Life In a Shoe Factory, One Year On

Hi from the office! Pardon my sweat and fluffy hair.

Well Hello! It’s been a while. How nice to be back with you again! (Yes, YOU!)

I just passed an anniversary at my job, and it occurs to me that I’ve never really explained what I do at my new place of employment. I haven't posted in so long!

My mother likes to tell people I work in a shoe factory in Vietnam - har har, Mother! What a troll. ;D She’s correct, of course, but I’m firmly in bonafide cubicle-land among the shoe developers, managers, and planners. And, as of September 1st, I’ve been here a year.

It’s a fascinating job and fairly challenging in all the best ways, and a few really not great ways.

Let me give you a little overview...

He's Come Undone (33rd-Year Edition)

I can't articulate WHY... but this speaks to me.

Real talk.

For a while in 2016, it indeed looked like I'd come undone. A better metaphor is that it was like being unmoored and lost at sea.

Unmooring a vessel means to lift up the anchor and release ties to the dock, releasing it to the weather, the sea, and the skill of the crew. It's always the start of any journey, and no ship leaves dock without a destination. I unmoored myself from Chicago when I left to travel abroad. The thing about journeys is that, when you have a stated end goal, your journey will end in either success or failure.

In other words, becoming unmoored is the first step to achieving your dreams. However, being unmoored is also the first step in getting truly lost.

This year, I ran into some headwinds at sea.

I had a series of jobs that I didn't like. I felt like my real talents were going to waste, but wasn't always able to articulate those talents in a way that made sense, to myself or employers. I attempted to start a few businesses, and was marginally successful in one of them. I got a job I loved, and then got fired from when I demanded a contract (oof, disheartening - she operated in America, FYI). I followed a lot of irrational hope, in hindsight.

In the meantime, all my internal plans were in disarray.

That One Time I Went on a Vietnamese Talk Show

Pics or GTFO? I'll do you one better! Here's some video to file away under 'WTF just happened'.

In June of 2014 I was invited on this HTV talk show in Ho Chi Minh City. That's me, in the coral shirt and black suit.


This segment is about the quality of English education in Vietnam. It's a very interesting topic (see my post  about their national plan for increasing foreign language skills in their student populations for more details - it's pretty fascinating stuff).

I was invited on to provide the perspective from a Native Speaker's vantage point. It's about 20 minutes long and I'm only in a few minutes (sweating and rambling... too many 'uhhhh' and 'ummm's to even mention!).

Vietnam's 'English 2020' Program in Perspective

This is a caption from the GRADE 7
government textbook, Tieng Anh.

There are many critics of one of Vietnam's most ambitious (I use that word a lot... but this example might be the most appropriate example yet) projects to date: the National Foreign Language 2020 (NFL2020) project. But to what are they objecting?

This project is a 10-year plan to modernize and build teaching and learning capacity (mainly English) and implement Government’s Decision 14001 (2008) “to renovate the teaching and learning of foreign languages within the national education system” (Article 1.1, Decision 1400).

Here's a quick summary of the project (see full English translation of decree at the end of this post):

These new policies include many aspects of teaching, assessment, and professional development, including:

• Introducing English at grade 3 or earlier
• Mapping outcomes to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) benchmarks
• Establishing proficiency and professional standards for English-language teachers

The NFL2020 desires to address these policies through: 

• Teacher assessment
• Teacher development
• Curriculum revision
• Textbook innovation (overhauling and digitalization)
• Testing and assessment improvement
• Establishment of Regional Teacher Development Centers

The decree came down from the Government in 2008, and by 2010 it resulted in the NFL2020 Project. It was immediately clear that the teaching capacity of Vietnamese teachers of English was broadly limited. While more and more teachers failed the basic English competency test (where they are required to achieve the equivalent of a 5.0/6.0 in the IELTS test), it was particularly scary that the teachers who scored the lowest were the older and most educated instructors, responsible for teaching at highly specialized and regarded schools and preparing students who went on to win national awards.

Seriously? That can't be good...

But first, some background on the education system in Vietnam.

Closing Time

The Principal speaking.

Yes, people: you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here. Because it's SUMMER VACATION!

Well, if you insist, HCMC. If you insist.

This past Wednesday was formally my last day in the Vietnamese public schools for the 2013-2014 school year, and I really couldn't be happier. Because, seriously, I've been at sweat level Cannonball In The Deep End (which is the highest sweat alert level, if you didn't know) for the past three weeks - I'm soaking wet seemingly all the time.

It's been a real slog to the finish line, both for teachers and their kids. Everyone knows the end is nigh, and as the humidity goes up and the heat stays the same (HOT), concentration becomes a serious chore.

Teacher Ben's (Very Late) 2013 Year in Review

Exhibit Food-1: This Tuesday picture smells like a savory slow
cooker makes your house smell on cold February evenings. Real good.

*I've sat on this post for far too long... it was much weirder and prone to tangents in it's original version and I was just never happy with it. Here's the heavily-edited version I'm ready to share - finally! Just in time to write about second semester!

2013 Report Card
Subject: Teacher Ben
Semester: Fall
Year: 2013
Transcript taken: 3/2014
Location: Public Schools, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Teacher Ben: Grand Teaching Authority, employers, and parents, welcome. Spanish Inquisition, I wasn't expecting you, but welcome.

Grand Teaching Authority: Welcome. Please state your name for the record.

Teacher Ben: Teacher Ben

GTA: Do you know why you are here?

TB: This hearing is being held to briefly summarize and characterize my first year in the ESL teaching field, document my journey, and generally be a postmortem for setting goals in 2014.

GTA: I see you've brought visual evidence and a cat on a leash. I love leashes on small animals. Would you like a biscuit before we start?

(At this point, the Reader is invited to hit the jump and join our group down the rabbit hole of Vietnamese ESL teaching for a transcript of the entire Report Card...)

Tropical Santa Cosplay Time

Every year my dad dresses up to play Santa in his Illinois town. This year, to my general dismay, I joined his taste in santa-wear and dressed up as the jolly man himself (Santa, although my dad's pretty jolly, too!) to bring guava and yoghurt flavored candy to the children of Song Lo Primary School.

Let's just say that it was real, real hot, and that they should wash that santa suit after I sweat all over it. This is not a forgiving climate for wearing fur!

Also, check out my ridiculous sandals. Santa went tropical this year. Forget that boots nonsense: when Santa is in Rome...!

At left is a picture of me with my cooperating teacher (the regular English teacher, who magically becomes my TA when I'm there). She's really great, and we have good first grade classrooms together. They're sometimes so smart it's scary!

Click through for a photo album of Santa's trip to Phu Nhuan District...

Oh Nothing, Just My 1st Graders Singing Christmas Songs and Dancing

It's Christmastime in Vietnam!

Despite being a primarily Buddhist/Atheistic country, it's been a great surprise to learn and see first hand how much Vietnamese people TOTALLY DIG Christmas.

It's the lights. The tree. The songs. Santa. Decorations are everywhere, and people flock from all over the region to the area around the Notre Dame Cathedral in downtown District 1 to take dozens of facebook profile pictures in front of the decoration displays.

I anticipated a week like any other week, but from the traffic to the atmosphere, it's been a pleasant surprise.

To get into the spirit of the season, I've been singing Christmas songs with my first graders for several weeks. Although I'm pretty sure my ears will bleed if I ever hear Jingle Bell (sic) again, it was still pretty darn adorable.

And Now For a Word From Our Sponsors...

A couple weeks ago I came into my first primary school of the day to be greeted by this nonsense. There was a massive promotional push to get kids to drink a particular brand of Vietnamese milk (Dutch Lady) happening this morning.

Because I have to walk through the courtyard to park my bike in the rear of the school, I had to navigate it past maybe a thousand children playing with the mascots, getting pictures taken, and generally running amok because there was some kind of change in their schedule.

You remember how fun changes to the school day were when you were little? It was crazy! All bets were off when things didn't follow the normal day! And it always felt so great to bust out of the routine. This was like a mixture concert, basketball contest, circus, and toy giveaway, and it was totally crazy.

Teacher's Day 2013

Teacher's Day!!!

Was there ever a holiday so fantastic?! Vietnam holds an annual national holiday recognizing the hard work of (and low pay of most) teachers every year, and this year it landed on Wednesday, November 20th. Both of my schools cancelled classes and I got my office hours moved to Friday - the better to go to Monkey Island with!

On this day, kids sing songs, dance dances, and shower teachers with all sorts of presents, cards, and cash. Parents and administrators alike seemed to take this 'gift' thing to heart, as you'll see below. I got an absolutely unnecessary amount of gifts - honestly I just love interacting with my kids. That's usually reward enough... but this did not hurt one tiny bit!

Here's one of my photo album posts - just to explain how big a deal this is, here's a set of some of the craziest parts of this fun day (and indeed, whole week). If you're thinking of teaching in Vietnam, I guess I'd say this was an endorsement!

My Public School Teaching Methods

This is THE phrase everyone - EVERYONE - knows
(complete with arm gestures!): "I'm fine, thanks. And you?"

Technically speaking, I'm not doing the job I expected to be doing when I began this foray into teaching.

I'm mostly employed as a Listening/Speaking ESL teacher, my syllabus assuming that their regular Vietnamese teacher has taught them reading, writing, and grammar. The consequence of this division of labor is that I rarely get to do 'whole language' instruction with my youngest students.

Their two worlds of skills are completely separate, and it's evident by the expectations of my older private students: "Teach us how to communicate!"

At the same time, identifying student problem areas are difficult, to say the least, in classes where each individual might hope to get a maximum of 2 or 3 minutes of pure one-on-one practice time with me - the sheer volume of learners coupled with the once-a-week instruction work to keep everyone at the slowest common denominator.


Here are the ways that I try to mitigate these circumstances and lay some heavy English knowledge on all these kids...

Fall Open House: 14 Weeks of Teaching and Counting

Two Mondays ago I took my job to the Nth level - it was open house time. Time to preen and show off!

Several times a year, my class will come down to the courtyard and 'perform' for parents and invited guests. With many resources available to us that we don't have in the regular classrooms (including projector, computer, and speaker system - the ubiquitous microphone does NOT count), it's a great way to plan something that's a little out of the ordinary.

A native English teacher is considered an asset to public schools here. Most teachers teaching English grammar, reading, and writing are communicating in Vietnamese, not English, and many are not very proficient in speaking/listening. Luckily, my teacher at this particular primary school is a great listener and speaker, and her kids are usually ok.

It should have been a disaster. Leading up to the moment I started, it certainly had all the characteristics of a disaster. I was nervous but, breaking it down, it was just acting - and that I had done before.

Why Did I Choose Vietnam?

I waffled (fun word!) for several months before finally picking a place to go teach English, and even then I was unsure and lacked confidence in my decision. It was only once I'd been here for a while that I could say for sure that I made the correct choice - this is an amazing, electric city in a rapidly modernizing & developing country, and, in 2013, it's a fascinating place to live and work.

If you haven't heard me tell it, there was a specific string of events and planning that led me to take the concrete steps to go abroad to teach. Here's how I eventually settled on Vietnam!

Vietnam is special in a lot of ways. Here's what I was thinking when I finally made my choice:

Nominally a God

I've had teachers tell me during teacher training (both my first two years of undergrad studies, when I was an education major, and during my more recent TEFL training) that your rules are inviolable in the classroom. In the words of one educator, you are God's direct envoy of teaching to this classroom, and what you say goes. But what if you can't make your wishes understood?

Today I experienced an unsettling situation that I feel compelled to write about, primarily because I'm a little surprised that this hasn't happened to me already, but also because it brought home to be just how much of a guest I am in classrooms.

It underlined my relative newness to teaching, my lack of cultural knowledge, and my entire understanding of discipline in HCMC's public schools, and in this school in particular (disciplinary measures vary widely between schools in the city).

Observations on Interpersonal Communications

In Vietnam, every single one of
these emotions can be a smile.

[Note: On June 30th of this year I solicited questions and topics from readers. This is one of those topics. If you have a question or topic you're curious about, use the form at right to email me, or leave it in the comments!]

QUESTION: Interpersonal communication. This might be a difficult topic to tackle before you get a good hold on the language, but what factors beyond the words themselves convey meaning? Are there certain linguistic rituals which are expected which aren't synchronous with behavioral expectations? For example, we ask, "How's it going?" with the expectation that people will say, "good," and not honestly tell us how things are going.

ANSWER: Great question, and since you've asked, let's pick it apart. After four months I've racked up enough interaction points to make some subjective observations about Vietnamese non-verbal communication.

Initially, I didn't recognize much of what I was seeing. In Vietnam, your actions can reflect on not only yourself, but your conversational partner and even the people surrounding you (if you're in public). It's a kind of social norm reinforcement, in many ways. Vietnam is a culturally conservative country and this reinforcement keeps it so on many levels.

Teaching: One Month Down, Eight to Go

All Vietnamese class art is this terrible. It must be traditional, because
if it's not it's an international humanitarian crime.

I mentioned in my last post that I get pretty damn sweaty in the classroom - jumping back and forth, working with kids, and patrolling the narrow aisles leaves me damp and exhausted at the end of it. I'm also covered in all different colors of chalk dust pretty much all the time - I look like a refugee from the Indian holiday of Holi on some days, with yellow, green, blue, red, and white powder on my shirt, all over my pants, and smeared on my face when I lift my glasses to wipe off my brow with the sleeve of my shirt.

Teaching Update: August

It's been a whirlwind August so far, and I can't believe it's almost half over! This was the month that I started teaching. It was momentous for me. Baby steps toward your 20-year goals, Ben, baby steps!

My new work location.

First up I got to sit in on a class in a private high school where they are holding classes over the summer. The class size was nowhere near what I've been told I'll have to handle in my public school classrooms, but I've heard that the students in private schools are more unruly and worse students, so there's that. We'll have to see. It was a good experience to be able to see a teacher interact with students, regardless, although apparently they were very subdued because they didn't know why I was there. No problem, Thursday afternoon English teacher. You're welcome!

Demo Lesson Headaches

Pull the football away one more time, I dare you.

NOTE: This will be one of my rant-y posts. I try to keep them to a minimum, but sometimes I just have to let it all out and complain in English. Skip this one if it's not your cup of tea!

First of all, what is a Demo Lesson?

An ESL Demo Lesson is a lot of things, but none of them efficient, or even very useful, that I could see. This is the basic takeaway I have from my first (hopefully only, ever again) Demo Lesson. It was a series of hoops, like many things in Education, but some of them were ablaze, and some got pulled away at the last minute, like Lucy pulling away Charlie Brown's football. I made it through successfully, but it wasn't without unnecessary frustration pitfalls.

My Experience with Today's Training Course

This is on really nice paper - a good sign?

Job training consisted of a 2.5 hour presentation, mostly about management of classrooms with 40+ kids (yikes!!) and a little bit about ESL games, some popular ones, and how to vary them.

I guess it was pretty useful. It was interesting observing and talking to the other teachers. 16 (myself included) were there and most were newly hired to this company - one guy had been in the program last year, and several of the younger teachers knew each other socially or from previous networking.

I was by far the greenest of the team, both in teaching and in Vietnam. There were four Americans - the rest were Brits, some Scots, and some Aussies. For everyone but me, this was old hat - most were teaching already, had been to multiple countries, and were already situated in Vietnam for 6 or more weeks. Some had been teaching here for several years.