Cao Bang High School for the Gifted held “English for Cao Bang Tourism - Project on capacity building on basic English communication skills for sustainable community-based tourism development in Cao Bang” Seminar

Cao Bang is blessed by nature with majestic and pristine landscapes. In particular, in 2018, Non nuoc Cao Bang Geopark was certificated as a UNESCO Global Geopark. In recent years, community-based tourism has been developed in some localities in Non nuoc Cao Bang Gepark territory and become interesting destinations attracting domestic and international tourists, contributing to job creation and livelihood improvement for local people and enhancing local development. Therefore, the “popularization” of basic communication English for the local people suitable for their services and jobs in the new context is a must. 

At the seminar, the teacher supervising the project presented the contents of the project including the reason for choosing the topic, situation of using communication English in community-based tourism villages, solutions and results of the project, etc. 

The project provides designed lesson plans meeting the learners’ needs and capacity, the knowledge is simple and suitable for the old and beginners. The project will provide the learners with basic vocabulary such as greetings, dates and time, introduction of specialties, landscapes, room reservation, asking for and giving directions, responding to pricing questions, etc. and basic introduction of the Geopark sites. This is the basis to help the local household owners providing community-based tourism services improve their confidence in communicating with foreign tourists, thereby facilitating their business and opening up new directions for community-based tourism development in Cao Bang. 

At the seminar, the representative of the Management Board of Non nuoc Cao Bang Geopark spoke highly of the potential and practical prospects of the project. She also hoped that the project would be maintained for a long time in the future, and the Management Board of Non nuoc Cao Bang would willingly provide support in technical aspects, communication and promotion in the coming time.  
The seminar aimed to provide solutions for fostering the use of English into daily life, helping the local people have opportunities to learn English for free, contributing to local community-based tourism development. This seminar was also a chance for the teachers of Secondary and High Schools in Cao Bang City to gather and exchange their experience in learning and teaching English.