By LaMonte Key* — May 21, 2026
The first time I tried egg coffee, I was sitting in a small café in Hanoi, Vietnam with students I had only ever seen online. We laughed about how awesome it was to finally meet after months of interacting through screens from two different parts of the world. The coffee was thick, sweet, and unlike anything I’d had before. It was fitting — a moment that blended something new with something already familiar.
As program manager for the Linguistics and Applied Linguistics / TESOL Program in ASU’s Department of English, I often reflect on that day from this past January, thinking about how great it felt to be there in person. I am also in awe of how language connects people no matter where they are located — something that happens regularly for many of our TESOL students. For me, the trip to Vietnam turned that idea into something I could actually see, hear, and experience.
This story actually began about six months earlier. I had been teaching virtually for a couple of years at Literacy Connects, a Tucson-based nonprofit. After completing ASU’s Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) certificate, I started thinking about how to expand my online English-as-a-second-language teaching. Right about the same time, I met a Vietnamese graduate student, Quang from Iowa State University, at the 2025 AZCALL Conference. Quang’s work in online pronunciation teaching sparked an idea I couldn’t shake.
Soon after, I began offering Zoom-based ESL classes to a group of Quang’s Vietnamese students. Despite the 14-hour time difference, we found our rhythm. What started as a small online class is gradually becoming an international community—one built on trust, curiosity, and a shared commitment to learning.
When I arrived in Vietnam in January, those connections came to life. My students were people who invited me into their lives and welcomed me into their culture.
During my time there, I also met Uyen, an English teacher in Hue, who runs her own school. One day, she offered to show me around the city — on the back of her motorbike. We rode through busy streets and quiet corners of central Vietnam before stopping for salted coffee, another local favorite. Somewhere between the ride and that first sip, our conversation shifted from just having fun to teaching possibilities.
Several of Uyen’s students, folks who were in my original Zoom class, and even new people whom I met in Vietnam, will join my online intermediate ESL class through Literacy Connects. I will teach evening classes, so they can join early the next morning — a reminder that our classroom stretches far beyond one place.
I’m so grateful for this experience. What began as a way to apply what I learned through ASU’s CALL program has grown into something much more meaningful. This experience has reminded me that language learning is not just about instruction; it’s about connection, creativity, and a shared curiosity about the world. Whether through a Zoom screen, a classroom, or over a cup of coffee across the globe, learning has a way of bringing people together in unexpected and lasting ways.
*Author LaMonte Key used Gemini Flash to generate draft language, which they reviewed, edited, and take full responsibility for. All final wording reflects the author’s own edits and judgment.