Refugeeing

Blogspot has become too difficult to use - for my world-renowned university educated mind. We've had good times, blogspot. A toast.

Now, the flight over to

thirstythongs.wordpress.com

Do note the plurality of "thirstythongs" and not "thirstythong."

Love in the Time of Durex

While I'm away on holiday, time to play another game of guess what this map data represents.

Surely, it's because the Reykjavikians got nothing better to do (what with the cold and all), the Fins just know how to relax, and Brazilians are just pretty 'effin hawt (second to Vietnamese...and Thais, but of course) but what of the others? We already know that Married With Children and MySpace are largely responsible for the trends in the US (bless you Bundy), but what about in VN? The averaging out of cupcaking ages between village and city lovers? Good ole' Confucius? All you wannabe dissertators, what's the word on the internets?

ESL Activities that work surprisingly well

Blue-tac: the next best thing next to the nude woman

After a year of teaching the English language to Vietnamese students of all ages (seriously), I've experimented with many different activities (whiting-out "SexyBack" lyrics, "how much wood can a woodchuck chuck?"), in search of the most effective methodology. Amateur English language teachers fall into the trap of talking too much - using their TTT (Teacher Talk Time) ineffectively, treating the classroom as an auditorium. I subscribe to a 60/40 principle: students do more of the talking.

Here are three of my favorite activities / games that gets students to become active and/or interact with one another, without you having to say much at all.

Backs to the Board

Suitable age group: 11 and up

Objective: To get students to identify particular vocabulary using contextual keywords and phrases.

Duration: 20-25 minutes

Methodology: Prepare a list of vocabulary according to the particular target language / vocabulary of the unit you are teaching in a given class. For example, if the current unit is "technology and computers," a potential list of vocabulary could be: "laptop, iPod, Wi-Fi, memory, program, e-mail, etc." Then, split, the class into two teams and have them send one team member to the front of the class. They will respectively be the standing team members who must turn their backs to the board. Write one of the vocabulary words on the board. Inform the sitting team members - who are able to see the board - may not say the particular vocabulary, but rather, use contextual keywords and phrases as clues to the particular vocabulary. The goal is to get the standing team member to say the particular vocabulary, ideally shouting it out. The first standing team member to identify the target vocabulary correctly earns their team a point.

A typical scene: I write "iPod" on the board. The sitting students verbally scramble, shouting key incomplete phrases and keywords to clue their standing team member on what the word is: "Apple...you can listen to music...it's small...Steve Jobs..." The standing student might say: "MP3...radio..." and then "iPod" with the sitting students shouting in triumph.

P.S. I like to use this activity as a review of many units to keep it spicy. Try not to use vocabulary which they can easily gesture to on the spot, for example: watches, desks, hands, etc. as they will almost always physically express the vocabulary rather than verbally deconstruct it.

Running Dictation

Suitable age group: 8 and up

Objective: To get students reading, speaking, listening, writing (and exercising), all within one activity and to practice any target language / vocabulary.

Duration: 15-25 minutes

Methodology: Take any written text (a series of alphabet letters, a sentence, a passage from a textbook, a paragraph from a short story, lyrics to a song) and stick it on a wall, place it on the chair - put it somewhere out of the students reach, at least five footsteps away. Get the students to form partnerships. Inform students that each partnership will have one writer and one runner. The runner will dictate the selected written documents to their partner by sauntering up to the written document, memorizing a portion of it, and running that memorized portion back to dictate to their writing partner. Also warn students that they may not stand next to the written document and shout it out to their partner.

A typical scene: A runner goes to the written document, reads it, and runs it back to their partner to dictate it. After doing such for five minutes, they get tired and propose to switch roles with their writing partner - let it happen (!) as long as it keeps them engaged and practicing their English.

P.S. Putting the written document outside the classroom door is my preference. I also like to use "blue-tac" to stick it on the wall, as its re-usable. I prefer using lyrics to a song, so after they are finished (and exhausted from) dictating the entire document, I can play the actual song and the class can unwind - maybe even extend the activity by having them underline certain portions I play specifically.

Hangman (Don't Die Minh!)

Suitable age group: 6 and up

Objective: To get students to identify target vocabulary.

Methodology: Prepare a list of vocabulary according to the particular target language / vocabulary of the unit you are teaching in a given class. Divide the class into two teams. Draw a scaffold on the board and to the right of that, draw the appropriate amount of letter spaces given a certain word you think of (ex. "blue" yields _ _ _ _ ). Write the subject or particular unit you are studying above both. Explain that students have six chances to guess the correct letters to complete the word. For each letter they guess incorrectly, that incorrect letter is written to the left of it and a body part is drawn (preferable order: head, stick body, stick left arm, stick right arm, stick left leg, stick right leg...you can always add more heh heh). A point is rewarded to the team who identifies the target vocabulary word without getting their "man" hung at the scaffold.

A typical scene: Students will shout out random letters. As a word begins to reveal itself, some students will simply shout the word since they now know what it probably is - ignore them and force them to keep guessing the correct words. This prevents the game from going by too fast and forces them to spell it and pronounce letters completely.

P.S. Being that many students will know how to play "Hangman" once you draw the scaffold, I like to play "Don't Die, Minh!" Instead of drawing a scaffold, draw a cliff. On this cliff, draw four ticks and a fifth tick being an arrow downwards into the ocean (preferably with a shark or what looks like the Lochness Monster). Identify a student in the class, preferably a kid who is shy and/or needs a boost in confidence. Above this cliff, write "Don't Die, [insert student's name]!" Draw a little stick version of that student on a "zero" tick. With every letter guessed incorrectly, erase that student and move them to the proceeding tick and write the incorrect letter under the aforementioned proceeding tick accordingly. If a team happens to lose in identifying the word, draw the student getting eaten by the shark/Lochness monster, and then choose a new student in the class to "not die" - students eat it up!

A thousand words regarding traffic in Hanoi

The Vietnamese Siesta (and other secrets of life in Hanoi)

The Vietnamese Siesta
...or what I would like to coin: the Viesta.

Even when it ain't Thanksgiving, I still find all the blood rushing to my stomach after almost every meal since I usually eat like a Mongolian emperor with 50 kingdoms - or 2 Google shares.

For adults, the Viesta times in Hà Nội run between 12:00 to 13:30 as I find most people getting back to work around 14:00. During one of my classes, I found out some of my students may get as little as 5 hours of sleep in a night, with the justification that they take a duper long afternoon nap.

Caffeinin'
If it's the one thing you must respect hippies for nowadays, other than nude beaches and Anti-War activism, it's the consumer demands of Whole Foods / Trader Joes shoppers. If it wasn't for them snazzy, hand-drawn Trader Joes art, I would have never tried shit like making my own hummus. But now, thanks to nudity, I was able to indulge in the delight that is Yerba Mate.

However, unfortunately, obviously, I'm not back home in the bay, so I've been forced to find alternative sources of caffeine, which isn't that hard, thankfully.

My three main sources as of late:

Nâu đá / nóng (cà phê sữa đá / nóng) aka Việtnamese Drip Iced / Hot Coffee
Sữa chua cà phê aka Yogurt topped off with coffee
Trà xanh aka Green Tea

(Not like you can't find these in the states, since the states has, you know, everything.)

Sipping slow is key, unless you want to get your James Dean on. The world is your oyster.

Since it works for some people, I've been trying to hybrid it up, a lil' nâu đá with a 15-minute Viesta, to no avail as of yet. What a pity!

Therapeutic Sauna

Thanks to Vinh for being an avid reader of Wikipedia and the Fins for creating one of the best things evar, next to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I've found that following the Rule of Three when it comes to hopping back and forth between a duper hot dry sauna and a cold water immersion pool works best.

To paraphrase Geoff: Truth is who you think of when you cum therapeutic sauna.

A Walk Around A Hồ

I would try to do this around Lake Merritt, but I don't want to get slapped or shot. When people ask me why I digg Hà Nội over HCMC, my first reason is, urrrm, the vomen, my second are the Hồs. What's grand is hồs in Hà Nội are usually surrounded by cafes so you can hop in for a quick caffeine shot right after putting in those 30-minutes a day. You can even get free show as hồs are the place for cupcakin' couples.


Kinh!

Oh, Cal Band!

In case you haven't heard, that vig Bilo beat me in a game of Craps, so I guess I am back - less like Nas - more like Mos Def ala True Magic.



Ladies and gents, my three loves: video games, Berkeley, and the Cal Band.

(Credit: Poplicks)

Bilo Back

Hi. I Bilo.

It been quiet long time, I should not leave you, without strong post to stepping to.

Stepping to, step, stepping, stepping oh yeah yeah oh.

Just the another day, I play Vinh, Thông in game of Crap and we drink like someone who Korean someone who Fanxipan. And I say, and I say: Thông, if I get seventy, you and me must quit being viggas and come out blogtirement.

You guess? I got seventy! Cheer for me.

Because you knowing, let me share my thinkings for one moment because as of lately, I listening to a lot hip-hop. I listen Kanyeezy. I listen Hanson. Here is my anal: blog is like game is like hip-hop is like game. And it not the same when Thông and me decide to blogtirement.

I tell that vigga, you are Nas, who is poor and short what a pity. I am Bilo who is Jay-Z who is tall and muscular. Preya is Beyonce of Bilo.

All these another blogs are the Ja Rule or Britney Spears. They must try to come on back but surely Bilo come on your back.

So Thông back. Bilo back. It's celebrate bitch!

To celebrate time, I make a song. This called: "Bilo Boys"

And the winner Bilo, I am man
Speak!
First all, I want to thank Connecticut
Want to thank my mom and dad for have sex
Thank you to motorbike the Petrolimex
The osin girly boy for clean the house
Boy girls who buy my iPhones in đồng
The first girl who letting me put in

The Bilo Boys in building tối nay
Oh what feeling I feel like cry
You do not bring your boyfriend here
We the Bilo Boys here, drinks on your spouse

Thank you.