How to use this blog: Thay Paul’s Notes – a users’ guide.

19th March 2020

This blogsite, aimed mainly at English-language students, contains lesson plans, listening exercises, video clips and suggestions for improving skills and ability.

With nearly two hundred blogs, the site may be a little hard to use, so I hope this page will explain.

When you click on this site, you will see the most recent post. Scroll down to see other posts. However, the blogs will appear by date, not by level or category.

If you want to find blogs that are aimed at your level, scroll down (go to the very bottom of the page) until you see:

Classes

Then a box that says:

Select category

Click on the blue arrows and you will see a menu – a list of different classes and subjects.

Adult classes Level 1, 2 and 3

These are lesson plans and extra notes, work and information for students who are over 16. They are based on the text book my centre uses (‘American English File’).

Adult Professionals

English at a higher level, and specifically aimed at engineers and mechanics. The subject are often science-based, including various video clips for the English terms as well as an opportunity to hear native-English speakers.

Adult Speaking Classes, Levels 1 – 3

My own plans and teaching notes aimed at increasing the students’ skill, as well as affording the chance to use English, construct complex sentences, listen to ‘real-world’ English speakers and be introduced to various types of music. Many blogs are theme-based, focusing on different countries or subjects. The higher level blogs are primarily for my online followers.

Beginners’ English

Simple lessons for students who have started learning English. Lots of photos and basic grammar, vocabulary and help with speaking in sentences.

Business English

Exercises for people who have a good command of English, but want to cultivate their skills especially with regards to business, such as email-writing or interview techniques.

IELTS (4- 5.5 & 5 – 6.5)

Lesson plans for IELTS students, emphasising the requirements and expectations needed in order to pass the test with superb results. Contains extra work not covered in the class. Highly recommended for students who are serious about passing IELTS.

Kindergarten

Lesson plans with video links, photos and pictures to introduce young learners to English

Teenagers

Various lesson plans and links, photos and music.

Young Learners Beginners, Levels 1 – 5

Based on the ‘Everybody Up’ text book. Extra work and links to help bring the lesson alive and engaging for students aged 5 – 11.

Young Teens

Lesson notes for students aged 12 – 15. Ideas for class games and activities, video links and suggestions for improving language skills.

Additionally, there are various personal sections, recording various aspects of life in Sai Gon in general and Viet Nam in particular. These are generally written in a more natural style, so students will encounter new words, phrases and expressions.

These sections include posts on food and coffee … I LOVE coffee … accommodation, my holidays and general life here in Asia.

In terms of tone, I have chosen to adopt the attitude of Godard, Truffaut et al when they were writing their ‘Cahier du Cinema’ articles; why waste time writing about bad films, when you can write so much about GREAT films. To avoid any unnecessary argy-bargy or aggro, I try to focus only on the positives. Furthermore, I do NOT mention any schools or centres by name although if any prospective teacher has a question, I will answer in a direct mail.

Following on from the above, I do not post any photos of my current centre as it is private property and I have to respect their wishes. Ok, full disclosure, I did it ONCE and … there was a request that it be removed. Said photo highlighted the reality of teaching in Viet Nam … let’s just say that not all students are attentive, motivated and respectful.

Alternately, you may wish to study up on a particular subject.

At the top of the page you will see ‘Subject Index’

Click and you will see a blog page:

The contents are:

Subject:

Dialogues: short conversation pieces for natural language practice.

Famous Quotes: used in the lesson: Shakespeare, philosophy, Bible, politics.

Films, TV & Theatre: list of media referenced in the blogs.

Grammar: blogs for all levels.

Games: activities and games for classes of all ages, including student surveys.

Music: list of artists and songs featured in the blog posts.

People: famous people mentioned or included in the lessons.

Photos: interesting photos used in the plans.

Thay Paul Photos: photos of the blog author. Not recommended !

Reading exercises: a very useful resource. Where to find English literature online, but in simple English, specifically for language students.

Sentence building: exercises to help students speak and write more fluently.

Speaking exercises: including grammar practice.

Video Clips: a one-stop list of all videos used in the blogs. Please note, sometimes video are removed from YouTube, or a certain clip will not play in a certain region.

Vocabulary building

Vocabulary exercises

Writing exercises and reading exercises links: a brief collection of useful links for students at a higher level.

So … how does it work, Thay Paul ?

It’s Easy.

Find a subject that interests you, look at the category and then the date.

Go to Classes and ‘Select category’.

Click on category

When that page appears, scroll down until you find the date.

You may have to click on the ‘older posts’ button to see more posts:

Hey, Thay Paul, can you give me an example ?

Sure can … OK, say, for example, you have an interest in seeing my blog on Apple iPhones. It is on an Adult Class, Level 3, from the 14th November 2019.

Go to Classes

Select category

Select Adult Class, Level 3

Scroll down, look down the page until you see 14th November 2019

And … Bob’s your uncle. Oh, sorry, that’s an English expression which means ‘there you are’ or you have finished your job or what you need to do.

So … hope this helped

This is Thay Paul saying … “Good Night … and Good Luck”

Adult Class Level 1: Can’t get there from here.

26th February 2019

Tomorrow night’s class is heavy on speaking and listening. One theme is travel, focusing on getting to the airport or station. I’ve noticed that students in all classes, of all ages, prefer activities to actual bookwork. Hence, I shall do maybe up to an hour of ‘games’ designed to practise and reinforce vocabulary, introduce new expressions and, mostly, get the students producing English among themselves.

Again, I’ll be able to recycle material from other classes, adapted to the news of these specific students.

Firstly, I’ll introduce some common fixed expressions. Three should be enough at this level:

Long time no ….

At the end of the …

Better luck next ….

‘At the end of the … ‘ is a very common expression, especially used by footballers in post-match interviews. Here is just one example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIucUjHlMbE

I will play this 2 or 3 times, asking the students what it is about and can they hear the expression (which is said twice).

Next up, a quick review of new vocabulary. I’ll show some definitions and the students have to give me the word or phrase:

What you think of something when you just see it (two words)

Something you want to do or achieve in life – a

Sending a file, picture or music using email –a

An adjective meaning very good – a

Expression meaning you have chosen the best area or shop or office – Y c t t r p.

The third activity is to practise speaking and using new language. Students are put into small groups and take turns speaking. The topic shall be travel, and the students have to use the following:

amazing / attachment / incredibly / predict / first impressions / you’ve come to the right place

With all speaking exercises, it helps if the teacher or a top student models first, so that all the students understand what they have to do. I shall use the same words but my theme shall be food:

On Saturday, I was out shopping and I felt very hungry. I went into a restaurant and my first impression was not encouraging. It looked a bit dirty and I predicted that the food wouldn’t be very exciting. However, they had an interesting menu with vegetarian options, which was amazing ! I ordered some pho and salad and it was incredibly delicious. I thought to myself I’ve come to the right place. I took some photos so I’ll send them to you by attachment on my next email.

The following activity maintains the groups. This activity shows three options for getting downtown from the airport. There are also three pairs of people who arrive at different times and have different requirements. The students must read the information and discuss the merits of each method. Then they must advise the travellers which method is best suited to their needs. This activity can be found on a previous blog, and the link is:

https://thaypaulsnotes.com/2019/02/10/ielts-have-love-will-travel/

While they students work, the teacher shouldn’t interfere unless directly asked, or give too many extra instructions; the students need time to work alone and develop language skills. However, I can listen out for any mistakes in grammar, pronunciation etc. At the end of the exercise I can board these and the class can make corrections. This prevents an individual student becoming embarrassed.

Before the book work (today it’s listening to videos and answering comprehension questions), there is one more exercise from a book. The subject is ‘have you ever done it ?’ and the students are presented with 14 situations. There are given the base verb and have to answer the questions making sure to use both positive and negative answers. For example:

I ………… Star Wars films (see) I have seen all the Star Wars films

I ………. to Thailand (go) I have been to Thailand

Then it’s time for the assigned work. I’ll aim to work and leave about 15 minutes for some informal games. The Family Fortune (FF) game is very popular; here groups are given a board and marker and have to write four answers, some general knowledge, some about me. Examples from last night are:

Four countries in Europe

Four ways to say ‘hello’ except in Viet or English.

Four foods from Italy (here we have a lot of fun with exaggerated pronunciation). What better teacher than Christoph Waltz from ‘Inglorious Basterds’ ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq7qm3T3cPE&t=186s

This scene can have two roles. First we compare how a Brit would respond to hearing of someone having an accident (turn our heads, look very sympathetic and say ‘Ahhhhhh, poor you,’). Then we see how Mr Waltz’s character responds (0:54 – 1:34). In the film, a young lady has broken her leg and the German inquires how the accident happened.

The Italian pronunciation scene begins at 2:24.

Inglorious Basterds 2009 (Dir Quentin Tarantino)

We can alternate with some personal questions such as ‘What will I do after work ?’, ‘What are four things I dislike about Vietnam ?’ and what four instruments can I play ?’ (It doesn’t matter if I can only play one, it’s just a test of vocabulary, and it makes me seem much more interesting !)

Terrible Teens – Bad Day at Black Rock

2nd December

I’ve taught at some of the biggest private centres, and smaller modest schools, at university and public schools. I’ve taught pre-Kindergarten classes, pre-teens, late-teens, business people, professionals, children from modest background, children from privileged backgrounds, gifted students and those with clear learning disabilities.

I’m happy to take on any challenge and attempt a Pygmalion-style transformation. I’m happy to turn screaming, crying nippers (young children) into model students who can speak the Queen’s English at the drop of a hat (that one takes a bit of time). But I’m not happy when I see I have a teen class … and this was one of the worst.

On the plus side, I was just substituting, so this was a one-off. I wouldn’t have to see any of these students again (they no doubt feel the same about me, but this is MY blog, so I don’t care what THEY feel).

This was similar to other horrendous teen classes; the students don’t want to be there, don’t want to learn and don’t want anyone else to learn. What they do want is to shout, scream, sleep, fight, eat, sleep (again) and show how rebellious and disrespectful they can be, the pack-mentality just reinforcing this behaviour. And there’s always someone who shouts out, “Boring !”.

Actually, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been; one teacher at this centre told me he was once sworn at by a student. That teacher refused to continue the class and walked out.

What I noticed here was a total lack of interest from half the students, while the others were demonstrating how they wouldn’t listen to any instruction e.g. to keep eating when they were told not to, to continue talking, fighting, sleeping on their desks. And it was a large class. It resembled a public school class more than a private centre of high-repute.

I’ve been told that students are terrified of both their Vietnamese teachers, and of their parents. Physical punishment is still used at school and in the home. Being bad at school will not only bring a beating but also bring shame and disgrace. When students have a foreign teacher, it’s a chance to ‘fight back’. Teachers represent authority, and here’s a chance to be a ‘normal’ teen, to be arrogant, rude and obnoxious. Some of them take that chance.

Some methods for dealing with the terrible teens include what I term the ‘Full Metal Jacket’. This involves punishing the whole class for one person’s actions. For example, if student A says, “Boring,” again, you all get extra homework. Hopefully this peer pressure works.

A more productive way is to negotiate with them. If they do the assigned work, they can play games or do activities of their choice.

Sometimes a teacher just has to pick their battles. No way can I outshout even one student (the Viet, bless their hearts, are not the quietest people on the planet), let alone twenty-five. Ultimately, we are here to help but if they refuse help there is no point wasting time or energy. Instead, identify the students who do want to learn, gather them together and teach them. Do not let the trouble-makers spoil it for the real students.

To end on a high note, this class is an anomaly. Other teachers have commented on how bad it is, how unteachable the students are. I’ve recently taught two other classes of teens and they have been darlings … but that is for another post.