Mrs Thu Trang Tran is our Senior Teaching Fellow in Vietnamese – here she talks about her experiences teaching Vietnamese at SOAS Coming to London 7 years ago, I never imagined that I would become a language teacher here, yet this job has given me 6 amazing years as member of the Department of South East Asia at, a unique and beautifully integrated environment. Not only am I inspired by
With a Vietnamese mother and a Jewish father, I was always intrigued by different cultures and languages – in being different in general. Initially accepted to study French and Hispanic studies at Bath University, it all changed when I accompanied a friend to a talk at SOAS. Despite never having heard of SOAS, from the moment I stepped into the JCR and realised that it was possible to study Vietnam
I originally applied to SOAS for Politics and International Relations, with the intention of perhaps taking a language as part of the Language Entitlement Programme. I had chosen SOAS because of its unique non-Eurocentric perspective among UK universities on global affairs. Other universities I had submitted applications to for the same course had almost identical syllabuses to each other so picking SOAS was an obvious choice with its specialised regional modules
Joshua Zukas has a BA degree in Linguistics and South East Asian Studies from SOAS. He now lives and works in Hanoi (Vietnam) where he runs a website called hanoihideaway.com. I was initially drawn to Vietnam not only for its severe beauty and engaging history, but also for its incredible dynamism and the vast array of opportunities the country has to offer. I studied Linguistics and Southeast Asian studies at SOAS
An alumnus of the South East Asia Department, Sebastian Rumsby (BA Vietnamese and Development 2007-2011; MA South East Asian Studies 2013) recollects his time at SOAS and shares his passion for Vietnam. My journey into South East Asian studies started somewhat randomly at SOAS during my undergraduate degree, where I chose to learn Vietnamese language alongside International Development because Vietnamese was on the bottom of a list of what to