Teaching to people who already speak English

Today I was invited to speak at the NSW Writers' Centre, as part of a seminar on making a living as a writer.

The funny thing is, I only know how to teach to people who don't speak English! Here I was teaching people who, in fact, speak English very well: so much so that they are even writing books in English. So, I thought I would have to modify my teaching style to take this into account.

Well, actually I didn't change it very much at all. I still did a lead in task where they had to brainstorm the topic in groups, followed by feedback, I still asked CCQs (concept-checking questions), and I spoke slowly and clearly. And, remarkably, it worked really well.

So, I think a lot of the things I learned in my CELTA can actually be applied to other areas as well. Who'd have thought it?

Back in Australia

Dear blog readers
This idea never really took off for me in Vietnam... ever so sorry to disappoint!

After 10 months in Asia I'm now back in Sydney. I'm still teaching English though, at ACE Bondi Junction (where I began just over a year ago). I'm not sure how long I'm going to keep teaching but we'll see how it goes.

A few observations about learners here compared with Vietnamese:

Here my students are mostly Europeans, with a good dose of Brazilians in the mix. It is quite different teaching a multi-lingual group, rather than the mono-lingual Vietnamese. With my Vietnamese students, after a while I got to predict what their pronunciation and grammar problems would be, because they all spoke the same language. I would know in advance that they would forget to put plural "s" on nouns, have problems with final consonant sounds and at even high levels would still say "He go"!

With a multi-lingual class I can't predict the problems so readily because in any one class I might have five different languages spoken, so they will all have different issues. But given that most of my students speak Latin-based languages, it is so much easier for them to learn English. And their accents are just so much closer to native speakers! Sometimes I don't want to correct a French speaker when they say "zis" for "this" because it sounds so, well, French!

The main thing that makes it easier teaching Western students is that they "get" references to Western culture. All the text books make a lot of assumptions about what students know, and invariably my Vietnamese students would have very, very limited knowledge about Western history and popular culture prior to 2009. It is great to start a class when all my students already know who Paul McCartney, Elvis, Nelson Mandela and Madonna are!

Teaching English is consistently fascinating. Maybe I'll keep this up now I'm back.

Happy new year!

The search for the perfect Western breakfast in Hanoi

Honestly, I don't know why I bother. I have only had one perfect breakfast in Vietnam. That was at the Ha An Hotel in Hoi An. It was amazing! A buffet like you have never seen. Firstly, cakes (yes, cake for breakfast!): cheesecake, chocolate cake, creme caramel. I walk past those to the "healthy" cereals (coco pops, corn flakes, etc), yoghurt, muesli (ahhhh, decadent luxury...), milk, tea and coffee on demand. Then croissant, pain au chocolat, chocolate chip bikkies in little take away packs. A wide selection of fruit all nicely cut up. A few hot dishes, usually one Vietnamese dish and one Western dish, and then.... the omelette guy. Ahhh, I love the omelette guy! Choose what you want, and he will make your omelette fresh to order. And just to finish off, there is a little selection of what we call in Australia Yum Cha, but what the rest of the world calls Dim Sum. Little dumplings and other random, unidentifiable objects which all taste yummy.

So, that was Hoi An. After extensive searching, I haven't found anything in Hanoi even coming close to that pinnacle of breakfast enjoyment.

This is what I want:

• a choice of teas, preferably served in a pot: loose tea leaves, not a tea bag,
• if I have to settle for a tea bag, I want a container to put the bag in, so I don't have to leave it on the table/in an ashtray/in my cup,
• a choice of eggs, preferably either scrambled or poached
• decent bread, not white, square lunch bread. Preferably a substantial baguette.
• decent bacon. More than an inch long. I kid you not, once we got bacon that was one bit, less than an inch long! Sorry Gecko Cafe, you don't rate because of the stinginess of that!
• If there is a sauce, eg Hollandaise, it must be HOT! Sorry Culi Cafe, you lose many, many brownie points for that, and it was not redeemed when you put the whole plate, including salad, in the microwave.
• refills of tea
• decent hot chocolate, which is thick and frothy
• a non-smoking environment
• open for breakfast until at least 11am.

OK so that's not too difficult, right?

WRONG!

So far, the best two breakfasts I have found are KOTO and Puku.

The drawback of KOTO is that, while they have an awesome buffet, almost as good as the Ha An, it finishes too early. We have got there at 9.30 am to find that they have already packed up. Next!

Puku has the Super Kiwi Breakfast. This is pretty good, the best I reckon so far in Hanoi. A big stack of good bread, sausages, mashed potatoes, tomatoes, eggs done how you want, as well as spinach and mushrooms. It is on the pricey side though, and there are a lot of smokers there, so it doesn't quite cut it with my friends. But if I had my choice, it would be Puku every time. 60 Hang Trong.

It just should be a lot easier to get a decent breakfast. I cooked bacon and eggs at home this morning and it was pretty damn good. Maybe I should quit teaching English and start my own cafe!

And I know I should try to eat like the locals. I do a lot, really, but I just can't handle Pho for breakfast. So for now I'll keep searching for the one cafe that has it all. In the meantime I'll eat my muesli and tea at home.

Update on my travels

OK, OK, I know I've been here eight weeks without as much as a whisper in a long while. It's taken me a while to acclimatise. In fact, I know it will take much longer, if ever, to feel at home here. There is the obvious fact that I don't look like everyone else, and this means that I stand out wherever I go. Walk down the street, "Madame, madame, mo-to-bike?" is pretty much the standard sound I hear everywhere I go. Except when I actually want to get a motorbike taxi ride and then there is none to be seen.

The teaching is going well, the only problem is that I haven't got a full-time load of classes yet, so I have quite a lot of leisure time. Two weeks ago was Tet, the Vietnamese New Year, which followed on so closely after Christmas that it's just felt like one long holiday here since mid-December when I arrived. Now the crazy time is over and hopefully things are now back to "normal", although I'm still getting used to this type of normal. Anyway, the students are great, very polite and serious and keen to learn, so that is all fine.

I'm now living in a house with three other Australians: Simone, Ben and Bec. I didn't plan it that way, it was just the best house available at the time, and they wanted me to move in as well. The house is a 15-minute bike ride to work and I'm proud to say that I am now confidently riding a bike (push-bike that is, not a motorbike!) every day, negotiating the crazy traffic and even successfully doing left hand turns, which I always have to psych myself up for first. Location - wise, it's good, because we are out of the old quarter but still quite convenient for everything. It takes about 10-15 minutes by taxi to get anywhere.

Next time I write (and I promise it'll be sooner!) I'll do an overview of the best and worst food in my travels so far.

My conversation in French with a Vietnamese dandy

A few days ago I was eating dinner in a small Vietnamese place. Of course I was the only blonde on the street. As I was enjoying my food, an elderly Vietnamese gentleman came up and asked me in French if I spoke French.

He was tall and thin, probably in his seventies, smoking a cigarette on a slender black cigarette holder. His outfit made me smile: a skin-tight white leather Dolce & Gabbana suit with shiny silver D&G buttons. Very ostentatious. And not what you'd expect from a man his age.

We then proceeded to carry on a conversation in French. Now, my French is pretty basic, but it's a hell of a lot better than anything I can say in Vietnamese! I could answer his questions about where I'm from, what I'm doing here, what I think of Hanoi. It was really great to be able to connect with an older Vietnamese in a common language, as not many older people speak English.

I just wish I'd had my camera with him to take a photo as he was such a sight to see!

Little moments like this are why I'm here.

I'm here!

Well, I arrived in Hanoi yesterday.

It's a year since I was last here and not much has changed. There are still millions of motorbikes, probably less bicycles and more cars than last year. The lakes are beautiful and so far the weather is quite mild.

My friend Yung, who was born in Vietnam, arranged for me to meet her cousin, Luong, who took me out for some beers and Vietnamese food last night. It was great to meet some locals, particularly since I was feeling a bit jet lagged and homesick having just arrived!

I will be visiting my new school this afternoon to observe some lessons and find my way around.

Meanwhile, I need to get a mobile phone and an apartment organised...

Nearly out of Oz

Well it's been an exhausting couple of weeks, but today I finally moved out of my apartment in Sydney. I still can't believe how much stuff I have accumulated in less than two years. While moving is always stressful, I am starting to think it is actually good to do it every couple of years because it makes you really think about what it is you really need to live.

It is now only three days until I leave Australia. I am getting really, really nervous now! Time to plunge in and see what the next stage of the journey will bring.

In the photo is my class at ACE Bondi, back row l-r: Joao, Ludovic, Max, Fernanda, Stephanie, Jeong. Front row: Pauline, Isabelle, me, Jesus.