Channel Steve

Thanks to the Living In Saigon, Vietnam blog I have now discovered Look At Vietnam, which appears to be an English language Vietnamese news and social information site.

Poor English language skills, teaching hinder Vietnamese

What caught my eye initially was this excellent article on the state of English education in Vietnam, with both industry experts and government officials indicating more needs to be done to improve the take-up, quality and effectiveness of classes.

One of my bugbears is how students appear to be graded in private schools. It would seem that students always pass the course, hence moving onto the next level at the start of the next round of courses.  My classes all contain anywhere from 2-8 students who are nowhere near the level necessary to be in that particular class, and 1-2 who are well above that level. This is a direct result of passing poor students and not providing extra one-on-one attention when it is most needed – that is, immediately that need is detected.
Instead, students continue to get less interested in learning, more disruptive of the class (whether it be deliberately, or through requiring constant translation from a friend), and sadly, more disillusioned about their expectations of passing TOEIC or IELTS and going to a foreign university.  In fact, very recently I received an online message from a student who was barely able to write coherent English sentences, asking if I would help them pass their TOEIC test this year. When I tried to explain the level of English they needed to be able to even undertake the studies, my advice was met with "No, you're wrong. I have passed all the courses. I am ready." (Of course, their response was not written that well).  Vietnamese students love to tell a teacher he is wrong, even though he never is – especially if "he" is "me". 

Unfortunately, there isn't a single thing I can do about the remedial students in my classes other than to try my best to make those students work hard at their English for the short time they are in front of me.

Air Supply to perform in Vietnam

Only two things I can say about this. One is "Oh, shoot me now!!!"
The other is "I'm not surprised".
Most Vietnamese songs sound the same, are love songs or songs about lost love, and are sung with great earnestness by under-30 Vietnamese maidens at karaoke venues.
Most Air Supply songs sound the same, are love songs or songs about lost love, and are sung with great earnestness by over-50 Australian housewives whilst doing the housework
Not a lot of difference, is there?

No, I won't be going.

ABBA tribute band to rock Vietnam

I might have gone to this had I been in the country at the time. That said, marketing forces are at work here twisting the truth – "FABBA, the renowned ABBA tribute band from Australia".
Bjorn Again or BABBA they are not. In fact, I've never even heard of FABBA.  Plastic surgery to look more like the members of the original band? Hmmm – I'd like to dig a little deeper into that one.

Wedding recession

An article on how Vietnam's premium wedding photographers are being impacted by the spate of amateurs holding DSLRs is another sign of the impending death of old-school photography.
It's becoming quite an old argument, but I'll repeat it anyway. Real photographers are fighting a losing battle against the ever-expanding plague of relatively intelligent and affordable digital cameras, in the hands of slightly less intelligent but very enthusiastic amateurs.  Point in case – I shot a photo of the Saigon full moon tonight, because it looks different to a full moon in Melbourne. My instant choice of camera was my Panasonic point and shoot over my Canon 30D with a much superior lens.  There was one simple reason for that. I was tired, I knew the Panasonic would quickly and intelligently make the right exposure choices, and I have no plans to print the final image. It also helps that it's loaded with a 504mm zoom lens.

Here's one of the best and simplest quotes I've heard on the topic, from Ho Chi Minh City wedding photographer Hoang Truong, "It is style, not a camera, that makes an excellent photographer."

Here's the moon shot I took.  I like how you can clearly see the bit that fits into the metal stand so that the globe will spin properly.

Posted via email from RockPortrait in Vietnam

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