First of all I'd like to say a big hello to all 'English Now' readers! I am the new ELT Development Manager, taking over from the splendid job that Brian has done over the last three years. I have worked for the British Council for eleven years in various parts of the world - South Korea, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Poland - and have trained many teachers and trainers over the years. I was very excited when I found out I was coming to Vietnam, as I had heard about the VTTN programme and was very keen to be involved in it.

I arrived in Vietnam right at the end of June and was immediately initiated into VTTN by Mr Co and his colleagues in Binh Dinh! I'm not sure if the teachers there remember my attempts at karaoke, but I'm sure Abba would be very upset at my version of their song! As well as Binh Dinh, I visited several other provinces in my first few weeks and was impressed by the warmth and hospitality of all of you. Equally impressive was the team work of the trainers and the enthusiasm and commitment of the teachers.

This ninth edition of 'English Now' has been compiled by the new editors, Mr Bao Kham from Hue and Mr Tran Lam Son from Nghe An. I'm sure you'll agree with me that they have done a great job and that 'English Now' continues to be a magazine for teachers, by teachers.

As well as the regular features, in this edition you'll find tips and activities for listening, an area that can be difficult to teach but which is vitally important if we want to develop communication skills. Most of these activities came from participants and trainers from the last round of provincial workshops, 'Listen Up', and I hope you find them useful and practical.

This has been a busy year for VTTN and there are more events to come. The VTTN ELT workshops have been re-designed to form a mini-course and they run from September - December 2004 in Hanoi and HCMC. A new VTTN Primary Teachers's Club has its inaugural meeting in October in Hanoi and HCMC and will be a monthly event. This is an exciting opportunity for VTTN to expand into the primary sector and to recognise this initiative, the next issue of 'English Now' will include a special section for primary. And don't forget the ELT conference in HCMC in December. I hope to see a lot of VTTN faces there.

Over the next few months we will be welcoming new provinces into the VTTN programme, the first being Hanoi, and I'd like to extend my warm wishes to our new readers! I hope you all find this edition of English Now both interesting and informative and recognise it as a good way of sharing ideas, skills and knowledge.

Happy reading!

Laura Grassick
ELT Development Manager
British Council, Vietnam.