Finally Teaching

Since I last wrote, I've continued to get more comfortable in Cao Bang.  Meeting new people and discovering new places to eat, places to hang out, and things to do has been a lot of fun.  Two weeks ago, I spent the week observing classes.  I only saw one 45 minute class a day (which left me with a ton of time with little to do), but the observations served as a nice introduction to the teaching styles of my co-workers, the classroom environment that students were used to, and the level of English among the students.  I was not surprised to see that the teachers, for the most part, simply did exactly what their textbooks told them to do.  There was little student participation, little student-to-student interaction, and no critical thinking.  The students would listen to a recording and fill in some blanks or practice saying a scripted conversation and that was pretty much the extent of the "learning" that went on. There is also a huge amount of time wasted on things that just don't matter.  For example, for some reason handwriting is really important and even accounted for in students' grades.  Another example of something that doesn't matter is the enormous focus on pronunciation. Obviously English speakers need to pronounce things in such a way that another person can understand, but beyond that, "correct" pronunciation not only doesn't exist (there are a million different accents and people pronounce things differently), but it is totally unnecessary. The goal for students should be the ability to communicate as opposed to sounding like a native speaker (whatever that even means). In addition, though this also wasn't a surprise, the teachers used way too much Vietnamese in their classrooms.  Granted, sometimes and in some classrooms it's appropriate and necessary to use the native language, but repeating every direction in Vietnamese only reassures the students that they can just tune you out when you're speaking in English!  The teachers were not only unwilling to explain things or rephrase things in English, but most of them simply can't. Almost none of the English teachers are anywhere near being fluent and there are students in each class whose English skills are far better than their teachers.  Needless to say, this is a HUGE problem. And not only is it a problem for the students, but it's a problem for me when it comes to communicating anything to most of my co-workers.  As a result, scheduling issues, concerns of mine, expectations about teaching, and everything else that I need to talk to people about is very hard and often impossible.  This has been really frustrating, but on the flip side, ignorance is bliss and it gives me an excuse to just play dumb and do things however I want. The one exception to all of this is my direct host Tuyet with whom I do not struggle to communicate and who teaches with a more interactive style. It's definitely refreshing to be able to work with her and my experience here would be infinitely more difficult without her here. My final observation was that the physical construction of the classrooms, also not surprisingly, reflects the style of teaching.  Permanent desks are squeezed into two rows in classrooms barely big enough to fit them with one small aisle in the middle. Obviously, this limits the ability for any teacher to do any activity that requires the students to stand up, let alone move around!

Watching the classes combined with ample free time also allowed me to take some time to think about and prepare for my first week of teaching.  I should also note that until Wednesday or Thursday of the week in which I was observing, I didn't have my teaching schedule for this past week!  When I did finally get my schedule, it was only for one week so I didn't know whether I would have the same students consistently or whether I would have a completely different schedule every week (although once again, I only know my schedule for the upcoming week, it appears that I'll have the same classes each week).  Anyway, I'm teaching 18 45 minute lessons each week to 15 different groups of students.  I teach the section of English majors from each grade twice per week (6 lessons) and then I have three sections of non-English majors per grade per week (12 lessons). All this means that I'm teaching hundreds of students which will make it difficult to measure progress, build relationships, and give more individualized attention. My suspicion is that they wanted to expose as many students as possible to me as a "native speaker." This brings challenges, but it also allows me to meet more people and to work with some really talented students who happen to major in subjects other than English. While it's frustrating that I was told that I would be teaching mostly students majoring in English and that's turned out to be far from true, I've learned that the best English speakers aren't necessarily the ones who major in English.  The English students are more consistent in their ability (sections of English majors have less of a range of ability within the class), but they aren't necessarily the most developed. Anyway, teaching was fun and definitely challenging, but I think it went pretty well. The biggest things I think I need to work on are: time management, balancing how much I rely on the textbook versus how much I just do my own thing, making sure everyone participates, measuring progress, and dealing with a wide range of abilities (both from class to class and within each class). An example of the latter is that one highlight of the week was having a great discussion about the positive and negative effects of economic reforms, but I also walked into another class and said (probably a little too quickly) "How's everybody today?" and they looked at me as if they didn't have the faintest clue as to what I had just said.  Overall, though, students seem to be less shy than I was expecting and many of them are also much more advanced than I was expecting.

It was also interesting to have my co-workers observing my classes this past week.  I'm really thankful that they took the time to come to my classes and they gave me some great feedback on the students and my teaching. However, in a few classes (two teachers in particular) would almost translate everything that I said.  Not only that, but they would often sit in the back and give students the answers to the questions that I was asking them. It really blew my mind that they actually thought that they were helping the students and, in fact, the students really didn't need their translations or help with the answers.  This was just another reminder of this environment where getting the right answer is all that matters.  It's really a shame that failure does not seem to be seen as part of the learning process here. Teachers come down HARD on students who don't get the right answers or act out of line and it's clearly surprising to both students and teachers when I try to embrace students' failures in the classroom. What those teachers who translated my directions don't understand is that I want some students to turn to the person next to them and ask their friend what I just said. I want to be able to rephrase directions until students can understand, I want students to disagree on answers, and I want them to think for themselves. While I probably need to do a better job of politely expressing my displeasure with my co-workers, I'm hoping that this does not continue to be a problem.

Part of my job is supposed to include organizing opportunities for cultural exchange outside of the classroom.  While this is proving difficult (getting things done in Vietnam is just generally difficult), it's in the works. I am trying to revive what seems to be an inactive English club and hopefully host some American movie nights. We'll see how it goes, but I really hope that I can make these things happen.

In my free time, I've been hanging out with both teachers and students and just exploring by myself. It has and I'm sure will continue to be difficult to build close relationships here.  Teachers are mostly busy with work and their family lives (not to mention me not being able to communicate with them), and the 4-6 year age gap between my students and me isn't ideal. However, many people have gone out of their way to look out for my well-being. Teachers often invite me to have meals with them (I've seen some interesting dishes--congealed buffalo blood on one occasion and bees on another) and students have shown me around town and included me in many activities. 

All in all, I'm really enjoying being here and continue to be thankful for all of the incredible experiences as well as the rewarding challenges.

The view from one of my classrooms. Also, I live just behind the building on the far left.

One of the rivers that runs through the town

A fun activity that I did with my students

The other river that runs through the town

One of my students took me to play badminton--never have I felt so athletically inadequate. These guys are really good! It was nice of them to include me, but I had no business being on the court with them.

Another Move

My time in Hanoi flew by and it's hard to believe that I've now moved into my new home for the next 9 months in Cao Bang.  I definitely felt like I was starting to feel really comfortable in Hanoi just in time to leave.  And while Cao Bang has been amazing so far, all of my fellow ETAs (whom I've neglected to write about in prior posts--apologies for that) and I got really close over the last month and it was disappointing to say goodbye to everyone (I was also the last one to leave).

The last few days in Hanoi were really a highlight for me.  As soon as orientation ended, all of us ETAs headed out to a neighboring province where we had been invited to the wedding party of one of the wonderful women who works at the hotel at which we were staying.  Not only did we feel so privileged to be invited, but it was a really fun and culturally informative opportunity.  

For the second half of our last week in Hanoi, my good friend Frank and his girlfriend Talia were in town enjoying the last leg of their 10 week tour around the world!  I got to spend two great nights with Frank (unfortunately Talia was sick for the second) which provided a much-needed breath of fresh air after a month of just about everything being new and foreign. 

On Saturday, I went to the Hoa Lo prison, otherwise sarcastically known as the "Hanoi Hilton."  The prison was built under the French occupation and housed Vietnamese political prisoners/revolutionaries.  During the "American War," as the Vietnamese call it, the prison was home to American pilots who had been shot down--including, famously, John McCain.  Interestingly, the entire museum seemed to be a comparison between the vicious French treatment of Vietnamese prisoners and the warm and hospitable conditions under which the Vietnamese permitted the Americans to live.  I'll leave my observations to that, and I'm overall glad that I went, but it leaves much to be desired.  I admittedly don't know a lot about what went on at the prison, but I will say that the exhibits certainly fall short of a balanced depiction of historical facts.

I really wanted to try to use my last few days in Hanoi to see all of the tourist sites that I hadn't gotten a chance to see yet.  So, on Sunday morning, my friend Ophir and I set out to see the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum.  When we arrived, though, it seemed as though all of Vietnam was standing in line to pay their respects to their deceased leader.  This past Tuesday was Vietnam's National Day and we soon learned that many Vietnamese travel to Hanoi to visit the mausoleum each year on that weekend.  Ophir and I walked for at least 20 minutes and we never saw the end of the line as it wound out of the complex and down blocks of roadway.  I'll have to visit the mausoleum on another trip to the capital city.  

That night, though, Ophir and I did get to the famous water puppets show.  The water puppet show is a traditional Vietnamese art and is basically what it sounds like--people wading in the water behind a screen controlling puppets.  The puppet show was accompanied by traditional Vietnamese music and I would highly recommend catching a performance to any visitor to Hanoi.

Wednesday was the big travel day.  And by big, I mean really, really long.  My host here in Cao Bang Chi Tuyet (Chi is a pronoun for "older sister" and it's supposed to be used when addressing any woman who is older than you by 12 years or fewer--basically the equivalent of Ms.) travelled to Hanoi to pick me up and we left for the bus station at about 10:30am.  We got on the bus (which we almost missed because it left early) and set off for Cao Bang.  The bus ride was quite the experience.  I think I counted about 19 real seats and at one point I'm pretty sure that there were close to 30 people on the bus!  We were picking people up along the way, cramming them wherever they could fit.  Apparently, since it had been a holiday weekend, many people had travelled to Hanoi and needed to get back to their hometowns.  The ride was beautiful, but it took about 7.5 hours so I was really glad to get off the bus when we finally arrived in Cao Bang just after 6pm.  

I was wowed by all of my first impressions of Cao Bang.  First of all, the town itself is much bigger than I was expecting.  By no means is it big or would I describe it as a city, but I was expecting a lot less in terms of people, stores, restaurants, etc.  The town is also really beautiful as it is surrounded on all sides by mountains.  In addition, the room with which the school has provided me has far exceeded my expectations.  I'll have to post pictures another time, though, because there are some men working to install a door right now.  

Although the town is bigger than I thought, there's a very tight-knit community here.  However, I discovered this through a pretty embarrassing episode.  I went out to buy some water last night but the store had run out (I think).  I tried to communicate with the woman who ran the store and who, I think, was offering to sell me water that she had boiled herself, but it was a complete failure and I didn't end up buying anything.  This morning, though, all of the teachers knew that I had gone to buy water and was unsuccessful.

Another highlight of Cao Bang has been its people.  They have gone above and beyond to make sure that I feel welcomed here.  They have taken me out to lunches and dinner, invited me into their homes for dinner, and shown me around the town.  I spent all of Thursday afternoon with Chi Tuyet (who speaks very good English and has worked amazingly hard to make sure that I am comfortable and feel welcomed here) and another English teacher who showed me all of the grocery stores and markets where I could buy things (I even saw Heinz ketchup in one of the stores).  Then, yesterday was the official opening ceremonies to mark the beginning of the new school year.  School has been in session for about a month already, but for whatever reason, the opening ceremony was yesterday.  Anyway, the ceremony was really, really nice and very professionally executed.  Both students and teachers sang songs and performed dances in front of the rest of their classmates and teachers.  There were a lot of speeches made and it was overall a really joyous and exciting event.  

I have also been surprised at the level of English among the students.  Most adults here speak no English, but while I haven't interacted with all of the students whom I'll be teaching, I have met a handful who speak very, very good English.  That discovery was really exciting for me and I hope that I continued to be impressed by the students' speaking abilities.

One thing for which I thought I was prepared, but has still caught me off-guard is the celebrity treatment that I'm being given.  Not only did all of the students want to take pictures with me at the ceremony, but political officials and other important people from around town came to the celebration and to the lunch afterwards so that they could meet me and talk with me.  Also, I've noticed that when I walk around, everyone (even people unaffiliated with the school) stops their conversations and points me out to say hi.  It's actually really funny because they often speak to each other in Vietnamese as if to say "there's the English teacher from America," but little do they know that I know enough words in Vietnamese to understand when they're talking about me.   I'm so honored that everyone is excited to have me here, but I find myself having to walk a very fine and difficult line.  On the one hand, I feel very undeserving of the attention and it often makes me uncomfortable, but on the other hand, I don't feel like I can reject it for fear of embarrassing or offending anyone.  In addition, I am trying very hard not to let this kind of treatment get out of hand by politely refusing offers for things and treatment that would be totally unnecessary. 

That's all for now.  Tonight is the Mid-Autumn Festival which is a traditional festival for kids.  The festival is supposedly on the night on which the moon appears closest to the earth and is said to date back as many as 20,000 years.  I'll report back on the celebration in due time. 

All the best,

Jonathan 

American Pilot's uniform in Hoa Lo Prison

Water Puppet Show

The puppeteers after the show

The school decorated for the opening-day ceremonies

Students performing a dance at the ceremony

I must've taken hundreds of these photos with students

Chi Tuyet and I (she is wearing a traditional Vietnamese dress called an Ao Dai--pronounced ow zai)

One side of the schoolhouse from the courtyard

Another side of the school

Another side

Panoramic view of the school buildings/yard (sorry about the sun)