One chilly Sunday morning, Nguyen Thu Phuong got an e-mail. She quicklywent to the Old Quarter's Hang Dao Street, where two foreign touristswere waiting for her.
Phuong, 21, a student at Hanoi ForeignTrade University, is the head of the French section of Hanoi Free TourGuides (HFTGs), a non-profit club founded and operated by universitystudents, alumni and young people in 2010 to offer free tour guideservices to foreign travellers when they visit Hanoi.
In 2014, the club won the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union award for best tour guide club of the year.
"Ihave worked as a volunteer here for one year. It is such an amazingchance to practise my French and meet French speakers. Besides, I canshare Vietnamese culture with foreigners from around the world," shesaid.
The tour guides can communicate in English, French, Chinese, Japanese, German, Russian, Korean and Spanish.
Phuong recalled bringing French tourists visiting Hanoi for the first time to Dong Xuan Market.
"Most of them enjoyed the food," she said.
Another member, Nguyen Van Hao, took Connie Bunge and her husband tothe Temple of Literature. Despite the clamorous sound of screaming andchatting from the crowd around, the 20-year-old student retained hisbrightest smile, while giving introductions carefully at every corner ofthe temple.
"He has taken us to see the WaterPuppet Theatre, then West Lake and the Old Quarter. I felt like timewent by very fast. Wherever we wished to go, he did not hesitate toguide us there. He started to learn German two years ago, and I knowthat it is very hard, though nothing compared to Vietnamese, but he isstill able to pronounce correctly," says Bunge, from Germany.
The enthusiasm and hospitality of these young, energetic people attracted many clients.
"It's nice to have someone speaking your own language. When we go homewe can tell all our friends about this organisation and the wonderfultour guides they have," Bunge added.
For Pham Huong Quynh, 21, the Youth Union award was major encouragement.
"To me, every tour is an unforgettable memory. Once I took my customerto Long Bien Bridge, and it rained very hard, so we had to ask for aplastic bag from a passerby to cover one of my customers' cameras.Eventually, we all walked home and got sick but I was very happy toreceive their thank you email some days later. They said they admired meso much. That memory will never be forgotten," said Quynh.
According to Dao Thanh Cong, head of the club, the reason why HFTGshas such a large number of customers is they have a huge amount ofyoung, devoted volunteers who know many languages and are eager to workhard for free.
"We have the best volunteer team any company would want to have," he said.-VNA
Phuong, 21, a student at Hanoi ForeignTrade University, is the head of the French section of Hanoi Free TourGuides (HFTGs), a non-profit club founded and operated by universitystudents, alumni and young people in 2010 to offer free tour guideservices to foreign travellers when they visit Hanoi.
In 2014, the club won the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union award for best tour guide club of the year.
"Ihave worked as a volunteer here for one year. It is such an amazingchance to practise my French and meet French speakers. Besides, I canshare Vietnamese culture with foreigners from around the world," shesaid.
The tour guides can communicate in English, French, Chinese, Japanese, German, Russian, Korean and Spanish.
Phuong recalled bringing French tourists visiting Hanoi for the first time to Dong Xuan Market.
"Most of them enjoyed the food," she said.
Another member, Nguyen Van Hao, took Connie Bunge and her husband tothe Temple of Literature. Despite the clamorous sound of screaming andchatting from the crowd around, the 20-year-old student retained hisbrightest smile, while giving introductions carefully at every corner ofthe temple.
"He has taken us to see the WaterPuppet Theatre, then West Lake and the Old Quarter. I felt like timewent by very fast. Wherever we wished to go, he did not hesitate toguide us there. He started to learn German two years ago, and I knowthat it is very hard, though nothing compared to Vietnamese, but he isstill able to pronounce correctly," says Bunge, from Germany.
The enthusiasm and hospitality of these young, energetic people attracted many clients.
"It's nice to have someone speaking your own language. When we go homewe can tell all our friends about this organisation and the wonderfultour guides they have," Bunge added.
For Pham Huong Quynh, 21, the Youth Union award was major encouragement.
"To me, every tour is an unforgettable memory. Once I took my customerto Long Bien Bridge, and it rained very hard, so we had to ask for aplastic bag from a passerby to cover one of my customers' cameras.Eventually, we all walked home and got sick but I was very happy toreceive their thank you email some days later. They said they admired meso much. That memory will never be forgotten," said Quynh.
According to Dao Thanh Cong, head of the club, the reason why HFTGshas such a large number of customers is they have a huge amount ofyoung, devoted volunteers who know many languages and are eager to workhard for free.
"We have the best volunteer team any company would want to have," he said.-VNA
