Dr. Le Thi Nham (Annie Le) received her PhD from Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences, Taiwan in June 2017. During her time studying in the PhD program in Taiwan, Dr. Nham published 6 international scientific research projects related to Vietnam's economic sectors, including 2 SSCI articles. It was thought that for someone like Ms. Nham who specializes in economics, she would return to Vietnam and become a university lecturer, focusing on the field in which she spent 10 years pursuing an academic path. But, turning points and opportunities in life led Dr. Nham to stay in Taiwan and become an official teacher at National Chengchi University.
Temporarily putting aside the hustle and bustle of the last days of the fall semester, Ms. Nham took the time to chat with VIN Taiwan's information and communications department to share about the opportunities in her career. my educational career in Taiwan.
Fate came to the University of Politics
Right during the time that Nham studied for his doctorate, it was also the time when teaching Vietnamese in Taiwan was given special attention and strongly promoted by the Taiwanese Government. By chance, Nham saw a teacher recruitment information on page 104. So, Nham went for an interview and was very fortunate to have the opportunity to teach Vietnamese at the University of Culture from 2014 until graduation. . It was these experiences that brought Nham closer to the Vietnamese language teaching industry and laid the foundation for future opportunities.
In August 2017, when he had just graduated with a PhD, while wondering whether to stay in Taiwan or return to Vietnam, Nham once again saw a job posting from the official website of the Taiwan Ministry of Education. Recruiting a contract Vietnamese lecturer position at the Department of Southeast Asian Languages and Cultures. I realize that this is a good opportunity for me because the University of Politics is Taiwan's top school in the field of social and humanities. So, Nham spent all his time completing the application file, including 204 pages drafting a curriculum framework for the English-Chinese bilingual writing department.
For someone like me outside the language and culture industry, I have to try twice or three times harder than other candidates. In a short period of time, I had to read a lot of reference materials to complete the curriculum framework for students in 4 years of study.
In February 2018, Nham was called for an interview. On the interview day, Nham prepared a demo lesson on "History of the formation of Vietnamese writing" in English and answered interview questions from the recruitment panel in Chinese. Luckily, Nham beat other candidates and was hired, becoming the department's first full-time lecturer.
From this turning point, Nham devoted all his time and energy to writing Vietnamese teaching textbooks for first- and second-year majors. The first five books were completed in a year and a half, the result of diligent days and nights, without holidays. To improve his knowledge, in addition to teaching and writing books, Nham also audits courses for master's students in Linguistics, and reads more books himself to improve his knowledge of syntax and semantics. Nham always thinks: "If you work with your heart and passion, the results will come to you." Honestly, sometimes when I think back and think about those days, I still don't understand how I could be so hardworking and determined!
After working in the department for one semester, I learned that the school was offering another opportunity to the Southeast Asia department, which was a full-time lecturer position (Tenure-track Assistant Professor). Once again, giving up his contract lecturer position, Nham spent another semester preparing documents for this position. So luck once again smiled at me!
Working at the University of Politics
The Department of Southeast Asia at the University of Politics focuses on two main areas: Southeast Asian languages and social knowledge about this region. From August 2019, Nham turned his teaching and research direction to Southeast Asia, focusing on Vietnam's economy, true to his expertise during his school days. Currently, Nham teaches Southeast Asian Economics, Southeast Asian Community, and Vietnamese Grammar. For two consecutive school years 2019 and 2020, Nham was honored to win the "Excellent English subject in the whole school" award nominated by the school's review board.
I am focusing on researching economies in Southeast Asia, Taiwan's Southern Economic Policy, and the Vietnamese language. Currently, Nham is striving to meet the standards to be considered for Associate Professor within the next few years.
In the following years, Nham hopes to make a small contribution to building an increasingly strong Vietnamese intellectual community in Taiwan, serving as a bridge for educational exchanges between Taiwan and Vietnam.
Nham always shares with his friends: "Predestination plays a very important role in every person's career. And, we should be ready to receive that opportunity no matter where you are or what field you work in."
Wishing all young intellectuals good luck in the field you are pursuing!
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