Nguyen Thanh Nhan, born in 2002 in Son Tay, Hanoi, was a student at Phuong Dong University. When he was in his first year, he worked as a waiter at restaurants. and In the third year at university, he worked for a Japanese restaurant.

As a Japanese major, during work there, Nhan used every opportunity to practice Japanese. He made friends with a Japanese student who also worked for the restaurant and within one year, he could speak the language fluently.

Graduating from university, Nhan applied for a job at Japanese invested company, but he quit later because the job was unsuitable. He tried other jobs and did not like them. Finally, Nhan became a ride-hailing driver.

His decision was discouraged by family members and friends but Nhan said it was a well-thought-out choice and a new way to challenge and understand himself.

“This job might be more demanding than office work, but in return, I can gain a wealth of experience and invaluable lessons daily that no other job might offer,” Nhan explained.

One day, when serving a foreign passenger, Nhan was at a loss for words when the passenger needed help. It was the first time since graduation that he realized he needed to focus on learning languages.

Nhan watched videos of Vietnamese people fluently communicating with foreigners and learned from the videos.

“I began by mastering basic knowledge and the IPA phonetic symbols for better pronunciation, improved listening skills, and learned tenses in English,” he recalled.

Once equipped with basic grammar and vocabulary, Nhan downloaded free language learning apps, did exercises, and practiced listening and speaking during free time. Free from the pressure of grades, he learned very quickly.

“For me, languages are a tool for communication. When meeting foreign passengers, I usually take initiative in getting into conversation with them,” he said. “I believe that frequent communication is the only way that can help one master a new language."

Many foreign passengers praise his speaking skills. Nhan believes he has no secret other than never fearing mistakes or worrying about whether he speaks correctly.

“I try to speak as much as possible. If you fear mistakes and don’t communicate, you will never be able to improve your speaking skills,” he said.

And he did the same when learning Chinese. Because he had studied Chinese as a second foreign language at university, he did not have to spend much time studying Chinese as he had with English.

Just after 5-6 months, Nhan could speak simple English sentences with passengers. At first, passengers could only understand 50 percent, but he did not give up.

When passengers said they could not understand Nhan, he tried to use all the English words he had to explain his ideas until passengers understood him. In his free time, he practiced speaking.

To avoid confusion, he only practiced two languages a day and scheduled his learning throughout the week.

While working as a ride-hailing driver, Nhan records events in his life and posts videos on TikTok. At first, he did this for fun and could not imagine that the videos would attract viewers. Just after six months, Nhan’s channel attracted 130,000 followers.

“I am delighted and surprised by the attention. When posting videos, I want to convey a message that no matter who we are and which job we do, we need to keep learning and improve our knowledge, because knowledge is always helpful in our lives,” he said.

Nhan is now a busy person. He carries passengers and delivers food from 6am to late afternoon. When going out, he always brings two foreign language books with himself and takes time to practice speaking anytime he can – when having his electric motorbike battery charge, or when waiting for new orders. He is now striving for N2 certificate in Japanese language.

Nhan said that many acquaintances of his express their regret over his career choice, but he feels no remorse.

“The job allows me to earn my living, and I still have time to study. If you don’t practice foreign languages every day, you will forget everything just after a short time,” he said.

Thuy Nga