In most Vietnamese–English bilingual preschools in Ho Chi Minh City, the class has a Vietnamese homeroom teacher all day and a foreign co-teacher who joins for set blocks, commonly the morning circle, part of the main activity and an afternoon storytime or small-group session, rather than being present from drop-off to pick-up. How many hours your child actually spends with the foreign teacher varies a great deal between schools, so the most useful thing a parent can do is ask for the specific blocks in the specific class.
Global Star School, for example, describes a Vietnamese homeroom teacher with a foreign or fully bilingual co-teacher in every class, present at morning circle, through the main activity and again for afternoon storytime and small-group play. Other schools use other patterns. This guide explains the common models, what co-teaching looks like minute to minute, what affects how much English your child really hears, and the questions to ask. It does not assess teaching methods; it is about where English sits in the day.
Three ways schools arrange English in the day
Bilingual preschools in the city tend to use one of three broad arrangements, sometimes mixing them.
In the co-teaching model, a Vietnamese homeroom teacher and a foreign teacher share the room for part of the day and lead activities together. One may say a sentence in Vietnamese and the other repeats the idea in English; a song in one language is followed by a song in the other. The homeroom teacher carries the care routines, and the foreign teacher joins the parts of the day that are richest in talk.
In the scheduled English lesson model, the class follows a Vietnamese day and a foreign teacher visits for one or more fixed sessions, often thirty to forty-five minutes, sometimes in a separate room. English is a subject on the timetable rather than a language running through the day.
In the English-led model, more common in schools that call themselves international, the main teacher speaks English and a Vietnamese assistant supports care and translation. Vietnamese may be taught as a subject.
None of these is automatically better for every child. What matters for a family is to know which one a school is actually using, because brochures sometimes describe the most English-rich class or the ideal rather than the ordinary day in a younger group.
A co-teaching day, block by block
Using the published outline of a Global Star day as an example, this is where the foreign co-teacher typically appears and what English contact looks like in each block. Other schools differ; ask yours for its own version.
| Time | Block | Foreign co-teacher | What English looks like |
|---|---|---|---|
| 07:00–08:00 | Arrival and breakfast | Not part of the published English blocks | Mostly Vietnamese; some greetings in English depending on staff |
| 08:30–09:00 | Morning circle | Leads with homeroom teacher | Songs, simple questions, repeated phrases in both languages |
| 09:00–11:00 | Main activity | Alongside homeroom teacher | Vocabulary through doing: colours, actions, objects in the project |
| 11:00–14:00 | Lunch and nap | Not usually central | Mostly Vietnamese care language |
| 14:30–16:00 | Afternoon activities | Rejoins for storytime and small groups | Stories, games, more individual talk |
| 16:00–17:30 | Free play and pick-up | Varies | Mostly Vietnamese; depends on staffing |
Notice that the care routines in the middle of the day, eating and sleeping, are mostly in Vietnamese. That is normal in a bilingual school and is one reason international children often pick up practical Vietnamese, such as words for food, water, toilet and sleep, before they pick up much else.
Why presence in the room is not the same as English contact
Group size divides the talk. A foreign teacher leading a circle of twenty children talks to the group. Each child may say only a word or two. In a small group of four or five during a project, the same teacher may talk with each child several times. Two hours of presence can mean very different amounts of individual conversation.
Listening comes before speaking. Young children learning a new language usually understand far more than they say for a long time. A child who never speaks English at school may still be taking in a great deal. Researchers who study young second-language learners describe a silent or non-verbal period that can last weeks or months.
Repetition beats variety at this age. Songs, routines and phrases that come back every day, such as greetings, tidy-up songs or questions about the weather, give children something to latch on to. A short, predictable English block repeated daily can be more useful than a longer but irregular one.
The homeroom teacher's language matters too. Some Vietnamese homeroom teachers speak good English and use it naturally; others use only Vietnamese. That shapes how much English a child hears outside the co-teacher's blocks.
Absence and turnover. Foreign teachers in the city sometimes move on after a contract year. Ask how cover works when the co-teacher is away and how often teachers have changed in the class you are considering.
What English the children are likely to pick up first
Parents sometimes expect a bilingual preschool to produce fluent English speakers within a year. A more realistic picture helps you read your child's progress kindly.
In the first months, most children pick up the language of routine: hello and goodbye, thank you, names of colours and animals, numbers to ten, action words such as sit, stand, wash, and whole chunks from songs they sing every day. They often use these chunks before they can build their own sentences, and they may mix them with Vietnamese or their home language in the same breath. That mixing is a normal stage, not confusion.
Over a school year, children who hear English daily usually understand classroom instructions and simple stories, and some begin to answer in short phrases. Children who also hear English at home move faster in speaking, because they get more practice. Children whose home language is neither English nor Vietnamese are doing something harder, learning two new languages at once, and tend to show progress in understanding first.
If you want to follow your child's English, ask the co-teacher what songs and stories the class is using this month. Hearing the same ones at home, without turning them into tests, is one of the simplest ways to support what happens in the room.
How English time changes across the year
The English side of the day is rarely fixed from August to May. Knowing how it tends to change helps you read what you see in the first weeks.
At the start of a school year, or when a child joins mid-year, the foreign teacher often keeps English very simple and closely tied to routines and gestures, because many children in the room are new to it. Songs are short, instructions are acted out, and the homeroom teacher may repeat key ideas in Vietnamese. Parents who visit at this stage sometimes feel the English is too basic. It is usually deliberate.
As the months pass, routines become familiar, and teachers can use more English for the same tasks: longer stories, questions that need more than a yes or no, games in small groups. Children who were silent in the autumn may begin joining in with whole phrases by spring.
Events also reshape the timetable. Before festivals and end-of-year performances, part of the English time may go into rehearsing songs. Holidays, teacher changes and illness can interrupt the pattern. When you ask the school about English time, ask also how it typically develops over the year in your child's age group, and what children in that class can usually do by the end.
Questions to ask about English time
These questions turn a general claim about bilingual teaching into a concrete picture of your child's day:
- In my child's class, which blocks does the foreign teacher lead or join, and for how long each day?
- Is the foreign teacher assigned to this class, or shared across several classes?
- Does the arrangement differ between age groups, for example in the youngest class?
- What language does the homeroom teacher use with the children during meals and care routines?
- How large are the groups during the English parts of the day?
- What happens to English time when the foreign teacher is ill or on leave?
- How long has the current co-teacher been with the class, and how is a change of teacher handled?
- Can I observe part of an ordinary morning, not only a prepared session?
Ask the same questions at each school you visit and write down the answers. Comparing minutes and group sizes is more useful than comparing adjectives.
Qualifications and what is reasonable to ask
Families often want to know who the foreign teacher is: where they trained, whether they have early childhood experience, whether they are legally employed. These are fair questions, and a school should be able to answer them in general terms.
Foreign teachers working legally in Vietnam need a work permit, and the education sector sets qualification requirements for teaching roles. The exact requirements change from time to time, and we do not set them out here; the point for parents is that a reputable school will be comfortable confirming that its foreign staff are employed with the necessary permits and qualifications.
Beyond paperwork, ask about early years experience. Teaching three-year-olds is a specific skill, quite different from teaching English to older students. Ask how the foreign teacher and the homeroom teacher plan together, how often they meet, and how the co-teacher learns about each child, especially children who are new or who speak a third language at home.
Nationality is a less useful question than it looks. What matters for a young child is a warm, consistent adult who speaks clear, natural English and works well with the homeroom teacher.
If you have a concern after enrolment, for example that the co-teacher seems to change every few weeks, raise it with the campus manager in concrete terms: which weeks, which class, what you noticed. Specific feedback is easier for a school to act on than a general worry about quality.
Reading the daily report for English time
If your school sends a daily report through an app, it can help you see the English side of the day over time. Look for:
- Which activities were led by the foreign teacher, and whether that matches what you were told at enrolment.
- Photos or short clips from circle time and storytime, which show group size and how children are taking part.
- Names of songs, stories or themes, so you can repeat them at home.
- Notes about your child's participation, such as joining a song or answering a question, without expecting daily progress.
- Changes to the routine, such as a substitute teacher or a missed session, which explain a quieter week.
Treat the report as a window, not a scorecard. Its value is in patterns over weeks rather than in any single entry, and the people best placed to describe your child's English are the teachers who hear it every day.
Once or twice a term, it is worth asking the co-teacher for a short spoken update instead: which songs your child joins, whether they follow instructions in English, whether they answer or prefer to point. Five minutes of conversation at pick-up, or at a parent meeting, gives you a picture no app entry can, and it tells the teacher that you are interested in progress rather than in performance.
Câu hỏi thường gặp
Is the foreign teacher in the classroom all day?
Usually not in a co-teaching bilingual preschool. The Vietnamese homeroom teacher is with the class all day, and the foreign teacher joins for set blocks, often the morning circle, the main activity and an afternoon session. Ask the school for the exact blocks in your child's class.
Will my child learn more English if the foreign teacher is there longer?
Presence helps, but group size, repetition and how much the teacher talks with each child matter as much as minutes. A short, daily, small-group English session can do more than a long block spent mostly managing a large group. Ask about both time and group size.
Why does my child pick up Vietnamese words faster than English ones?
Much of the day, including meals, nap and toileting, happens in Vietnamese with the homeroom teacher. These routines are repeated many times each day and are tied to real needs, so children often learn practical Vietnamese first. That is normal and useful.
Does the youngest class get the same English time?
Not always. Some schools give children under two less structured English and more care-based contact, while others keep the same pattern across ages. Ask specifically about the class your child will join rather than relying on a general description.
What if my child does not speak English at school at all?
Many young children listen for a long time before they speak a new language. If your child seems content and follows routines, silence in English is usually not a concern in the first months. Ask the teachers whether your child understands instructions and joins songs.
Can I ask to meet the foreign co-teacher before enrolling?
It is a reasonable request. Many schools introduce the co-teacher during a tour or a trial session if timing allows. Meeting them briefly gives you a sense of how they talk with young children, which tells you more than a profile does.