Street Vendor Helps Poor to Learn English

Street Vendor Helps Poor to Learn English and Japanese

越南街头小贩帮助穷苦孩子学习英语和日语

In Vietnam, two members of a family of street vendors-- street sellers -- are finding a way to help the poorest students in Hanoi. Pham Minh Dap and his brother are providing the students with mostly free English and Japanese lessons at a learning center they created. The men want to help people who would not normally have a chance to learn a foreign language.

越南一家街头小贩家中的两位家庭成员正在用一种新的方法来帮助河内市的穷苦学生学习。Pham Minh Dap和他的兄弟开创了一家学习中心，主要为学生们提供几乎免费的英语和日语课程。这两个兄弟想要帮助那些通常没有机会学习外语的人们。

Some education experts in Vietnam say such knowledge may help college graduates get jobs. The country’s economy has improved. But many graduates continue to have a hard time finding employment. Local media report ten percent of university graduates do not have a job.

越南的一些教育专家称，这些知识可以帮助大学毕业生找到工作。这个国家的经济发展水平有所提高，但是许多毕业生却仍然很难找到工作。据当地媒体报道称，10%的大学毕业生没有工作。

Earlier this year, 24-year-old Pham Minh Dap and his brother established a school they call Stand By You. Volunteers teach poor students English and Japanese.

今年早些时候，24岁的Pham Minh Dap与其兄弟一起建立了名为“Stand By You”的学校。志愿者们叫穷苦学生学习英语和日语。

Many classes are free. Students with some language knowledge pay 25 to 50 cents per class.

许多课程都是免费的，有一些需要付费的语言知识，每个学生每节课只需支付25到50美分。

Mr. Dap pays about $500 to rent the language center space and for other costs. He gives about $150 from his earnings as a street vendor and private language teaching. His brother gives the same amount from money he earns as a secretary. Friends provide the rest.

租用这个语言中心的教室的费用和其他费用等，一共花费了Dap先生大约500美元。他从他作为街头小贩和私人语言教师所赚取的收入中拿出了大约150美元。他的兄弟也从自己做秘书所得报酬中拿出了相同数量的资金，其他费用由朋友们帮助提供。

Mr. Dap says students come to the city from the countryside and must pay for food or rent. He says the students’ parents are farmers. And he said farmers are very poor in Vietnam.

Dap先生称，农村的学生来到城市，还必须要花钱吃饭和住宿，这些学生的父母都是农民，越南的农民都非常贫穷。

But Pham Minh Dap is also poor. He sells balloons and children’s toys outside Hoa Binh Park in the center of Vietnam’s capital. He works there for a few hours on most afternoons. He earns about five dollars each day.

但是Pham Minh Dap本身也很穷，他靠在越南首都中心的和平公园卖气球和儿童玩具为生。在大多数的下午，他会在那里工作几个小时，大约每天他能挣5美元。

Mr. Dap and many of his family members have sold things in the area for five years. They come from a village of rice farmers in Thanh Hoa Province.

Dap先生和他的许多亲人在这里买东西已经五年了，他们都来自清化省的以种稻为生的村庄。

Twenty-four-year-old Pham Thi Trang is one of 600 students at the language school. She is finishing her university studies. Her parents work in a market in a village in Ha Nam Province. She says life is hard in the city.

24岁的Pham Thi Trang是该语言学校的600名学生之一，她即将完成其大学学业，她的父母在越南哈南省一个村庄的集市上工作。她称，在城市里生活很困难。

She says she earns about $50 a month from a part-time job, and her parents give her $75. But this is not enough to live on. She has said she has to be very careful with money so she can pay her bills.

她称，她每月兼职可以自己挣到大约50美元，她的父母会给她75美元，但是这些钱并不够在城市里生活。她称，她得精俭节约才够支付每月的费用。

Demand for the school is growing. About 1,000 people are on a waiting list to enter. Ten people have offered to teach for free. And Mr. Dap says he is hoping to raise money to pay for a bigger place. He wants to open more classes.

来这所学校上学的人越来越多，现在在等候名单上大约有1000人在等待入学，有10名教师在这免费支教。Dap先生称，他希望可以筹集到更多的资金，来租用一个更大的地方，希望可以开设更多的课程。

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Words in the News

poverty - n., lack of money, poor living conditions

vendors - n., people who sell things, often on the street

rent - n., the payment to the owner for use of property or equipment

countryside - n., rural, not part of a city or community

inequality - n., lack of equal treatment