A free website set up to offer English lesson support, ideas and inspiration for Vietnam’s teachers has just announced membership numbers have topped 5,000.

The website, set up by British Council Vietnam with the support of the Ministry of Education and Training, mirrors Vietnam’s school curriculums. The site "Teaching English in Vietnam" was first promoted via workshops for teachers but since it’s appeal has “gone viral” with teachers quick to recommend the resource to teacher friends in other provinces across the country.

British Council Vietnam director Robin Rickard commented: “The site has been a tremendous success and it’s been the quality of its content that has effectively persuaded teachers of its value.  We worked hard to introduce it to teachers but since then it’s the teacher themselves that have spread the word as they’ve been keen that others should also have access to the tool”.

The website, officially launched in 2009 was created in order to support Vietnamese English teachers with classroom materials, access to professional development and a free national online forum.

The initial phase of the project targeted upper secondary school teachers and over 300 lesson plans, designed specifically to supplement the Tieng Anh course book, were uploaded. Teachers can now further motivate learners through interactive supplements whilst still fulfilling curriculum requirements.

Guidelines for using the activities are in both English and Vietnamese. And there are also low-tech options for using the materials in classrooms without a computer. Roughly 200 lesson plans for Primary teachers were added this year and British Council Vietnam hopes to start on Lower Secondary once its curriculum has been finalised.

To first introduce this resource to Vietnam, the British Council and MOET organised a series of teacher training workshops for Secondary school teachers over the course of two years. This training was rolled out over 11 provinces reaching 500 Secondary school teachers per year and thousands of learners. Primary training is expected to follow in 2012.

To take part in this online community, all teachers have to do is register to become a member. Registration is free and by registering, teachers can post comments on the forum and automatically receive a monthly newsletter.

This newsletter keeps teachers up to date with what’s happening in English teaching both in Vietnam and abroad, as well as announcing any upcoming competitions or events.