Learning English idioms is not an easy feat. This is especially true for Vietnamese students trying to acquire English as a second language. Fortunately, in this age of YouTube and Snapchat, one can make a helpful video explaining pretty much anything. One rather intrepid teacher in Saigon has done just that: Nguyen Thai Duong managed to work 19 English idioms into a video parodying a popular Vietnamese pop song.
The four-minute long video starts with Duong in front of a white screen dancing awkwardly to the beat of That Bat Ngo (What a Surprise), a recent hit by local singer Truc Nhan. The 25-year-old then goes on to show off his singing chops with lyrics explaining how to use common English idioms such as “a piece of cake” and “under the weather”.
The video barely straddles the fine line between adorably cheesy and cringe-worthy, but it has good intentions. Apart from Duong’s own Rick Astley-esque dance moves, the clip also features dance sequences where he and a dance crew bust some moves at a slew of Saigon’s most notable landmarks, including the Central Post Office.
According to Tuoi Tre, the teacher holds a degree in biotechnology, but has decided to pursue his passion for English by giving lessons at a local English center. He wrote the lyrics for the parody song in a day, but needed over a week to find a song with a suitable melody. Duong and his group then spent two weeks filming the music clip in various venues in Saigon. Duong shared with the news source that in the future he hopes to make more videos like this to assist Vietnamese youths in learning English.
Take a look at Duong's video below:
[Video via YouTube user SpeakOnly Speaking School]
