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'Never too old to learn English' for Hanoi grannies

STORY: [Nguyen Thi Loc, English student]

“My name’s Loc. It's never too old to learn English."

These Vietnamese grannies meet every Tuesday to study English

79-year-old Nguyen Thi Loc joins a group of grey-haired students

The aim is to socialize and keep their brains sharp

It comes as scientific studies increasingly show the benefits of learning a language

to maintain and enhance cognitive abilities, including for senior citizens

[Nguyen Thi Loc, English student]

“The pronunciations, the tongue twisters, words with muted letters, words that we have to curl our lips. All of these are very difficult for us."

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Phung Thi Yen, 30, set up the classes to give the elderly a place where they could learn and socialize

She and her group of volunteers are currently teaching 200 elderly students

[Phung Thi Yen, English teacher]

“In this English class for the elderlies, these grannies have been trying hard and made a lot of effort to get to where they are now. At the very least, they have built for themselves a sizeable vocabulary that they can utilize in their daily lives."