Ms. Bui Thi Nhem, in Da Bia hamlet, Tien
Phong commune (Da Bac district) is very confident to communicate with
international visitors.
To access foreign visitors, for several
years, people at many homestay destinations on the lake area have been interested
in exploring and learning a foreign language (English) in order to communicate
with tourists. Ms. Bui Thi Nhem, an owner of Ngoc-Nhem Homestay in Da Bia
hamlet, Tien Phong commune (Da Bac district), said: "Da Bia is one of the new
villages implementing community tourism activities on Hoa Binh Lake. This is an
ideal place for visitors who prefer to stay away from the noise of the city,
discovery new things and learn about the cultural life of the Muong ethnic
people. In every week, there are some groups of international visitors
travelling to the village. They come from many European countries and speak
English mainly. Previously, the tourist guides at hamlet mainly spoke
Vietnamese and local languages, therefore, all people had to wait on the
interpreter of the groups to translate. As a consequence, when seeing the
international guests, we were so hesitant.
Based on the fact that we want to communicate
and provide better tourism products, people serving homestay tourism in the
village had a sense of learning foreign languages. Three years ago, the Project
of Da Bac community tourism opened an English training course for households
doing tourism. In the hamlet, I and Ms. Trang participated in learning English,
hence, we approached the initial studying methods. We studied on the Internet,
mainly in English communication skills, by turning on speaker and pronouncing.
When having a free time, I and my friends self-studied on the network and
pronounced following the radio.
Initially, we had a speech impediment,
inappropriate pronunciations and must use body language to communicate but
gradually we were familiar. The most fun was the communication with the tourism
groups who took a long time to understand what we said. Thereby, we reminded
each other to try to learn more. Later, when having more chances to
communicate, vocabulary and pronunciation were also improved a lot.”
Ms. Nhem also told: "In the village, Ms.
Trang can also communicate simply with international guests. Afterward,
children and the elderly in the hamlet began to greet in English. I just want
to be able to introduce and communicate in English to tourists and
international visitors about the beauty of Da Bia in the vast water of the
lake, poetic and majestic landscapes, honest and truly local people, the unique
ethnic culture, and abundant and attractive dishes which always bring calm and
relaxing feelings for people to visit”.