“The Get-to-Laos Experience” – a thriller
Editor’s note: As we completed a year-long Covid-rollercoaster ride in Germany last month and just entered our third lockdown, this past week saw Laos entering its first. Three infected persons entered the country illegally over the Mekong River to celebrate Lao New Year with friends, and – unsurprisingly – infection numbers have been rapidly rising since – they are in the hundreds now. The lockdown was ordered on Wednesday, sending shockwaves through the country. The Ministry of Health is attempting to control the contact chains while they are still controllable. At the same time, the Lao Government has been in the process of restructuring since the last elections, so there will be some chaos in Laos – as there was in all other countries when Covid-19 first hit them.
We have no clue, in other words, if tomorrow there will be anyone present in the relevant offices who will remember that we are waiting for a few last travel documents and permission stamps, which we would need (tomorrow).
This means: We have no idea whether our two doctoral students will be able to fly out on Tuesday or whether our three SKU partners will be able to fly here on Wednesday.
This means: The day after tomorrow.
Precarious balance
First try: Leona Kemmer (Team XI)
April 2020:
When I got the confirmation that I was accepted as a volunteer for the Lao project, I was really excited. I was looking forward a lot to working at Sunshine School. At first, I did not think that Covid-19 would be such a big obstacle. How very wrong I was.
May 2020:
As the situation all over the world became more and more serious, and travelling was forbidden for many destinations, I still did not think that I would not be going. I thought that all of it would be over by the middle of September and that I would be going anyway.
July 2020:
Together with the four other volunteers in Team XI, I was participating in several preparation workshops offered by Prof Martin. During those days, concerns about the flights and Visa were vocalized, and for the first time in weeks I was not so sure about it all happening in September. But we thought that we wanted to be prepared in case it would all be working out like we hoped it would. So we continued planning our stay in Laos. We talked to our partners from the schools and colleges in online conference calls, learned about the country and cultures, talked about the expectations of the partners and our own, and started writing the blog post about our team. We also greatly enjoyed our first Lao-German Friendship Feast, where we talked to the Lao Erasmus+ students, to members of previous teams and even the guest of honour, His Excellency the Lao Ambassador Mr Phomma Boudthavong. He kindly offered to help us in the process ahead, and we felt hopeful.
August 2020:
As the weeks were passing by, new restrictions were formed. Even though I did not like the idea of being locked in a room for 14 days, we all agreed to go into quarantine after our arrival if that meant that we would be going to Laos after all.
End of August/Beginning of September 2020:
The estimated date was drawing nearer and nearer, and it became more and more obvious that we had to delay our stay to an unknown time. At first, I agreed to go to Laos whenever it would be possible again. It really stressed me, however: I could not plan anything and I was contantly torn between the happy thought of being in Laos and the trouble we all had to face.
As time was passing by, new requirements for more papers and letters and stamps kept coming from the Lao side, so we complied and sent more papers and letters and stamps. It became clear, though, and very likely, that we would have only a few days (up to one week) between the time we would finally get the green light (from the Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and the time of departure, the stress for me was growing. The whole see-saw and the situation itself was really nerve-wracking. As I still had to find someone to sublet my room to and because I knew that I would need time for preparation, I took a few days to think it all through. I decided that I could not do it like this. I decided that if I would not know if I was really going by a certain day, then I would not go to Laos in 2020. It was a hard decision, but at this time it was the right one for me. I decided that I would reapply for the next term.
November 2020:
Unfortunately, none of the other volunteers in Team XI could go to Laos in the end.
Cross out 2020
Leona, Leonie, Eleanor, Charlotte, Anne-Sophie
March 2021:
Due to a lot of administrational work and the COVID-19 situation I still was not able to go in the following term and I am still in Germany, now in my third online semester. I decided to give it another try next term, but I will finish my Master Degree first. After I heard that a new volunteer, Leya, is in Laos right now and that we know much better now all the details and steps about the travel permission and visa process, I am really confident again that I will be going to Laos later this year, hopefully in October 2021.
April 2021:
I have kept in contact with the Headmistress and communicate with the teachers at Sunshine School online. I have thus started my Master thesis on a digital project for English learning material that I started with my partners in Vientiane.
Second try: Rebecca Dengler (Team IV and V, now a doctoral student)
March 2020:
Today I decided to quickly leave Laos two months before the official end of my first research stay. The Covid-19 virus started to spread all around the world and when borders started to be closed (and Prof. Martin called me twice in one week), I decided to leave Savannakhet and fly back to Germany. I think it might be possible to return to Laos later in 2020 once the number of Covid infections go down again.
For my research stay at SKU I was granted eight months of Erasmus+ mobility funds, but until now I could only use 6 due to my early return to Germany. The Erasmus+ project was originally set to end in July 2020, but all Erasmus projects were extended by another year (by Erasmus) on account of the situation. This means I have to finish the last two months of my mobility before the end of July 2021. That must be possible.
July 2020:
There is hope. The big wave of Covid infections and the lockdown is over. In Germany the number of cases went down significantly. Everything started to open up again. In June, the lecturers returned to work at SKU in Laos and a little later they resumed teaching students in person. This lets me hope that I could return to Laos to continue my research in September or October, latest in November 2020.
October 2020:
In October, the numbers of infections in Germany started to soar again. The second lockdown in Germany followed. With a lot of help from the Lao Embassy in Berlin, our Lao partners who studied in Karlsruhe in the summer term 2020 were finally able to get a return flight in October 2020. For me it still was impossible to fly to Laos to resume my data acquisition and teaching there since there seemed to be no affordable flights at that time (prices had rocketed) and not enough information about the travelling process, which was becoming more and more difficult since the beginning of the pandemic.
In the last months the list of steps we have to take before being able to travel to Laos got longer and longer. Mainly with the support of our Lao partner Mr Saythong Insarn, but also others, Prof Martin, Ms Julia Friedl (International Office), and us travellers-to-be finally came up with this list of 13 different steps:
Part 1: Application for “special status” in Laos (this entitles one to get a visa for Laos and to enter the country)
1. Send personal data and information about dates to the Lao host institution;
2. Letter of recommendation for the application for special status in Laos by Prof Dr Isabel Martin for the Lao host institution;
3. Description of tasks and and working hours by Prof Dr Isabel Martin for the Lao host institution;
4. Submission of the documents above to the Head of the receiving institution;
5. The Lao host institution now submits all the documents to:
a) the General Education Department (for primary), or the Vocational Education Dep’t (for secondary/College), or the Higher Education Dep’t (for tertiary/SKU) of the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES)
b) the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA)
c) the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI)
d) the COVID Task Force in Laos
to get a letter confirming the “special status” of the applicant.
Part 2: Further necessary steps to travel to Laos
6. Book or reserve a charter flight through Mr Oudomsin and clarify luggage transfer for connecting flights;
7. Book a quarantine hotel for 14 days;
8. Send confirmation of flight and hotel to the Lao host institution and they issue a Confirmation of Acceptance which they need to hand to the MoFA;
9. The Lao host institution applies for an immigration permission by the COVID Task Force; permission for the Lao Embassy to issue a VISA is also required;
10. Send passport and required documents to the Lao Embassy in Berlin;
11. Visa is issued in Berlin after they receive both documents (9.);
12. Sign University of Education Karlsruhe form that you are going on this internship at your own risk;
13. Get an appointment for a PCR-test and take out the prescribed Covid health insurance.
January 2021:
The new year has not brought any improvements until now. Yesterday I got the news that there are new infections in Laos and Laos closed the borders even more strictly. No chance to get back to Laos to continue my research and teaching right now. Fortunately, I could already gather the first data for my research in Savannakhet last year. I spent the last year since my return from Laos in my study at home and did more research and wrote about the theoretical background, got familiar with adequate analysis methods, transcribed the interviews that I had conducted with the lecturers at SKU, and started to analyse the data. Nevertheless, to proceed with my research and the writing of my thesis I now really need to collect the missing data at SKU in Laos.
Although in the last year we learned that many things are possible online, I need to return to Laos to conduct my research in person. In this special intercultural-multilingual research setting, important data and a certain degree of mutual understanding would be lost if it was done online.
I used the time at home in my study to do a lot of writing …
… and reading.
Sometimes I sat outside while I participated in online lectures.
March 2021:
After countless online meetings and searches for flights, sometimes different information every week if not every day, and sometimes no new information at all, Ms Julia Friedl and Prof Isabel Martin were able to get in contact with a travel agent in Laos who takes care of charter flights into Laos. Through him we were finally able to get all the needed information and are able to book a flight to Laos and back to Germany. This way Leya was able to travel to Laos two weeks ago. And now we try to get all the documents ready for Miaoxing and myself to travel to Laos at the end of April.
Travelling in a pandemic is certainly not easy and not really advisable. However, no one knows how long this pandemic will go on – the average is 3 years. The time I have for my PhD is limited and the Erasmus+ project ends in July.
April 2021:
I was able to reserve a flight for the end of April and we are now waiting for the necessary documents to be issued by the Lao ministries. Prof Martin has asked her contact person in the Ministry to supervise the process now and received the answer that they would try their best.
23 April 2021:
The necessary documents from the Lao ministries for my visa did not arrive by this Friday. I will go into the weekend not knowing whether I will be able to get the visa on Monday and fly on Tuesday, or whether I should even go to my PCR-test on Monday morning, or cancel it. It has been a nerve-wracking week and will be a tense weekend as well.
Third try: Leya Hoenicke (Team XI.5)
November 2019:
I had heard about the Laos project in the Global English(es) class that Professor Martin offers. I was very interested and wanted to go abroad one more time during my studies for an internship. It seemed like a perfect fit and I applied for a place in Team X. On the interview day a very nervous me sat before Professor Martin and Johannes Zeck answering question after question. And guess who got accepted! That’s right – not me. (But two of my friends were.) In my heroic overcoming and mastering of this difficult rejection and my new, carefully constructed resilience, I gained the courage to apply again in the fall of 2020, encouraged by Prof Martin, who had told me I would no doubt be “ready later”. In reality, I had already heard so much about the project that I wanted to be part of it.
December 2020:
The first rejection motivated me, even more, to try again. I had seen so many exciting posts on the blog that I decided for myself: If I go abroad again, I will go to Laos. I prayed for it to work out.
I got a call from Professor Martin two hours after my second interview. I did not have too high hopes as I was rejected before and the COVID-19 situation did not seem to improve.
Apparently, my prayers were heard by Fortuna herself – I got accepted! I was over the moon. Turns out Fortuna is a very … moody individual. She decided to then send me and everybody else involved on an emotional rollercoaster ride.
December to March 2020:
Everything seemed to go well. I was determined to volunteer in Laos. Now or never, I thought to myself. Leonie (Team XI) and I had postponed our departure from February to March due to rising number of COVID-19 infections. Things were going rather smoothly and the “special status” had been approved. Then Leonie cancelled her plans to go to Laos in February, … “and then, there was one”. I had already terminated the lease for my room in Karlsruhe, so I decided to keep going. I knew if I hesitated now, I would not make it to Laos. For me, there was only one direction and that was to push forward and straight through. Remember Fortuna and her rollercoaster? What I had experienced before was just a warm-up. She gave me the ride of my life. Ups and downs, loopings and corkscrews. You name it, I experienced it.
We did not know of any flights. Luckily that changed in March.
Two weeks before:
We got in touch with a Laotian travel agency which notified us that flights were available. I reserved a spot as soon as possible and booked the quarantine hotel. I was one step closer to my goal. Unfortunately, there still was no visa in sight.
One week before:
All seemed good: I had the flight confirmations, had booked the quarantine hotel and… now there were a few new extra steps to take. Extra documents issued by Lao ministries were needed. Calls to the Embassy in Berlin and Lao partners ensued. Ms Moukdala Keomixai took over the baton at this time and did a lot of running around to get the documents. Meanwhile, I had sent my passport to the Laos Embassy in Berlin in the hope of receiving my visa soon.
Day before flight:
I got up early in the morning. I had to go to the doctor’s to get the last few recommended vaccinations. My next stop was the local city hall to get a temporary passport as a precautionary measure, as my passport was still in Berlin. After my appointment at the city hall, I drove to Ettlingen to get the mandatory CPR-test done that you need for international travel. My next stop was at the Karlsruhe University of Education where I met Professor Martin to have the fastest and most compressed preparatory workshop conducted in the history of TheLaosExperience project. It was a very stressful day with the possibility lurking in the back of our minds that we might be doing all of this in vain. Luckily, Professor Martin had brought the best Key Lime pie I ever had, plus fruit salad, nerve nourishment which I desperately needed.
I was ready. Well almost. One tiny key detail was missing. The visa.
I am on my way back home on the highway when I get a call from Julia Friedl. I stopped at the next possible site and called her back. She gave me the good news that the Embassy was able to issue the visa! They issued it at 4 p.m. that day. The National Express closes at 6 p.m. A very friendly employee of the Embassy ran to the post office to get it sent back to me through all of Germany in one night. If it does not arrive tomorrow morning, I will have to cancel the flights.
23.03.2021 Flight day:
I am not giving up. I still have hope that my passport will arrive in time. I have paid extra for fast delivery as well. If it does not arrive I will personally track down the post van and get the passport by myself. I am so close and I will not let this ruin my chance to volunteer in Laos.
23.03.2021 at 9:44 am:
I am in the upstairs bathroom, the window open. I hear a bigger car approach. I look out of the window and it is a DHL van.
9:44 am: Ten seconds later: I bolt down the stairs, almost run over my cat and rip the front door open like a maniac.
9:45 am: It takes the driver one whole minute to find the envelope in his car. If he is going to walk past my house I will either lose my mind or set his van on fire.
9:45 am: He approaches my front door and looks up from the stack of mail in his hands. He must have seen a face full of emotions, lovingly staring at the passport-sized envelope in his hands.
I had to hold myself back, to not rip it out of his hands. He handed me the envelope. The sender: The Lao Embassy in Berlin. Luckily, the postman had walked back to his van, otherwise, I would have kissed him right then and there.
I opened the envelope and lo’ and behold, it was my passport and even better it had a visa in it. I was on top of the world, floating on cloud 9, and ready to leave for the airport. I cannot describe the amount of relief I felt while holding the passport in my hands. One hour later I left my Swabian hometown once again – this time for a new adventure.
I safely made it to Laos. Has my rollercoaster ride paved the way for those coming after me? We do not know. But it has left a long trail of cooperation, collaboration, solidarity, and team spirit between the German and Lao partners in our memories already. Let us hope that Fortuna will be as generous with luck to the following travellers as she was to me.
Leya’s get-to-Laos experience
Text by L. Kemmer, R. Dengler & L. Hoenicke
Editor’s note by I. Martin
Photos by L. Kemmer, R. Dengler, I. Martin
Drawings by L. Hoenicke
Letters from Laos (Savannakhet, no. 5) – by Somsanouk Xayyavong
Editor’s note: As from 6 a.m. Lao time today, a lockdown was ordered on the capital of Vientiane by the Prime Minister, after 26 Covid-26 cases were diagnosed, following illegal border crossings from Thailand over the river Mekong for the Lao New Year festivities, Pii Mai.
Our partners had just received their VISA from the German Embassy in Vientiane, after a day’s travel to the capital for the VISA stamp, and after having successfully assembled all the other ministerial documents for travel permission, when they heard the news on travelling back to Savannakhet the next day. Travelling to the capital is now prohibited, but their flight next week has not been cancelled.
We therefore hope/trust that the Government will allow travellers to enter Vientiane next week to be able to fly out.
My name is Somsanouk Xayyavong. I hope to be able to spend two months at our partner university, the University of Education Karlsruhe (Germany), as from next week, on the Erasmus+ Mobility programme “Bi-directional teaching and learning“. I am 35 years old. I have worked at Savannakhet University (SKU) since 2010 at the Information Technology Center, which was established into the Faculty of Information Technology in 2018. My background is a Bachelor Degree in Computer Science and Master Degree in Software Engineering. The main subjects I teach at SKU are database system concept, database advance and programming on mobile devices by Android.
In my spare moments I like to travel and take photo because it is a good memory, listening to the music, and I also enjoy playing volleyball, football and badminton.
IT Department football team, me on the very right
Our team in Faculty of Information Technology with my Erasmus partner Jun.Prof. Dr. Bernhard Standl, on his first visit in 2020:
Training Moodle with Junior Professor Dr Bernhard Standl in Erasmus+ project March 2020 at Savannakhet University
I was very excited when I heard that I got invited to be one of the exchange staff mobility for training between Karlsruhe, University of Education, Karlsruhe, Germany and Savannakhet University, Laos and under scholarship of Erasmus+. I am good luck to be a part of this project which coordinates by Professor Dr Isabel Martin.
It is great opportunity to visiting in Germany for 2 months in May/June. I will have many activities to do such as job-shadowing of colleagues in the IT and English Department, lesson observation, carrying out syllabus and material development for teaching, visits at German primary and lower secondary schools, and carrying out join research with colleagues in the IT department.
I am a little worried about the spread of Coronavirus disease and therefore prepared some masks, hand sanitizers and alcohol spray.
I will be a part of your community to learn as much as possible about the German culture and news lesson from the lecturers there, and I am also really looking forward to meet Junior Professor Doctor Barnhard Standl from PH Karlsruhe again, as well as new friends and new experience.
I believe that project will be improving the experience about IT and my English skill as well. I will bring the knowledge learned back to my university.
See you soon!
Text by S. Xayyavong
Photos by S. Xayyavong & unnamed photographer(s)
Letters from Laos (Savannakhet, no. 4) – by Sitsanou Phouthavong (Erasmus+ participant)
Hello! Everyone.
My name is Sitsanou Phouthavong, and I hope to fly out of Laos on 28 April so that on 30 April I will arrive in Karlsruhe on my first Erasmus+ Mobility, which was postponed from last year. Today the three of us, Ms Phetsavanh Somsivilay, Ms Somsanouk Xayyavong, and myself, we drove from Savannakhet to Vientiane to submit all our papers to the German Embassy in Vientiane to get our VISA approved. They told us to wait…
I am 33 years old and graduated in the Master’s degree in science and technology education from KhonKaen University, Thailand. I started work at Savannakhet University in November 2012 at the Faculty of Education, under the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES).
Now, I work with two duties under responsibilities teaching and administration. First I deal with office work and second a lot time I have taught students year I, II and III such as English 5 (English for Physics), Mechanic, fluid of Physics and Electrostatic-electrodynamics. But in the office my responsible is scores and syllabus. Recently, I was appointed Deputy Head of Academic Affairs of the Faculty of Education.
The organization…
… of learning activities in the classroom…
… by using Simulation
I like to teach using computer simulation teaching activities related to science and I like to surf the net to find new, interesting and appropriate lessons to make my class more exciting.
Equipment…
… for teaching…
… electricity by using Fischertechnik…
… in the classroom
Including teaching material obtained from a donation by Fischertechnik organized by Mr Ralph Hansmann from the University of Education Karlsruhe, which Prof. Martin brought over and help me to practically teach about technology and to bring the subject closer to students. In easy electrical circuits, series and parallel connections, electronic connections with transistors, capacitors, resistors and LEDs. Step by step, this play-and-learn construction set will teach the basics of electronics. So the robot I made with Fischertechnik is help me understand more phenomena of electric circuit and make me more the basics of electronics understandable.
Rebecca Dengler’s English class
David Schrep and Rebecca Dengler were our tandem-teachers in SKU. So I know them, they are very great relationship with our colleagues and they showed us many new teaching techniques.
At the end of April, I will have the opportunity to participate in a training programme in Physics as well as English Department at Karlsruhe University of Education, Germany. I am very happy to be a part of this project in “Bi-directional teaching and learning“, which is coordinated by professor Doctor Isabel Martin.
Jun.Prof. Dr. Tobias Ludwig is my partner and host in my research and Lab course from the Physics Department, Hope to see you soon.
I have never been to Europe previously. Now I am so excited get to Germany to meet the lecturers, buddies, new friends and new experience.
I will spend my 2 months’ time in Germany to learn language especially English skill, culture, Physics, lab work and the new experiences in new places. I really want to be a part of the community there. If there is an opportunity, I would like to travel around Germany and visit many architectural landmarks.
Note from Jun.Prof. Dr. Tobias Ludwig
Everyone in the Physics Department is very excited about the arrival of Sitsanou Phouthavong. We cannot wait to learn how he teaches physics in Laos and hear more about his research. We plan to exchange ideas around teaching and learning physics education. Mr Sitsanou is also very curious about our physics projects in the large digitization related projects InDiKo and InDiKo-X at PH Karlsruhe.
See you soon!
Text by S. Phouthavong
Photos by S. Phouthavong (and unnamed photographers)
A day in the life of an Erasmus+ student in state quarantine – by Chanthalakone Souydalay
A Day In My Life At Control and Prevention place provided by Lao government during Covid-19
I was so happy to be back home in Laos after waiting for two months in Germany because of there was no flights from Germany to my home country before. Normally, I was a mobility student in the Erasmus+ Programme there only 6 months, March to August 2020, but during corona season was strange for everything, it was also for my flight that I have booked in August 2020 was canceled. Hence, I have extended to live in Germany more two months until I could fly again in October 16, 2020.
Check in at Frankfurt Airport…
… Transit in Qatar Airport…
… Transit at Kuala Lumpur Airport
According to the pandemic continues spreading and increasing around the worldwide. The Lao government was decided to extend lock-down again until the corona is not strong. Moreover, there are the laws to control the spreading of pandemic that the travelers flights from any where around the world have to quarantine for 14 days in the “Control and Prevention place by Lao Government”.
Outside the quarantine building
Inside of quarantine place
Exclusive Bathroom
Conventional bedroom
I quarantined in the “Control and Prevention place by Lao Government” for two weeks. “It is challenging times” is a phrase that I have been hearing very often lately. The hardest part of this quarantine has been the way it has completely disrupted my daily routine. Obviously, the initial days of quarantine were quite difficult for me that I was mostly in the room and planned to do something to take boring day away. The absoluteness made it impossible to do anything productive and much of my days were spent on YouTube English learning, Netflix watching comedy movies with the subtitles, work on the blog/WordPress, make lessons plan and writing Lao songs to escape from what was going on my life of quarantine days.
This is my routines on the day of quarantine looked like as below…
6:30 Get up
Normally, I get up around 6 am, because of I set an alarms clock on my mobile every morning. After I get out of the bed, I went to request permission from the security to allow going for a walk and jogging in the front of building to get the fresh air in the mornings. But, unfortunately I could got out only two days and then I had to be in the room due to there was a infectious person in the same building where I quarantined. Next morning, I continued exercise in my room even though it was not more fun like outside, but it made me to feel relax and enjoying on the day of quarantine.
Push up in the room…
… walk before nice coffee
7:00 Nice coffee
After I finished exercise, I made myself a nice cup of Lao coffee. While I sit on the floor without any chair, I also watched the way how to remember English vocabulary in YouTube. I took about 40 minutes on nice coffee drinking that it made me to start great day.
8:00 Breakfast
After I washed body up, I ate breakfast quite early in the morning. The food was provided by the staffs who take care the quarantine people in the “Control and Prevention place by Lao Government”. They hand out the food 3 times per day as 8:00 a.m, 12:00 noon and 5 p.m that everyone lined up to get the food one by one. The food was packed in plastic box and everybody had the same.
Fish sauce with sticky rice and boiled egg
9:00-10:30 Learning English
I liked to dedicate my free time to improve English’s vocabulary by learning in YouTube and books. During quarantine days, I had started studying English after breakfast. Moreover, I also listened English’s songs everyday to practice listening and then I tried to sing songs.
11:00-12:00 Lunch
After I had finished studying, I took a break and went to get the food from cookers in “Control and Prevention place by Lao Government” to eat with my colleague and friend Mr Phongsavang Xaikhongkham, who had been in Karlsruhe together with me and who now shared the room with me. They provided Lao traditional foods for example smoked meat with the pepper or fish sauce, fish soup, bamboo soup, papaya salad with sticky rice and pork grilling. I really enjoyed Lao foods with my friend.
Make line for breakfast…
… line up getting foods for lunch
12:00-15:00 Write the song
I am a person that love the music, moreover I really like to write the song when I have free time. I finished writing two Lao songs during quarantine but only the lyrics. I plan to put the chords when I get home.
15:30-17:30 Blogging/Free time
I planned to work on blog post during the quarantine days, hence I scheduled to work on that. Furthermore, I also read the text that its concern with my topics for example reading:
“A day in the life of… a PH Karlsruhe volunteer”
When I am done working on my blog, I read a book and made the lessons plan for teaching beginner English of fresh-student “New Headway Elementary” while I had some snack.
17:30 Exercise
I am a fan who loves sports and doing exercises are example: stretch the body, football, volleyball, and Boules (Petanque). While I quarantined in the Prevent place (Quarantine place for Covid19) I exercised time per three days that the preventers allowed walking in the front of building. I cannot walk through out as far due to they have limited area. However, I really feel relax when I did exercise even though I was sticky situation.
18:30 Fast Food cooking
For the dinner I usually cooked fast food as Chinese noodle that it has packed and it is very easy for cooking that just only boiled the water, then put on the bowl. I really enjoyed with my yummy dinner and gave me much time for other things.
19:00 Singing
After I finished yummy dinner, I took a shower as the same time I sang the songs in the bathroom. I sometimes listened the music too. It is really nice time when I take a shower that it made me relaxing and fun.
20:00 Netflix watching comedy movies and English learning
I sincerely thank you to Dr. Isabel Martin who gave good opportunity and very kind to me. She also help and advice for learning English is example: she let me use her Netflix account by free. It is really the best way for practice listening English and enjoyed with comedy movies with the subtitle. I always spent time two hours for Netflix watching movies with snacks before I go to the bed. I sometimes fell early bed and slept secretly during watching movies.
Overall, I quarantined for 14 days that the days almost were as the same living. It was quite upsetting situation for me and everyone in my country, It is very trouble for adjusting into tricky situation. I was absolutely would loved to be at home but I have to bear in minds to save my family, my friends, colleagues and other. Because I felt like insecurity for them, hence I quarantined. However, it was stressful time but everyone have to follow the rules by the Lao government.
Finally, I believe that it will not on endless and in the meantime exercise, stay active, keep working, prevent the risk, have positive attitude and personality that it leads us pass as soon as possible.
Text & photos by C. Souydalay
Leya in Laos – light through the cracks!
One year after the start of “The Crack“
Today – Thursday, 25 March 2021 – at 8:05 a.m., after one full year of no possibility to travel to or from Laos in our “Bi-directional teaching and learning” project, Ms Leya Benita Hoenicke (Team XI.5) touched down in Vientiane after a two-day flight journey via Doha and Kuala Lumpur.
Frankfurt Airport…
… itinerary
… Doha Airport…
… Kulala Lumpur Airport…
… nearing Vientiane…
… bus to hotel
It had been a week of holding our breaths in incredible suspense. She (and we) did not know until one hour before her departure for Frankfurt Airport on Tuesday whether her passport with the long-awaited VISA stamp from the Lao Embassy in Berlin would arrive in time, because the necessary papers and stamps from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) – the last authority in line (in a long line of authorities to go through to get entry to Lao P.D.R.) – only arrived at 4 p.m. (German time) on Monday. And the Lao Embassy in Berlin needed permission by the MOFA to issue the VISA.
The Embassy issued the VISA within 30 minutes after receiving the papers and then were even so very kind as to take her passport to the post office to be dispatched by express service at 5 p.m. It arrived at 10 a.m. the next day.
“Expert” stamp inside
Ms Leya, having packed her bags on Friday (which is when the stamped papers by the other ministries arrived), was thus able to leave her hometown Pforzheim in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany, on Tuesday, 11 a.m.
She is now in quarantine for 2 weeks in the “One Vientiane” Hotel in Souphanouvong Avenue, Chanthabouly District…
Leya at reception, mask off for the first time in 48 hours…
… reception area…
… and very cosy…
… quarantine room!
… and will start tandem-work at the Lao-German Technical College 0n 7 April.
We – this is me, the project leader on the German side, and Ms Julia Friedl (International Office of the University of Education Karlsruhe) – are most grateful to our Lao partners who made this possible in the shortest time (un)imaginable, at the very last minute, after endless initial obstacles: Mr Somlith Virivong (MoES), Mr Saythong Insarn (MoES), Mr Thanongsak Oudomsin (Oudomsin Trading & Travel Service Co., Ltd.), Ms Moukdala Keomixai (LGTC), and, of course, His Excellency the Lao Ambassador Mr Phomma Boutthavong (Berlin). “TheLaosExperience“!
And now we will exhale, have a good night’s sleep, and trust – know – there is a future for our project. Tomorrow, we will resume work on getting two of our doctoral students over to Savannakhet and our next four Savannkhet partners over to Karlsruhe for the summer term, for the end of April.
Fingers crossed next for Ms Rebecca Dengler and Ms Miaoxing Ye
Ms Leya will share her diary of the last week here shortly in detail. You can expect a page-turner… and her reports on her tandem-work (and, no doubt, more adventures…) will follow.
Last, but not least: Congratulations, Ms Leya, on your immensely steady nerve and unfailing trust, which we all admire and are grateful for. You did not only get yourself to Laos under very difficult circumstances, but shone a significant light for us all through the cracks.
My sincerest thanks to you and all involved,
Isabel Martin
Text by I. Martin
Photos by L. Hoenicke & T. Oudomsin
From “Global Citizenship Education” to “Professional Learning Communities” – a chance encounter for new doctoral student Mr Philipp Reul
Editor’s note: On 25-28 March 2019, the first conference in Germany about “Educating the Global Citizen: International Perspectives on Foreign Language Teaching in the Digital Age” was hosted by the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich. Our project research was represented in two strands: In the strand “Transcultural Identities”, Dr Michiko Weinmann presented our joint paper on “Juggling Selves: Navigating Pre-Service Teaching Experiences in Overseas Contexts” (M. Weinmann, R. Neilsen & I. Martin). I myself (Dr Isabel Martin) presented my paper “‘Decolonise your mind’: A global ‘study-teach-and-research’ project between Germany and Laos” in the strand “(Virtual) Exchange Projects”. At the end of the talk, I issued an open invitation to anyone interested in joining our project. This is when Mr Philipp Reul approached me to say that he found this project very interesting and would write to me.
My colleague from the English Department in Karlsruhe, Ms Sabine Rettinger, also gave a paper in the section “Projects & Texts”, entitled “The KinderCouncil – a pilot project for future global education and transcultural learning in foreign language education”. We were all enjoing the conference greatly, as it took up many of the notions we had been exploring ourselves over the past few years and gave us new food for thought. We just as much enjoyed the breaks in between, however, as we were hatching new plans for closer future collaboration. These plans were arrested by Covid-19 last year. But now, we are resuming where we left off, and Dr Michiko Weinmann will publish her account of the conference proceedings and our new ideas on this blog shortly, for starters.
From “Educating the Global Citizen” conference meeting in Munich (2019) to PhD student in Karlsruhe (2021)
Dear Readers,
My name is Philipp Reul, and I am the new, third PhD student in the Lao-German project “Bi-directional teaching and learning” that started in 2015 and targets cooperative teaching as well as research.
I was accepted by the Faculty of Humanities & Human Sciences for a doctorate entitled “A Professional Learning Community (PLC) in a German-Lao tandem-learning-and teaching programme to professionalize German pre-service English teachers as Global Eductors“. This is why I would like to introduce myself and share a little about the work I will be doing in the project.
Philipp Reul (University of Bonn)
As a school teacher of English & physical education, university lecturer, and school development consultant, I am interested in researching the impact of the German-Lao tandem-learning-and-teaching programme on German pre-service English teachers. I will carry out a qualitative study focusing on the graduates and students of the University of Education Karlsruhe who worked as volunteers in the programme. I am hoping to interview some of the former volunteers in the programme on their perspectives on their stay abroad in retrospect. I am eager to work directly with Prof. Dr. Isabel Martin and the other two doctoral students Ms Rebecca Dengler and Ms Miaoxing Ye to form a research group. With their research experience and my excitement for my PhD project, I can see us four doing great work.
I meet Isabel Martin at the conference in Munich in 2019, when I attended her talk on “Decolonise your Mind: A Global “Study-Teach-And- Research” Project between Germany and Laos“. I took the chance to get in contact with her a few weeks after. We discussed my ideas until I was ready to write and then submit my proposal.
The participants from Karlsruhe University of Education at the conference: Sabine Rettinger and Isabel Martin in the middle, with our tutors and students. You may recognise Mr Fabian Stober, a member of Team VI.
And then, on 10 July 2020, when I had the chance to meet many of you during the “6th Lao-German Friendship Feast“, I noticed the tight-knit culture here, which made me even more excited about applying for this PhD project.
My arrival at the Feast coincides with Isabel Martin’s “Welcome” speech…
… an honour to be introduced to His Excellency the Lao Ambassador Mr Phomma Boudthavong…
… enjoying the music performance…
… meeting many former volunteers…
… and enjoying some more late night music!
I continued preparing my proposal and research outline by doing extensive research in the field over the winter, and it was accepted by the Faculty in February 2021. Now I hope that over the course of the next few months and years I will get the chance to meet many more of you in person or online.
I would also like to share some details about my professional experience. Parallel to accepting the position as a PhD student, I work part-time as a seconded teacher at the University of Bonn. Here I teach several courses each semester in the Master’s and Bachelor’s programme focusing on TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). Additionally I work part-time as a consultant for school development, and I also teach English and sports at a high school.
In my free time I enjoy to be around my family in Cologne; I have four children (three girls and one baby-boy), and I am a passionate sportsman.
I look forward to getting to know you in Germany and hopefully some day in Laos, too.
Best,
Philipp
Text by P. Reul
Photos by P. Reul & I. Martin
“60 years of Lao-German diplomatic relations” – Bachelor thesis by Siegfried Hadatsch (Team VIII)
Editor’s note: Mr Siegfried Hadatsch, who recently completed his Bachelor’s Degree in English and history at the University of Education Karlsruhe, has been an active member of the Lao-German project “Bi-directional teaching and learning” for a number of years now. He took part in my “Global English(es): Teaching English in Asia“ class in the summer term of 2017 (the forerunner of my current “Global English(es), Global TEFL & Global Citizenship Education” class) and decided to apply as a volunteer in the following semester. He then worked at the Lao-German Technical College in the spring of 2018 as a member of Team VIII.
On his return, he helped advertise the project on campus, advised new applicants, and also became my research assistant. In this new role, he has helped me with first research in the field of “Language Teaching and Global Justice” as well as with the development of my classes “Global English(es), Global TEFL & Global Citizenship Education” and, more recently, “Postcolonial theory and short fiction“. We extended the first “Course Readers” with newer and more academic literature for students, which meant that their presentations easily went up by one notch, if not two. His competent contributions were significant.
On nearing the end of his Bachelor studies, he chose to combine both his fields of study – English and history – with his international experience in Laos to identify a research area hitherto (almost) not investigated: “60 years of Lao-German diplomatic relations“. He was finishing his thesis at a time when German Minister Dr. Gerhard Müller of the Ministry of Economic Development and Cooperation – who visited BHS and our project in 2016 – announced (in April 2020) that the list of over 85 international cooperation partners would be cut down to 60 partners. Lao P.D.R. regrettably was amongst those struck off the list, for three reasons.
The Patuxay in Vientiane (left) and Brandenburg Gate in Berlin (right) are both considered national monuments of their respective countries.
If you want to hear more about this fascinating hi(story) and Mr Hadatsch’s explorative research journey, read his full-length thesis on our new full-text research page, where you can also view the entire collection of theses that have been written within the scope of our projects and classes so far. There are more to come this year. The overview gives you the full list of all academic work conducted in our cooperations with 7 Lao partners, including conference papers, print publications, and course papers.
The start of our own Lao-German partnership between the Karlsruhe University of Education and Savannakhet University (2017/18) is documented in the articles “The German perspective“ and “The Lao perspective“.
As unexpected as it may seem, many a member of the old guard of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party speaks fluent German, with a Saxon or Thuringian accent at that. They bear witness to a special bond, one largely unknown outside of Laos: The countries of Germany and Laos can look back on over six eventful decades1 of diplomatic exchange, coloured by multiple shifts of ideological and political alignment on an everchanging global stage on which their relations took and are still taking place. For over six decades now, they have traded, exchanged ideas and personnel, and maintained closely knit cooperations – although some of that is set to change.
Siegfried Hadatsch (brown T-Shirt), in group conversation of young researchers and project participants with His Excellency Ambassador Mr Phomma Boudthavong (light-blue shirt) and Mr Padith Phongpachith, Vice-President of the Lao-German Friendship Association (LFA), during our 6th Annual Lao-German Friendship Feast on 10 July 2020
This Bachelor’s Thesis aims to provide a comprehensive and in-depth look into the reasons for and background of the relations between Germany and Laos, as well as their respective histories and current roles within the global stage of world politics. Throughout their shared history, Germany has maintained diplomatic and economic ties to Laos, often in form of development cooperation. Thus, the thesis will also investigate the success (or lack thereof) of various German-Lao cooperation projects.
Lao-German relations have taken many forms over the decades, some in the shape of organisations like the German-Lao Friendship Society (Vientiane), with its long-time partner-institution German-Lao Friendship Association (Bonn).
Visits of state delegations are a natural part of diplomatic relations between countries…
…such as the visit of a German delegation at the Lao-German Technical College in Vientiane in February 2019.
With a shift of foreign developmental aid priorities announced by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development in early 2020, which now focuses on the African continent after the “migration crisis to Europe” (with over 1 million refugees in 2015 alone), the future of cooperation between the two countries is anything but set in stone. One thing, however, remains certain: What has already been accomplished between Laos and Germany already left a remarkable impact – especially on Lao P.D.R.
Text by S. Hadatsch, editor’s note by I. Martin
Photos by S. Hadatsch & I. Martin
Notes
1 Official diplomatic relations between Laos and Germany – specifically West Germany and the Kingdom of Laos, at the time – were first established on 31 January 1958.
References
Auswärtiges Amt (2018). “Why the Embassy chauffeur in Laos speaks German: 60 years of diplomatic relations” https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/aussenpolitik/laopeoplesdemocraticrepublic/235264 (last accessed 2 March 2021).
Deutsche Botschaft Vientiane (2020). “Deutschland und Laos: Bilaterale Beziehungen.” https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/aussenpolitik/laender/laosnode/bilateral/201036 (last accessed 1 March 2021) (in German).
Finanznachrichten. “Entwicklungsminister plant Rückzug von Fachleuten aus Partnerländern.” https://www.finanznachrichten.de/nachrichten-2020-04/49503998-entwicklungsminister-plant-rueckzug-von-fachleuten-auspartnerlaendern-003.htm (last accessed 2 May 2020) (in German).
GLFS e.V. “Laotisch-Deutsche Gesellschaft 2006 gegründet.” https://www.ggsruppichteroth.de/laos/gruendungverein.htm (last accessed 19 May 2020) (in German).
New Research page: “The Internationalisation, Professionalisation, and Decolonisation of Education” – full-texts of theses since 2017 (Karlsruhe University of Education)
I have the great pleasure to announce a new research page on this blog, which features the full-text Bachelor theses (40-50 pp.), Master theses (60-80 pp.), and State Exam theses (70-130 pp.) written since 2017 within our Lao-German “Bi-directional Teaching and Learning” projects (2015 ff.) and/or resulted from my seminars “Global English(es) & Global Citizenship Education” (B.A.) (2017 ff.) and “Postcolonial Theory & Short Fiction” (M.A.) (2018 ff.).
The unifiying principle and focus of our research has emerged to be “The Internationalisation, Professionalisation, and Decolonisation of Education”.1
This serves the United Nations’ “Agenda of Sustainable Development 2030“2 and specifically the “Sustainable Development Goal #4”: “Quality Education“. These targets set the framework for our international research, teaching practices, and mobilities, as well as for our global actions in areas considered “of critical importance for humanity and the planet” (https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda). In our collaborative project, the guiding principles are (Lao-German) teacher-tandem work, Professional Learning Communities (PLC), and Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship.
To illustrate the scope of research conducted so far, I also include relevant module-exam papers (ca. 20 pp.). I hereby thank all the authors – present and former students – for their kind permission to publish and share their work on this blog.
The theses and papers presented on the Full-text page were supervised by me (and one other examiner respectively), but of course they were not edited (as blog posts would be edited). They are published here as originally submitted.3
“There is nothing as powerful as an idea whose time has come”, Victor Hugo once famously said, and maybe this goes to explain the strong interest and determination displayed both on the side of the mentors and students.
Tree on campus of the “Teacher Training College” in Savannakhet – hopefully another new partner before too long!
The authors put a lot of time, effort, and energy into their theses (often much more than they had planned), so let me use this opportunity for thanking you all for
a) noticing and choosing this project and topic,
b) investing your energy and time in this field for so long, and for
c) continuing to keep in touch with the project even after your studies.
I trust your theses will now be read by more and more readers with the same growing interest and fascination that gripped me at the time of first reading them when I started thinking we were maybe starting to build something together which matters.
Text & photo by I. Martin
Notes
1 Cf. Martin, I. (2021). “Internationalisation in Higher Education”. (forthcoming)
2 “This Agenda is a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity. It also seeks to strengthen universal peace in larger freedom. We recognise that eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development. All countries and all stakeholders, acting in collaborative partnership, will implement this plan. We are resolved to free the human race from the tyranny of poverty and want and to heal and secure our planet. We are determined to take the bold and transformative steps which are urgently needed to shift the world onto a sustainable and resilient path. As we embark on this collective journey, we pledge that no one will be left behind. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets which we are announcing today demonstrate the scale and ambition of this new universal Agenda. They seek to build on the Millennium Development Goals and complete what these did not achieve. They seek to realize the human rights of all and to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. They are integrated and indivisible and balance the three dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, social and environmental.” https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda
3 An edited volume for a publication in a Springer Series is on the cards for the next sabbatical.
References
Martin, I. (2021). “Internationalisation in Higher Education: Lao-German tandems – challenges, contexts, perspectives”. In: Khemmarath, S. & Sengsouriya, P. (eds.). Internationalization in Institutions of Higher Education in Lao P.D.R. Conference Proceedings of International Symposium at Savannakhet University (10 October 2019). (20 pp.) (forthcoming)
Online
United Nations. “Sustainable Development”. https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda (last accessed 24 January 2021)
Greetings on New Year’s Eve 2020
Dear Readers,
After the project reports and academic articles of this year, here comes my second personal post on this blog. “There’s a crack in everything” I wrote on 24 March, quoting Leonard Cohen’s famous anthem, as I lay coughing and wheezing on my sofa after two strenuous long-distance flights within a week and my father’s funeral, but relieved that at least Team X and doctoral student Rebecca Dengler made it back to Germany just in time before the first lockdown. The line continues “and that’s how the light gets in.”
Everyone experienced more cracks this year than they probably ever imagined could exist, but we also witnessed light coming in through those cracks, from family and friends, neighbours, colleagues, and total strangers. Almost overnight, Germany became a flexible country, and a new awareness that we need to build a new world started sinking in, gradually. Here in Karlsruhe, on 10 July, we also had the very good fortune to celebrate our 6th German-Lao Friendship Feast. All through that magical evening, I was fully aware of the fact that this would be the highlight of the year for me, and that the memory of this evening would help brighten the darker moments in store.
At the end of the year, the tradition is to look back and review the good things that happened.
Here is my list:
1. More people in the industrialised world have started realising that continuing to exploit the planet and living unsustainably has consequences. These consequences will very simply not destroy Earth, but us.1 More people have therefore decided to not watch, but to act.
2. A new awareness of the need for decolonisation has emerged and even made the headlines. Colonialism may be in the past, but its long-term effects are still affecting most societies.
More people have therefore decided to not watch, but to act.
3. Digitalisation in our field of Higher Education may have burdened us with the loss of live contact, but it has also catalysed many creative new kinds of collaboration.
Our Lao partners have started to realise this new potential and put it to good use.
Every experience would be lived to the full. The spiritual advice of “mindfulness” and “living in the moment” may be commonplace by now, but this will not deter me from sharing
1. the following photo (taken by a friend, Bernhard Weil),
2. artistic advice (by the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke), and
3. drawing (created by volunteer Charlotte O’Dell, Team XI)
with you on this New Year’s Eve, maybe as an inspiration for your next meditative walk outside, or for an arts or language or Global Citizenship lesson with your pupils or students next year.
“Hiller Moor, Huellhorst” (by Bernhard Weil)
“Hiller Moor, Huellhorst” (Bernhard Weil)
English translation of “Ueber die Geduld” (“About Patience”) by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926), excerpt from “Letters to a young poet” (http://entersection.com/posts/833-rainer-maria-rilke-on-patience)
“About Patience”
Ripening like
a tree,
which doesn’t
force its sap,
and stands
confidently
in the storms
of spring,
not afraid
that afterward
summer
may not come.
It does come.”
“Tree in Four Seasons” (by Charlotte O’Dell, 31.10.2020)
Tree in 4 seasons, by Charlotte O’Dell (31.12.2020)
Rilke’s letter continues: “But it comes only to those who are patient, who are there as if eternity lay before them, so unconcernedly silent and vast.”
English translation (by Solveigh Goett PhD, http://solveighgoett.blogspot.com/2012/02/man-muss-geduld-haben-one-must-be.html)
“Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart
and to try to love the questions themselves
as if they were locked rooms or books written
in a very foreign language.
Don’t search for the answers,
which could not be given to you now,
because you would not be able to live them.
And the point is, to live everything.
Live the questions now.
My very best wishes for a hopefully healthy and reasonably contented New Year for you,
Greetings via Sandra’s coffee from “30ml Espresso & Bar” in Vientiane!
…and we all hope you all continue to stay safe!
Isabel Martin
Text by I. Martin
Photos by S. Uhlig & B. Weil (published here with his kind permission)
Artwork by C. O’Dell (published here with her kind permission)
Note
1 “The Limits to Growth” by the Club of Rome was published in 1972, and one of the most prolific and versatile British writers, Peter Reading, chastised a world gone ecologically, politically, and morally insane in his remarkable oevre throughout four decades since the late seventies, but came to the conclusion that “somebody there in the back/ ain’t been [f***ing] listening.” (I wish he was still alive to see that more people have started listening.)
References
Goett, Solveigh (translation of Rilke). http://solveighgoett.blogspot.com/2012/02/man-muss-geduld-haben-one-must-be.html (last accessed 31 December 2020)
Entersection. http://entersection.com/posts/833-rainer-maria-rilke-on-patience (last accessed 31 December 2020)
Martin, I. (2000). Reading Peter Reading. Newcastle: Bloodaxe Books. https://web.archive.org/web/20120428130614/http://www.bloodaxebooks.com/titlepage.asp?isbn=1852244674 (last accessed 31 December 2020)
“Language education and global citizenship” (10) – Barriers in English course books – the Lao perspective (by I. Martin)
Editor’s note: This is the sequel (and prequel) to Rebecca Dengler‘s article about “Intercultural barriers in “international” English course books“, the second article in our series “Language Education and Global Citizenship” and also the topic of her doctoral dissertation.
I first visited Savannakhet University (SKU) on 31 March 2017 during my “Fact-Finding Mission”, which was funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD, “Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst”), together with my (then-) research assistant Ms Heike Mueller. During our 10-day tour, we were chauffeured, escorted/supervised, and introduced to 26 different Institutions of Higher Education (HEI) in mid- and southern Laos by Mr Somlith Virivong, who was then the President of the Lao-German Technical College and an expert on Vocational Education.
He studied at Dresden University in the seventies, speaks fluent German and English, and was called to work for the Ministry of Education and Sports as Deputy-Head in the Department of Vocational Education shortly after our first encounter. Thank you very much, Mr Somlith, for opening so many doors to us in Lao P.D.R.!
Mr Somlith Virivong plans the next stop…
… and gets permission for all venues directly from the First Secretary (Mr Lanat and his secretary Vanida Mianmany) of the Minister of Education and Sports, Mme Sengdeuane Lachanthaboun.
After our meetings-marathon, we get two days off to look around!
We, the University of Education Karlsruhe (KUE) and SKU, subsequently established an official cooperation in 2018, which resulted in a Volunteer Teacher Programme and two Erasmus+ Mobility Programmes. We also held an International Symposium on the “Internationalization of Institutions of Higher Education” at SKU on 11 October 2019 (reports on this conference will be published on this blog shortly).
After a very interesting afternoon at SKU in March 2017 during our “Fact-Finding Mission”, Dr Sitha Khemmarath, Vice-President (Research Division) of SKU, invited us to stay another day. On this second day, Heike forged ties with the Food Science Faculty, which led to a fruitful cooperation and several teaching and research projects.
I spent that day with the English Department of the Faculty of Linguistics and started thinking about possible research topics to investigate together. The first thing that struck me when I was allowed to visit some classes was an incongruous teaching particularity1: The lecturers had been assigned to use international (or “international”) course books for teaching classes in English, but they were to teach young Lao students, many of them from the provinces, who had never had any contact with the English language or Western culture before. The books and the students did not match.
I thought it would be academically interesting (and practically useful) to investigate the structural reasons, the linguistic interferences (negative language transfer) of L1 (first language) onto L2 (second language) or L3 (third language),2 and the intercultural barriers for this ill fit.
The English lessons that I visited were largely spent on looking up the translations of the English words in an electronical dictionary on one’s mobile, copying them into one’s exercise book, and then not having enough time left for much else, which meant the students did not seem to really understand the point of it all, and what those words signified (and to whom, and why this should matter to them). The lack of understanding and enthusiasm, I thought, was written all over their faces.
I hoped to interview the teachers on this matter one day, for starters.
Half a year later, during my research sabbatical and on my second visit to SKU in November 2017, I spent one week observing classes3 and then conducting workshops with groups of teachers in several faculties. For the workshop with the English Department, I offered the topic “Course books” and asked the teachers to bring the course books they were currently using to the workshop.
Mr Bouliane Keophoxay kindly started by giving a presentation about the problems of teaching and learning English at SKU.
Mr Boualiane introduces…
… the outline of his presentation.
The curriculum…
… in Year III…
… and Year IV.
The problems as perceived by the lecturers at this time
Then we gathered around a table looking at the different books that had been brought along, and we discussed how one could evaluate course books, and which questions or criteria one would bring to such an analysis. We settled on the following three questions to begin with:
1. What is this book about, what are the teaching goals?
2. What is good about it (for you)? Which parts can you work with well?
3. What is not good about it (for you)? What difficulties does it present for your teaching?
The lecturers of the English Department…
… introduce their course books.
One lecturer who held a B.A. degree had also brought along his research thesis for his Master Degree:
Research thesis
Towards the end of our round-table talk, I asked if anyone would volunteer to do a 1 or 2-minute book presentation to answer the three questions for the book they had brought, and whether I might be allowed to video-record this.
Mr Boualiane Keophoxay
Let’s Talk
Mr Thaithanawanh Keokaisone
Here are the recorded answers of the following 7 lecturers from the English Department:
1. Mr Chanthalakone Souydalay on Essential Reading
2. Mr Vilapong Sitthideth on English for Socializing
3. Mr Khamlan Phommavongsa on Headway
4. Dr Phetsamone Khattiyavong on Thesis Writing
5. Mr Sonephet Keoduangsavaht on English for Presentations
6. Mr Thongter Lovanthack on English Pronunciation
7. Mr Onsy Pilavanh on English Grammar
The red thread that runs through all the answers is: “It’s difficult”, “there are many problems”, and “it’s too difficult”. Faculty Dean Dr Phetsamone Khattiyavong pinpointed her staff’s deliberations with her question: “What should we do?”
The other common feature was the absence of any suspicion that a Western international (or “international”) course book might be a major – or any – factor in this “difficulty”. The lecturers seemed to think they themselves were lacking, or the English language was too difficult, or even that their students “lacked motivation” or were “lazy” (especially when it came to reading, as Lao people supposedly do not like to read [cf. unpublished field notes]).
One might mention at this point that in Lao P.D.R., it is the Deans who decide on the course books to be used. However, they do not have access to a large variety of teaching materials or books, due to their modest budget and the absence of Amazon delivery services in their country (as well as the absence of credit cards and personal bank accounts). Dr Phetsamone, for instance, and also other Deans from the other universities and Colleges that we visited, reported they revert to free pdfs on the Internet, random donations, one bookshop in Thailand that specialises in English language material, and to material produced (or reproduced)4 by the National University of Laos (NUOL), which is shared with the other three universities in the country.
One should also mention that Lao lecturers who are motivated enough to look for other material on the Internet for enhancement of their lessons need to pay for their own notebooks and Internet (from very modest salaries). Free Wifi on campus is available to the university leaders and their administration, but not in staff rooms or offices (yet).
We are now investigating these and other related topics with our partners at SKU and in my “Global English(es) and Global Citizenship Education” course at KUE, in our conference and course papers, publications and Bachelor and Master theses and doctoral dissertations, as well as in our next Erasmus+ Mobility Programme (2020 – 2023) “Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship”. And we will keep you posted on our findings.
Thank you, SKU lecturers, for your kind permission to publish the recordings of your course book presentations.5 They will be viewed with great interest and respect.6
Text by I. Martin
Videos & photos by I. Martin
Notes
1 About the three “Ps” for decolonising teaching (“practicality, particularity, possibility”) cf. B. Kumaravedivelu (2001) “Toward a Postmethod Pedagogy“.
2 The summary of my paper on “English as a ‘Distant Language'”, presented at the International Conference of ADLES on “Des langues étrangères pour tous: didactique et méthodologie” in Lausanne (Switzerland) on 7 September 2018, will be published on this blog in the Series “Language Education and Global Citizenship Education” next year.
3 The classes taught in the English Department of the Faculty of Linguistics were: Thesis Writing, English for Socializing, Language Practice, Grammar Practice, Upper Intermediate Grammar, Pronunciation, Speaking, English for Tourism, Translation, Writing for Composition, Basic Writing. SKU also has a Faculty oF Education, which targets teacher education. I did another workshop with those lecturers later that week, got similar questions (“our textbooks are quite strong, but how can we help our students to manage?”), some hints regarding possible structural causes for the mismatch on the Lao side, and some attitude (“tomorrow never comes – there is no future”).
4 Mr Thongter refers to his book on pronunciation as a NUOL publication. Inside the NUOL cover, you may glimpse excerpts from an OUP publication.
5 My thanks also go to Rebecca Dengler for taking up the suggestion of this research topic for her doctoral dissertation, and to Phi Ha Nguen for drawing my attention to Kumaravedivelu’s Postmethod Pedagogy.
6 In 2021, in our “Language Education and Global Citizenship” series, a special focus will be “Global English(es)”, the “Decolonization of language”, and other related fields. The English Wikipedia entry on World Englishes traces the development of World Englishes from Kachru’s “Expanding Circles” to other, more decolonized models of World Englishes, e.g. Mc Arthur’s “Circle of World Englishes”, or Modiani’s model of “International English”.
Mc Arthur’s “Circle of World Englishes”(1987), https://www.researchgate.net/figure/McArthurs-Circle-of-World-English-1987_fig2_320613974
References
Kumaravedivelu, B. (2001.). “Toward a Postmethod Pedagogy“. http://www.bkumaravadivelu.com/articles%20in%20pdfs/2001%20Kumaravadivelu%20Postmethod%20Pedagogy.pdf (last accessed on 30 December 2020).
Martin, I. (7.9.2018). “English as a distant language”. Des langues étrangères pour tous: didactique et méthodologie. First international conference of the L’Association en didactique des langues étrangères en Suisse (ADLES). Lausanne, Switzerland, 6-7 September 2018.
Teaching a “Methods and Activities Course” for the lecturers of English at SKU (2019/20) – and Merry Christmas!
It is getting colder. We even got the first snow here in the Black Forest in Germany. Days are getting shorter with darkness setting in around 4:40 p.m., and so Christmas lights have started to appear everywhere. Christmas in Germany 1
Even though this winter’s snow only remained for one night …
… every morning everything is frozen outside.
Houses and trees are decorated with lights.
Last year shortly before Christmas, I was at Savannakhet University (SKU) in Laos. The time before Christmas definitely felt different there. To at least feel some of the Christmas spirit and also to get into an intercultural dialogue, I decided to teach Christmas-themed lessons. They took place in the week before Christmas in my class at SKU.
We did not only read about Christmas traditions in different countries, but also discussed how cultural topics can be dealt with in English classes. We also talked about activities that can be used to make learning about culture in different countries interesting and fun 2. The English teachers who joined my class had many questions about the traditions. However, they also shared information about the religious festivals they celebrate. This exchange of knowledge and experience was a crucial part of the course I taught at SKU.
The class was excited to learn more about Christmas…
… and to receive little Christmas gifts.
Setting up a class for the English staff
In addition to the research for my PhD at SKU, I agreed to give a class for the English-teaching staff. In 2018, David Schrep was the first volunteer from the University of Education Karlsruhe (KUE) at SKU. He established and taught an “English & teaching methodology” class for SKU staff. I volunteered to continue the class during my own time in Savannakhet. The previous participants of the class wished for the class to focus on teaching methodology this time, and less on the English language itself.
With the help of Ms Phetsavanh Somsivilay I set up a “English Teaching Methods and Activities course” for the English-teaching staff of SKU. In addition, I had two helpers for the course, Ms Souphansa Inthichak and Ms Manysone Viphakone. I could ask them for anything regarding the course and its preparation. Many of the participants from David’s class joined my class, too. The goal of this class was to improve the English teachers’ knowledge and skills in teaching methodology and to reflect on and adapt to English teaching techniques for the Lao context.
Everybody participated actively and shared their thoughts and experience.
Customizing the class for the Lao lecturers’ needs
At first, I did not feel very confident about teaching this class, because I realised that I would give a class for university lecturers at SKU. In the beginning, I was concerned about what I could teach them. I brought along my experience from teaching at a primary school in Germany, my teacher training at the State Institute for Initial Teacher Training, my education at the KUE, and preparing my PhD. I also was part of Team IV and V and worked together with Lao Science teachers at Ban Phang Heng Secondary School to tandem-teach and help improve their lessons and their English language skills. However, I did not feel confident at first about teaching Lao lecturers whom I did not know before and who were all older than me. Still, I wanted to give my best and I researched and prepared a lot for the course. Since it was the first time for me to give a class like this, it was especially important for me to listen to the participants’ wishes and needs for the classes.
In his “postmethod pedagogy” (2001), Balasubramanian Kumaravadivelu examines context-sensitive language-teaching, or in my case context-sensitive teaching of methods and activities for the English language classroom. He visualises the postmethod pedagogy with three parameters: particularity, practicality, and possibility. First of all, the language pedagogy used in a context must be relevant for teaching the particular group (particularity). In my class, the lecturers had time to think about how to adapt the methods and ideas for the particular group, the students at SKU, or even reflect whether the methods would be suitable or relevant for their students at all.
Secondly, language-teaching pedagogy – theory – influences teaching practice. On the other hand, theoretical knowledge develops from practical experience. So I wanted my course to help the lecturers “to theorize from their practice and practice what they theorize” 3 (practicality). Lastly, it is necessary to regard the experiences the participants bring to the pedagogical setting and work with their experiences and the knowledge they already have (possibility). 4
In the first lesson, I let the participants suggest and prioritise topics for the course. I also wanted to see their pre-knowledge about topics I wanted to include in the class. One of the first activities we did was a self-evaluating activity where the participants drew dots on a target. The closer they drew the dot to the target in a certain section the more they thought they already knew about the topic. This and other small activities in the first lesson helped me to determine which topics were relevant for the English lecturers at SKU who took time out of their already busy schedules to attend my class.
The teachers visualised their prior knowledge on the Whiteboard.
Theory, methods, and activities
From then on, the class took place three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, for 90 minutes in the morning in one of the few rooms at SKU that is equipped with air-conditioning and a permanently installed projector. The eighteen regular participants were all lecturers who teach English or courses in the English language. They work for various faculties at SKU. Most of the participants are lecturers at the Faculty of Linguistics and Humanities. However, also lecturers from the Faculty of Business and Administration, Engineering, Natural Sciences, Education, Information Technology as well as staff from the Personal and Inspection Office, the General Affair and Cooperation Office, the Quality Assurance Division, and Academic Affairs Office who additionally teach English or classes like “English for Commerce”, “English for Agriculture” or “English for Administration” for the different faculties.
Material for speaking activities, …
… for teaching pronunciation, …
… and intercultural activities.
The topics that the teachers asked for and that we then covered in this course included:
- teaching vocabulary,
- phases of a lesson,
- games for learning,
- teaching pronunciation and intonation,
- speaking activities for the classroom,
- giving feedback and correcting mistakes,
- teaching cultural topics,
- mediation,
- listening activities,
- teaching English for students who do not major in English.
The lessons often contained a presentation or some theoretical input that I prepared for the topic. However, most of the lessons challenged the participants to be active themselves, to think and reflect on their own experiences, and to try new activities themselves 5. One aspect the teachers were specifically interested in was how to get the students to speak more in their classes.
Everybody gets to speak in the “Speed Dating” activity.
We used the “Placemat” activity to collect and share ideas.
In this “Placemat” the teachers wrote down their ideas about teaching vocabulary.
Word of the day
One of the participants favourite activity that I introduced as a ritual was “Word of the Day“. In the beginning of every lesson one of the class members introduced an English word which had been new to her or him. They read out the word with the correct pronunciation and gave a definition for the word. The participants liked this activity because they got to know new vocabulary in the classes. I introduced this activity especially to get everybody to speak English in front of the class and give a short presentation. Additionally, it was a great way to enlarge English vocabulary.
We collected all “words of the day” and their definitions in a table.
This is only a small snippet of a long list with games and activities that we tried out in class.
Typhoon game
Another activity was particularly interesting and fun for the teachers to try out, to play, and to implement in their courses. The game is called “Typhoon“. “Typhoon” is a game for review questions. The teacher draws a grid on the board and defines a point value for every box in the grid beforehand. The students do not know the point value, but the rows and columns are named. The teacher then asks groups of students review questions. If the group answers a question right, they can pick a box from the grid and receive the point value.What makes the game so much fun is that instead of points there can be special actions for boxes like “t” for “typhoon”, where the group can “blow away” another group’s points that they have gained so far, “s” for “steal”, where they can steal another group’s points, “d” for “double”, they can double their current score, or “swap”, where they can swap the score with another group.
An example of the grids for a “Typhoon” game
This activity is perfect for review lessons. The students are activated and become competitive. Another advantage is that the end score does not only depend on the group’s performance but also partly depends on luck. This can encourage low-level students and groups with few points to stay focussed and motivated in the game. The scores can change very quickly. We did not only play the games and test the activities, but we also discussed the advantages and disadvantages of them and how to adapt them for their classrooms.
Learning from one another
I also learned a lot through this class in the dialogue with the Lao lecturers. They shared their experience with the class and with me. I got to understand the teaching situation at SKU better. Since this was the first time for me to teach a course like this, I did a lot of research for it and prepared it thoroughly. Therefore, I also gained a lot of new knowledge, experience, and developed new ideas. Studying the Lao language before and while I taught the course helped me to understand the problems Lao learners have when learning English more and more.
Good job, everyone!
One of the best things was to see that the teachers adapt methods and suggestions from the class in their own lessons. One of the teachers told me how he had used the activity “running dictation”, which he got to know in my class. He also described the problems he had in his classroom and how he already thought of ways to adapt the activity to work better next time. When I talked to students, they also mentioned that their teachers try new methods and activities in their classes. The best aspect for me is that the teachers have not only incorporated some of the ideas and activities but also have adapted them to fit their classes and the conditions at SKU.
The class also helped me to build relationships with the lecturers who then participated in interviews for my research. They brought many difficulties and characteristics of the English classes at SKU to my attention. This information helps me to understand the context of my research much better. In my research, I examine intercultural barriers that arise for the use of ‘international’ course books at SKU. These course books are not adapted for the Lao classroom and therefore often pose additional barriers to the learners’ langauge learning process. I hope that I can continue my interviews and research and my work with the Lao lecturers at SKU next year when it is possible to travel to Laos again.
Text by R. Dengler
Photos by R. Dengler & S. Inthichak
References
Kumaravadivelu, B. (2001) “Toward a Postmethod Pedagogy”. TESOL Quarterly 35 (4), 537-560.
Notes
- Christmas is an annual Christian festival celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. In Germany, Christmas is celebrated on Dec, 24, 25, and 26. However, the main day of the celebrations is the 24th. ↩
- These activities included an imaginary trip, songs, reading texts and stories, and a role play of greetings around the world. ↩
- Kumaravadivelu, B. (2001), p. 541. ↩
- Editor’s note: As this theory turns out to describe exactly what we have been doing and aiming at in our German-Lao tandem-work, we will give it more attention next year. Ms Selina Stegmeier will intrododuce “postmethod methods” in her first post in the “Language Education and Global Citizenship” series soon, but first we will trace the development in English didactics over the last decades of the 20th century from Intercultural to Transcultural learning and teaching, to move on to decolonization theories and finally to postmethod method(s). ↩
- Some of the activities we tried in class were: “Outburst“, “Watermelon race“, “Find someone who …“, “Tic Tac Toe“, “Read my lips“, “Box of lies“, “What happened next?”, “Battleship“, “Running dictation“, role-play, “Reverse Charades“, “Bingo“, “Criss Cross“, “Jigsaw reading“, “Think-Pair-Share“, surveys, mind-mapping, “Placemat“, “A letter to my future self“, … ↩
Fingers crossed for Karlsruhe finalist in “The Voice of Germany” competition: Alessandro Pola (Team I) – good luck!
Alessandro Pola (https://www.instagram.com/alessandropolaofficial/?hl=de), a former student of English and music at the University of Education Karlsruhe (KUE) and former teaching volunteer in the “Teaching English in Laos” project of KUE and Angels for Children (AfC) in 2015/16 (Team I), is now one of the finalists in the German casting show “Voice of Germany“, thanks to his outstanding performance and talent.
For the final competition, which is broadcast on SAT.1 (German television) and Utube at 8:15 p.m. tonight, we want to send our very best wishes and vibes for your great challenge – we remember our time together in Laos and with the “Singlish” Band and will keep our fingers crossed for you!
Check out his former performances: https://www.the-voice-of-germany.de/…/staff…/alessandro-pola
“Wish you luck, happiness, lots of money, a safe journey, and a good life!” Ribbons on Sandro’s wrists after the Baci ceremony (January 2016)
Team I at Frankfurt Airport (27 October 2015)
Sandro in Ban Sikeud…
… with Madame Engel…
… at school doing…
… “English Activity Time”…
… and a Square Dance Workshop…
… celebrating with friends…
… with Team I – Tobias Mayer, Laura Kringe, Alessandro Pola (upper row), Prof. Dr. Isabel Martin, Franziska Frister, Julia Bauer (bottom row)
Thank you and bon voyage!
Thinking back, we remember our momentous “Singlish” Workshop on 2 July 2015, the day we were first visited by AfC in Karlsruhe. We thought at the time “we’ll see what will become of this little story.”
Singlish Band: Stefanie Müller, Sandro Pola, Jonathan Freeman, Marlene Findeisen, Sara Stöhrer, Nils Drixler, Charlotte O’Dell, Heike Müller
AfC visits KUE: Christian Engel (AfC Chairman), Johannes Zeck, Khamsing Nanthavongdouangsy and his spouse, Prof. Dr. Isabel Martin, Elke Sieber, Götz Schwab (KUE Vice-President)
And now we may watch how another fabulous storyline is about to unfold: “There is nothing as powerful as an idea whose time has come” (Victor Hugo).
Bon voyage and stay safe on this next adventure!
Text & photos by I. Martin & J. Zeck
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