The first week of class has come and gone.

It started out rough, but as everyone said, it got better. The classes improved and there was more participation, most likely due to the students getting use to the teachers’ style for encouraging active learning.

Monday was a difficult day due to the limited English experience and exposure of the students. Wednesday and Friday was substantially better, but I learned that this was so because they were advanced English-speaking classes. Monday’s class can be grouped into the Beginner’s category. I am spending all day today working on a new syllabus for the class and how to teach them accordingly. I may have to implement incremental lessons- start off with a small set of vocabulary and number of activities, then increase them and the difficulty as the weeks progress. Speaking in both Vietnamese and English for this particular class will definitely be needed.

My most favorite class was on Friday when the students in the first session sung two songs for everyone. It was wonderful! They asked me to sing a song but my mind went blank as soon as they asked. They made me promise to sing two songs next week since they sang two songs for me. There was no getting out of that situation, but I’m looking forward to “performing”.

I’ll have to add a singing assignment for this group. They are that enthusiastic.

On Thursday, I gave my first lecture to the second-year IT students. There are nearly one hundred students in the class. I encountered technical difficulties with the projector but finally got it working for the last thirty minuets of the class. It worked out as I was able to write everything on the board. There seems to be a group of students in the back of the class that either isn’t interested in the long lectures or have a hard time with English. Their participation level was lesr than the rest of the class. I will try to introduce movement and more activities for the next lecture, which will be on programming logic. The funny thing about the class was that they spoke very quietly but gave a resounding, “AWWWW…..,” when I told them that they were going to have a programming assignment after next week’s lecture. They’re so silly.

This week turned out better than expected and I’m looking forward to the coming weeks of teaching.

As I traveled from place to place this summer, I collected a number of new songs that were simply amazing to me. I don’t know the literal translations for some of them but I get the gist of it. They’re worth a spin if you’re looking for new music.

1. Take it from Here – Justin Timberlake[Classic. Thanks to TrinityGarcia for the YouTube Kaba Modern video link. If you don't know how to dance, you'll want to learn after watching them perform.]
2. Fragilidad – Sting (Remixed by the Buena Vista Social Club)[This song is smooth. It's comforting to listen to and will get you floating across the floor. The entire album is a must for any Salsa lovers out there. A friend studying in Mexico introduced me to the album and it is fantastic.]
3. Party Like a Rockstar – Shop Boyz[I first rocked out to this one with my sister in the 'Rock. Strange. Now every other song on the radio talks about being a rockstar... I like this beat better.]
4. Sober – Kelly Clarkson[The last CD I purchased before leaving the States for VIA's summer training. I think I went through two batteries on my flight back over. =( Mostly because I fell asleep and left my mp3 player on.]
5. Marry Me Today – David Tao and Jolin[I heard this song for the first time along with Endless Love at the Pearl in Chengdu, CN with two other classmates. I didn't know it was a cover song until later in the summer.]
6. Endless Love – Jackie Chan & Kim Hee Seon[This song was also first heard at the Pearl. It is a beautiful song and I hear that there are multiple versions. It took me the entire summer and multiple emails to a friend in Nanjing to figure out what the name of the song was. If it wasn't for a Vietnamese version that I was able to record and send to my friend, I would have never known the name. I was surprised to find that Jackie Chan is the male singer in the version I have. In addition to that, Kim Hee Seon sings the duet part. I didn't connect the name to the Korean actress until I saw a picture of her. She's the main female lead in "The Sad Love Story". (That series will make you cry.) The song is also a part of the soundtrack to the movie that they both star in, "The Myth".]
7. Way Back Into Love – Hugh Grant & Drew Barrymore[People in Asia love this song. It is the main theme for the movie "Music and Lyrics", a movie that I only saw after being asked a number of times by people I met in China and Thailand if I had seen the movie and know the song. It's actually a pretty charming movie; a great song to boot. The song was sung here at the university's Welcome Ceremony as well. There's no escaping this song.]
8. All Good Things – Mandy Moore[The voice sounded familiar, but it wasn't confirmed until the DJ announced it. "All Good Things" was playing on the airplane while I traveled back to/from the States for my sister's wedding. It's pretty darn good.]
9. Rosas – La Oreja De Van Gogh[A friend, and fellow volunteer, introduced me to her music collection and this album caught my attention, especially this song. Have a listen, then try the whole album. If I could have the same artist twice on this playlist, I would add the song "La Esperanza Debida".]

Today I taught one subject in two different classes. Actually, there wasn’t much teaching done since the students had to take a placement exam for the majority of the class. The first class of students were Beginner’s level English while the second class of students were Intermediate level. I didn’t want to use Vietnamese in the classroom but due to a lack of understanding, I had to. During the orientation, I also learned that the Demo for EDO (English Discoveries Online) proved difficult to understand for everyone. Some moreso than others. The good thing about this particular subject is that we are allowed to create our own syllabus custom tailored to the class.

To help with the syllabus and structure for the rest of the quarter, I asked the students what aspects of the English language they would like to work on. Here is their response:

1. Speaking
2. Listening
3. Writing
4. Reading
5. Pronunciation
6. Intonation
7. Grammar
8. Vocabulary

To make the learning process less boring, I asked them to provide a list of topics that interest them.

1. Business
2. Travel
3. Music
4. Study
5. Entertainment

Trying to use technology to teach is a difficult task because you have to teach the students how to use it before you, the teacher, can use it to teach them a new subject.

With that said, here is the goal for next week: exercises to do together in class on speaking and listening utilizing EDO, plus homework to take home to do on their own. Oh yeah, the topic is music (my favorite!).

Looks like I’m going to have to break out some ECC training.

They met at a club.

Announcer: “What two items would you want if you were stuck on a deserted island.?”

Girl in the Crowd: “Ooh, I think I like you. That’s gonna be my man, y’all. That’s gonna be my man! With his fine self. Ooh, it’s gettin’ hot. Where’s my drink?”

I wasn’t there but that is completely half the truth, and the other half is how it went down in my head.

Now they’re married. ‘Must’ve been women’s intuition.

The flight back home was long, to put it nicely, but I was excited to be going back. I had been looking forward to the event well over the summer while I was away. The weekend went by very quickly. There was so much to do and everyone lent a helping hand. It was both a traditional Vietnamese wedding and an American wedding. My Dad made sure of that because he got the bar staff to bring in Heineken! Ha!

My sister’s sorority sisters were there and they helped out a lot. They are a very tight-knit group. It made me wonder if a “wedding service package” is part of the agreement to join a sorority. My brand spankin’ new brother-in-law’s fraternity brothers were there as well but were very chill with the event. I think most guys are like that. When a wedding is scheduled, in our eyes there is a 99% chance of success and we’re willing to let the 1% chance of failure ride itself out.

Then again, the 99% chance of success could be in large part due to the work put in by the women. For that, I give you kudos ’cause we all know men cannot multi-task. Just point and tell us to go. One step at a time. This, I’ve been told- and I shall comply.

It was great seeing everyone again and meeting the new fam. I enjoyed myself but really didn’t appreciate the experience until after I left. Only then was I able to look back at the pictures and remember how great it was. There were also moments of pure craziness. A state of “busy-ness” that left me yearning for a sidewalk corner to sit on and people-watch.

And here’s a “pre-party” pic… yup, that’s my brother. Rock that backpack!

And here is When Westside Goes Wrong 2007… The Little One was A.D.D.-out in this pic.