Name: Leath Traill Nationality: Zimbabwean I am based in: Hanoi Hobbies: I don’t really like playing sport or going to the gym but I love walking. So I walk to work everyday. It’s only one and a half kilometres – but 15KM a week is better than nothing. I quite like watching sport (especially rugby) and I like going for a drink and dinner after work with the other teachers. It’s a nice way to end the day.

What I love about working in Vietnam: There are at least three answers to that question. The first would have to be the place itself and the people. I’ve been here for four years now and I’m really comfortable. I love my apartment, the lady in the shop downstairs knows me...and so on. I’m getting so comfortable that I can’t really imagine leaving. The second reason would have to be the students and teacher trainers I work with. It takes a long time to get to understand people and earn their respect as a teacher or trainer. I think I’ve done that now – which of course makes me happy. And lastly it’s the (career) opportunities. I mean there’s just so much going on right now in Vietnam

My top tip for learning English: It would have to be ‘motivation’ & ‘exposure’. We recently started working with a language school for the visually impaired here in Hanoi. The students have only being studying English for a year and most of them are already at CEF B1 level. That’s largely down to the fact that they really, really want to read (anything from story books to a manual on ‘how to use a screen reader computer’). And most of that literature comes in English (Braille).

My CV in a sentence: How about a rhyme? – “Literature, Celta* - Masters, Delta*”

* CELTA: Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
* DELTA: Diploma in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages