This is Ms. Le Thi Lan Anh, born in 1976, residing in Phu La ward, Ha Dong district, Hanoi . From birth, Lan Anh was born with physical disabilities due to the effects of Agent Orange inherited from her father. But with determination, Lan Anh has become an excellent English teacher, loved and respected by her students.
Suddenly, she became a teacher.
Visiting Ms. Lan Anh's classroom reveals a professional teaching environment, from the desks and chairs to the teaching materials and demeanor, despite the fact that she has never attended any teacher training school.
Lan Anh said that she used to run a tutoring class in Xuan Mai town (Chuong My district), with students from grades 3 to 9, and the class always had about 50-60 students. Students with disabilities and those from disadvantaged backgrounds received tuition fee waivers or reductions. To date, she has had hundreds of students, and some still remember her on Vietnamese Teachers' Day, November 20th.
Teacher Lan Anh is beloved by many generations of students and serves as an inspiring role model for them in their studies.
Recounting her turbulent childhood, Lan Anh said she was affected by Agent Orange from her father, resulting in many physical deformities and poor health. As a child, Lan Anh lived with her grandmother in Ung Hoa district, while her father served in the military in Xuan Mai, and her mother was a worker at the My Duc Silk Rearing Factory. After retiring due to ill health, she moved to Xuan Mai to live with her father.
At the age of six, Lan Anh clung to her grandmother's skirt as she went to school. Few would have guessed that this tiny girl would consistently achieve top grades in her class. Remarkably, Lan Anh had beautiful handwriting, despite her deformed hands barely able to hold a pen steadily; in fourth grade, she was even selected to participate in a beautiful handwriting competition. However, in eighth grade, Lan Anh had to leave school due to her extremely poor health.
Confined to her room, Lan Anh could only listen to the radio or watch television to relieve boredom. By chance, she discovered an English language program on TV where she could hear native speakers pronounce words, and she became very interested, watching every episode without fail. Whenever it aired, she would take out her books and pens to study, just like in class. Seeing her daughter's eagerness to learn, Lan Anh's parents sent her to Hanoi and asked her aunt to hire a student tutor to come to their house for a while. After that, she continued to self-study using books and dictionaries. Gradually, she achieved a certain level of English proficiency.
To become a teacher like the official teachers in schools, Lan Anh was deeply moved and expressed her heartfelt gratitude to Ms. Nguyen Thi Dao, the first person who offered to send her child to her class, encouraged her to expand the class, and helped maintain it until today.
Lan Anh recalled: "Back then, I had just moved from my uncle's house to Xuan Mai to look after my parents' grocery store. Everyone thought that with my health, this job was perfect for me. Seeing me spending every day looking after the store while diligently studying English books, many people said, 'What's the point of studying if you can't apply what you've learned?' I felt very disheartened."
But Ms. Dao, a close neighbor, didn't think so. Ms. Dao asked Lan Anh to tutor her young daughter. Teacher Lan Anh recounted: "Initially, I only taught her to name animals or objects in English, then progressed to more complex sentence structures. The little girl was intelligent and eager to learn, so she quickly learned to read and speak a lot."
The little girl's name was Bui Mai Phuong, then only 5 years old, and now she is 30, a graduate with two university degrees (mathematics education and English education), and a teacher at Xuan Mai Town Secondary School. Phuong was Lan Anh's first student. From then on, Lan Anh officially received the title "teacher," opening a new chapter in her life.
A journey of over 20 years of "teaching children"
Having earned the trust of the parents, Lan Anh was overjoyed and immediately set to work teaching the children, buying desks, chairs, and a blackboard... Word spread, and the class grew to over a dozen students. Initially, she only taught for free, but after almost a year, the number of students increased significantly, forcing her to divide the classes into shifts.
Seeing how dedicated the teacher was despite her frail health, the parents insisted on paying her tuition. Class after class, students of all ages flocked to the "tiny teacher," including some students with disabilities. In return for the trust of parents and students, Teacher Lan Anh not only wholeheartedly imparted knowledge to her students but also bought many grammar books and dictionaries to further her own learning and improve her expertise.
She also prepares lesson plans and lectures like a real teacher, assigning homework to students. She also frequently improves her teaching methods, such as dramatizing lessons, creating games, and giving out souvenirs, to engage students in the material.
With students with disabilities, she kindly talks to them like family, empathizes with their shortcomings, instills resilience, and helps them confidently integrate with their peers. The students also look to their teacher's example of perseverance and strive harder.
For over 20 years, Lan Anh has been a dedicated teacher without a formal school setting. She has taught hundreds of students, many of whom have achieved high levels of English proficiency and success in careers as translators, tour guides, and English teachers thanks to her knowledge. Those 20 years have been uninterrupted; even during the COVID-19 pandemic, Lan Anh's classes continued online.
Ms. Do Thi Phuong, who studied English with Ms. Lan Anh for 7 years, graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics , and is currently an officer at the Party Committee Office of Xuan Mai town, shared: "Although she suffers from the effects of Agent Orange, she is always full of life and love for English. She inspired me to love English. The knowledge she imparted has helped me a lot in my life and current work. The most valuable lesson I learned from her is willpower and the effort to strive for success in life."
Many accolades for living beautifully.
Thanks to her efforts and contributions, teacher Lan Anh received the title of "Good Person, Good Deed" from the People's Committee of Chuong My District in 2019; the title of "Good Person, Good Deed" from the People's Committee of Hanoi City in 2019; the KOVA Award in the "Beautiful Life" category at the 17th KOVA Awards in 2019; a certificate of merit from the Hanoi City Women's Union in 2020; and the title of "Outstanding Woman of Chuong My" in 2021.
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