A 45 Minute Journey to a Conversation
Every Saturday, six-year-old Ha Ngoc Hieu has a reason to make the roughly 45 minute motorcycle journey from his home to Hanoi's Hoan Kiem Lake: a chance to speak English with visitors. Introducing himself as Theo, he asks questions, talks about Vietnam and sometimes surprises adults with facts about their own countries.
Contents
His mother, Hoang Ngoc Anh, helped him begin with free online materials after lessons with a teacher near home stopped after only a few sessions. She now accompanies him to the lake because his spoken English has moved beyond what she can comfortably answer.
During one outing, Hieu approached American visitors Kendall Stempel and Chloe Starr. They initially expected someone trying to sell them something. Instead, they met a child eager to move from one conversation topic to the next.
Stempel, a 34-year-old healthcare marketer from Nashville, described his response to praise:
Every time I would say, 'Your English is so good,' he would say, 'Yes, thanks,' and then move on to the next topic.
Hieu's routine brings together several parts of language learning that his mother could not provide alone: listening at home, following personal interests and answering people whose next words he cannot predict. Around the lake, those exchanges also require another skill, learning when a stranger welcomes a conversation and when to leave them alone.
How Learning Began at Home
Anh, 34, lives in An Khanh commune and is raising three boys, with Hieu the eldest. She wanted him to encounter English early, but his first attempt at lessons with a local teacher ended after a few sessions for reasons that were not specified. Concerned about the interruption, she began looking for free learning materials online in 2025.
For roughly the first two months, she learned alongside him, helping him explore basic pronunciation and English sounds. She also played children's programmes that he enjoyed. Workbooks, homemade flashcards and lessons played through speakers made the language a regular presence in their home.
Anh had learned English mainly through books and felt shy about speaking to foreigners. Her concern was practical: she worried that if she pronounced words incorrectly and Hieu copied her, those habits would become difficult to change. She therefore preferred recordings of native speakers and checked the material he watched.
Her role involved choosing suitable programmes as well as finding English lessons. She monitored what he encountered online so that his interest would not lead him into content she considered inappropriate. As Hieu became more interested, he started looking beyond the lessons to subjects he wanted to understand.
From Listening to Answering Back
By April, Hieu was speaking more English and sometimes wanted to use it with relatives. Anh could understand him at a basic level, but responding quickly was much harder. The household had reached a practical limit: the child wanted a conversation that his mother could no longer sustain.
One weekend morning, she asked whether he would be afraid to talk to foreigners. He said he would not. She decided to take him to Hoan Kiem Lake, also known as Ho Guom, where international visitors regularly walk near the Old Quarter.
At first, Anh used translation applications to help explain why they were approaching people. She also learned a short request in English, asking whether someone would spend a little time talking with her son. By June, the family had established a regular weekend routine, continuing in sunshine or rain. His father joins them when he has time.
The main steps in Hieu's learning journey were:
- In 2025, Anh began searching for free online materials and learning alongside her son.
- During the first two months, they worked on basic sounds and pronunciation while he watched and listened to children's programmes.
- From April, Hieu began speaking more English, exceeding his mother's ability to respond comfortably.
- From June, visits to Hoan Kiem Lake became a regular weekend activity.
- On November 5, a photograph of Hieu appeared in an American newspaper as his conversations attracted wider attention.
The calendar year for the April, June and November dates was not specified in the accounts. The progression is clear: home learning came first, followed by a growing need to use English with other people.
What Hieu Talks About
Hoan Kiem Lake gives Hieu familiar subjects to introduce. He talks about Turtle Tower, Ngoc Son Temple and Vietnamese food, using places and dishes that visitors may already have seen or tried. Instead of simply answering a classroom question, he has something of his own to tell them.
Anh also encourages him to learn about visitors' home countries. That preparation gives him a starting point beyond asking where someone comes from. During one outing, he told an Australian couple about the drop bear, an imaginary creature in Australian jokes that supposedly drops from trees to attack people. When asked whether he had seen one, he explained that it was a myth.
Hieu later told a German visitor named Martin that Germany had about 1,500 kinds of sausage. Martin said he had not known that. The figure was part of the child's conversation, illustrating how eagerly he collects details to share.
His English interests extend beyond the lake. At home, he has become fascinated by space and searches for information about planets and galaxies. English gives him access to more videos about subjects he already enjoys, creating another reason to keep listening and learning.
A Lake With Many Young Learners
Hieu belongs to a much older tradition at Hoan Kiem Lake. Students have approached international visitors there for years to practise English, an activity commonly called san tay, roughly translated as hunting for Westerners. Anh remembers it from her own college years, although she did not take part because she lacked confidence in English.
On weekends, groups of children arrive with clipboards and prepared questions about food, music, countries and everyday life. Teenagers and university students often try longer discussions. For visitors willing to stop, the encounters offer contact with local residents outside the usual exchanges with hotel staff, guides and sellers.
Anh described looking for people with blond hair or a Western appearance when seeking conversation partners for Hieu. Her approach shows how the practice can depend on assumptions about strangers before anyone has spoken. A visitor's willingness to participate becomes the immediate question once she or her son approaches.
English teacher Le Van Tai, 40, connects the demand for conversation practice to weaknesses in school preparation. He says lessons do not equip many students well enough for everyday exchanges. Young people also want English for opportunities connected to tourism and exports, as well as to satisfy their curiosity about life outside Vietnam.
A prepared classroom exercise usually gives a learner some idea of what comes next. A visitor may speak at a different speed, ask an unexpected question or use unfamiliar words. Hieu's lake visits give him repeated opportunities to listen, work out a meaning and respond while the exchange continues.
Permission Is Part of the Lesson
Anh watches visitors' expressions and behaviour before encouraging her son to approach. Some are happy to talk; others want to rest or continue their walk. When someone does not want an exchange, she tells Hieu not to disturb them.
She also helps him choose questions. A young child may be curious about an adult's age, for example, while the adult may find that too personal as an opening question. Learning to adjust a topic to the other person has become part of his weekend practice.
Anh's own opening request makes the purpose of the encounter clear. She is Hieu's mother, accompanying him as he practises a language, and she asks visitors for their time:
Excuse me, my son is learning English. Would you mind talking with him a little bit?
Her presence also lets her observe how Hieu responds. Since she cannot judge every word he uses, she watches whether conversations continue naturally and how visitors react. She records some exchanges and posts videos on social media, where viewers have praised his speaking.
What His Mother Can Measure
Anh is candid about the limits of her own English. Asked how good her son's English had become, she said:
I don't really know how good he is.
Hieu has been described as nearly fluent after a few months, while his mother says his ability has moved far beyond hers. No formal language assessment or test score was given. What she can see is that he now sustains conversations with visitors and uses English to explore subjects independently.
The family's circumstances help explain why her contribution centres on time, materials and accompaniment. Anh previously worked in architecture and now makes balloon art on a freelance basis. She and her husband earn about $10,000 a year, largely from his bank job, while raising their three children.
Looking after the boys and managing the household leave her little time for a structured course of her own. Instead, she organises opportunities for Hieu and is using a similar approach with his younger brothers, beginning with free videos and material she considers suitable.
A Small Conversation Can Have a Long History
Dan Truong offers an earlier example of how practising with visitors became part of a Vietnamese learner's life. In the 1990s, he approached tourists in Hue to try out the English he had learned at school and from Voice of America broadcasts.
Truong, now 56 and living in North Carolina, described the difficulty he faced when moving from written work to speech:
We can learn grammar. We can write. But when we spoke, we had to think it in Vietnamese and translate it into English.
A conversation lasting about 10 minutes with a visiting University of Oregon professor eventually led to a scholarship. Truong completed a master's degree, married and now runs a business manufacturing hats in the United States.
Hieu's ambitions are much closer to a child's everyday sense of adventure. He likes being able to talk with foreigners and watch more videos, and his parents often finish a practice session by buying him an ice cream. For now, the job he wants has little to do with international study.
Asked what he wanted to do when he grew up, Hieu said he wanted to become a police officer. He explained his goal simply:
I want to catch thieves.
Key Points
- Six-year-old Ha Ngoc Hieu, who also uses the name Theo, practises English with visitors at Hanoi's Hoan Kiem Lake.
- His mother began with free online materials after his initial lessons with a local teacher stopped.
- The family established regular weekend visits from June, travelling roughly 45 minutes from home.
- Anh supervises the encounters, asks visitors for permission and teaches Hieu to respect anyone who does not want to talk.
- His conversations cover Vietnamese landmarks, visitors' countries and personal interests, while his learning at home includes space and astronomy.
- His mother says his English has surpassed hers; no formal assessment score was given.
