many young people have made remarkable progress in English skills after boldly communicating with foreigners.

Meanwhile, foreigners who come to Da Nang to travel and live also have the mentality of wanting to learn about the country and people of Viet Nam. This, therefore, creates favourable conditions for those who love English to exploit for the purpose of learning and exchanging.

According to Thien, ‘foreigner’ hunters are in need to prepare knowledge about Viet Nam's culture, history and geography to talk with foreigners.

“In addition, you should also bring a notebook and a pen to write down mistakes and good phrases after conversations. You should only prolong the story if the foreigner agrees, so the conversation atmosphere will be more open and effective. To join this movement, first and foremost you must let go of your fear of English and don't hesitate to state your purpose” Thien noted.

Reporting by TIEU YEN - Translating by M.DUNG