Linguistic Imperialism Alive and Kicking.
Topics reported on recently in Learning English give me grounds for concern about internationally driven efforts to strengthen the learning of English. They suggest strongly that TESOL/ELT is part of the problem rather than the solution. There is increasing evidence that what is on offer may in fact cause educational failure.
My worries were triggered by two shocking headlines (Learning English, 13 January). One reports on the massive failure in Namibia of English as the main medium of education: "Language policy 'poisoning' children". This was the conclusion of a recent NGO study. The second was "Language myth cripples Pakistan's schools". The myth is the belief that studying English is all you need for success in life. Policies influenced by this myth prevent most children from accessing relevant education.
I am also strongly concerned about a third story, "US launches global push to share ELT skills". The background is that in November 2011 the US state department and Tesol International Association (recently renamed) announced a partnership to meet the global demand for English and to "Work in co-ordination with US companies, universities, publishers, and other ELT stakeholders to enhance their international outreach and operations". This drive is modelled on the success of the British Council in expanding British influence worldwide. There are examples in the 17 February issue of Learning English: Tony Blair promoting British ELT in Thailand; the UK taking a "role in Ukraine primary push".
Is Anglo-American expertise really relevant in all such contexts? In fact educational "aid" worldwide does not have a strong record of success. There is scholarly evidence, for instance from Spain, that primary English is not an unmitigated success story: quite the opposite.
For Namibia a great deal of educational language planning was undertaken at the United Nations Institute for Namibia prior to independence. I summarised this in my book Linguistic Imperialism (OUP, 1992), quoting solid evidence that an over-reliance on English was inappropriate. Yet this is what British Council "advisers" in independent Namibia were instrumental in implementing.
British policies in Africa and Asia have aimed at strengthening English rather than promoting multilingualism, which is the social reality. Underlying British ELT have been key tenets – monolingualism, the native speaker as the ideal teacher, the earlier the better etc – which the same book diagnoses as fundamentally false. They underpin linguistic imperialism.
British goals both in the colonial period and today are primarily political and commercial. The British Council's Annual Report 2009-10 states that for the equivalent of every $1.60 of taxpayer's money it receives, it earns $4 through its English teaching and examining worldwide. ELT is of massive importance for the British economy. This underlies expansion efforts in India and China, where it has had very mixed success, except perhaps in commercial terms. David Graddol's 2010 report English Next India, commissioned by the British Council, uses similar arguments to those articulated 180 years earlier by Thomas Babington Macaulay, a senior British administrator, in making a case for British involvement in Indian education. Influence on the learning of English may be as ineffectual as in Namibia, in this very different context.
Unesco has stressed the significance of the mother tongue for over 50 years. Save the Children's 2009 report for the CfBT education trust, Language and Education: The Missing Link, hammers home this message. But why is it that an NGO and a private consortium "discover" facts that have been known in many scholarly circles for 40 years but that ELT has failed to effectively engage with?
The research evidence on mother tongue-based multilingual education is unambiguous. English-medium education in postcolonial contexts that neglects mother tongues and local cultural values is clearly inappropriate and ineffective.
There are ELT voices calling for a paradigm shift. A report for the British Council by Hywel Coleman on Pakistan points clearly in this direction. So does a 2011 book that he has edited, also for the British Council, Dreams and Realities: Developing Countries and the English Language. But if ELT professionals lead monolingual lives, or if they have no experience of becoming proficient in languages other than English, are they ever likely to understand the complexity of the learning tasks that they are committed to?
One of the intriguing aspects of globalising Anglo-American expertise is that ELT is not a high-prestige profession in either the US or the UK. In both countries there are unmet English language needs for children and adults. In addition, foreign language learning is much less widespread and effective than in many countries.
It is true that there is a massive demand for English worldwide, to which many factors, from trade and tourism to regional integration, contribute. Maintaining the value of western investments and influence in the decolonisation period led to the mushrooming of departments of Tesol and applied linguistics from the 1950s. The demand for English has been orchestrated by western governments and their allies worldwide, and key bodies such as the World Bank. The "supply" of expertise dovetails with demand.
Governments have tended to clutch at a quick fix, such as importing native speakers, or starting English ever earlier, either as a subject or as the medium of instruction, in the hope that this will make the learning of English more effective. Such demands should be challenged by ELT when both the demand and the response are unlikely to be educationally, culturally or linguistically well-informed.
Read more at http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/mar/13/linguistic-imperialism-english-language-teaching
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
Showing posts with label Vietnam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vietnam. Show all posts
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Friday, August 10, 2012
Number of Students Increasing Rapidly, Universities Getting Overloaded
Number of students increasing rapidly, universities getting overloaded.
According to the Ministry of Education and Training, there are 46 universities and 17 junior colleges in Hanoi. Besides, there are also nearly 40 vocational high schools with the total number of students accounting for 43 percent of the number of students in the whole country. Meanwhile, there are 112 schools in HCM City.
Hanoi and HCM City are the two big cities where most of the key universities with very high numbers of students are located.
Material facilities poor, number of students increasing rapidly – what to do?
Tran Thanh Binh, Director of the School Design and Research Institute under the Ministry of Education and Training, said that the average area of schools is too low Most of the schools have the land of less than 10 hectares, lack basic functional areas, and their the education environment is generally bad.
Analysts have blamed the current situation on the too rapidly increasing number of students. Meanwhile, schools’ actual land area have been reduced because parts of the land have been used for different purposes.
The Hanoi University of Technology with 34 hectares of land was designed in 1960s to fit 2000 students. Meanwhile, the number of students has increased 10 times.
newly established schools have been running in even worse conditions. The classrooms are located on small areas or in houses which were not designed as classrooms. It is common that students of the same schools have to go to classrooms located in different places. Meanwhile, the schools are not located in easily accessible areas.
some schools have made large investment of hundreds of billions dong to upgrade their facilities. The Hanoi Economics University, for example, carried out the project to fit 15,000 students of the school. However, the school is located on Giai Phong Road near the key traffic point. Meanwhile, many other schools are located in the area with no urban roads, thus making it difficlut to travel.
Relocating schools to suburb areas? It’s not easy
The only solution to the current problem is to relocate the schools to suburb areas, where the there is more available land. The HCM City authorities have reserved 2210 hectares of land in Dong Bac new urban area for 50 schools to move in.
Hanoi is also planning to bring 40,000 students of the Hanoi National University to Hoa Lac new urban area, 30 kilometres from the city centre More than 10 universities and junior colleges will be moved to satellite urban areas such as Gia Lam (the area will gather agriculture, polytechnique and technology schools), Soc Son (polytechnique and information technology), and Son Tay (social sciences, pedagogical and tourism schools)
However, experts have warned that it is not easy to relocate and re-equip the schools, because the project will need a huge sum of capital which goes beyond the capacity of schools, while the state budget remains limited.
Then a new solution has been suggested that schools can exchange their campuses in the inner city for the capital to be invested in suburb areas.
This measure has been applied by the HCM City University of Physical and Sports Education is after getting the approval from the Ministry of Education and Training and HCM City authorities. This means that the city’s authorities will auction a land plot (which has the same value with the current land plot of the school) in order to get money to help the school build a new campus. After everything is prepared at the new campus, the school will hand over its current campus to the city.
However, the project is facing a lot of difficulties. An official from the school said that the land plot for auction has not been sold.
Dr Pham Van Nang, President of the HCM City Economics University, said that the school has been talking about the relocation for the past 10 years. However, no considerable progress has been made so far.
Read more at http://www.vnnewstime.com/education-news/number-of-students-increasing-rapidly-universities-getting-overloaded/
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
According to the Ministry of Education and Training, there are 46 universities and 17 junior colleges in Hanoi. Besides, there are also nearly 40 vocational high schools with the total number of students accounting for 43 percent of the number of students in the whole country. Meanwhile, there are 112 schools in HCM City.
Hanoi and HCM City are the two big cities where most of the key universities with very high numbers of students are located.
Material facilities poor, number of students increasing rapidly – what to do?
Tran Thanh Binh, Director of the School Design and Research Institute under the Ministry of Education and Training, said that the average area of schools is too low Most of the schools have the land of less than 10 hectares, lack basic functional areas, and their the education environment is generally bad.
Analysts have blamed the current situation on the too rapidly increasing number of students. Meanwhile, schools’ actual land area have been reduced because parts of the land have been used for different purposes.
The Hanoi University of Technology with 34 hectares of land was designed in 1960s to fit 2000 students. Meanwhile, the number of students has increased 10 times.
newly established schools have been running in even worse conditions. The classrooms are located on small areas or in houses which were not designed as classrooms. It is common that students of the same schools have to go to classrooms located in different places. Meanwhile, the schools are not located in easily accessible areas.
some schools have made large investment of hundreds of billions dong to upgrade their facilities. The Hanoi Economics University, for example, carried out the project to fit 15,000 students of the school. However, the school is located on Giai Phong Road near the key traffic point. Meanwhile, many other schools are located in the area with no urban roads, thus making it difficlut to travel.
Relocating schools to suburb areas? It’s not easy
The only solution to the current problem is to relocate the schools to suburb areas, where the there is more available land. The HCM City authorities have reserved 2210 hectares of land in Dong Bac new urban area for 50 schools to move in.
Hanoi is also planning to bring 40,000 students of the Hanoi National University to Hoa Lac new urban area, 30 kilometres from the city centre More than 10 universities and junior colleges will be moved to satellite urban areas such as Gia Lam (the area will gather agriculture, polytechnique and technology schools), Soc Son (polytechnique and information technology), and Son Tay (social sciences, pedagogical and tourism schools)
However, experts have warned that it is not easy to relocate and re-equip the schools, because the project will need a huge sum of capital which goes beyond the capacity of schools, while the state budget remains limited.
Then a new solution has been suggested that schools can exchange their campuses in the inner city for the capital to be invested in suburb areas.
This measure has been applied by the HCM City University of Physical and Sports Education is after getting the approval from the Ministry of Education and Training and HCM City authorities. This means that the city’s authorities will auction a land plot (which has the same value with the current land plot of the school) in order to get money to help the school build a new campus. After everything is prepared at the new campus, the school will hand over its current campus to the city.
However, the project is facing a lot of difficulties. An official from the school said that the land plot for auction has not been sold.
Dr Pham Van Nang, President of the HCM City Economics University, said that the school has been talking about the relocation for the past 10 years. However, no considerable progress has been made so far.
Read more at http://www.vnnewstime.com/education-news/number-of-students-increasing-rapidly-universities-getting-overloaded/
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Teaching English for First Graders - Where to Start?
Teaching English for first graders: where to start?
The HCM City Education and Training Department has decided that students will not have to sit the exam to be able to enroll in intensive English classes. Those students, who want to study English, will only have to register their demand with the schools. However, the problem is that there are too many students who want to learn English, while the number of English teachers remains modest.
“160 first graders have registered to learn English. The students are now put in the same classes with the students who do not have the demand to study English. However, they will be put in separated classes from the second semester. What I am worried about is that the splitting cause a great chaos,” said a teacher of Bau Sen Primary School in District 5 in HCM City.
Nguyen Xuan Bao, Headmaster of Bau Sen Primary School, said that he still does not know what to do with the students who have registered to study English. The students must be divided into four classes, while in current conditions, the school can only arrange two classes. “Recruiting English teachers proves to be the biggest problem now, because it will not be easy to find teachers if we can only offer modest pay,” Bao said.
Under the current regulations, the teachers who teach English to first graders, under the pilot programme must obtain TKT certificate granted by Cambridge ESOL. In order to obtain the certificate, teachers must attend a training course in English teaching skills with foreign teachers. However, the problem is that teachers themselves would have to pay the tuition for the training course, estimated at six million dong.
“I agree that TKT certificate is a necessary document which shows teachers’ qualification. However, it is unreasonable to force teachers, who have modest income, to pay for the training course,” said a headmaster of a primary school in District 3 in HCM City.
She went on to say that the school really wants to pay the tuition for the teachers, but it cannot arrange the money. Meanwhile, students only have to pay 50,000 dong a month for English classes, which is not enough to pay the teachers.
Shortage of classrooms also causes headache to primary schools. The city’s Education and Training Department has decided that every class can only have a maximum of 35 students. Meanwhile, schools say they cannot arrange enough classrooms for so many students,
“We have no idle classrooms. All the rooms have been used to ensure that all the children in the district can go to school,” headmaster of a primary school in Tan Phu District said.
It seems that many schools are puzzled when implementing the pilot English teaching programme. At some schools, students, who who want to study English, are put in the same classes with those who don’t. At other schools, students who study English are put in special classes. Yet other schools still have not begun to accept registrations from students who want to attend English classes.
Headmaster of a school in District 3 complained that his school is still awaiting guildelines from the local education sub-department. “Our teachers are very worried. They fear that when the classes are re-arranged, this will affect the teaching quality,” he said. As first graders are small children who may not adjust well and find it difficult when put in other classes where they have to sit with new friends and study with new teachers.
Though the HCM City Education and Training Department has decided that first graders can also begin to study English, some educators still believe that it would be better to start teaching English in the second grade.
Read more at http://www.vnnewstime.com/education-news/teaching-english-for-first-graders-where-to-start/
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
The HCM City Education and Training Department has decided that students will not have to sit the exam to be able to enroll in intensive English classes. Those students, who want to study English, will only have to register their demand with the schools. However, the problem is that there are too many students who want to learn English, while the number of English teachers remains modest.
“160 first graders have registered to learn English. The students are now put in the same classes with the students who do not have the demand to study English. However, they will be put in separated classes from the second semester. What I am worried about is that the splitting cause a great chaos,” said a teacher of Bau Sen Primary School in District 5 in HCM City.
Nguyen Xuan Bao, Headmaster of Bau Sen Primary School, said that he still does not know what to do with the students who have registered to study English. The students must be divided into four classes, while in current conditions, the school can only arrange two classes. “Recruiting English teachers proves to be the biggest problem now, because it will not be easy to find teachers if we can only offer modest pay,” Bao said.
Under the current regulations, the teachers who teach English to first graders, under the pilot programme must obtain TKT certificate granted by Cambridge ESOL. In order to obtain the certificate, teachers must attend a training course in English teaching skills with foreign teachers. However, the problem is that teachers themselves would have to pay the tuition for the training course, estimated at six million dong.
“I agree that TKT certificate is a necessary document which shows teachers’ qualification. However, it is unreasonable to force teachers, who have modest income, to pay for the training course,” said a headmaster of a primary school in District 3 in HCM City.
She went on to say that the school really wants to pay the tuition for the teachers, but it cannot arrange the money. Meanwhile, students only have to pay 50,000 dong a month for English classes, which is not enough to pay the teachers.
Shortage of classrooms also causes headache to primary schools. The city’s Education and Training Department has decided that every class can only have a maximum of 35 students. Meanwhile, schools say they cannot arrange enough classrooms for so many students,
“We have no idle classrooms. All the rooms have been used to ensure that all the children in the district can go to school,” headmaster of a primary school in Tan Phu District said.
It seems that many schools are puzzled when implementing the pilot English teaching programme. At some schools, students, who who want to study English, are put in the same classes with those who don’t. At other schools, students who study English are put in special classes. Yet other schools still have not begun to accept registrations from students who want to attend English classes.
Headmaster of a school in District 3 complained that his school is still awaiting guildelines from the local education sub-department. “Our teachers are very worried. They fear that when the classes are re-arranged, this will affect the teaching quality,” he said. As first graders are small children who may not adjust well and find it difficult when put in other classes where they have to sit with new friends and study with new teachers.
Though the HCM City Education and Training Department has decided that first graders can also begin to study English, some educators still believe that it would be better to start teaching English in the second grade.
Read more at http://www.vnnewstime.com/education-news/teaching-english-for-first-graders-where-to-start/
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
Friday, July 27, 2012
Vietnam Scholars Win USA Scientific Research Awards
Vietnam scholars win USA scientific research awards.
Vietnam has recently earned two awards in the first round of a USA government program to fund scientific research in developing countries, the U.S. Embassy said Tuesday in a press release.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) have accordingly decided to provide grants to two research projects on climate change headed by Vietnamese scholars from local institutes and universities, with support from their Indonesian and American partners.
The two winning research projects include Assessment of Impacts of the Emission Reduction Measures of Short-lived Climate Forcers on Air Quality and Climate in Southeast Asia, and Research and Capacity Building on Reduced Emissions from Degradation and Deforestation (REDD+) Livelihoods, and Vulnerability in Vietnam, both of which will be conducted from now until May 2015.
The funding is given under the Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER) awards, meant to award research collaboration grants to support and build scientific and technical capacity in the developing world.
PEER is a USAID-funded competitive grants program that is administered by the National Academy of Sciences in coordination with NSF.
Read more at http://www.tuoitrenews.vn/cmlink/tuoitrenews/education/education-news/vietnam-scholars-win-u-s-scientific-research-awards-1.77734
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
Vietnam has recently earned two awards in the first round of a USA government program to fund scientific research in developing countries, the U.S. Embassy said Tuesday in a press release.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) have accordingly decided to provide grants to two research projects on climate change headed by Vietnamese scholars from local institutes and universities, with support from their Indonesian and American partners.
The two winning research projects include Assessment of Impacts of the Emission Reduction Measures of Short-lived Climate Forcers on Air Quality and Climate in Southeast Asia, and Research and Capacity Building on Reduced Emissions from Degradation and Deforestation (REDD+) Livelihoods, and Vulnerability in Vietnam, both of which will be conducted from now until May 2015.
The funding is given under the Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER) awards, meant to award research collaboration grants to support and build scientific and technical capacity in the developing world.
PEER is a USAID-funded competitive grants program that is administered by the National Academy of Sciences in coordination with NSF.
Read more at http://www.tuoitrenews.vn/cmlink/tuoitrenews/education/education-news/vietnam-scholars-win-u-s-scientific-research-awards-1.77734
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Jobs in Cambodia
Jobs in Cambodia.
Cambodia is becoming a popular destination with Western travellers because it has a stunning and diverse natural landscape, it has friendly people, it has enjoyed a rich and varied history and offers up a whole host of exciting and fantastic experiences to enjoy.
Many of those who visit Cambodia for an extended period of time fall in love with the country and its people and are determined to work to help the nation and either settle down or later return to work in Cambodia.
For people with a dream of helping the country and its citizens to progress there are various vacancies available annually for aid and charity workers as well as extensive job openings for teachers. An alternative to these industries for employment for expats is the tourism industry which is growing rapidly and bolstering the economy - this fact means that tourism is now helping to stabilise Cambodia and therefore jobs in Cambodia for Westerners can be found mainly in tourism, education or charity fields.
Anyone thinking about moving to live for a while in this fascinating and stunning country and who would like to know more specifics about the types of jobs available in Cambodia that expatriates usually take should find useful tips and insider advice in this article.
As stated tourism, charity work and education are the main employment sectors for expatriates but in recent months a significant amount of exploration has revealed extensive oil and natural gas reserves in the territorial waters of Cambodia meaning that this is an alternative field of employment that will likely open up to external Western contractors in the future.
In the meantime anyone determined to find employment in Cambodia will find it difficult to source anything remotely unless the individual in questions approaches a recruitment company specialist in either the field in which they wish to work or in the country of Cambodia itself - an alternative is to directly make contact with the aid agencies who work in Cambodia for example or international agencies which employ teaching staff for the country's schools.
In terms of teaching jobs there's one big complaint that you will hear from all those working in the education industry and that is that the level of pay is very low and consequently the standard of living that teachers can aspire to in Cambodia is correspondingly low...however you have to stop and ask yourself why you would want to teach in Cambodia in the first place - surely those who commit to teaching in schools in Phnom Penh or even in smaller towns such as Battambang aren't in it for the money!
The whole thing about working in a country like Cambodia is gaining invaluable life experience at the same time as enjoying the travel and adventure that goes hand in hand with working abroad temporarily in a country where Western expats all band together!
Teachers often find employment in one of the international schools located in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh or in one of the language schools dotted across the country, other's work alongside Khmer teachers in provincial schools mainly teaching English or teaching other key subjects through the medium of English.
For jobs in all other employment sectors there is a Khmer Website Directory which lists jobs in many diverse fields. When it comes to the better paying end of the scale of jobs available in Cambodia the charities and aid agency employees are relatively well remunerated which means that the standard of living they can enjoy is also correspondingly good. Having said that no job in Cambodia is going to make an employee particularly wealthy, in fact the main criteria that anyone who is committed to working in Cambodia should have is a desire to assist rather than to take and to facilitate development and improvement.
Read more at http://ezinearticles.com/?Jobs-in-Cambodia&id=234731
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
Cambodia is becoming a popular destination with Western travellers because it has a stunning and diverse natural landscape, it has friendly people, it has enjoyed a rich and varied history and offers up a whole host of exciting and fantastic experiences to enjoy.
Many of those who visit Cambodia for an extended period of time fall in love with the country and its people and are determined to work to help the nation and either settle down or later return to work in Cambodia.
For people with a dream of helping the country and its citizens to progress there are various vacancies available annually for aid and charity workers as well as extensive job openings for teachers. An alternative to these industries for employment for expats is the tourism industry which is growing rapidly and bolstering the economy - this fact means that tourism is now helping to stabilise Cambodia and therefore jobs in Cambodia for Westerners can be found mainly in tourism, education or charity fields.
Anyone thinking about moving to live for a while in this fascinating and stunning country and who would like to know more specifics about the types of jobs available in Cambodia that expatriates usually take should find useful tips and insider advice in this article.
As stated tourism, charity work and education are the main employment sectors for expatriates but in recent months a significant amount of exploration has revealed extensive oil and natural gas reserves in the territorial waters of Cambodia meaning that this is an alternative field of employment that will likely open up to external Western contractors in the future.
In the meantime anyone determined to find employment in Cambodia will find it difficult to source anything remotely unless the individual in questions approaches a recruitment company specialist in either the field in which they wish to work or in the country of Cambodia itself - an alternative is to directly make contact with the aid agencies who work in Cambodia for example or international agencies which employ teaching staff for the country's schools.
In terms of teaching jobs there's one big complaint that you will hear from all those working in the education industry and that is that the level of pay is very low and consequently the standard of living that teachers can aspire to in Cambodia is correspondingly low...however you have to stop and ask yourself why you would want to teach in Cambodia in the first place - surely those who commit to teaching in schools in Phnom Penh or even in smaller towns such as Battambang aren't in it for the money!
The whole thing about working in a country like Cambodia is gaining invaluable life experience at the same time as enjoying the travel and adventure that goes hand in hand with working abroad temporarily in a country where Western expats all band together!
Teachers often find employment in one of the international schools located in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh or in one of the language schools dotted across the country, other's work alongside Khmer teachers in provincial schools mainly teaching English or teaching other key subjects through the medium of English.
For jobs in all other employment sectors there is a Khmer Website Directory which lists jobs in many diverse fields. When it comes to the better paying end of the scale of jobs available in Cambodia the charities and aid agency employees are relatively well remunerated which means that the standard of living they can enjoy is also correspondingly good. Having said that no job in Cambodia is going to make an employee particularly wealthy, in fact the main criteria that anyone who is committed to working in Cambodia should have is a desire to assist rather than to take and to facilitate development and improvement.
Read more at http://ezinearticles.com/?Jobs-in-Cambodia&id=234731
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Vietnamese Language Alphabet Vowels
Vietnamese Language Alphabet Vowels.
Vietnamese, formerly known under French colonization as Annamese, is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of the Vietnamese people, and of about several million overseas Vietnamese, most of whom live in the United States. It is also spoken as a second language by many ethnic minorities of Vietnam. It is part of the Austroasiatic language family, of which it has the most speakers by a significant margin (several times larger than the other Austroasiatic languages put together).
Much vocabulary has been borrowed from Chinese, especially words that denote abstract ideas in the same way European languages borrow from Latin and Greek. It was formerly using the Chinese writing system in a modified format, but pronounced the Vietnamese way. The Vietnamese writing system in use today is an adapted version of the Latin alphabet, with added diacritics for tones and certain letters.
There are various regional dialects, the four main being: North, North-central, Central, and Southern. These dialect regions differ mostly in their sound systems, but there are also differences in vocabulary and grammar. Through time there has been some blending of the different dialects, but more of greater significance is that the Northern dialect has become more easily understood in the South, and vice versa.
Read more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese_language
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
Vietnamese, formerly known under French colonization as Annamese, is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of the Vietnamese people, and of about several million overseas Vietnamese, most of whom live in the United States. It is also spoken as a second language by many ethnic minorities of Vietnam. It is part of the Austroasiatic language family, of which it has the most speakers by a significant margin (several times larger than the other Austroasiatic languages put together).Much vocabulary has been borrowed from Chinese, especially words that denote abstract ideas in the same way European languages borrow from Latin and Greek. It was formerly using the Chinese writing system in a modified format, but pronounced the Vietnamese way. The Vietnamese writing system in use today is an adapted version of the Latin alphabet, with added diacritics for tones and certain letters.
There are various regional dialects, the four main being: North, North-central, Central, and Southern. These dialect regions differ mostly in their sound systems, but there are also differences in vocabulary and grammar. Through time there has been some blending of the different dialects, but more of greater significance is that the Northern dialect has become more easily understood in the South, and vice versa.
Vietnamese Alphabet
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| Vietnamese Language Alphabet |
Read more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese_language
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Vietnam Students to Compete in Global Business Competition
Vietnam Students to Compete in Global Business Competition.
A four-person team from RMIT International University Vietnam, the local branch of the Australian-based RMIT University, has qualified for an international business competition hosted in July by Sri Lanka after winning the national edition last week.
The Lion Team beat three rivals from Hanoi Foreign Trade University, HCMC Foreign Trade University and Hanoi University in the final last Wednesday with their report on a management accounting case, which had been shortlisted against nearly 130 submissions by tertiary schools nationwide.
They were then required to give an oral presentation on their report to a board of judges composed of business leaders, together with its synopsis and a team introduction video.
The international competition, named Global Business Challenge 2012 by its UK-based founder Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, will take place from July 21 to 25 in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s biggest city, and will be attended by students from 22 countries and territories.
The CIMA Global Business Challenge is designed to bring out the best in the young business leaders of tomorrow, and is intended to be a great opportunity for students from around the world to showcase their talent in business management.
Another team from RMIT Vietnam also finished in fourth place at a similar contest held by one of the big four auditors, KPMG, in Hong Kong in April.
Read more at http://tuoitrenews.vn/cmlink/tuoitrenews/education/education-news/vietnam-students-to-compete-in-global-business-competition-1.75664
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
A four-person team from RMIT International University Vietnam, the local branch of the Australian-based RMIT University, has qualified for an international business competition hosted in July by Sri Lanka after winning the national edition last week.
The Lion Team beat three rivals from Hanoi Foreign Trade University, HCMC Foreign Trade University and Hanoi University in the final last Wednesday with their report on a management accounting case, which had been shortlisted against nearly 130 submissions by tertiary schools nationwide.
They were then required to give an oral presentation on their report to a board of judges composed of business leaders, together with its synopsis and a team introduction video.
The international competition, named Global Business Challenge 2012 by its UK-based founder Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, will take place from July 21 to 25 in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s biggest city, and will be attended by students from 22 countries and territories.
The CIMA Global Business Challenge is designed to bring out the best in the young business leaders of tomorrow, and is intended to be a great opportunity for students from around the world to showcase their talent in business management.
Another team from RMIT Vietnam also finished in fourth place at a similar contest held by one of the big four auditors, KPMG, in Hong Kong in April.
Read more at http://tuoitrenews.vn/cmlink/tuoitrenews/education/education-news/vietnam-students-to-compete-in-global-business-competition-1.75664
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Austria Boost Vietnam's Tertiary Education
Austria Boost Vietnam's Tertiary Education.
HCM CITY — Viet Nam and Austria would continue strengthening co-operation in tertiary education and science and technology, a forum was told in HCM City yesterday.
The Viet Nam-Austria forum on tertiary education, science and research was attended by Austrian President Heinz Fischer and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan.
The forum was considered an important bridge between the two countries' higher education and science and technology sectors.
Speaking at the event, President Heinz Fischer said he was pleased with the development of bilateral ties in the science and research sector through co-operative agreements between tertiary education and research agencies, as well as the framework of the Austrian Southeast Asian University Partnership Network (ASEA-UNINET) initiated by Austrian universities.
Deputy PM Nhan affirmed that the forum represented the two countries' determination to make tertiary education, science and research a priority in bilateral co-operation.
Viet Nam considered education and science and technology vital for rapid and sustainable development, he said.
In its tertiary education strategy, Viet Nam would improve the quality of higher education by building high-quality universities, strengthening international co-operation in tertiary education and stepping up scientific research at universities, he added.
According to Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Quan, Viet Nam attaches importance to scientific and technological co-operation with Austria, reflected by the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on scientific and technological co-operation between the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology and the Austrian Ministry of Science and Research in late 2011.
The MoU affirms the two ministries' commitment to creating a mechanism to encourage co-operation between the Vietnamese and Austrian scientific and technological communities, especially between universities and research institutes.
At the forum, the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology and the Austrian Ministry of Science and Research officially launched a programme to support bilateral research co-operation between Viet Nam and Austria in the 2012-2025 period.
Under the programme, the two countries' scientific communities will receive financial support to boost joint research co-operation activities and train scientists in the three priority areas of network security, intelligent transport and renewable energy.
During the event, six MoAs were also inked between leading universities of Viet Nam and Austria.
On the same day, Austrian President Heinz Fischer met with Chairman of the HCM City People's Committee Le Hoang Quan, who expressed his belief that the visit would boost multifaceted co-operation between Austria and Viet Nam and between Austria and HCM City in particular.
Read more at http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/politics-laws/225531/vn-austria-boost-tertiary-education.html
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
HCM CITY — Viet Nam and Austria would continue strengthening co-operation in tertiary education and science and technology, a forum was told in HCM City yesterday.
The Viet Nam-Austria forum on tertiary education, science and research was attended by Austrian President Heinz Fischer and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan.
The forum was considered an important bridge between the two countries' higher education and science and technology sectors.
Speaking at the event, President Heinz Fischer said he was pleased with the development of bilateral ties in the science and research sector through co-operative agreements between tertiary education and research agencies, as well as the framework of the Austrian Southeast Asian University Partnership Network (ASEA-UNINET) initiated by Austrian universities.
Deputy PM Nhan affirmed that the forum represented the two countries' determination to make tertiary education, science and research a priority in bilateral co-operation.
Viet Nam considered education and science and technology vital for rapid and sustainable development, he said.
In its tertiary education strategy, Viet Nam would improve the quality of higher education by building high-quality universities, strengthening international co-operation in tertiary education and stepping up scientific research at universities, he added.
According to Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Quan, Viet Nam attaches importance to scientific and technological co-operation with Austria, reflected by the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on scientific and technological co-operation between the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology and the Austrian Ministry of Science and Research in late 2011.
The MoU affirms the two ministries' commitment to creating a mechanism to encourage co-operation between the Vietnamese and Austrian scientific and technological communities, especially between universities and research institutes.
At the forum, the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology and the Austrian Ministry of Science and Research officially launched a programme to support bilateral research co-operation between Viet Nam and Austria in the 2012-2025 period.
Under the programme, the two countries' scientific communities will receive financial support to boost joint research co-operation activities and train scientists in the three priority areas of network security, intelligent transport and renewable energy.
During the event, six MoAs were also inked between leading universities of Viet Nam and Austria.
On the same day, Austrian President Heinz Fischer met with Chairman of the HCM City People's Committee Le Hoang Quan, who expressed his belief that the visit would boost multifaceted co-operation between Austria and Viet Nam and between Austria and HCM City in particular.
Read more at http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/politics-laws/225531/vn-austria-boost-tertiary-education.html
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
Friday, May 25, 2012
Education a Priority for Vietnam’s Youth
Education a Priority for Vietnam’s Youth.
Hanoi (Asia News) – Education for young Vietnamese is getting worse. A survey among high school students in Ho Chi Minh City shows that 32.2 per cent are disrespectful towards teachers, 38.8 per cent uses foul language often and 53.6 per cent does it sometimes.
Another survey indicates that from 2005 to the present the number of students involved in antisocial behaviour increased in both frequency and gravity. The rise in sexual abuse is another aspect of the broader moral decline among young people.
In 2011 alone, 1386 minors were sexually abused by adults, that is 11.8 per cent more than in 2010. Of these, 51 were killed, 427 raped, 495 forced to have intercourse with adults and 128 intentionally injured. Many children and teenagers have also become the victims of human trafficking through the border with China, Thailand and Cambodia.
AsiaNews spoke with Prof Hoà ng Tuy, 84, who recently won the first Constantin Caratheodory Prize established by the International Society of Global Optimisation. He is very concerned about the state of education in Vietnam.
“Education is an urgent matter. Our life increasingly needs an overall reform of education if we do not want our country to remain backward . . . . Shortcomings in and harm to education have accumulated and reached an extreme level. We can no longer tolerate them. Now a total overhaul of education is the first order of business. Reality requires us to change the current state of education.”
When the educational level of a country reaches such a low level, it becomes imperative for society to wake up, the professor said, from ordinary citizens to its leaders.
“An enlightened education must begin with a true democratic spirit and determination to build a clean, just and civilised society, and train its leadership in view of this,” he said. “Today, the moral decline and unlawful behaviour by young people should alarm families, schools and universities. The sense of morality among young generations is going down.”
A decline in academic ethics as well as lying and dishonesty among public officials are among the reasons for this trend, the scholar noted. They affect young people in particular. On the other hand, university education appears to be the key to ensure an overall higher quality education, but for decades, policies in this area have been inadequate, touching the lives of millions of students.
“Education must be at the top of the nation’s priority list. The role of education is important and affects the country’s survival. It is the foundation of society and helps maintain and develop values.”
It is a social good and as such, “the government should create the conditions that allow religions and the Vietnamese people to participate in the education of younger generations. We need a healthy social environment free of corruption, respectful of human dignity, freedom of religion and human rights for all.”
Read more at http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Education,-a-priority-for-Vietnam%E2%80%99s-youth-23813.html
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
Hanoi (Asia News) – Education for young Vietnamese is getting worse. A survey among high school students in Ho Chi Minh City shows that 32.2 per cent are disrespectful towards teachers, 38.8 per cent uses foul language often and 53.6 per cent does it sometimes.
Another survey indicates that from 2005 to the present the number of students involved in antisocial behaviour increased in both frequency and gravity. The rise in sexual abuse is another aspect of the broader moral decline among young people.
In 2011 alone, 1386 minors were sexually abused by adults, that is 11.8 per cent more than in 2010. Of these, 51 were killed, 427 raped, 495 forced to have intercourse with adults and 128 intentionally injured. Many children and teenagers have also become the victims of human trafficking through the border with China, Thailand and Cambodia.
AsiaNews spoke with Prof Hoà ng Tuy, 84, who recently won the first Constantin Caratheodory Prize established by the International Society of Global Optimisation. He is very concerned about the state of education in Vietnam.
“Education is an urgent matter. Our life increasingly needs an overall reform of education if we do not want our country to remain backward . . . . Shortcomings in and harm to education have accumulated and reached an extreme level. We can no longer tolerate them. Now a total overhaul of education is the first order of business. Reality requires us to change the current state of education.”
When the educational level of a country reaches such a low level, it becomes imperative for society to wake up, the professor said, from ordinary citizens to its leaders.
“An enlightened education must begin with a true democratic spirit and determination to build a clean, just and civilised society, and train its leadership in view of this,” he said. “Today, the moral decline and unlawful behaviour by young people should alarm families, schools and universities. The sense of morality among young generations is going down.”
A decline in academic ethics as well as lying and dishonesty among public officials are among the reasons for this trend, the scholar noted. They affect young people in particular. On the other hand, university education appears to be the key to ensure an overall higher quality education, but for decades, policies in this area have been inadequate, touching the lives of millions of students.
“Education must be at the top of the nation’s priority list. The role of education is important and affects the country’s survival. It is the foundation of society and helps maintain and develop values.”
It is a social good and as such, “the government should create the conditions that allow religions and the Vietnamese people to participate in the education of younger generations. We need a healthy social environment free of corruption, respectful of human dignity, freedom of religion and human rights for all.”
Read more at http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Education,-a-priority-for-Vietnam%E2%80%99s-youth-23813.html
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Vietnam and Cambodia - Land of the Dragon
Vietnam and Cambodia - Land of the Dragon.
"I can't say what made me fall in love with Vietnam... (and Cambodia)... that everything is so intense... The colours, the taste, even the rain. Nothing like the...rain in London. They say whatever you're looking for, you will find here. They say you come to Vietnam and you understand a lot in a few minutes, but the rest has got to be lived. The smell: that's the first thing that hits you, promising everything in exchange for your soul. And the heat....You could be forgiven for thinking there was no war." These were the words of Thomas Fowler from the film, "The Quiet American," which so accurately sums up Vietnam. It is a land that captures the very essence of your soul and takes you on an unforgettable journey through the land of the dragon.
Ancient mythology tells us that the people of Vietnam are descendants of the Dragon Lord Lạc Long Qun and the Immortal Fairy u Cơ. They produced 100 children, 50 of whom lived with their mother in the mountains and the other 50, with their father in the sea. So steeped in mythology is the land of Vietnam that each area is shrouded in some story of mythological formation.
Landing in Hanoi, capital of Vietnam and home to about 3.7 million people and 1.2 million motor bikes, is like landing in the heart of a giant mosquito that never sleeps. Endless streams of bikes pass you by each day, with many families of 4 heading off on their daily chores. Farmers from surrounding areas meet at the "morning market at 03h00 and by 07h00 have cleared up and gone. At night, entire streets are transformed into night markets which trade until late in the evening. Unlike its sister city, Saigon, Hanoi has narrow streets and still retains some of its old city charm. The old quarter, often known as the "36 streets," dates back over 2000 years. The area was once home to numerous craft guilds which created work areas. When the streets were eventually named, each street was named after the craft sold along that street and so today, if you need shoes, you head for Hang Guay, and for jewellery, Hang Bac.
Leaving the bustle of the city behind and traveling northwards towards the sea, highway 5 takes you to a world Heritage site, and the tail of the "descending dragon." Halong Bay is an endless canvas of 1969 limestone islands, 989 of which have been named. Many of these islands are home to numerous caves, some of which can be visited on foot and others in the pleasant tranquility of a kayak.
According to local legend, Halong Bay was created by a family of dragons, sent by the gods to help protect the Vietnamese from Chinese invaders. The dragons spat out pears and jade stones which soon turned to a myriad of islands protecting the people from the invaders. Today, these very same islands provide a safe home to many small floating villages, the inhabitants of whom survive off the 200 species of fish and 450 different species of mollusks that the waters provide.
Far south of Halong Bay is the picturesque small historical town of Hoi An, where the "The Quiet American," was partially filmed. Between the 15th to 19th centuries the town served as one of South-East Asia's most important trading ports for spices and silk and today is still a traders paradise. Cars are banned and the narrow cobbled streets are lined with old buildings, temples, pagoda's and endless shops selling hand made trousers for $15, evening dresses for $25 and three-piece suits for $40. In the heart of the town is the Ving Hung Hotel, which served as the dressing room for Michael Caine during filming. Today, tourists jostle to book into the same room which overlooks the narrow bustling lantern lit streets below, which come alive during the festival of the full moon.
From the quiet tranquility of Hoi An, a short flight takes you in the belly of the dragon, Saigon or the modern day, Ho Chi Minh City. Inhabited by 8 million people and 4 million motor bikes it pulsates 24 hours a day. Traveling through the vast tarred streets with towering modern hotels and malls, it is hard to believe that the city started out as a small fishing village in an area that was originally swampland, but when heading out into the neighbouring areas the tranquility of forgotten days soon prevails. Endless rice paddies line the myriad of roads that spread out from the city. Framers work the land,
harvesting rice in the blazing heat. Old carts are pulled by weary horses. Rubber trees are methodically planted in rows, their sticky sap slowly seeping into wooden bowls for collection.
Driving back in time, one arrives at the area of Cu Chi, whose 121km hand-dug underground tunnels became famous as a battleground of the Vietnam War. The forested area is littered with B52 bomb craters and the endless spattering of gun fire can be heard from the firing range. Some of the tunnels are open to tourists to experience for a brief period, what life in the tunnels must have been like. In the blistering heat of the day, 7 of us descended into the dark abyss below us. The tunnels are narrow, dark, airless and in places slope down and narrow so one has to belly crawl. 40m was all it took for me to realize that as a non-sufferer of claustrophobia, another 20m would surely have converted me. Lack of air. Stifling heat. For the Viet Cong, life in the tunnels was difficult. Sometimes, during periods of heavy bombing from American troops, the Viet Cong would be forced to remain underground for many days at a time. Malaria and sickness were rampant and accounted for the second largest cause of death after battle wounds.
As horrific as life in the tunnels must have been, it is the images of the war weapons and traps set by the Viet Cong for the Americans that will remain in my memory for a life time, but as one local guide said, when your way of life is under attack, you will do all in your power to protect it.
South of Saigon lies the feet and arms of the dragon, whose claws spread out to form the massive expanse of the Mekong Delta. The area, also known as Nine River Dragon Delta, drains an area of over 790 000 km2. The Mekong is the 12th-longest river in the world, and runs all the way from the Tibetan Plateau through China, Burma, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, into Vietnam and finally into the south china sea.
With such an expanse of water it is not surprising to find that the residents of the Mekong area are river people. Where Hanoi's streets come alive with early morning markets, the tributaries of the Mekong erupt into a chattering wash tub as hundreds of boats navigate the narrow channels laden with hands of bananas, grapefruit, jackfruit, spinach, fish and every kind of vegetable imaginable. Trade takes place under the shade of Vietnamese hats while hotel and restaurant owners on the shore line yell instructions across the water of their daily needs. About 20 minutes up the Mekong we headed along a narrow tributary to encounter life up river. Locals wade about in the waters catching fish. Children cycle and play along narrow sidewalks dodging chickens and dogs. Mothers sit at the waters edge washing clothes while the men potter about fixing their boats. Farmers live on combination fish and rice farms, generating an average of $35 a month, while small family businesses survive making rice cakes, rice paper and potent rice wine.
Leaving the peace and tranquility of the Mekong, our next stop was neighbouring Cambodia, lying at the back of the dragon. Like Vietnam, the history of Cambodia is marred with foreign invasions, international political intervention and internal conflicts. The pinnacle of Cambodia's history arose during the rulership of the Khymer Kings between about 800 - 1400AD. It was during this period that Khmer kings built the most extensive concentration of religious temples in the world - the Angkor temple complex - and hundreds of surrounding temples.
Then in 1431 the Thais plundered the area and the complex of Angkor was abandoned. For almost 200 years the forces of nature invaded the temples. Fig trees took up residence on temple walls and slowly engulfed the buildings. Moss adorned the intricate carvings and aerial roots flowed to the floor.
Today, the complex of temples is a World Heritage site. Many of the Hindu statues have been removed and replaced with sculptures of Buddha and numerous renovations are underway. Time seems to have stood leaving an imprint of mystique. I lost my heart to the temples of Cambodia.
I cannot say what made me fall in love with Vietnam and Cambodia. Perhaps it was the ever smiling faces of the people, the sheer simplicity of life or the vast green rice fields; the smell of the rain or the sounds of children splashing about kicking a home crafted soccer ball. Perhaps it was the excitement with which vendors haggle over prices or the intense respect shown by children to their elders. Whatever the reason, they left an indelible imprint on my heart and a yearning to return, in my soul.
Read more at http://ezinearticles.com/?Vietnam-and-Cambodia---Land-of-the-Dragon&id=5925165
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
"I can't say what made me fall in love with Vietnam... (and Cambodia)... that everything is so intense... The colours, the taste, even the rain. Nothing like the...rain in London. They say whatever you're looking for, you will find here. They say you come to Vietnam and you understand a lot in a few minutes, but the rest has got to be lived. The smell: that's the first thing that hits you, promising everything in exchange for your soul. And the heat....You could be forgiven for thinking there was no war." These were the words of Thomas Fowler from the film, "The Quiet American," which so accurately sums up Vietnam. It is a land that captures the very essence of your soul and takes you on an unforgettable journey through the land of the dragon.
Ancient mythology tells us that the people of Vietnam are descendants of the Dragon Lord Lạc Long Qun and the Immortal Fairy u Cơ. They produced 100 children, 50 of whom lived with their mother in the mountains and the other 50, with their father in the sea. So steeped in mythology is the land of Vietnam that each area is shrouded in some story of mythological formation.
Landing in Hanoi, capital of Vietnam and home to about 3.7 million people and 1.2 million motor bikes, is like landing in the heart of a giant mosquito that never sleeps. Endless streams of bikes pass you by each day, with many families of 4 heading off on their daily chores. Farmers from surrounding areas meet at the "morning market at 03h00 and by 07h00 have cleared up and gone. At night, entire streets are transformed into night markets which trade until late in the evening. Unlike its sister city, Saigon, Hanoi has narrow streets and still retains some of its old city charm. The old quarter, often known as the "36 streets," dates back over 2000 years. The area was once home to numerous craft guilds which created work areas. When the streets were eventually named, each street was named after the craft sold along that street and so today, if you need shoes, you head for Hang Guay, and for jewellery, Hang Bac.
Leaving the bustle of the city behind and traveling northwards towards the sea, highway 5 takes you to a world Heritage site, and the tail of the "descending dragon." Halong Bay is an endless canvas of 1969 limestone islands, 989 of which have been named. Many of these islands are home to numerous caves, some of which can be visited on foot and others in the pleasant tranquility of a kayak.
According to local legend, Halong Bay was created by a family of dragons, sent by the gods to help protect the Vietnamese from Chinese invaders. The dragons spat out pears and jade stones which soon turned to a myriad of islands protecting the people from the invaders. Today, these very same islands provide a safe home to many small floating villages, the inhabitants of whom survive off the 200 species of fish and 450 different species of mollusks that the waters provide.
Far south of Halong Bay is the picturesque small historical town of Hoi An, where the "The Quiet American," was partially filmed. Between the 15th to 19th centuries the town served as one of South-East Asia's most important trading ports for spices and silk and today is still a traders paradise. Cars are banned and the narrow cobbled streets are lined with old buildings, temples, pagoda's and endless shops selling hand made trousers for $15, evening dresses for $25 and three-piece suits for $40. In the heart of the town is the Ving Hung Hotel, which served as the dressing room for Michael Caine during filming. Today, tourists jostle to book into the same room which overlooks the narrow bustling lantern lit streets below, which come alive during the festival of the full moon.
From the quiet tranquility of Hoi An, a short flight takes you in the belly of the dragon, Saigon or the modern day, Ho Chi Minh City. Inhabited by 8 million people and 4 million motor bikes it pulsates 24 hours a day. Traveling through the vast tarred streets with towering modern hotels and malls, it is hard to believe that the city started out as a small fishing village in an area that was originally swampland, but when heading out into the neighbouring areas the tranquility of forgotten days soon prevails. Endless rice paddies line the myriad of roads that spread out from the city. Framers work the land,
harvesting rice in the blazing heat. Old carts are pulled by weary horses. Rubber trees are methodically planted in rows, their sticky sap slowly seeping into wooden bowls for collection.
Driving back in time, one arrives at the area of Cu Chi, whose 121km hand-dug underground tunnels became famous as a battleground of the Vietnam War. The forested area is littered with B52 bomb craters and the endless spattering of gun fire can be heard from the firing range. Some of the tunnels are open to tourists to experience for a brief period, what life in the tunnels must have been like. In the blistering heat of the day, 7 of us descended into the dark abyss below us. The tunnels are narrow, dark, airless and in places slope down and narrow so one has to belly crawl. 40m was all it took for me to realize that as a non-sufferer of claustrophobia, another 20m would surely have converted me. Lack of air. Stifling heat. For the Viet Cong, life in the tunnels was difficult. Sometimes, during periods of heavy bombing from American troops, the Viet Cong would be forced to remain underground for many days at a time. Malaria and sickness were rampant and accounted for the second largest cause of death after battle wounds.
As horrific as life in the tunnels must have been, it is the images of the war weapons and traps set by the Viet Cong for the Americans that will remain in my memory for a life time, but as one local guide said, when your way of life is under attack, you will do all in your power to protect it.
South of Saigon lies the feet and arms of the dragon, whose claws spread out to form the massive expanse of the Mekong Delta. The area, also known as Nine River Dragon Delta, drains an area of over 790 000 km2. The Mekong is the 12th-longest river in the world, and runs all the way from the Tibetan Plateau through China, Burma, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, into Vietnam and finally into the south china sea.
With such an expanse of water it is not surprising to find that the residents of the Mekong area are river people. Where Hanoi's streets come alive with early morning markets, the tributaries of the Mekong erupt into a chattering wash tub as hundreds of boats navigate the narrow channels laden with hands of bananas, grapefruit, jackfruit, spinach, fish and every kind of vegetable imaginable. Trade takes place under the shade of Vietnamese hats while hotel and restaurant owners on the shore line yell instructions across the water of their daily needs. About 20 minutes up the Mekong we headed along a narrow tributary to encounter life up river. Locals wade about in the waters catching fish. Children cycle and play along narrow sidewalks dodging chickens and dogs. Mothers sit at the waters edge washing clothes while the men potter about fixing their boats. Farmers live on combination fish and rice farms, generating an average of $35 a month, while small family businesses survive making rice cakes, rice paper and potent rice wine.
Leaving the peace and tranquility of the Mekong, our next stop was neighbouring Cambodia, lying at the back of the dragon. Like Vietnam, the history of Cambodia is marred with foreign invasions, international political intervention and internal conflicts. The pinnacle of Cambodia's history arose during the rulership of the Khymer Kings between about 800 - 1400AD. It was during this period that Khmer kings built the most extensive concentration of religious temples in the world - the Angkor temple complex - and hundreds of surrounding temples.
Then in 1431 the Thais plundered the area and the complex of Angkor was abandoned. For almost 200 years the forces of nature invaded the temples. Fig trees took up residence on temple walls and slowly engulfed the buildings. Moss adorned the intricate carvings and aerial roots flowed to the floor.
Today, the complex of temples is a World Heritage site. Many of the Hindu statues have been removed and replaced with sculptures of Buddha and numerous renovations are underway. Time seems to have stood leaving an imprint of mystique. I lost my heart to the temples of Cambodia.
I cannot say what made me fall in love with Vietnam and Cambodia. Perhaps it was the ever smiling faces of the people, the sheer simplicity of life or the vast green rice fields; the smell of the rain or the sounds of children splashing about kicking a home crafted soccer ball. Perhaps it was the excitement with which vendors haggle over prices or the intense respect shown by children to their elders. Whatever the reason, they left an indelible imprint on my heart and a yearning to return, in my soul.
Read more at http://ezinearticles.com/?Vietnam-and-Cambodia---Land-of-the-Dragon&id=5925165
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
Friday, May 4, 2012
Myths Americans Believe About Vietnam
Myths Americans Believe About Vietnam.
1. Religion is not tolerated in Vietnam.
Quite the contrary! Sometimes I read stories on the web about religious persecution in Vietnam, but what I see here in Ho Chi Minh City is a very religious people, far more religious in general than Americans. People here will nearly all say they are either Catholic or Buddhist; it's hard to find anyone who would call themselves Agnostic or Atheistic- I haven't met one yet.
The Catholic Church is one of the biggest property owners in Ho Chi Minh City. There are huge, newly built churches everywhere. I can see a gimongous church being built in the distance from the window where I'm sitting right now. In the evenings and on Sundays there are crowds of people at all the churches, often spilling out into the street and adding to the traffic mayhem. The most popular tourist attraction in Saigon is a cathedral- the Notre-Dame Cathedral in District 1.
There are also Buddhist temples in every neighborhood; many of them are huge. Thich Nhat Hanh, the rock star of Buddhist monks who was living in exile in France for many years, recently returned to tour Vietnam with an entourage of over 300 monks.
Granted, there are conflicts between the Vietnamese government and some religious leaders who get involved in politics. I don't know the details of these conflicts but I'd venture to say they involve only a tiny minority of religious people. In the past, certainly there has been severe religious persecution in Vietnam, but things have changed a lot. The official government line is that religion is free and accessible to all, and I haven't seen anything different.
2. The Vietnamese hate Americans because of "The American War."
My own experience is only in the south, and it may be different in the north, but what I have experienced would actually be the opposite. Even when I first came to Vietnam as a tourist in 1996, I never heard or felt anything but tremendous love and respect for America and Americans.
To the Vietnamese, just like to people in developing countries everywhere, American is the promised land, the land of opportunity. Nearly every Vietnamese family has at least one member living in the USA, so America is the country that is taking care of their loved ones.
Unlike Americans, especially baby boomers, who will never get past the Vietnam war, the Vietnamese have gotten over it. The bulk of the Vietnamese population, it's own baby boom, is only in their mid-20's. Their parents have stories but most people are too young to remember the war.
Also consider Vietnamese history. Americans don't have much of a history, but the Vietnamese collective memory goes back 5000 years. The Chinese occupied Vietnam for 1000 years. France occupied Vietnam for 100 years. America was here for all of 30 years, merely a small blip in Vietnamese history. Contrary to Americans' sense of self-importance, the American episode isn't all that significant. (I don't know how accurate those figures are; those are the numbers that Vietnamese people will recite if you ask them.)
This is a topic that is big enough for it's own article, but suffice it to say that I've noticed far FAR more tension between the north and south of Vietnam and between local Vietnamese and overseas Vietnamese, than between Vietnamese and Americans. (My personal plea to Americans: get over it!)
3. They're all Communists.
I cringe when I hear Americans refer to the Vietnamese as "those commies," as if everyone was running around in blue suits. Vietnamese people are just like everyone else: most of them couldn't care less about politics. They just want a decent job, food on the table, and an iPhone. Most of them will bitch about their government if given a chance, just like Americans. The number of people who are actually in the Communist Party is a very tiny number, even smaller than the number of people in Vietnam's Cao Dai religion.
4. Vietnam doesn't have modern technology.
Out in the countryside, this is true. My wife's family just got electricity at their house a few months ago. They still don't have running water. But in the cities it's different. I'm typing on a computer that I bought here in Ho Chi Minh City, using a broadband connection that is just the same (as far as I can tell) as in America. My university classroom is wired with wifi and a projector; I have to tell my students to close their laptops and pay attention. I've heard there are some schools that have those touchscreen interactive projectors, but I haven't used one yet. I'd brag about my modern cell phone but I can't afford one. My students can, though, and I'm often envious of their gadgets. There are electronic gadgets or sale in my neighborhood computer store that I can't even identify.
I have a friend who works for the Vietnam office of a British architectural firm and he said their counterparts in England were worried that the Vietnamese staff might not be able to open the AutoCAD documents they sent, because surely the Vietnamese must be using some ancient version. In fact, because of the lax enforcement of copyright laws, the opposite was true. The Vietnam office had the latest version, whereas the British office only had an older version! Since all the latest software is practically free here in Vietnam, it's common for people to have $20,000 worth of software on their computers, if not more.
5. Vietnamese people are not "free."
What is freedom, anyway? The ability to do what you want, right? If you want to rock the boat politically in Vietnam, of course you're going to have a tough time, but citizens do rally against their government. And for big-business people, you're going to run into restrictions. But for the average person, like me for example, Vietnam feels much more "free" than America.
Here in Vietnam, it's all up to your local police guy. If he's happy then everything's okay. You want to open up a company in your house, maybe even a school? No problem, just pay your local official a (very) small sum and off you go. Try to do the same in the USA and you are screwed. Try to open a school or a restaurant in America and you'll be shut down if your stairway is an inch too narrow. In my experience, the average person is much more free in Vietnam to do what they want than in America.
Take a look at the traffic police. Here in Vietnam your traffic cop has no radio, no computer, many don't have guns. They can often be pacified with a hundred-thousand Dong ($6). In America an ordinary policeman has a fast car with a computer and is armed to the teeth. Disobey one small traffic law and instantly your entire criminal record is on their screen.
One of the tragedies of America that people don't talk about much is it's prison population: the USA has the highest incarceration rate in the world. It has less than 5% of the world's population but over 23% of the world's incarcerated people- four times the world average. America's prisons are full of men and women whose lives have been virtually ruined because of some small, victimless crime they committed. Is that freedom?
Obviously, the contrary to what I'm saying here could easily be argued. The government and police in Vietnam are basically the equivalent of the Mafia, and they do what they want, arbitrarily. But I'm talking about what your average person can and can't do, and especially just the way it feels to live here vs. the USA. One of the reasons I love living in Vietnam is that I feel much more "free" here than I do in America. You can argue the opposite all you want, but this is the way it feels to me- Vietnam: free. America: not free.
Read more at http://ezinearticles.com/?5-Myths-Americans-Believe-About-Vietnam&id=2257242
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
1. Religion is not tolerated in Vietnam.
Quite the contrary! Sometimes I read stories on the web about religious persecution in Vietnam, but what I see here in Ho Chi Minh City is a very religious people, far more religious in general than Americans. People here will nearly all say they are either Catholic or Buddhist; it's hard to find anyone who would call themselves Agnostic or Atheistic- I haven't met one yet.
The Catholic Church is one of the biggest property owners in Ho Chi Minh City. There are huge, newly built churches everywhere. I can see a gimongous church being built in the distance from the window where I'm sitting right now. In the evenings and on Sundays there are crowds of people at all the churches, often spilling out into the street and adding to the traffic mayhem. The most popular tourist attraction in Saigon is a cathedral- the Notre-Dame Cathedral in District 1.
There are also Buddhist temples in every neighborhood; many of them are huge. Thich Nhat Hanh, the rock star of Buddhist monks who was living in exile in France for many years, recently returned to tour Vietnam with an entourage of over 300 monks.
Granted, there are conflicts between the Vietnamese government and some religious leaders who get involved in politics. I don't know the details of these conflicts but I'd venture to say they involve only a tiny minority of religious people. In the past, certainly there has been severe religious persecution in Vietnam, but things have changed a lot. The official government line is that religion is free and accessible to all, and I haven't seen anything different.
2. The Vietnamese hate Americans because of "The American War."
My own experience is only in the south, and it may be different in the north, but what I have experienced would actually be the opposite. Even when I first came to Vietnam as a tourist in 1996, I never heard or felt anything but tremendous love and respect for America and Americans.
To the Vietnamese, just like to people in developing countries everywhere, American is the promised land, the land of opportunity. Nearly every Vietnamese family has at least one member living in the USA, so America is the country that is taking care of their loved ones.
Unlike Americans, especially baby boomers, who will never get past the Vietnam war, the Vietnamese have gotten over it. The bulk of the Vietnamese population, it's own baby boom, is only in their mid-20's. Their parents have stories but most people are too young to remember the war.
Also consider Vietnamese history. Americans don't have much of a history, but the Vietnamese collective memory goes back 5000 years. The Chinese occupied Vietnam for 1000 years. France occupied Vietnam for 100 years. America was here for all of 30 years, merely a small blip in Vietnamese history. Contrary to Americans' sense of self-importance, the American episode isn't all that significant. (I don't know how accurate those figures are; those are the numbers that Vietnamese people will recite if you ask them.)
This is a topic that is big enough for it's own article, but suffice it to say that I've noticed far FAR more tension between the north and south of Vietnam and between local Vietnamese and overseas Vietnamese, than between Vietnamese and Americans. (My personal plea to Americans: get over it!)
3. They're all Communists.
I cringe when I hear Americans refer to the Vietnamese as "those commies," as if everyone was running around in blue suits. Vietnamese people are just like everyone else: most of them couldn't care less about politics. They just want a decent job, food on the table, and an iPhone. Most of them will bitch about their government if given a chance, just like Americans. The number of people who are actually in the Communist Party is a very tiny number, even smaller than the number of people in Vietnam's Cao Dai religion.
4. Vietnam doesn't have modern technology.
Out in the countryside, this is true. My wife's family just got electricity at their house a few months ago. They still don't have running water. But in the cities it's different. I'm typing on a computer that I bought here in Ho Chi Minh City, using a broadband connection that is just the same (as far as I can tell) as in America. My university classroom is wired with wifi and a projector; I have to tell my students to close their laptops and pay attention. I've heard there are some schools that have those touchscreen interactive projectors, but I haven't used one yet. I'd brag about my modern cell phone but I can't afford one. My students can, though, and I'm often envious of their gadgets. There are electronic gadgets or sale in my neighborhood computer store that I can't even identify.
I have a friend who works for the Vietnam office of a British architectural firm and he said their counterparts in England were worried that the Vietnamese staff might not be able to open the AutoCAD documents they sent, because surely the Vietnamese must be using some ancient version. In fact, because of the lax enforcement of copyright laws, the opposite was true. The Vietnam office had the latest version, whereas the British office only had an older version! Since all the latest software is practically free here in Vietnam, it's common for people to have $20,000 worth of software on their computers, if not more.
5. Vietnamese people are not "free."
What is freedom, anyway? The ability to do what you want, right? If you want to rock the boat politically in Vietnam, of course you're going to have a tough time, but citizens do rally against their government. And for big-business people, you're going to run into restrictions. But for the average person, like me for example, Vietnam feels much more "free" than America.
Here in Vietnam, it's all up to your local police guy. If he's happy then everything's okay. You want to open up a company in your house, maybe even a school? No problem, just pay your local official a (very) small sum and off you go. Try to do the same in the USA and you are screwed. Try to open a school or a restaurant in America and you'll be shut down if your stairway is an inch too narrow. In my experience, the average person is much more free in Vietnam to do what they want than in America.
Take a look at the traffic police. Here in Vietnam your traffic cop has no radio, no computer, many don't have guns. They can often be pacified with a hundred-thousand Dong ($6). In America an ordinary policeman has a fast car with a computer and is armed to the teeth. Disobey one small traffic law and instantly your entire criminal record is on their screen.
One of the tragedies of America that people don't talk about much is it's prison population: the USA has the highest incarceration rate in the world. It has less than 5% of the world's population but over 23% of the world's incarcerated people- four times the world average. America's prisons are full of men and women whose lives have been virtually ruined because of some small, victimless crime they committed. Is that freedom?
Obviously, the contrary to what I'm saying here could easily be argued. The government and police in Vietnam are basically the equivalent of the Mafia, and they do what they want, arbitrarily. But I'm talking about what your average person can and can't do, and especially just the way it feels to live here vs. the USA. One of the reasons I love living in Vietnam is that I feel much more "free" here than I do in America. You can argue the opposite all you want, but this is the way it feels to me- Vietnam: free. America: not free.
Read more at http://ezinearticles.com/?5-Myths-Americans-Believe-About-Vietnam&id=2257242
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
Sunday, April 29, 2012
South to North Vietnam An Unforgettable Experience
South to North Vietnam An Unforgettable Experience.
Hitting the road to Vietnam, I didn't know what to expect; the journey began in Southern Vietnam in Ho Chi Min City, formerly known as Saigon. We started off exploring the city, with our pro globalization cyclo driver kept saying "Got mouth to eat, Got no mouth to speak".
We then traveled to Cao Dai Temple, in which the temple was like going through some mad Alice in Wonderland dream. The architecture was like nothing I have ever seen before, it was modern with lots of exquisite art and detail everywhere. The religion is a combination of teachings from Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Confucianism, Christianity, Islam and other religions with the intention to promote peace.
Another highlight was visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels, which is an ingenious invention of seeing how resilience the Vietnamese during the American war. The Vietcong controlled under the grounds while Americans controlled the sky and land. The tunnels were tiny and it was amazing to realize that people lived there, cooked, slept, used the bathroom and even had children. The visit was quite emotional because our tour guide was quite the opposite of our cyclo driver, he was a Vietcong fighter during the war. As we watched movies of how Vietcong rewarded brave soldiers that fought the evil Americans, it took me back to realize how symbolic nationalism was during that time.
We were then transferred to a parallel world to have a dinner in a completely different world of westernize Vietnamese food before dancing the night away to fusion of the francophone culture.
Next destination to the midlands, in which we hoped on an internal flight to Da Nang, which was quite an adventure sort of like being on a busy public bus in a rural towns. The only thing missing from people's luggage were the chickens, they had their things huge plastic bags. The flight was noisy and for three girls who got less than three hours of sleep it was quite the nightmare.
Our next destination was taking a cab to Hoi Ann, which was a 45 minute drive. We negotiated with our cab and after five minutes of driving, the cabbie stopped opened the trunk and there was a black car behind us. Once we realize what happened, Vimal tried to open her door, and it was locked. My immediate reaction is like I am not going to have my things robbed from me. It wasn't going to happen to me so I jumped to the passenger seat of the car, rushed to the trunk and pushed the driver aside, not sure what I was yelling. We all took our bags and walked back to the airport. The driver kept saying it was cheaper to take a private car but after hearing the horror stories of backpackers in Vietnam we weren't going to find out.
An hour later, we eventually made it to Hoi Ann, which is a UNESCO Heritage Site where we spent the day cycling the city indulging in Vietnamese coffee, tea and cuisine while the city poured around us. The city was magical, it made me realize how this haven had so many settlers. It was protected and because it was hard to get, spared the horrors of the Vietnamese war, the pagados, the old houses, and the atmosphere. We had loads of fun singing at the top of our lungs while cycling the rice paddies. We also go to experience the fabulous world of tailored clothes.
A couple of days letter, we set off on what is a common mode of transport a sleeping bus, the travel agents promotional posters made it looked like it was spacious and luxurious with full length beds. It was amazing to see the three rows of beds on a regular bus customized for the Asian body. The bus driver was quite hilarious as he took a 20 min break to stop and shop for some jackets on the way. As we set off to Hue, another unbelievable UNESCO Heritage Site, we rented bikes again and ventured to the old fortress, temples, and even played football with a group of young Vietnamese girls, in which we realized how badly we were.
My final stop was to Hanoi the second biggest city in Vietnam, which was a bit overwhelming after enjoying the peaceful countryside.The highlight was the water puppet show which is definitely a must see for anyone going to Hanoi. This was a great way to see Chinese aspect of Vietnamese culture.Vietnam surprised me with its beauty, charm and friendliness of the people.
Read more at http://ezinearticles.com/?South-to-North-Vietnam:-An-Unforgettable-Experience&id=6635432
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
Hitting the road to Vietnam, I didn't know what to expect; the journey began in Southern Vietnam in Ho Chi Min City, formerly known as Saigon. We started off exploring the city, with our pro globalization cyclo driver kept saying "Got mouth to eat, Got no mouth to speak".
We then traveled to Cao Dai Temple, in which the temple was like going through some mad Alice in Wonderland dream. The architecture was like nothing I have ever seen before, it was modern with lots of exquisite art and detail everywhere. The religion is a combination of teachings from Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Confucianism, Christianity, Islam and other religions with the intention to promote peace.
Another highlight was visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels, which is an ingenious invention of seeing how resilience the Vietnamese during the American war. The Vietcong controlled under the grounds while Americans controlled the sky and land. The tunnels were tiny and it was amazing to realize that people lived there, cooked, slept, used the bathroom and even had children. The visit was quite emotional because our tour guide was quite the opposite of our cyclo driver, he was a Vietcong fighter during the war. As we watched movies of how Vietcong rewarded brave soldiers that fought the evil Americans, it took me back to realize how symbolic nationalism was during that time.
We were then transferred to a parallel world to have a dinner in a completely different world of westernize Vietnamese food before dancing the night away to fusion of the francophone culture.
Next destination to the midlands, in which we hoped on an internal flight to Da Nang, which was quite an adventure sort of like being on a busy public bus in a rural towns. The only thing missing from people's luggage were the chickens, they had their things huge plastic bags. The flight was noisy and for three girls who got less than three hours of sleep it was quite the nightmare.
Our next destination was taking a cab to Hoi Ann, which was a 45 minute drive. We negotiated with our cab and after five minutes of driving, the cabbie stopped opened the trunk and there was a black car behind us. Once we realize what happened, Vimal tried to open her door, and it was locked. My immediate reaction is like I am not going to have my things robbed from me. It wasn't going to happen to me so I jumped to the passenger seat of the car, rushed to the trunk and pushed the driver aside, not sure what I was yelling. We all took our bags and walked back to the airport. The driver kept saying it was cheaper to take a private car but after hearing the horror stories of backpackers in Vietnam we weren't going to find out.
An hour later, we eventually made it to Hoi Ann, which is a UNESCO Heritage Site where we spent the day cycling the city indulging in Vietnamese coffee, tea and cuisine while the city poured around us. The city was magical, it made me realize how this haven had so many settlers. It was protected and because it was hard to get, spared the horrors of the Vietnamese war, the pagados, the old houses, and the atmosphere. We had loads of fun singing at the top of our lungs while cycling the rice paddies. We also go to experience the fabulous world of tailored clothes.
A couple of days letter, we set off on what is a common mode of transport a sleeping bus, the travel agents promotional posters made it looked like it was spacious and luxurious with full length beds. It was amazing to see the three rows of beds on a regular bus customized for the Asian body. The bus driver was quite hilarious as he took a 20 min break to stop and shop for some jackets on the way. As we set off to Hue, another unbelievable UNESCO Heritage Site, we rented bikes again and ventured to the old fortress, temples, and even played football with a group of young Vietnamese girls, in which we realized how badly we were.
My final stop was to Hanoi the second biggest city in Vietnam, which was a bit overwhelming after enjoying the peaceful countryside.The highlight was the water puppet show which is definitely a must see for anyone going to Hanoi. This was a great way to see Chinese aspect of Vietnamese culture.Vietnam surprised me with its beauty, charm and friendliness of the people.
Read more at http://ezinearticles.com/?South-to-North-Vietnam:-An-Unforgettable-Experience&id=6635432
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
Monday, April 16, 2012
India to Help Vietnamese Teachers in English Training.
India to help Vietnamese teachers in English training.
Vietnam will be sending teachers to India for English training, besides sourcing English teachers from India, according to the ministry of human resource development. The objective behind the entire exercise will be to prepare 20,000 English teachers in Vietnam over the next few years.
Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan Thursday presented the proposal to union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal.
According to secretary (school education), the Central Board of School Education could provide the necessary training in India, through its Sahodaya School network.
English and Foreign Languages University (EFL-U) Hyderabad as well as Delhi University (DU) and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) have also agreed to cooperate with Vietnamese institutions.
EFL-U acting Vice Chancellor Amritavalli suggested that the university could prepare 300 master trainers over three years in two batches of 50 Vietnamese teachers every year. University could also send some experts to Vietnam.
India will also aid Vietnam in curriculum development. This cooperation would include the offering of Indian studies in Vietnam and Vietnam studies in India.
Read more at http://www.indiaedunews.net/Delhi/India_to_help_Vietnamese_teachers_in_English_training_15456/
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
Vietnam will be sending teachers to India for English training, besides sourcing English teachers from India, according to the ministry of human resource development. The objective behind the entire exercise will be to prepare 20,000 English teachers in Vietnam over the next few years.
Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan Thursday presented the proposal to union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal.
According to secretary (school education), the Central Board of School Education could provide the necessary training in India, through its Sahodaya School network.
English and Foreign Languages University (EFL-U) Hyderabad as well as Delhi University (DU) and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) have also agreed to cooperate with Vietnamese institutions.
EFL-U acting Vice Chancellor Amritavalli suggested that the university could prepare 300 master trainers over three years in two batches of 50 Vietnamese teachers every year. University could also send some experts to Vietnam.
India will also aid Vietnam in curriculum development. This cooperation would include the offering of Indian studies in Vietnam and Vietnam studies in India.
Read more at http://www.indiaedunews.net/Delhi/India_to_help_Vietnamese_teachers_in_English_training_15456/
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
Sunday, March 25, 2012
What do I need to Teach English as a Second Language in Asia?
What do I need to Teach English as a Second Language (ESL) in Asia?
What are the Job and Working Requirements for Foreigners in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Japan, Indonesia?
This is what I found out when I was laid off from work in Telecommunications in the US. My job had allowed me to travel to parts of Asia which included Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia and experience the culture and lifestyle while working there. So I considered teaching overseas for a better quality of life. Since I am a native English speaker the answer seemed obvious. Teach English.
Searching for TEFL and TESOL programs online raised many, many red flags. All it seemed was that this overwhelming information was a ploy to help me part ways from my hard earned money. I was read conflicting things from different places. Like you need a degree, yet somewhere else it would say you don’t need a degree. What did I really need?
While my wife and I were traveling in Cambodia, we visited with a principle at a University in Phnom Penh. He had worked as an English teacher in Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia and Cambodia for over 33 years. He gave me good guidance as to what would be required to teach English in Asia and to be totally legitimate with those countries foreigner worker regulation.
What I needed was:
1) TEFL - Teaching English as a Foreign Language or TESOL - Teaching to English to Speakers of Other Languages
He said that I needed either a 120 hours TEFL, TESOL or CELTA Certification
University of Cambridge's CELTA and Trinity College London's CertTESOL. These two courses both have 120+ hours with 6+ hours supervised teaching.
He said that online TEFL or TESOL certificates weren’t considered as real training. They work out cheaper but you get what you pay for in the long run.
2) Clean Police Record Check
To teach you need to provide documentation of a clean police record from where you live. This can be obtained from your local police station within your country. It’s best to get the process started as soon as possible because it can take a few months.
3) University Degree
You need to also provide original documentation of a university degree and transcripts. As an aside for American's. In some parts of the world there are High Schools that are known as Colleges. You need to be careful to not be disqualified for this reason.
When you have all of your documentation in order you will be able to find work teaching English as a Second Language.
I received my TESOL certification because that is what the principle had done. I also took the course here in Vietnam. There are many courses all over the world. I could have taken it in Houston Texas, USA, but it was more expensive and the living expenses for one month was much higher than staying with my brother-in-law in Ho Chi Minh City.
Now all you have to do is to be able to find, separate and qualify the good and bad teaching jobs when you are in your search. Once you understand how to search for these positions and understand the pay scales, you can search for decent positions.
By Edward Hui
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
What are the Job and Working Requirements for Foreigners in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Japan, Indonesia?
This is what I found out when I was laid off from work in Telecommunications in the US. My job had allowed me to travel to parts of Asia which included Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia and experience the culture and lifestyle while working there. So I considered teaching overseas for a better quality of life. Since I am a native English speaker the answer seemed obvious. Teach English.
Searching for TEFL and TESOL programs online raised many, many red flags. All it seemed was that this overwhelming information was a ploy to help me part ways from my hard earned money. I was read conflicting things from different places. Like you need a degree, yet somewhere else it would say you don’t need a degree. What did I really need?
While my wife and I were traveling in Cambodia, we visited with a principle at a University in Phnom Penh. He had worked as an English teacher in Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia and Cambodia for over 33 years. He gave me good guidance as to what would be required to teach English in Asia and to be totally legitimate with those countries foreigner worker regulation.
What I needed was:
1) TEFL - Teaching English as a Foreign Language or TESOL - Teaching to English to Speakers of Other Languages
He said that I needed either a 120 hours TEFL, TESOL or CELTA Certification
University of Cambridge's CELTA and Trinity College London's CertTESOL. These two courses both have 120+ hours with 6+ hours supervised teaching.
He said that online TEFL or TESOL certificates weren’t considered as real training. They work out cheaper but you get what you pay for in the long run.
2) Clean Police Record Check
To teach you need to provide documentation of a clean police record from where you live. This can be obtained from your local police station within your country. It’s best to get the process started as soon as possible because it can take a few months.
3) University Degree
You need to also provide original documentation of a university degree and transcripts. As an aside for American's. In some parts of the world there are High Schools that are known as Colleges. You need to be careful to not be disqualified for this reason.
When you have all of your documentation in order you will be able to find work teaching English as a Second Language.
I received my TESOL certification because that is what the principle had done. I also took the course here in Vietnam. There are many courses all over the world. I could have taken it in Houston Texas, USA, but it was more expensive and the living expenses for one month was much higher than staying with my brother-in-law in Ho Chi Minh City.
Now all you have to do is to be able to find, separate and qualify the good and bad teaching jobs when you are in your search. Once you understand how to search for these positions and understand the pay scales, you can search for decent positions.
By Edward Hui
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
A Tour Group Cycles from Saigon Vietnam to Bangkok Thailand
A tour group cycles from Saigon Vietnam to Bangkok Thailand.
In March, my partner and I cycled from Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) to Bangkok - a memorable two-week holiday that took us through three distinct countries in hot and humid South-East Asia. The trip was both more, and less, daunting than it sounds.
So don't stop reading. You can do it, too, if you are reasonably fit (if you can easily cover 60 kilometres in a day) and don't mind traipsing through strangers' chicken coops to get to the outhouse. You don't have to be a buff 30-year-old, in other words.
Nor did we cycle every single kilometre: we covered some distance in river boats, an air-conditioned backup van and even an antique "bamboo train." We also enjoyed regular rest days swimming in the hotel pool - when we weren't drinking icy beer at cheerful bars, or poking through glittery, local markets filled with dollar-store junk and all manner of mutant fruits and vegetables.
But the cycling, about 570 kilometres in all, was the highlight. The road is often bumpy, but the terrain is mostly flat. The heat can be draining, but the reward - as with every cycling trip - is an intimate encounter with the culture (including the barnyards, convoys of orangeclad monks who studied us gravely, scooters nearly buried under their cargoes of live chickens, smiling toothless women in cone hats and some very excited children.)
In fact, we rode so close to people's simple thatch homes on the twisting paths through Vietnam's Mekong delta, it felt as if we were pedalling right into their daily lives, disturbing the mid-day siesta, or the friendly curbside cockfight. We thoroughly disrupted recess at countless country schools, and caused a sensation on rural backroads, as squealing kids ran to greet us with high-fives and exuberant cries of "Hello! Hello!" (This must be what it's like for Justin Bieber.)
In the company of our genial tour group - more on that later - we swooped, like some species of exotic bird, through villages buried in jungle, past dusty farmlands, spring-green rice paddies, remote hamlets and into damaged and depressing regional hubs, like Battambang, Cambodia, that look as if they haven't seen a tourist since Pol Pot was mercifully defeated in 1979.
Yet people were unfailingly warm and curious - although I did notice the odd amused smile. No wonder; it isn't every day a peloton of red-faced foreigners, dressed in their colourful native spandex, speeds past your shaded hammock in the noonday sun. Chased by the mad dogs.
Our route also hit the main tourist draws: the sombre temple complex at Angkor Wat in Cambodia; the thriving nearby service town of Siem Reap, where fishes will nibble your toes in giant sidewalk tanks; and Phnom Phen, where a seedier form of massage is widely offered. Only $4. We stopped at a touristic silk factory (practically mandatory on an Asia tour, but fascinating), at stone carvers' yards and smaller, out-of-the-way, rice paper "factories" in simple bamboo sheds.
While cycle touring has become popular, especially in booming Vietnam, it still hasn't spoiled the region - in fact, in 14 days we saw only one other western cycle tour, and, in many places, we were the only foreigners.
On a bike, you get to places those giant tour buses can't manage (and there were many buses; Asia is packed with western visitors). That includes potholed country lanes, or narrow scooter paths weaving through the Mekong delta - not to mention the 10-person "ferries", made of rough planks roped together, that traverse the delta's thousands of rivulets.
Several companies now offer cycle tours of varying duration and ambition, with excursions along Vietnam's scorching coastal highway and in the mountainous interior particularly well-subscribed. (And more demanding than our ride, which only rated three chilies out of five in level of difficulty.)
We wanted to see three countries - Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand - and major attractions like Angkor Wat, along with a "quiet" Thai beach, so we chose a trip offered by SpiceRoads, a Scottish-owned outfit with good reviews and reasonable prices. Our tour cost about $2,500 each and included sumptuous meals, inscrutable snacks, adequate-toexcellent hotels, an air-conditioned support van, rental bikes - serviceable Trek hardtail mountain bikes - and three guides. (That didn't include airfare between Canada and Saigon.)
SpiceRoads turned out to be an excellent choice; the tour was well-staffed and the route well-chosen. The main guide, in particular, a 32-year-old American called Jonathan, was well-informed, professional and endlessly helpful. (So encyclopedic was his knowledge of local customs, languages, history, pharmacology and cuisine, he earned the tag WikiJon.)
We were 12 cyclists altogether, ranging in age from 27 to 63, from Australia, the United States and Canada - including a young American working in Afghanistan. No thanks to me, we were an unusually speedy group: a combination of young riders and some seasoned veterans. Any pressure to keep up was mostly self-generated; ordinarily, Jon assured us, this particular trip proceeds at a more stately pace.
We stopped for picnic lunches at park-like Buddhist temples in various states of disrepair; at ramshackle roadside cafés that, in one unforgettable instance, offered deep-fried tarantulas and crickets; at open-air, but well-shaded restaurants where we watched, slack-jawed, as servers paraded out trays of South-Asian specialties, each dish more enticing than the last. (The salty, tasty Vietnamese chicken noodle soup pho ga turns out to be perfect fuel for a sweaty ride through the tropics.)
The longest day was 92 kilometres (long if you are on a mountain bike), but more often we rode 35 to 65 kilometres, or not at all. Sometimes we were on corduroy dirt roads, sometimes on pavement, sometimes cutting across a rice paddy on a hard mud path, occasionally on busy city boulevards.
It was the heat, rather than distance, that was daunting. It was pushing 38 degrees at Angkor Wat, with intense sun and wilting humidity. In the Mekong delta, we were mercifully shaded by coconut and banana fronds, but on open roads the sun beat down relentlessly. Fortunately, on the longest day - through dusty and impoverished farm country in Cambodia, approaching the Thai border - it was unseasonably cool at 26 degrees, and overcast.
No matter when you travel in this region it is going to be hot, but December to February may be the smartest choice. We also took care: we stopped every 20 kilometres for salty snacks, fresh pineapple and watermelon, soft drinks and water. When it got to be too much - sore knee, bad tummy, imminent heat stroke - there was always the air-conditioned van trailing discreetly behind, equipped with water and yet more pineapple.
If you don't want to do the whole ride, you might consider a shorter trek through the Mekong delta, to me the most fascinating part of the trip. The delta is a lush maze of thatch homes, mango farms, temples, banana groves and hamlets that is home to 17 million people. It isn't the sandy, flat farmland, interspersed with broad Amazonian rivers, that I imagined. (It looks like an inhospitable venue for a war, by the way.)
A hundred spidery trails lead through this jungle - many paved and wide enough to accommodate two scooters, which, along with local cyclists and pedestrians, are the only traffic.
The twists and turns force you to slow down; so do the many small bridges, that rise suddenly, over chocolate-coloured, slightly menacing currents. One day, we crossed 51 of these little arched bridges; it felt like a tropical skateboard park. On top of one such bridge, we had to ride over drying rice while dodging young boys eager to show us the live mice they had dangling from strings. We momentarily lost one rider in the swamp, but she had never been on a mountain bike before.
Best of all are the small ferries - which are really just rafts with tattered canvas coverings. Sitting on the plank floor, crossing a turbulent channel the width of the Rideau Canal, eight bikes leaning on the flimsy bamboo railing, the driver operating the small submerged engine with a string tied to his bare toe, I thought to myself: I can't imagine a more exotic destination.
Cambodia was immediately different: poorer than Vietnam, drier, less forested and still haunted, somehow, by the memory of Pol Pot's brutal social experiments of the mid-'70s. I will always associate the country with human skulls and fanatically insistent child vendors.
We cycled to and through some of the famous killing fields - park-like, mass graves of the victims of Pol Pot, with glassed towers of skulls arranged according to gender and age.
The roads in Cambodia were mostly packed dirt and we shared them with water buffalo, scooters and luxury SUVs bearing Phnom Phen plates - evidence of a deeply inequitable society. We passed wooden houses on stilts and many, many children with torn, dirty clothing and poor teeth - but wide, excited smiles.
Despite the obvious poverty, we encountered few beggars. Instead, children swarm tourists like killer bees at every temple, or roadside attraction - thrusting their scarves, T-shirts and trinkets right through bus windows or into your face. They set up an irritating drone: "One dollar. Only one dollar, madame." (They don't get much education, but speak a confident English, tailored to ingratiate. One bright nine-year-old identified "David" Harper, as prime minister of Canada, when we quizzed him. Not bad.)
For many visitors, the celebrated rubble of Angkor Wat - the largest complex of religious buildings in the world, dating from the 12th century - is a historic and spiritual highlight. Maybe, but it was a fiendishly hot 30-kilometre cycle around the sprawling sight.
We arrived before sunrise - along with a few hundred other international tourists and early-rising coffee vendors - to watch the gloomy temples emerge from darkness in the rosy dawn. (Its one of those tourist fetish things.)
We breakfasted, wandered around, but by the time we got on our bikes at 10 a.m. to see the rest of the complex, it was already unbearably hot. Fortunately, it was only seven kilometres back to the hotel pool in Siem Reap.
What I will remember just as vividly is the less exalted "bamboo" train - a removable bamboo raft attached to rail wheels that whistles down a crooked track between two remote villages, an easy 10-kilometre cycle outside of Battambang. When you encounter a similar contraption coming the other way, one "train" stops, the driver moves the platform and wheels to the side, lets the oncoming "train" pass, then reassembles his own rolling platform.
There is no bug screen, no sides, no seats - just boards on wheels, travelling at bone-jarring speed. It was particularly exciting when a wandering cow got her rope caught in the track right in front of us and jerked free only moments before collision.
Travelling from this forgotten part of Cambodia to Thailand was like journeying from the Third World to the First. The moment we traversed the rural border crossing, the roads were better (than here, actually), the food exquisite, the mango groves lush and the bathrooms much fancier - even rivalling those in chic restaurants in Toronto. (We used all manner of toilets on our journey, mostly ceramic stand-ups in sheds behind cafés, temples or farmhouses. They were basic, but, unlike in India, did not smell.)
Our trip ended with a couple of days at a Chantchalao beach resort, mostly frequented by residents of nearby Bangkok and relatively free of the sex tourism so common throughout this part of the world.
A final easy cycle ride around the sleepy resort (including a visit to the King's mangrove swamp, a restoration project) and a magnificent, final moonlit banquet on the beach - featuring a stunning array of Thai seafood and yet more beer and pineapple - and our trip was over.
As I watched a rosy sunset over the ocean fade to black in the company of convivial new friends, sipped my Thai beer and felt the cooling breeze, I had to admit: that wasn't really daunting at all, as cycle tours go.
Susan Riley is a freelance political columnist for the Citizen and enjoys cycle touring. Email: smiley.work@gmail.com
IF YOU GO
Tour company: Spice Roads
Cost: About $2,500 for the cycle tour, accommodations, meals, support van, rental bikes and guides, but not airfare to Asia.
When to go: December to February may be wisest in terms of temperature.
Read more at http://www.canada.com/travel/tour+group+cycles+from+Saigon+Bangkok/5605601/story.html
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
In March, my partner and I cycled from Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) to Bangkok - a memorable two-week holiday that took us through three distinct countries in hot and humid South-East Asia. The trip was both more, and less, daunting than it sounds.
So don't stop reading. You can do it, too, if you are reasonably fit (if you can easily cover 60 kilometres in a day) and don't mind traipsing through strangers' chicken coops to get to the outhouse. You don't have to be a buff 30-year-old, in other words.
Nor did we cycle every single kilometre: we covered some distance in river boats, an air-conditioned backup van and even an antique "bamboo train." We also enjoyed regular rest days swimming in the hotel pool - when we weren't drinking icy beer at cheerful bars, or poking through glittery, local markets filled with dollar-store junk and all manner of mutant fruits and vegetables.
But the cycling, about 570 kilometres in all, was the highlight. The road is often bumpy, but the terrain is mostly flat. The heat can be draining, but the reward - as with every cycling trip - is an intimate encounter with the culture (including the barnyards, convoys of orangeclad monks who studied us gravely, scooters nearly buried under their cargoes of live chickens, smiling toothless women in cone hats and some very excited children.)
In fact, we rode so close to people's simple thatch homes on the twisting paths through Vietnam's Mekong delta, it felt as if we were pedalling right into their daily lives, disturbing the mid-day siesta, or the friendly curbside cockfight. We thoroughly disrupted recess at countless country schools, and caused a sensation on rural backroads, as squealing kids ran to greet us with high-fives and exuberant cries of "Hello! Hello!" (This must be what it's like for Justin Bieber.)
In the company of our genial tour group - more on that later - we swooped, like some species of exotic bird, through villages buried in jungle, past dusty farmlands, spring-green rice paddies, remote hamlets and into damaged and depressing regional hubs, like Battambang, Cambodia, that look as if they haven't seen a tourist since Pol Pot was mercifully defeated in 1979.
Yet people were unfailingly warm and curious - although I did notice the odd amused smile. No wonder; it isn't every day a peloton of red-faced foreigners, dressed in their colourful native spandex, speeds past your shaded hammock in the noonday sun. Chased by the mad dogs.
Our route also hit the main tourist draws: the sombre temple complex at Angkor Wat in Cambodia; the thriving nearby service town of Siem Reap, where fishes will nibble your toes in giant sidewalk tanks; and Phnom Phen, where a seedier form of massage is widely offered. Only $4. We stopped at a touristic silk factory (practically mandatory on an Asia tour, but fascinating), at stone carvers' yards and smaller, out-of-the-way, rice paper "factories" in simple bamboo sheds.
While cycle touring has become popular, especially in booming Vietnam, it still hasn't spoiled the region - in fact, in 14 days we saw only one other western cycle tour, and, in many places, we were the only foreigners.
On a bike, you get to places those giant tour buses can't manage (and there were many buses; Asia is packed with western visitors). That includes potholed country lanes, or narrow scooter paths weaving through the Mekong delta - not to mention the 10-person "ferries", made of rough planks roped together, that traverse the delta's thousands of rivulets.
Several companies now offer cycle tours of varying duration and ambition, with excursions along Vietnam's scorching coastal highway and in the mountainous interior particularly well-subscribed. (And more demanding than our ride, which only rated three chilies out of five in level of difficulty.)
We wanted to see three countries - Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand - and major attractions like Angkor Wat, along with a "quiet" Thai beach, so we chose a trip offered by SpiceRoads, a Scottish-owned outfit with good reviews and reasonable prices. Our tour cost about $2,500 each and included sumptuous meals, inscrutable snacks, adequate-toexcellent hotels, an air-conditioned support van, rental bikes - serviceable Trek hardtail mountain bikes - and three guides. (That didn't include airfare between Canada and Saigon.)
SpiceRoads turned out to be an excellent choice; the tour was well-staffed and the route well-chosen. The main guide, in particular, a 32-year-old American called Jonathan, was well-informed, professional and endlessly helpful. (So encyclopedic was his knowledge of local customs, languages, history, pharmacology and cuisine, he earned the tag WikiJon.)
We were 12 cyclists altogether, ranging in age from 27 to 63, from Australia, the United States and Canada - including a young American working in Afghanistan. No thanks to me, we were an unusually speedy group: a combination of young riders and some seasoned veterans. Any pressure to keep up was mostly self-generated; ordinarily, Jon assured us, this particular trip proceeds at a more stately pace.
We stopped for picnic lunches at park-like Buddhist temples in various states of disrepair; at ramshackle roadside cafés that, in one unforgettable instance, offered deep-fried tarantulas and crickets; at open-air, but well-shaded restaurants where we watched, slack-jawed, as servers paraded out trays of South-Asian specialties, each dish more enticing than the last. (The salty, tasty Vietnamese chicken noodle soup pho ga turns out to be perfect fuel for a sweaty ride through the tropics.)
The longest day was 92 kilometres (long if you are on a mountain bike), but more often we rode 35 to 65 kilometres, or not at all. Sometimes we were on corduroy dirt roads, sometimes on pavement, sometimes cutting across a rice paddy on a hard mud path, occasionally on busy city boulevards.
It was the heat, rather than distance, that was daunting. It was pushing 38 degrees at Angkor Wat, with intense sun and wilting humidity. In the Mekong delta, we were mercifully shaded by coconut and banana fronds, but on open roads the sun beat down relentlessly. Fortunately, on the longest day - through dusty and impoverished farm country in Cambodia, approaching the Thai border - it was unseasonably cool at 26 degrees, and overcast.
No matter when you travel in this region it is going to be hot, but December to February may be the smartest choice. We also took care: we stopped every 20 kilometres for salty snacks, fresh pineapple and watermelon, soft drinks and water. When it got to be too much - sore knee, bad tummy, imminent heat stroke - there was always the air-conditioned van trailing discreetly behind, equipped with water and yet more pineapple.
If you don't want to do the whole ride, you might consider a shorter trek through the Mekong delta, to me the most fascinating part of the trip. The delta is a lush maze of thatch homes, mango farms, temples, banana groves and hamlets that is home to 17 million people. It isn't the sandy, flat farmland, interspersed with broad Amazonian rivers, that I imagined. (It looks like an inhospitable venue for a war, by the way.)
A hundred spidery trails lead through this jungle - many paved and wide enough to accommodate two scooters, which, along with local cyclists and pedestrians, are the only traffic.
The twists and turns force you to slow down; so do the many small bridges, that rise suddenly, over chocolate-coloured, slightly menacing currents. One day, we crossed 51 of these little arched bridges; it felt like a tropical skateboard park. On top of one such bridge, we had to ride over drying rice while dodging young boys eager to show us the live mice they had dangling from strings. We momentarily lost one rider in the swamp, but she had never been on a mountain bike before.
Best of all are the small ferries - which are really just rafts with tattered canvas coverings. Sitting on the plank floor, crossing a turbulent channel the width of the Rideau Canal, eight bikes leaning on the flimsy bamboo railing, the driver operating the small submerged engine with a string tied to his bare toe, I thought to myself: I can't imagine a more exotic destination.
Cambodia was immediately different: poorer than Vietnam, drier, less forested and still haunted, somehow, by the memory of Pol Pot's brutal social experiments of the mid-'70s. I will always associate the country with human skulls and fanatically insistent child vendors.
We cycled to and through some of the famous killing fields - park-like, mass graves of the victims of Pol Pot, with glassed towers of skulls arranged according to gender and age.
The roads in Cambodia were mostly packed dirt and we shared them with water buffalo, scooters and luxury SUVs bearing Phnom Phen plates - evidence of a deeply inequitable society. We passed wooden houses on stilts and many, many children with torn, dirty clothing and poor teeth - but wide, excited smiles.
Despite the obvious poverty, we encountered few beggars. Instead, children swarm tourists like killer bees at every temple, or roadside attraction - thrusting their scarves, T-shirts and trinkets right through bus windows or into your face. They set up an irritating drone: "One dollar. Only one dollar, madame." (They don't get much education, but speak a confident English, tailored to ingratiate. One bright nine-year-old identified "David" Harper, as prime minister of Canada, when we quizzed him. Not bad.)
For many visitors, the celebrated rubble of Angkor Wat - the largest complex of religious buildings in the world, dating from the 12th century - is a historic and spiritual highlight. Maybe, but it was a fiendishly hot 30-kilometre cycle around the sprawling sight.
We arrived before sunrise - along with a few hundred other international tourists and early-rising coffee vendors - to watch the gloomy temples emerge from darkness in the rosy dawn. (Its one of those tourist fetish things.)
We breakfasted, wandered around, but by the time we got on our bikes at 10 a.m. to see the rest of the complex, it was already unbearably hot. Fortunately, it was only seven kilometres back to the hotel pool in Siem Reap.
What I will remember just as vividly is the less exalted "bamboo" train - a removable bamboo raft attached to rail wheels that whistles down a crooked track between two remote villages, an easy 10-kilometre cycle outside of Battambang. When you encounter a similar contraption coming the other way, one "train" stops, the driver moves the platform and wheels to the side, lets the oncoming "train" pass, then reassembles his own rolling platform.
There is no bug screen, no sides, no seats - just boards on wheels, travelling at bone-jarring speed. It was particularly exciting when a wandering cow got her rope caught in the track right in front of us and jerked free only moments before collision.
Travelling from this forgotten part of Cambodia to Thailand was like journeying from the Third World to the First. The moment we traversed the rural border crossing, the roads were better (than here, actually), the food exquisite, the mango groves lush and the bathrooms much fancier - even rivalling those in chic restaurants in Toronto. (We used all manner of toilets on our journey, mostly ceramic stand-ups in sheds behind cafés, temples or farmhouses. They were basic, but, unlike in India, did not smell.)
Our trip ended with a couple of days at a Chantchalao beach resort, mostly frequented by residents of nearby Bangkok and relatively free of the sex tourism so common throughout this part of the world.
A final easy cycle ride around the sleepy resort (including a visit to the King's mangrove swamp, a restoration project) and a magnificent, final moonlit banquet on the beach - featuring a stunning array of Thai seafood and yet more beer and pineapple - and our trip was over.
As I watched a rosy sunset over the ocean fade to black in the company of convivial new friends, sipped my Thai beer and felt the cooling breeze, I had to admit: that wasn't really daunting at all, as cycle tours go.
Susan Riley is a freelance political columnist for the Citizen and enjoys cycle touring. Email: smiley.work@gmail.com
IF YOU GO
Tour company: Spice Roads
Cost: About $2,500 for the cycle tour, accommodations, meals, support van, rental bikes and guides, but not airfare to Asia.
When to go: December to February may be wisest in terms of temperature.
Read more at http://www.canada.com/travel/tour+group+cycles+from+Saigon+Bangkok/5605601/story.html
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Vietnam Becoming Magnet for Expat Workers
Vietnam becoming magnet for expat workers.
The booming economy needs foreigners to plug skill gaps in many areas while locals, by and large, do not resent the higher wages the expats are paid.
Wishing to discover Vietnamese food and culture, Andre Bosia came to the country four years ago and found it a comfortable place to live. It was much more relaxed and generally very different from what he had imagined.
The French executive chef at the Sofitel Metropole Hanoi says: “Vietnam is a good place to live in. I can get a salary corresponding to my qualification and working hours. It is simple to integrate into the society since people are very friendly.”
He now wants to settle down here, especially after marrying a Vietnamese fashion designer.
Bosia is just one of many expats who want to live and work in Vietnam, where opportunities are aplenty.
Some 74,000 foreigners were working in Vietnam last year, well up on the 56,929 in 2010, according to the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs.
They were from more than 60 countries and territories, with 58 percent coming from Asia and 28.5 percent from Europe.
Headhunters explain the jump in numbers by saying Vietnam is an emerging market that only opened up to foreign investment in the early 1990s, thus throwing up many job opportunities for foreigners now.
Given the shortage of local talent in certain technical and creative fields such as advertising and public relations, and professional training, foreigners are often hired to fill in the gaps.
Expats are also in business development and sales positions, especially in furniture and some service industries, where the clientele is mainly foreign.
“With the improvements in the legal system and investment environment, Vietnam attracts a large amount of foreign direct investment,” Nguyen Thi Van Anh, managing director of recruiting firm Navigos Search, says.
“That leads to an increase in demand for senior personnel. But local staffs have not met this demand, either in quality or numbers.
“This is a great opportunity for foreign personnel.”
To attract talent, many employers are willing to pay higher wages and improve the working environment, she says. When hiring senior foreign personnel, employers usually prefer people from Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and other places in Asia and people from the US and Europe who have worked in Asia.
It is not just foreign experts and businesspeople who have the opportunity to earn a lot of money working in Vietnam. Even students can earn thousands of dollars a month.
Without an interview or test, Ben from Australia, a former student at the Hanoi National University, got an English teaching job at a language school in the capital. He also does private teaching.
“Vietnamese place a great emphasis on education and learning. Hence, there are plenty of teaching and training opportunities for Westerners, especially native English speakers,” he says.
Those with little teaching experience could be paid up to US$15 an hour, while those with significant technical or business experience could easily earn $20-25 an hour, Ben says.
“It is not hard to make $2,000-3,000 a month in Vietnam.
“I live a normal life with $1,500 in Australia. I am sure you can live much better with your $2,000 in Hanoi since it could be five times cheaper.”
For Graham Sutcliffe, an English conductor at the Vietnam National Opera Ballet, the most attractive aspect of working here is not the income but the people who share his passion for music and art. “Although their salary is low, they still follow music. They understand me, and that’s very nice for a conductor.”
Sutcliffe, who has lived in Vietnam for more than two decades, says life here has been improved a lot. “When I first came here, we didn’t see many cars or public transport. Everything now is much more comfortable in Vietnam. And of course, life has become a lot easier and better.”
However, it is very difficult to find jobs and make money in the arts, he says. “I am not satisfied with my income here. I have a low income. In art and culture, everybody is paid very little. For example, a musician in England can earn at least $3,000 a month, but here they don’t even earn $300.”
Welcomed by locals
Nguyen Mai, chairman of the Vietnam Association of Foreign Invested Enterprises, says many foreign experts and businesspeople have come to Vietnam in recent years, and have helped train experts and managers in fields like insurance, auditing and banking.
Vietnamese can also learn about business and corporate management from expats working in foreign firms here, he points out.
“Thus, the contribution of foreign experts to Vietnam is very big. We should facilitate and encourage foreign talents to come to work in Vietnam, so that local people can learn from them,” Mai says.
Even locals, who are often paid lower than foreign staff working in an equivalent position, welcome expats.
Phan Lam, who worked for both local and foreign media companies before becoming a freelancer, says: “I prefer to work for a foreign company than a local one. The foreign companies have a more open working environment, and you are able to work without having to watch the others.
“With expat bosses, I concentrated on my job, focusing on results and performance.
“At local companies, besides working, you have to spend too much time in maintaining good relations with your bosses and colleagues, while at foreign companies, you can cut straight to the chase.”
He admits though that not all foreign bosses are perfect, mentioning his experience with a Japanese boss who required Vietnamese staff to work like the Japanese despite being paid local wages.
“It was a disaster in a small office of three people – five people quit in two years.”
Read more at http://www.thanhniennews.com/index/pages/20120210-vietnam-becoming-magnet-for-expat-workers.aspx
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
The booming economy needs foreigners to plug skill gaps in many areas while locals, by and large, do not resent the higher wages the expats are paid.
Wishing to discover Vietnamese food and culture, Andre Bosia came to the country four years ago and found it a comfortable place to live. It was much more relaxed and generally very different from what he had imagined.
The French executive chef at the Sofitel Metropole Hanoi says: “Vietnam is a good place to live in. I can get a salary corresponding to my qualification and working hours. It is simple to integrate into the society since people are very friendly.”
He now wants to settle down here, especially after marrying a Vietnamese fashion designer.
Bosia is just one of many expats who want to live and work in Vietnam, where opportunities are aplenty.
Some 74,000 foreigners were working in Vietnam last year, well up on the 56,929 in 2010, according to the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs.
They were from more than 60 countries and territories, with 58 percent coming from Asia and 28.5 percent from Europe.
Headhunters explain the jump in numbers by saying Vietnam is an emerging market that only opened up to foreign investment in the early 1990s, thus throwing up many job opportunities for foreigners now.
Given the shortage of local talent in certain technical and creative fields such as advertising and public relations, and professional training, foreigners are often hired to fill in the gaps.
Expats are also in business development and sales positions, especially in furniture and some service industries, where the clientele is mainly foreign.
“With the improvements in the legal system and investment environment, Vietnam attracts a large amount of foreign direct investment,” Nguyen Thi Van Anh, managing director of recruiting firm Navigos Search, says.
“That leads to an increase in demand for senior personnel. But local staffs have not met this demand, either in quality or numbers.
“This is a great opportunity for foreign personnel.”
To attract talent, many employers are willing to pay higher wages and improve the working environment, she says. When hiring senior foreign personnel, employers usually prefer people from Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and other places in Asia and people from the US and Europe who have worked in Asia.
It is not just foreign experts and businesspeople who have the opportunity to earn a lot of money working in Vietnam. Even students can earn thousands of dollars a month.
Without an interview or test, Ben from Australia, a former student at the Hanoi National University, got an English teaching job at a language school in the capital. He also does private teaching.
“Vietnamese place a great emphasis on education and learning. Hence, there are plenty of teaching and training opportunities for Westerners, especially native English speakers,” he says.
Those with little teaching experience could be paid up to US$15 an hour, while those with significant technical or business experience could easily earn $20-25 an hour, Ben says.
“It is not hard to make $2,000-3,000 a month in Vietnam.
“I live a normal life with $1,500 in Australia. I am sure you can live much better with your $2,000 in Hanoi since it could be five times cheaper.”
For Graham Sutcliffe, an English conductor at the Vietnam National Opera Ballet, the most attractive aspect of working here is not the income but the people who share his passion for music and art. “Although their salary is low, they still follow music. They understand me, and that’s very nice for a conductor.”
Sutcliffe, who has lived in Vietnam for more than two decades, says life here has been improved a lot. “When I first came here, we didn’t see many cars or public transport. Everything now is much more comfortable in Vietnam. And of course, life has become a lot easier and better.”
However, it is very difficult to find jobs and make money in the arts, he says. “I am not satisfied with my income here. I have a low income. In art and culture, everybody is paid very little. For example, a musician in England can earn at least $3,000 a month, but here they don’t even earn $300.”
Welcomed by locals
Nguyen Mai, chairman of the Vietnam Association of Foreign Invested Enterprises, says many foreign experts and businesspeople have come to Vietnam in recent years, and have helped train experts and managers in fields like insurance, auditing and banking.
Vietnamese can also learn about business and corporate management from expats working in foreign firms here, he points out.
“Thus, the contribution of foreign experts to Vietnam is very big. We should facilitate and encourage foreign talents to come to work in Vietnam, so that local people can learn from them,” Mai says.
Even locals, who are often paid lower than foreign staff working in an equivalent position, welcome expats.
Phan Lam, who worked for both local and foreign media companies before becoming a freelancer, says: “I prefer to work for a foreign company than a local one. The foreign companies have a more open working environment, and you are able to work without having to watch the others.
“With expat bosses, I concentrated on my job, focusing on results and performance.
“At local companies, besides working, you have to spend too much time in maintaining good relations with your bosses and colleagues, while at foreign companies, you can cut straight to the chase.”
He admits though that not all foreign bosses are perfect, mentioning his experience with a Japanese boss who required Vietnamese staff to work like the Japanese despite being paid local wages.
“It was a disaster in a small office of three people – five people quit in two years.”
Read more at http://www.thanhniennews.com/index/pages/20120210-vietnam-becoming-magnet-for-expat-workers.aspx
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Vietnam Boosts Education for Ethnic Minority Children
Vietnam boosts education for ethnic minority children.
For more than a decade, Nguyen Thi Quyen's ethnic minority students in Lao Chai village primary school would stare at her blankly, unable to respond to her questions. As the school year wore on, they dropped out to tend farm animals or hawk knick-knacks to the tourists.
Quyen was teaching in Vietnamese, the language of the majority Kinh, but ethnic minorities in the country's northern hills speak Mong.
"Before, when I was teaching all subjects in Vietnamese, the children could understand only about 60 percent of what I was saying," Quyen told IRIN. "The children did not enjoy school. They did not like to come."
With Vietnamese the official language for education, school remains inaccessible for many ethnic minorities, who comprise 13 percent of the population and are among the country's most impoverished.
Lagging behind
The Mong are one of Vietnam's 53 ethnic minority groups that have fallen behind although the country boasts one of the world's fastest growing economies, with GDP up by 7.3 percent annually from 1995 to 2005, and per capita income increasing from US$260 in 1995 to $835 in 2007.
Yet more than half the ethnic minorities live in poverty, versus only 10 percent of Kinh. Ethnic minorities account for 11 million of Vietnam's 87 million people, but constitute 44.4 percent of the poor.
"Looking at all the development and positive change that has taken place in Vietnam, minority children are one or several steps behind all the time," Lotta Sylwander, country representative for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), told IRIN.
"Many of them live in hard-to-reach areas. Some of them speak languages that no one else speaks... Ethnic minority children are more likely to live in a poor household than the Kinh majority because their parents are uneducated."
According to UNICEF, three out of five ethnic minority children complete primary school, against more than four out of five Kinh.
Mother tongue-based education
In 2008, Quyen's primary school began teaching its youngest students in Mong, as part of a UNICEF-supported government initiative to boost academic performance.
The program has been implemented for Jrai ethnic minorities in central Gia Lai province, Khmer in southern Tra Vinh, and Mong in northern Lao Cai, where Lao Chai village is located.
Children begin school in their native language and in grade three, start learning in Vietnamese as well. By grade five, they are bilingual, according to research by UNICEF and the government.
"Now that I teach in the local language, the students can understand 100 percent. Now they'll stand up and answer any question," said Quyen, who has spent 16 years teaching in Lao Chai, located in a valley below the popular tourist town of Sapa.
"Since I started teaching in the Mong language, the children are much happier, and they really enjoy school. A lot of children come to school now, and some children from different communities even come here to learn," Quyen said.
Teaching challenge
One challenge, however, is finding qualified teachers.
"It was difficult to start the bilingual education program because of the need to have good bilingual teachers," said Truong Kim Minh, director of the Lao Cai Department of Education and Training.
"At that time, we had only a limited number of teachers coming from those ethnic minority groups. In the beginning, we chose good people in the community to become teachers' assistants."
Teachers who do not come from ethnic communities are increasingly required to learn the local language of the region where they will teach.
The province now trains 100 ethnic minority teachers each year for pre-school and primary school, which will help expand the bilingual education program, Minh said.
Meanwhile, as children played on the Lao Chai school grounds one Saturday afternoon, Quyen interrupted a student, eight-year-old Mang, during a game of marbles to ask him to read a sign written in Mong on a pillar at the school entrance.
Looking up at the colorful sign, Mang slowly pronounced one word at a time: "Dear friends, let's come to school."
Read more at http://www.thanhniennews.com/2010/pages/20111221-vietnam-boosts-education-for-ethnic-minority-children.aspx
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
For more than a decade, Nguyen Thi Quyen's ethnic minority students in Lao Chai village primary school would stare at her blankly, unable to respond to her questions. As the school year wore on, they dropped out to tend farm animals or hawk knick-knacks to the tourists.
Quyen was teaching in Vietnamese, the language of the majority Kinh, but ethnic minorities in the country's northern hills speak Mong.
"Before, when I was teaching all subjects in Vietnamese, the children could understand only about 60 percent of what I was saying," Quyen told IRIN. "The children did not enjoy school. They did not like to come."
With Vietnamese the official language for education, school remains inaccessible for many ethnic minorities, who comprise 13 percent of the population and are among the country's most impoverished.
Lagging behind
The Mong are one of Vietnam's 53 ethnic minority groups that have fallen behind although the country boasts one of the world's fastest growing economies, with GDP up by 7.3 percent annually from 1995 to 2005, and per capita income increasing from US$260 in 1995 to $835 in 2007.
Yet more than half the ethnic minorities live in poverty, versus only 10 percent of Kinh. Ethnic minorities account for 11 million of Vietnam's 87 million people, but constitute 44.4 percent of the poor.
"Looking at all the development and positive change that has taken place in Vietnam, minority children are one or several steps behind all the time," Lotta Sylwander, country representative for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), told IRIN.
"Many of them live in hard-to-reach areas. Some of them speak languages that no one else speaks... Ethnic minority children are more likely to live in a poor household than the Kinh majority because their parents are uneducated."
According to UNICEF, three out of five ethnic minority children complete primary school, against more than four out of five Kinh.
Mother tongue-based education
In 2008, Quyen's primary school began teaching its youngest students in Mong, as part of a UNICEF-supported government initiative to boost academic performance.
The program has been implemented for Jrai ethnic minorities in central Gia Lai province, Khmer in southern Tra Vinh, and Mong in northern Lao Cai, where Lao Chai village is located.
Children begin school in their native language and in grade three, start learning in Vietnamese as well. By grade five, they are bilingual, according to research by UNICEF and the government.
"Now that I teach in the local language, the students can understand 100 percent. Now they'll stand up and answer any question," said Quyen, who has spent 16 years teaching in Lao Chai, located in a valley below the popular tourist town of Sapa.
"Since I started teaching in the Mong language, the children are much happier, and they really enjoy school. A lot of children come to school now, and some children from different communities even come here to learn," Quyen said.
Teaching challenge
One challenge, however, is finding qualified teachers.
"It was difficult to start the bilingual education program because of the need to have good bilingual teachers," said Truong Kim Minh, director of the Lao Cai Department of Education and Training.
"At that time, we had only a limited number of teachers coming from those ethnic minority groups. In the beginning, we chose good people in the community to become teachers' assistants."
Teachers who do not come from ethnic communities are increasingly required to learn the local language of the region where they will teach.
The province now trains 100 ethnic minority teachers each year for pre-school and primary school, which will help expand the bilingual education program, Minh said.
Meanwhile, as children played on the Lao Chai school grounds one Saturday afternoon, Quyen interrupted a student, eight-year-old Mang, during a game of marbles to ask him to read a sign written in Mong on a pillar at the school entrance.
Looking up at the colorful sign, Mang slowly pronounced one word at a time: "Dear friends, let's come to school."
Read more at http://www.thanhniennews.com/2010/pages/20111221-vietnam-boosts-education-for-ethnic-minority-children.aspx
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Earn Money by Teaching English Abroad in Thailand, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Taiwan
Earn Money by Teaching English Abroad in Thailand, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Taiwan.
Do you want to live abroad and work as a teacher?
As a native English speaker, you can teach English in schools or language institutes in many non-English speaking countries. There is a high demand for instruction from native English speakers – especially throughout Asia. Vietnam, Korea, Thailand, Cambodia and Taiwan are just some of the Asian countries looking for English speaking teachers.
English is the widely-accepted secondary language of the world. Many consider it to be the language of opportunity and the industry of teaching English as a foreign language continues to grow and has not yet reached its peak.
If you want to teach English as a travel job here is an important thing to keep in mind:
Remember that you will teach English to people who have a very limited understanding of the language...
Read more at http://languagecorps.bizbuzzweekly.com/2010/09/06/earn-money-by-teaching-english-abroad-2/
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
Do you want to live abroad and work as a teacher?
As a native English speaker, you can teach English in schools or language institutes in many non-English speaking countries. There is a high demand for instruction from native English speakers – especially throughout Asia. Vietnam, Korea, Thailand, Cambodia and Taiwan are just some of the Asian countries looking for English speaking teachers.
English is the widely-accepted secondary language of the world. Many consider it to be the language of opportunity and the industry of teaching English as a foreign language continues to grow and has not yet reached its peak.
If you want to teach English as a travel job here is an important thing to keep in mind:
Remember that you will teach English to people who have a very limited understanding of the language...
Read more at http://languagecorps.bizbuzzweekly.com/2010/09/06/earn-money-by-teaching-english-abroad-2/
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
Monday, January 2, 2012
2012 Toughest Ever Job Market, Look to Work Overseas in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, China or Taiwan to Gain Experience
2012 Toughest Ever Job Market, Look to Work Overseas in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, China or Taiwan to Gain Experience and Develop a Unique Skill.
Like 2010, 2012 will shape up to be one of the toughest job markets in decades for new and recent college grads. Fallout from the deepening recession includes record unemployment, and company downsizing across virtually every market category. The result? An extreme challenge for tens of thousands of first-time job seekers. These days, college grads are competing not only with each other – they now find themselves competing directly with older, more experienced workers who are willing to compete in terms of compensation as well as jobs that they would not have considered until recently....
Read more at http://languagecorps.bizbuzzweekly.com/2010/10/11/in-toughest-ever-job-market-look-overseas-to-gain-experience-and-develop-a-unique-skill-2/
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
Like 2010, 2012 will shape up to be one of the toughest job markets in decades for new and recent college grads. Fallout from the deepening recession includes record unemployment, and company downsizing across virtually every market category. The result? An extreme challenge for tens of thousands of first-time job seekers. These days, college grads are competing not only with each other – they now find themselves competing directly with older, more experienced workers who are willing to compete in terms of compensation as well as jobs that they would not have considered until recently....
Read more at http://languagecorps.bizbuzzweekly.com/2010/10/11/in-toughest-ever-job-market-look-overseas-to-gain-experience-and-develop-a-unique-skill-2/
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Vietnam Teacher Named Fullbright Scholar
LanguageCorps Asia, Vietnam Teacher Named Fullbright Scholar!
Jacob Daniels, Fulbright Teaching Assistantship, Vietnam
Former LanguageCorps Asia teacher Jacob Daniels, has been awarded a Fullbright Scholarship for Teaching English in Vietnam!
Daniels, who majored in government at Connecticut College, has been traveling and living abroad since his graduation.
“My interest in travel and other cultures began with a program called LanguageCorps Asia. I used their services to secure a job teaching English in Cambodia for a semester while still attending Conn College, and immediately knew that I wanted to continue living and working abroad. I then went to Korea to teach in the winter of 2008 and 2009, and then back to Cambodia where I taught at the Pannasastra University of Cambodia and studied Buddhist philosophy,” Daniels said. “I’m currently traveling in India.”
Read more at http://www.languagecorps.com/blog/languagecorps-teacher-named-fullbright-scholar/
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
Jacob Daniels, Fulbright Teaching Assistantship, Vietnam
Former LanguageCorps Asia teacher Jacob Daniels, has been awarded a Fullbright Scholarship for Teaching English in Vietnam!
Daniels, who majored in government at Connecticut College, has been traveling and living abroad since his graduation.
“My interest in travel and other cultures began with a program called LanguageCorps Asia. I used their services to secure a job teaching English in Cambodia for a semester while still attending Conn College, and immediately knew that I wanted to continue living and working abroad. I then went to Korea to teach in the winter of 2008 and 2009, and then back to Cambodia where I taught at the Pannasastra University of Cambodia and studied Buddhist philosophy,” Daniels said. “I’m currently traveling in India.”
Read more at http://www.languagecorps.com/blog/languagecorps-teacher-named-fullbright-scholar/
http://www.languagecorpsasia.com
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