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Friday, June 5, 2009

KTV English Same-Same Fun

Yesterday was my first day teaching at KTV English here in Bien Hoa, Vietnam. The students were prepared for my arrival since there's a life-sized image of me on a billboard in front of the school. Teacher Nancy is famous!

The system at KTV is a lot different from what I've experienced in the past. The biggest difference is that they have several people teaching the same classes, so on Monday the students might get Bob, Wednesday they get Sue, & Friday they are taught by Mary. It's pretty confusing for me, but I guess the students are okay with it. I'll just have to adjust. Old dog, new tricks.

The students are friendly & seem to be eager to learn, so class time has been great. I'm getting used to the Vietnamese accent, but the students tend to speak very softly, so I have to lean in to understand them. They have this habit of saying the phrase "same-same" to mean that something is similar to something else. I'm not sure where they picked that up, but it comes up a lot when discussing vocabulary.

The hours are perfect for me. Classes are from 6:00 to 9:15pm. I get the rest of the day to do whatever I want. As soon as I get myself some transportation, I'll be able to use the day time to explore the city & learn some Vietnamese from the locals.

3 comments:

scott said...

What?!! You have the exact same schedule as before you left? No day classes, no other job duties you have to fill during the day??

Well... NICE!

Somehow i feel.. jealous. :) Love the billboard. Great schedule and your name and image in lights. Can't top that!

Nice! Somehow i feel cheated though. :)

Unknown said...

Sounds fascinating. This is Debbie E.'s son Chris btw. Congrats on making it this far! Some time you may need a relief from... Asia. When that happens, consider a trip to Hong Kong! We'll take care of ya!

Nancy Lewis said...

Hi there, Chris :)

I'd love to visit Hong Kong. I'll be here in Vietnam for about six months & hope to do a lot of traveling while I'm here. I'm planning to go to Bangkok in July, but would like to talk with you more about getting to Hong Kong soon.