Nguyen Thi Hong Tham was the runner-up at the 2020 KSI Korean Speech Contest, and completed the KSI Korean Language Teacher Training in 2020. She is currently an international student at the International Language and Culture Education Center at Sangmyung University.

Hello! We very much enjoyed seeing you on . Please briefly introduce yourself and tell us about your TV appearance.

(Tham) Hello, I’m Tham from Vietnam. I started studying Korean in 2016 at KSI Can Tho 1, and I had been dreaming about studying in Korea ever since. Then, in 2020, I became the runner-up at the KSI Korean Speech Contest, for which I was given the opportunity to study in Korea. Before coming to Korea, I completed the KSI Korean Language Teacher Training, and at the moment, I’m an international student in Korea as well as a KSI Can Tho 1 teacher. I was so excited to go on . I’ve been a big fan of Alberto, so to say I was honored to meet him in person on the show would be something of an understatement. But I know I could have done so much better. I’m hoping I’ll ace it if I ever get to go on the show again. A lot of my friends and teachers were so happy to see me on TV, and they were the biggest supporters. I didn’t get to become a Woorimal Master, but I was very grateful for those around me who rooted for me.

Your Korean language skill is quite impressive. It seems like you have your hands full, studying as an international student and teaching as a KSI Can Tho 1 instructor. It must be quite fun to switch from being a student to being a teacher all on the same day. How are you enjoying your time in Korea? And what kind of Korean instructor do you hope to be?

(Tham) Yes. I completed the KSI Korean Language Teacher Training in 2020, and have been working as a teacher at KSI Can Tho 1 since 2021. Ever since I came to Korea this year to study abroad, I’ve been teaching my classes online on Zoom. There wasn’t much I could tell my students about Korea prior to coming here, but now that I’m having firsthand Korean experience, I can’t be more happy to be able to share it with my students in Vietnam. Also, I feel much more confident teaching Korean, now that I’ve been living in the country.

I’ll be going back to Vietnam at the end of August. When I’m back, I plan to go to graduate school to study Korean language education so that I may become a better Korean teacher. I always try to be a fun teacher for my students. To me, what’s more important than getting better in Korean is having fun while doing it, without feeling pressured to learn.