General Notes about my English lessons and life in Viet Nam.
Author: Thay Paul's notes
London-born English teacher, now living and working in Sai Gon, Viet Nam.
I want to use this site to post lesson notes, extra work, helpful links as well as general notes about my time in SE Asia and Viet Nam. I also want to give real classroom experiences and how to deal with real classes of noisy, unmotivated and resistant students. Additionally, I'll be posting links to films, publishing plays and stories, and introducing friends who work in the arts.
Aimed at young learners, the first video is a warm up exercise for students to identify various letters, then read the animals as the letters appear one by one.
Award points for the first student(s) to spell the animals, for extra excitement !
For speaking tests, students need to be able to speak at length, using long sentences with adjectives, linking words and maybe an expression or two … and it’s never too soon to start.
Higher Kindergarten classes can answer in short sentences, instead of single word answers. They can expand by using adjectives.
For example, a teacher will ask, “What is it ?”
The answer must be in the form of a sentence, “It’s a car.” Then we can expand … “It’s a red car,” “It’s a fast, red car.”
At higher levels, students need to feel confident to speak longer, and here’s a tip. This is a mind map with one main idea, then different ideas that students can speak about.
OK, as they say in Cinema, “Show, don’t tell.”
Some expressions:
I’m over the moon (I’m very, very happy)
I was blown away (I was very impressed by someone or something)
It cheers me up (Verb 1) cheered me up (Verb 2) (made me happy after I was sad)
Don’t forget to use the linking words
because // also // so // however // as well as
EXAMPLE:
My favourite sports are football and swimming because they are fun, exciting as well as healthy.
I play football at school with my classmates. My friend John is very good. He is better than me. I also play on weekends. However, I can’t play football alone.
I really enjoy swimming. I can swim alone. I often swim at weekends at a sports centre.
Sports can cheer me up when I am sad. If my teams win, I am over the moon.
Before younglings graduate from the Superkids Level, they have to, absolutely have to, master the most basic verb in English, the verb ‘to be’ – so, let’s go to work !
Let’s go to work
BAAM ! Easy !
Now … let’s practise
Make it a game, put the class in teams
I shall read a short sentence. I want the correct Verb 1, Verb 2 & the infinite.
EXAMPLE: I say, “I is happy.”
Team 1 writes I am happy,
Team 2 I was happy
Team 3 using the helping verb ‘want’ will write I want to be happy.
OK, I dig, Man, let’s go to work !
You is sad // He am angry // She are intelligent // It is cold // Ms Huong am cute // We am hungry // They is furious.
Change the helping verb to like or need
I is better // You is taller // Ms Huong over the moon // He am a tough guy // She weres colourful // It iss rich // We to be free // They on holiday.
With real sadness, and shock, I write this blog as a tribute to Andy Rourke, former bass player with The Smiths.
I first saw the band around the time of their second single ‘This Charming Man’, playing in a ballroom, then saw them at larger venues, festivals and arenas. They were a band that changed lives. There had been nothing quite like them, before or since.
Morrissey and Marr dominated the group, in terms of media coverage, but all musicians could tell how much Andy contributed; he was such an under-rated bassist.
“It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Andy Rourke after a lengthy illness with pancreatic cancer,” guitarist Johnny Marr wrote on Twitter.
Track 6 (‘We are the Cyborgs but that’s OK’) was inspired by Asian Sci-fi; Track 7 is another genre piece, this time the gangster film.
‘Ice-Cold Angels’ is the soundtrack to an imaginary crime-action movie, incorporating sounds of explosions, gunfire, speeding cars, police sirens, and gangsters shouting.
Lee Byung-hun … a Korean Alain Delon ? Still from ‘A Bittersweet Life’.
Musically, I chose the key of F and used the Korean Nando – Kyemyonjo scale, limiting myself to the five notes of that pentatonic scale: F G G# A# C.
Again, I was experimenting with the synth effects and sounds on the iPhone Garageband app, and some new guitar tones that were recently added. The ‘Digital Rainfall’ hopefully evokes the constant rain that seems to permeate crime and cyberpunk movies.
Kim Ok-bin in ‘The Villainess’ – fans of ‘John Wick’ will appreciate this film.
The music is non-profit, and I hope to introduce more audiences to Korean cinema and culture. All films are credited in the video. As such, I hope I may claim ‘Fair Use’, the video being for non-commercial artistic and educational purposes.
The next section is just for my own records and will be of no interest to anyone except maybe low-fi recording geeks.
The track is in the Key of F
Tempo 229 4/4 Time
Garageband sequence
Track 1 Classic Drum Machine
Track 2 Audio – Voice – Extreme Tuning
Dialogue from ‘The Villainess’ & ‘Shiri’
Track 3 Liverpool Bass
Track 4 Alchemy Synth – Mallets – Woodblock Space
Track 5 Alchemy Synth – Sound Effects – Digital Rainfall
The most experimental piece on the EP, ‘Cyborg’ uses various synth settings and effects to recreate a robotic, electronic soundscape, mixed with some traditional-sounding patriotic marching songs.
The dichotomy of traditional and futuristic sounds is continued by the use of a Chinese pipa set against a heavy bass drum machine.
The music is non-profit, and I hope to introduce more audiences to Korean cinema and culture. All films are credited in the video. As such, I hope I may claim ‘Fair Use’, the video being for non-commercial artistic and educational purposes.
The next section is just for my own records and will be of no interest to anyone except maybe low-fi recording geeks.
A writing exercise to help build narrative. We shall use signpost language, paragraphs, amazing adjectives, adverbs and linking words, as well as some new expressions.
I shall tell you about last Sunday – it was terrible and here’s why.
The plan of my day:
6.50 Book Grab on my iPhone and leave for work.
7.40 – 9.40 Young Learners class, level 1 (24 students)
10.10 Arrive home
10.11am – 2.30pm Wedding party across the street
10.30 – 12.00 Prepare work online
5.00pm – 9.30pm Another wedding party but much louder, more karaoke singers
6.00 Go for coffee
BUT 11.30pm Barcelona win 1- 0 so ‘All’s well that ends well.’
So what were the problems ?
“Hey, where is my bike ? I am late for work !”
I only have one class; I hope they are nice and quiet. OK, they are screaming, loudly ! But now I can go home and relax. Wait a moment …
A wedding party with singing and drinking and karaoke … for four hours ! No problems, I will wear headphones, listen to my music and prepare my work online.
I give up ! This is never going to happen. However, after 2.30pm it starts to be quiet. I can work, read and at 4.45 I started to sleep … until at 5.00:
These gentlemen do not sing beautifully, they sound like cats having a fight. I decide to go out to a quiet coffee bar. The server is very friendly … but then a man walks in …
My dreadful day was nearly over. At 11.30 I watch TV and see …
Yes, my team Barcelona are playing. I am blown away by how good they are and I am over the moon because they win the game. All’s well that ends well.
NOW … your turn
Write about Mr Paul’s terrible day.
TIPS
Use a short introduction, then a new paragraph for each new event.
Use signpost language (first, next, then, afterwards, finally).
The story is in the past so you have to use simple past (Verb 2). Noun & verb agreement (he is, he was)
End with a short conclusion.
Use new adjectives and synonyms (terrible, awful, dreadful, horrendous).
I insist that you use at least one new expression (over the moon, blown away, all’s well that ends well).
Let me kick start you:
Last Sunday was absolutely dreadful.
First, I booked Grab on my iPhone but he was extremely slow and late. My manager was …
now you finish my day
Good luck with my bad day
Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images or free photo sites, and are used for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.
Today I start a new class, and I’m very lucky; they are great. The class has some outstanding students who display motivation, respect and diligence.
That being said (however), they are still young, the hour is still early, so some ground rules need to be in place from Day One.
I encourage joking and having fun – the students will learn much more if they enjoy the class. But there is a time for joking and a time for working.
At the beginning of our new semester, my students will recite and sign this pledge:
I PROMISE TO BE QUIET IN CLASS AND TO LISTEN TO THE TEACHERS
No talking, shouting, animal noises, clicking of pens, stamping of feet, slamming of books, whistling etc.
You will get ONE Black Star warning. The second Black Star means you go out of the class. You will have a short meeting with the Manager. The meeting will not be fun for you.
We can not help you improve your pronunciation if there is so much noise that we can not hear you.
You signed the Pledge … now keep to your word.
Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images or free photo sites, and are used for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.
A two-chord song that builds to add synths, guzheng and a glockenspiel, evoking the melancholy of this love story that never was.
The inspiration for the track, ‘Christmas in August’ (1998), was one of the first films of New Korean Cinema to combine romance with heart-breaking drama. In later years, two young lovers one with a terminal illness, became something of a cliché, but this film remains one of the best; simple, delicate and very moving
The music is non-profit, and I hope to introduce more audiences to Korean cinema and culture. All films are credited in the video. As such, I hope I may claim ‘Fair Use’, the video being for non-commercial artistic and educational purposes.
The next section is just for my own records and will be of no interest to anyone except maybe low-fi recording geeks.
The track is in the Key of G
Tempo at drum section 133 6/8 Time
Garageband sequence
Track 1 Drum machine: Vintage Kit
Track 2 Clean Stack Guitar amp
Riff: Gm7 (root on the 10th fret, A string) / Cm7 (root on the 3rd fret, A string)
Track 3 Grand Piano
G F# G C / G F# G
Track 4 Alchemy synth – Voices – Girl’s Choir
Chorus selection (Chorus 11 o’clock / Reverb 11)
Track 5 Guzheng
G Am C Em chords
Tracks 6 Film Clips. Audio: Voice, Extreme Tuning
Track 7 Alchemy Synth – Glockenspiel
D G A – E D C
Tracks 8 & 9 Guitar Tones
Track 8: Palace of Mirrors PROCESSED
Track 9: Auditorium CLEAN
Riff: E 15 14 15 B 15 E 14 G 12
E string {C B A} G F# G D F# G {E} [20th – 12th frets)
Thay Paul's Notes 