Hey, guys.
This isn't Vietnam. I'm in the US, so I'm going to speak English.
As always, there are subtitles.
So, the title of this video is not just clickbait.
I'm really not going to make any more videos about English.
Now, that doesn't mean I'm going to be disappearing from YouTube,
nor does it mean I'm going to be leaving Vietnam right away,
nor does it mean I'm going to quit teaching English.
But English-teaching videos will no longer appear on this channel.
Now, I'm sure a lot of you are sitting there and asking . . .
Basically, the answer is . . .
I kind of feel like I've done what I wanted to do with this project of making videos
teaching English to Vietnamese people.
When I started making videos over three years ago,
I was totally focused on correcting mistakes that I had heard you guys making in your English.
And I had been catching those mistakes for over two years of teaching,
so I felt really motivated, and I thought,
"Wow, maybe if enough people see these videos, I won't hear these mistakes anymore."
It wasn't too long before I sort of broadened the scope of the channel, and I wasn't only talking about mistakes,
but I still kept a guiding principle in mind
of giving you guys the English that you're not getting in your normal lessons.
In most cases that meant correcting mistakes that either your teachers weren't aware are mistakes
or just weren't taking the time to correct.
In some cases, it meant talking about funny or interesting cultural things
that I felt like no one was telling you.
In other cases, it meant talking about swearing or slang that maybe your teachers thought was . . .
inappropriate to talk about in the classroom.
And in some other cases it meant talking about mistakes that other teachers and centers were making—
mistakes or bad behavior that you guys wouldn't spot without someone to point it out for you.
And now, after over three years of trying to give you guys the English that you're not normally getting . . .
I feel like I've basically said what I wanted to say,
and I've given you guys the things that I think you ought to know.
And I do still have ideas. I've kept a list of all my ideas the whole time I've been making videos.
And when I look at those ideas, I feel like,
"Eh, yeah, I could make that video."
But I'm just not really that excited about those ideas.
And I don't want to force myself to continue pumping out content
that I'm not really very excited about.
Because, at the moment, when I look back on all of my old videos . . .
I can look on them with a lot of pride.
I think the content is good, I think the videos are entertaining, and I enjoyed working on them.
And I'm afraid that if I continue making these English-teaching videos for much longer . . .
I'll get to a point where I won't look back on all of them with pride.
I'll look back on the early ones with pride,
but then the later ones I'll look on with . . .
I don't know, disappointment, boredom, maybe even bitterness.
I don't want that to happen, so that's why I think I should stop now.
And I'm sure that for many of you, that's disappointing news.
When I went to Saigon about a month ago, I met a lot of fans,
both at the event that I went to, and also just out on the street.
And several of them said, "Keep doing it!"
Like, "I love your videos. They're so helpful. Keep doing it!"
And now, I'm sure that those fans and many more of you are sitting there thinking:
"Well, what am I going to do now, if you're not making those helpful videos?"
If you feel that way, my advice to you is to go watch my old videos again.
And I'm not just saying that because I want to see all of my old videos get another million views.
I mean, that would be cool, but that's not the only reason.
There's a huge problem I've noticed when people are learning foreign languages—
not just Vietnamese people, but all people—
which is learning new things but not mastering them.
You know, you read something in a book, or you see something in a video, and you say,
"Wow, oh, that's so great, that's so useful!"
But then . . .
a month later, or a week later, or maybe even a day later,
you don't really remember it.
And I've seen this happen with my fans so many times,
either when someone comes up to me on the street or when there's someone in my class who says,
"Of, I'm such a big fan of the videos, I've watched every one!"
And then, in the course of, like, four sentences
they make three different Vinglish mistakes that I've talked about in my videos.
Like, let me give you just one example.
Can you guess the Vinglish mistake that drives me the craziest?
Any idea?
Everyone in Vietnam uses it wrong.
Okay, not literally everyone,
but, seriously, I would bet there's a 90% chance you think you know what "almost" means
but you're wrong.
And three years ago, I made a video about "almost."
The production quality in that video is pretty bad,
my Vietnamese is very funny-sounding compared to now,
but still, the content of that video is very valuable.
And, I am begging you,
after you watch this video, please go and watch that one.
Even if you watched it a year ago or two years ago,
watch it again to make sure you really got it.
I think it's a bit unfortunate that people often go to YouTube just to see what's new.
You know, you look at your subscriptions, you check the trending tab, and watch anything that's new,
and then move on.
I hope you guys will look at my channel as something more like a book, and each video is a chapter.
You know, if you buy a book about English, you're not going to just read it once and then say,
"Oh, well, I've learned all of that," and then . . .
push it off to the side, right?
You're going to use it as a reference and periodically re-read a page or a chapter
to make sure that you really got it and to make sure that it's in your long-term memory.
So if you're sad or upset that I'm not making new English videos,
don't just look in your subscription box and say,
"Oh, no new English videos from Dan."
Instead, try going directly to my channel page and scrolling through the videos.
If there's one that you missed, give it a watch.
If there's one that you watched a year or two ago,
try watching it again to make sure that you really got it.
I'm sure that even if you're a really, really big fan of this channel,
you haven't extracted all of the value from it that you could.
I'm guessing there will also be some people who are disappointed and say things like:
"Oh, but Dan, there are so many more bad English centers that we need you to bóc phốt (expose)."
Now, it's true that there are a lot of bad centers in Vietnam,
but probably more than I alone can expose anyway.
But even if I did expose all of them,
I don't think the long-term effect of that would be very great,
because as soon as one bad English center goes out of business,
there will probably be another one to take its place.
When I made those exposé videos, I did want those businesses to suffer a bit.
I felt like they deserved it.
But that wasn't the only thing I wanted to see happen.
I also wanted those videos to have the effect of making you guys more skeptical and cautious
about the classes you sign up for, or the books you buy, or the videos you watch on YouTube.
The world of English teaching—
in Vietnam, and elsewhere—
is full of lying, cheating, and false promises,
so you guys have got to be really careful about the content that you consume.
I also hope that those videos have had the effect of encouraging you guys to raise your voices
when you spot that kind of bad teaching or bad behavior,
particularly if you have a higher level of English,
and you see a place that is posting videos or other content that is wrong,
or selling books that are clearly plagiarized,
I hope that you'll say something about it.
And not just in a Facebook review or a YouTube comment,
because those things are pretty easily deleted,
and a lot of people don't see them anyway.
I hope you guys will find more effective and lasting ways of getting the word out
about that kind of bad behavior.
And in the future, if I find something really, really bad,
like a book that's just full of plagiarism,
I might make a simple video and post it on my Facebook, instead of my YouTube channel.
So, keep your eyes open for that.
So that is sort of my advice to you guys
for how to deal with the fact that I'm no longer making English videos.
But one piece of good news is I will still be posting videos on this channel.
What kind of videos?
Well, just comedy videos, I guess.
Doesn't sound quite as noble as teaching, but . . .
there you have it.
You guys know that all along, I've tried to make my videos funny.
I haven't always succeeded in doing that, but I've tried.
And really, that's the reason, I think, they've been so successful.
Not really because they're helpful and useful—
I mean, I think they are most of the time helpful and useful—
but the reason they've been so successful is that they're funny.
And when I look back on all of my videos now, the moments that I'm proudest of
are not necessarily the moments where the content was the most useful or helpful.
I'm proudest of the moments where I was funny,
like in the intro to this video announcing classes.
I still think it's hilarious.
Or, the video I made about the uses for my silver button.
The video isn't helpful or useful at all, but I'm still really proud of it,
because I think it's clever and funny.
And when I look at the comments on my videos, if I see one that says,
That makes me feel good, but if I see one that says,
That makes me feel even better.
And now, I've got a number of ideas for just funny videos that I want to make,
including some where I've written out a whole script.
And I'm excited to make those videos.
I think they'll be fun to work on, and I'm excited to see what the internet thinks about them.
Now, I'm sure some of you won't really be interested.
You subscribed to this channel to learn more about English, and if I'm not giving that to you,
then you don't really care.
So if you don't want to watch the new videos or if you even want to unsubscribe from the channel . . .
no hard feelings from me. I'm glad I had you as a fan for as long as I did.
And for those of you who do enjoy the new videos, I hope that you'll sort of help me promote them,
because I'm going to be speaking English in all of them.
I will try to write Vietnamese subtitles,
but I'm not sure how well all of the humor will translate into Vietnamese.
And my hope and goal in speaking English in all of my videos,
is that in time I'll reach a more international audience.
So if you like the videos,
I hope you'll consider sharing them in places where more English-speaking people will see them,
like on Reddit, for example.
Or if you've got some Tây (Western) friends who you think would enjoy them,
then maybe share the videos with them.
And you can be sure that I'll really appreciate your support.
And one other thing I want to say about the new videos is they are for adults.
Really, I've felt that way about my channel the whole time.
I've mostly taught adults—in fact, now I only teach adults—
and so I've always been trying to reach an adult or at least older teen audience with my videos.
And it always kind of weirds me out when someone comes up to me and says,
"Oh, my six-year-old son loves your videos!"
I'm just like,
"Ugh, he loved the part where I was teaching the word 'fuck' and 'cunt' and stuff?
I don't think he should be watching that."
So, my upcoming videos are for adults,
and if in a few weeks or a few months you see your little boy watching my videos,
and I'm saying some words like . . .
or . . .
Don't say I didn't warn you.
One other piece of good news going forward is I will still be teaching classes in Hanoi,
or if I ever move to Saigon, I'll teach them there.
In fact, I've got two classes that will be opening on September 10th and September 11th,
and there are still a few open spots in those classes,
so we'll be doing some additional placement testing on the mornings of 31/8 and 5/9.
If you have any interest in joining one of those two classes,
Please go down to the description and read all of the information there.
And from now on, I won't be announcing new classes on my YouTube channel,
but I will be announcing them on my Facebook page, "Học tiếng Anh cùng Dan,"
as well as on my personal page, so if you haven't followed those yet, now would be a good time.
There are links in the description.
And that's basically all I have to say.
Making videos about English for you guys for the past three years has been a really incredible experience.
I've had a lot of fun doing it, and I've also learned a lot.
For those of you who are going to stick with me in the next chapter of my YouTube career—
if you can call it that—
I'm looking forward to making more stuff for you.
And for those of you who aren't interested in sticking around . . .
so long.