Hi! I'm Thanh Thanh, Vietnamese
Actually, I'm a student joined ETA4 2 years in Hue, but I'd to be called a volunteer too, I was with ETA4 after 4 or 5 weeks teaching and studying, we did some volunteer works. I do really appreciate what ETA4 have done here.. They bring us not only knowledge about many things such as English skills ( of course ), culture across the world, etc but also the awareness about social problems, the connection among people... and even more!
I am so happy and lucky to be a student, a volunteer and especially a friend of them, ETA4's members. They did such a great work, bring across the world many things and the most important is their motivation, their love to help people here, most importantly are the children, the young!
I wish ETA4 would be growing better and better all the time to help people not only in Vietnam but all over the world. And wish each of EAT4's member a happy and successful life!
Love you all :)
What I love most about ETA4 is its ability to integrate volunteering with its mission to provide free English instruction. This combination allows students to be active participants in their community and illustrates to them the importance of giving back. Also, it allows them to see firsthand the countless benefits that come from volunteering. ETA4's unique program makes it a great nonprofit and distinctive from other organizations that teach English.
Before volunteering with ETA4, I never fully understood the magnitude of joy rewarded in helping others. Now, however, I can't imagine something more amazing than just that. I traveled to Taiwan, a country of a different language and culture, last summer with ETA4. In the time I spent there I fell in love with a hundred children, a whole country, a entirely new culture, and most importantly, the act of teaching others. ETA4 embraces teaching English as a means to not only help others to achieving their own goals but as a means to understanding another culture and making new relationships. The work ETA4 does then is so much more than English lessons. ETA4 opens students and volunteers to an entirely new way of viewing the world, themselves, and their own capabilities.
One of my students Annie, a shy student hesitant to speak English in class, helped me realize this about ETA4. During a class break, looking over class journals, Annie began asking me questions about where I live, what I like to do, and what "America" was like. The next day, in her journal Annie wrote about our conversation. It was reading her entry that made me understand why I had come to Taiwan. She explained how she never talked in class because her English was "bad" but that talking to me made her really happy, that she wanted to try to speak in English more, and that, perhaps, she could even come to America sometime to visit me and speak more English. It seems so simple and maybe not even anything special to the average person reading this, but to me this is the essence which makes me come to tears when I think of 'my kids' in Taiwan. To volunteer with ETA4 is to make relationships like these. Ones that encourage students who believe they have so little realize they can dream and be anything they set their minds to. They can speak English, they realize. They can travel to another country, they realize. They can, they realize, do so much more than they ever imagined.
A similar realization dawned on me too during this moment. I began to realize that I can, along with every other individual, offer so much to others. That I can truly make a impact on the lives of others. I think sometimes that many people feel they don't have the means, the aptitude, or the special skills to truly make a difference in the world. But thats so untrue. I believe ETA4, which emphasizes passion to help others more than anything, embraces this. As an organization it provides an overall greater understanding for both its volunteers and students about their extraordinary capabilities.
I have been watching and walking through the grow of ETA4 over the past 3 years. That marked an enormous effort of all ETA4 team members. And more enormously, our effort greatly benefited the future of all local children/students. As a humble helper while ETA4 in VN , I would like to call all individuals/ organizations support us - under any means to bring a brighter future of the children, especially the underprivileged one where ET4 comes to.
It's not easy to find a non-profit ozg being professionally operated by the young girls and guys who are just under and over 20. ETA4 work dedicatedly on donator's behalf to transfer their kindness to the right children at the right place.
And I myself also grew a lot thanks to ETA4's presence in Vietnam.
Feel free to contact me at lvlong2@gmail.com to hear more about the great grow in terms of the academic aspect as well as memorable time with ETA4.
I was a volunteer in Dong Nai City for the summer of 2010. Throughout the program we visited multiple schools, youth centers, and orphanages. This program allows the teacher to become immersed in their student's learning experience. The teachers are allowed a great deal of flexibility to be creative in their approach to teach English. At the end of the program I noticed improvement at every level for all the students I taught. They became more confident in their abilities and were not afraid to share what they know with the class.
I first heard about ETA4 in 2008 when the founders were still in the process of getting their non-profit status approved. They shared that they wanted to implement a more innovative way of teaching English to kids who pretty much had enough of English during the school year. How were they going to successfully teach it over the summer while making an impact? When they had gone to Vietnam, they had seen the textbooks and the homework but no passion within the students. To tackle this obstacle and show that there was much more to learning, English Through Academics, Athletics, and the Arts was created. While ETA4 may seem like an organization similar to any other teaching program, it defines itself through awareness of the universal affinity for arts and athletics and incorporates those interests into its everyday curriculum.
Back then, the website was nothing but a simple blue and white with segments of text here and there ... mostly "Under Construction". Today, just a little over 2 years, eta4.org has evolved into a website colored with photos from trip after trip, media, sponsorships, and detailed proposals of its mission and day to day contributions. The website is a tremendous example and personification of the growth ETA4 has witnessed during these last few years. Over 30 volunteers have taught abroad and thousands of dollars raised by the effort of the community have brought smiles and an English education to over 1500 children across 4 cities in 2 countries. This summer, ETA4 still continues to uphold its new but standing tradition of spreading goodwill to thousands more in the rural areas of East Asia.
I am going to be a volunteer this summer in Taiwan to teach little kids English. When I first encountered ETA4, i know that this program is very meaningful. It takes a lot for an organization to go this far, all the way around the world to help out. This is a once-in-a lifetime opportunities both for the volunteers and the students to get to know one another culture/language across the globe.
English Through Academics, Athletics, and the Arts Abroad (ETA4) is a
nonprofit with a mission is to promote international goodwill and understanding by enhancing students' English education through a variety of mediums, including music, art, and athletics, as well as traditional English instruction, allowing the student to have a no-cost, well rounded and ultimately successful learning experience.
I'm very impressed with this organization, mostly because of the Program Director, Anna Huynh. Anna is motivated, bright, organized and dedicated to this cause. I've worked with Anna over this past year while she has worked in my office as a student intern . . . she is fabulous and know that this nonprofit is in good hands.
I think this is a great organization that really does makes an effort to extend its benefits to others and to provide others with opportunities they never imagined having. Many of us in the US take knowing English for granted, and it is an essential language to know in today's world. Being able to bring our knowledge to under privileged children in rural Taiwan will be very rewarding. Through intensive lesson plans, various activities, and interactions, we will hopefully expand their opportunities and inspire them to continue to strive for more knowledge.
The summer I spent in Vietnam with ETA4 has been the most rewarding summer I have ever had. What I appreciated most about this program was the way they completely trusted me. Being a student with very little credentials, they gave me an opportunity to teach and impact children in ways I would never had been able to with other programs. They supported me with resources and made sure I was always comfortable and fully equipped to lead a class. I was also given the freedom to tailor my own curriculum and work with other volunteers in creating effective teaching strategies.
ETA4 is an amazing non-profit providing a wonderful no-cost education for under served Vietnamese children of all ages and abilities. I had the amazing experience of working with ETA4 as an upper level English teacher in the summer of '09 in Hue, Vietnam. The myriad ways that ETA4 makes a difference in students and families' lives is truly unbelievable. ETA4 gives English language instruction through academics, athletics and the arts. Whether it was learning English language idioms, swinging baseball bats in the school yard, performing a song at the talent show, or giving back to their own communities by providing relief for local orphanages, the students of the ETA4 summer program are provided an amazing experience free of charge. ETA4 does a fantastic job of making the world feel a little smaller for caring people all over the earth.
I think ETA4 does a good job of getting its volunteers excited about the cause for which it stands. As volunteers, we are pushed to be engaged in our community, which extends into the communities that the programs serve. As a result, you can really see the positive effects ETA4 has in the communities in which we are teaching English.
I had the chance to Judge a Performance/Talent Show put on by The UCSD Taiwanese American Students Association to benefit ETA4, and got to meet some of the key people behind ETA4 as well as view a short video about their experience helping out and bringing English education to underprivileged areas such as Taitung, Taiwan. I was really compelled and moved about their mission purpose, as well as how the organization was started by students who wanted to make a difference. I was also very impressed by how they adopted a novel, unique approach to English education, emphasizing instead athletics/sports, the arts and games versus route memorization, which I feel is much more effective than traditional English teaching methods. Looking forward to their future work!
this program is like a study abroad program, but rather than studying for yourself, you're helping others study. I enjoy all the small projects and events that this organization does prior to actually leaving for the designated country. it helps build relationships before you have to spend 5 weeks with these people in some other country. the people that I've met have all been enthusiastic about being apart of the organization. traveling and living in another country and helping other people is just something that everyone should do at one point in their life and it helps keeps us human.
the curriculum each year changes since it's constantly being changing with new ideas and refinement. the funds for the organization are not always consistent from year to year so we're constantly doing fundraisers and seeking donations. I hope ETA4 does find a stable funder in the future. that's the only way a program will ever last in the long run.
victor and anna, the program directors are energetic and open minded individuals. they also have a high sense of initiative so if you don't get anything out of the program itself (unlikely), you'll at least be inspired by these two individuals.
I was recruited to join ETA4's program in 2008, when the organization had not even kicked off with any events yet. However, what I did see, were two young individuals about my age, excited to contribute to a progressive change for underprivileged students around the world. Immediately, I felt connected to the founders, Victor Wilson and Christopher Ta, in wanting to make a difference in the world. I was inspired by the idea of creating a fun environment for students to learn English, as it is an important skill to have in developing countries like Vietnam. Throughout 2008, we continued to fundraise through car washes and asking for donations by those who supported our cause. By the Summer of 2008, we were able to have our inaugural program in Hue, Vietnam--- which resulted in over 300 students who attended our program. With 9 volunteers in Vietnam, we were able to repaint playgrounds for children at orphanages, replant gardens for local orphanages, as well as supplying boat village children with school supplies to encourage them to attend school the following Fall. We came back from the program in 2009, more enthusiastic than ever to make ETA4 "blow up"! Coming back with a success story, we were able to recruit additional members onto our Executive Board and Staff, and from there-- have gained so much experience in fundraising, recruiting the right volunteers, as well as effectively expanding our program to three different cities by the Summer of 2010. Now, at our third year in progress, I personally feel our organization has grown tremendously in terms of running our non-profit. We have learned a great deal on how to mobilize our volunteers so that they feel ownership in our organization. Our staff, which started with 3-4 individuals, have grown into a staff of over 10 individuals who are all passionate and dedicated to the cause of ETA4.
I couldn't be more excited to be a part of this organization! I can't think of a better way to spend my summer than teaching English to underprivileged children to help expand their options for the future.
3 years ago, Chris Ta and I started this Organization with an idea. Since then, it has grown to over 60 volunteers, 3 countries, and over 2000 students - all thanks to the hard work of an all-volunteer board and staff. Since 2008, ETA4 has succeeded more than I ever thought it could, and we are close to making the dream of a fully connected world a reality.
I was born and raised in the slum of Saigon Vietnam. Our family was given an opportunity towards freedom when we were offered to come to America. I was seven years old when my family arrived to America and I made goal to my self that one day I would go back to my country to do something good, to give back. The summer right after my college graduation ETA4 gave me the the chance to accomplish my goal. With ETA4 I taught English to under privileged children. I also had the opportunity to travel all over Vietnam with ETA4 visiting different orphanages and various slums. The program was so well organized and is such a heart-filled loving organization that I joined them the follow summer. ETA4 gave me the opportunity to do something out of the ordinary and I can't emphasize it enough about the great people who runs it. Two thumps up for the organization
I think the most amazing part of ETA4 is its mission: to educate underprivileged children English through arts, academics, and athletics abroad. One of the greatest characteristics about this organization is that it is completely run by young people with vivid goals who want to make a difference in the world. ETA4 gives people the opportunity to volunteer abroad and make a significant impact in these children lives. Realizing that English is crucial in the international world of today, I joined this organization because I want to help the children master English so that they may succeed in the years to come. I think this organization has immense potential in its goals, and I am excited to work with them this coming summer.
I attended a fundraising dinner and donated to their cause. They are doing amazing work in Vietnam and Taiwan, bringing education to hundreds of children through their summer education program. Also, the young people from the US who visit as instructors have a life changing experience that set's their future sights on becoming more involved in volunteerism in the area of global issues.