Introduction of the teachers at the Lao-German Technical College
Following the Teachers’ Day celebrations at the Lao-German Technical College, we would like to introduce some of the wonderful teachers at the Lao-German Technical College who are our students now. We have two Beginner classes, one Elementary class, and one Technical English class. Each class is taught five times a week for one hour in the evening. We are more than happy about the fact that our teachers are all very motivated and eager to learn English. We enjoy teaching them a lot, despite the problem that the proficiency levels within the classes differ quite a lot – “differentiation” is the didactic-methodological keyword for us teachers here – a true challenge for us!
“Beginner I” class (teacher Lena)
The Beginner I class has 19 students in total, three of them women. The class takes place from 4:30-5:30 p.m. As mentioned above, the teacher-students are really eager to learn and even asked to extend the teaching time. I agreed to that, so on Tuesdays and Thursdays we prolong the lessons by half an hour. “Beginner I” means the students already have a basic knowledge of English so they are not true “Beginners”.
My task is now to figure out in which basic areas they are still lacking. In the first week it turned out that they have great difficulties when it comes to listening comprehension (due to lack of previous exposure to spoken English), but at the same time their knowledge of vocabulary is quite large. Another issue is pronunciation as some sounds like [l] and [r] are hard for them to pronounce, so these are the issues we are going to focus on first.
Beginner I group at the LGTC
“Beginner II” class (teacher Denise)
The Beginner II class has 18 students who come from different sections of the LGTC. Unlike in Lena’s Beginner I class, here we really start from zero. But bo pen jang because since we started our class they really put their hearts and souls into learning English and soak up everything new. Teaching the Beginner group always gives me great pleasure and at the same time I build up my pedagogical and methodological repertoire as I teach English to students without even the remotest possibility of switching to my mother tongue (or another language) when difficulties arise. Teaching strictly monolingually is both a great chance and challenge!
Beginner II group at the LGTC
“Elementary” class (teacher Denise)
Another 15 staff members of the LGTC take part in the Elementary class. The teacher-students of the Elementary class have a wider range of vocabulary at their disposal and a good (elementary) knowledge of English. Pronunciation will be one of the main issues as they, too, face problems with word stress and the right pronunciation of words, especially those with the sounds [l], [r] and [th]. All students are eager to improve their knowledge and show joy and commitment while studying English.
I am therefore really looking forward to the next 3 months teaching the Elementary class. As an English writing assignment, I asked them to write a short text about themselves, their work at the LGTC, and the reasons why they take part in the class.
Elementary group at the LGTC
Herewith they would like to introduce themselves to you, our readers:
My name is Khamsavay GNOMMILAVONG. I am the deputy director of the LGTC and I am responsible for academic affairs. I am part of the English class because I want to improve my speaking skills to be able to communicate with foreigners when they come to visit the college. I would also like to improve my writing as I have to write many letters, project proposals and other things in English.
My name Ketsana SIPHONEPHAT. My main duty is to teach physics but I also work at the academic affair section at the LTGC. Our college cooperates with many different international companies as we are aiming to be the best college in Laos. The whole staff including me is very willing to improve our English skills in order to communicate easily with our cooperation partners. I am really happy that we have the opportunity to study English with the teachers form BHS, Germany. My English is better compared to the start of the English class. I can speak with foreigners easily and I expect to be even better at the end of the course. Thank you very much Denise!
Hello, my name is Phonesouk INTHAXY. I am 25 years old. I live in NongVang village, Vientiane capitol, together with my family. I studied at the LGTC from 2007 until 2010 and finished my studies with a high diploma degree. After I finished my bachelor degrees in 2013 I started working at the LGTC I am a teacher in the electrical section. My subjects are electrical installation, electrical drawing and building automation. I want to improve my English that is why I am happy to have English classes every day.
My name is Chanthavy SAVANPHET. I am a teacher in the electrical section at the LGTC and I teach about installations in buildings. I have been working at the LGTC since August 2011. At the moment I am doing my bachelor degrees at the Vocation Development Institute. It pleases me to study English to gain more knowledge in English grammar, pronunciation and especially to learn the vocabulary of the engineering field which I need for my subject. I used to take part in English classes about electrics thought by foreigners but I did not understand all of it. I hope that I will understand more after the English class at the LGTC.
My name is Bounthavy SIPHONEPHAT. I am a teacher at the LGTC. I did my high diploma degree at the LGTC and continued with my bachelor in the faculty of engineering. At the moment I am doing my electronic master in the evening after my work at the LGTC. I am responsible for the academy in the electrical section and I am also the contact person for our international cooperation companies in electrical matters.
My name is Thipphavanh BOUDCHALEARN. I am a teacher at the LGTC and teach about environment. I also work at the academic section. There my responsibility is to keep score for stundets of every section. I want to study English because I would like to improve my skills in speaking as I have problems in pronunciation when I talk English to foreigners.
My name is Syphone SYBOUNHEUANG and I work in at the LGTC. I am a teacher and I teach about 24 hours a week about industry control systems such as pneumatic and hydraulic, PLC and machine drive. In my opinion my subject is very difficult. I learn English to improve my work and because I want to communicate with foreigners in English when I go to other countries. I hope my English teacher can help me with that.
Hello my name is Many WAENKHAM and I am 26 years old. I come from the Saiyabury province. I work at the LGTC as a teacher and I teach welding. I am studying English because I would like to speak English very well. With better English skills I can earn more money and that offers me more opportunities like traveling to England and Germany.
My name Ba PHENGSOUPHY. I am a teacher at the LGTC. I work here since 2011 at the human resource development section and I also teach politics to the students of the LGTC. I used to study English but I hardly ever speak that’s why my speaking skills are not very good. It’s a great chance to study English with a foreign teacher. I do hope this course will help us to improve our English skills. If possible it would be great to have other English courses afterwards. A problem for me is that the English class starts at 4.30 p.m. and finishes at 5.30 p.m. After class I have to take the bus back home which is far from here (15 km). I arrive at home at 6.30 p.m. There I look after my daughters. But I try my best to reconcile work and family life as I am very happy to study English with my colleges.
Hello. My name is Bouakham SYPASIRTH. I work at the LGTC as a teacher at the agro machinery and heavy machinery section. I hope to improve my knowledge and English skills in the English Elementary Class because English is very important for my work. When I am able to speak English very well I can communicate with other people about my job more easily.
“Technical English” class (teacher Lena)
The Technical English class consists of 10 students. Four of them are English teachers and the others teach technical subjects to the College students like electricity or mechanics. The aim of this class is to gain a broader knowledge of Technical English and also to support the English teachers with English teaching methodology and didactics. We are working with a book that has been especially picked for the specific purpose needed for this class. The books have already been given to the teachers (see photo). Our great thanks goes to BHS Corrugated for purchasing the books. So far we have started with some basics but will soon dive into the field of Technical English proper.
Technical English group at the LGTC
My name is Vieng Khom PHYATHEP. I am 36 years old. Apart from teaching English, I am also responsible for the library. In the future I want to be an English teacher for the technical part at the LGTC. I am really looking forward to teach my future students in the field of technical English.
Hello, my name is Moukdala KEOMIXAI. I am 25 years old. In my free time I love to listen to English songs and watch English films. I often go for a walk along the Mekong River and visit the night market afterwards.
I am a teacher at the LGTC, before that I was an assistant secretary. Unfortunately I do not know much about teaching methodology and didactics so I am very willing to study hard in this area in order to become a good English teacher.
My name is Sisomseune YATSADAHAK. I am 54 years old. I am a teacher and also responsible for the automotive section. I teach theory and practice at the automotive section. I dream of creating a Lao cartoon or becoming a professional photographer.
My name is Mr. Somphou KHAMPHILA. I am a teacher at the LGTC. My duty is to teach general mechanics. Unfortunately, my English is not that good but I want to study hard and practice reading, writing, speaking and listening.
I am Vilayphone KHAMSANG. I am 24 years old. I am a teacher at the LGTC. I teach the basics of computer science such as the history of computer, how to use a computer and how to use Microsoft Office correctly. This also includes how to handle computer problems.
In the future I want to improve my English skills and do a master degree somewhere in Europe.
Hello, my name is Mrs. Akina YADSADAHUK. I am 25 years old. I live in Xaysavang Village, Xaythany district, Vientiane capital. I am an English teacher at the LGTC. I have been working here for two years now. I work at the affair academe section. My duty there is to keep the data of the first and last year students. My aim is to do a master degree in Europe.
My hobbies are listening to English songs. This helps me to improve my English skills. I also like to study English grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. I often use the internet for practising and from time to time my husband joins me as his English level is pretty good.
My name is Mr. Khamseng BIDABOUTH. I am a teacher at the LGTC and I am also the head of the metal machining section. I teach many subjects like mathematics, technical software, and technical mathematics, practice and so on. I am studying English because I want to improve my English skills in order to pass on my knowledge to my students.
My name is Phonesavanh CHACHUEYANG. I have been a teacher at LGTC since 2010. Now, I am responsible for teaching GM students with the computer and the CNC program. In the future I want to be an expert of the CNC technology.
My name is Mr. Saythong INSARN. I work at the LGTC and also for the Ministry of Education and Sport. I am 36 years old. Apart from teaching my responsibilities are also coordinating and planning. I am teaching English for the automotive section and also the theoretical part of welding for the welding section.
In my free time I like walking along the Khong River Bank, playing football with my colleagues or reading a book from time to time. At the weekend I often go to Vang Vieng city because my parents live there, aged 75 (father) and 74 (mother). I am very happy to join the English classes with Lena, she is very good.
Thanks for reading!
Hello, my name is Vacki WANGYENG. I am 28 years old. I am a teacher at the LGTC and also responsible for working as coordinator in the cooperation-development and the IT section. Apart from this, I am teaching in the automotive technology and heavy equipment field about automotive electrical/electronic systems at the LGTC.
Today, I would like to talk about the benefit of learning English. As we know nowadays, English is very important and useful for human to communicate all around the world. Teachers have to improve themselves to gain more working experience and need to speak English to communicate with others all over the world. That means they have to work internally and externally to make team work efficient. When you are able to communicate with others in English you will have good chances to exchange experiences in order to improve and modernize your working place.
That is why I decided to learn English with the BHS volunteers to improve my English skills. I hope to succeed in the English course.
Text and photos by L. Wink & D. Burkhardt
Teachers’ Day – A day to celebrate?!?
Interestingly Lao people have a bank holiday for teachers – “Teachers’ Day”. The Teachers’ Day, celebrated each year in October, is to honour the work that has been done by the teachers in education and in the community during the year. Western observers will be surprised to find that, prior to this day, most of the children and their parents are occupied with looking for presents for their teachers. Common presents are sweets but also clothing or baskets filled with various gifts. The celebration of Teachers’ Day is cheerful and colourful through the many festive acts and performances.
Our Teachers’ Day started on the evening before (6 October). Besides all the teachers of the Lao-German Technical College (LGTC) and us two volunteers, the directors of other Vocational Colleges were invited to dinner at “Monkey House”, a restaurant closeby the LGTC. Director Mr Somlith Virivong of the LGTC welcomed everybody and gave a speech in which he thanked the entire staff of the LGTC for their great work. We felt very honoured when he also mentioned us in his speech, highlighting the good cooperation between Germany and Laos at the LGTC. In his words: “A College that wants to achieve international standards can only improve if people from different parts of the world work together and exchange their knowledge, as it is the case at the LGTC where German and Lao people are working together hand in hand.”
LGTC Teachers’ Day celebration at “Monkey House”
On the next day – “Teachers’ Day”, 7 October – we were invited to join the teachers’ outing to the stadium of Vientiane to watch a football match hosted by several schools of Vientiane.
On our way to the stadium
Lucky us, we did not have to play, as we found even sitting and cheering quite exhausting at 35 degrees with high humidity. To open the matches, a speech was delivered by the Deputy of the Minister of Education. Some very colourful traditional Lao dancing was performed as well as singing before the sports event started.
A traditional Lao dance
Stadium Vientiane
As we have discovered so far, things just end as spontaneously as they have started before you even realize it. So we went back home before we actually had our go in the tug-of-war in which we should have been participating – but bor pen nyang, as they say: Never mind!
Another surprise came after the event: Teachers’ Day is not a tradition special to Laos at all. It is celebrated internationally every year and took root in the 20th century. To our even greater surprise, there is a Teachers’ Day in Germany. Prof. Martin stumbled across this fact on 5 October in a Newsletter by a German publisher. We really did not know because none of us teachers ever experienced being celebrated back home – well: bor pen njang! We got “double-lucky” here.
This is why we would now like to seize the chance to send out a big “Thank You!” to all the teachers around the world, especially to our teachers at the LGTC, the teachers of the Secondary and Primary School Phang Heng, the teachers of the Primary School Sikeud, and the ones of the Sunshine School Vientiane.
Text by L. Wink & D. Burkhardt
Photos by D. Burkhardt
Day of German Unity – A weekend of singing and celebrating
Lucky us! We were invited by the German Embassy in Vientiane to join the reception at Don Chan Palace to commemorate 26 years of German reunification on the 3rd of October, since then the German National Holiday. The official start was at 7 p.m., but we were there two hours earlier for the warm-up with the International Choir of the German Embassy which we had joined just a few weeks before.
All dressed up and ready to go!
Germany also means… cars!
Reception at Don Chan Palace
The first guests arrive
Preparing for press
Gerlinde Engel (with white scarf) listens to the choir
Madame Marie Guillot, the Ambassador’s wife and also the leader of the choir, had been pushing us hard to get the best out of our semi-trained voices. The result is – we think – worth listening to, which is why we dare to share the audio-recording with our readers here.
The first song we sang was the Lao National Anthem “Pheng Xat Lao” (Lao: ເພງຊາດລາວ; lit. English: Hymn of the Lao People) – and this was of course the most difficult one for us in terms of pronunciation. The hymn was written and composed by Dr. Thongdy Sounthonevichit in 1941, adopted as the National Anthem of the Kingdom of Laos in 1945, and revised after the Pathet Lao won the Laotian Civil War and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic was established in 1975, with new lyrics by Sisana Sisane.
Pheng Xat Lao
Mme Guillot’s International Choir
The second song was the German National Anthem, followed by the Ode an die Freude, both sung in four voices (soprano, alto, tenor, bass).The latter is also known as the fulminant ending to Beethoven’s Symphony No.9. Ludwig van Beethoven took the lyrics from “Ode to Joy”, a poem written by Friedrich Schiller in 1785.
Of course there had been rehearsals beforehand, the last ones on Friday and Saturday evening before the big day. Madame Guillot had particularly focused on the pronunciation, the intonation and the stress of the songs, but of course also on “singing with passion and FREUDE” about JOY!
German Embassy
First rehearsal
The Saturday rehearsal was special, as we were invited to the Residence of the German Ambassador, His Excellency Mr. Michael Grau. He warmly welcomed us and his wife had prepared delicious international food for everybody. With full tummies and in high spirits we got the chance to get to know the other members of the choir better. Entertained by Mme Guillot’s singing performance, an oboe solo and some piano music we had an interesting time talking to them about their lives and work here in Laos.
But let’s get back to the celebration of the Day of German Unity. After His Excellency Mr. Grau had delivered his speech and raised his glass to the health of the Lao people and to lasting friendship between Laos and Germany, food and drinks were offered.
The Ambassador and Mme Guillot with the Minister of Economic Affairs and the Deputy Secretary of State
… and with the Chef!
Most of us were really looking forward to the food, as it was typically German: Potato salad, a large selection of sausages, and, of course, Sauerkraut (fermented cabbage) – a welcome “relief” after having had rice only for a few weeks now. (One might call this an indulgence in “food-homesickness”, but we have also noticed the new supermarkets which sell food from all over the world). Besides, there was great international live music to entertain the guests.
At the beginning the dance floor was empty but after a short time no one could keep their feet still and everybody started dancing. We enjoyed ourselves tremendously, and for us the weekend was a great opportunity to get to know interesting people and to get an insight into different NGOs (non-Governmental organizations) operating in Laos such as “weltwaerts” (“into the world”), the “GIZ” (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, i.e. German Society for International Cooperation), “GLAD” (German-Lao Association for Development) and “LGFA” (Lao-German Friendship Association).
Posing for the press…
…listening to the Ambassador’s speech
… with Linda (Bouangeun), secretary of the Angels for Children foundation and anchor for all of us
Besides the official part of this weekend we also had a special event on Sunday within our volunteer group: Julia’s 24th birthday. We had packed a birthday-surprise-cake and took the tuk-tuk to “Buddha Park” together, which is situated nearby Vientiane. There we spent the afternoon and enjoyed the wonderful scenery amongst the serene statues of Buddha. In the words of Mme Guillot: A weekend packed with Freude!
The team on Julia’s birthday
Text by L. Wink & D. Burkhardt
Photos by J. Zeck, D. Burkhardt & I. Martin
3rd “Falang Friendship Feast” – 24 September 2016
After the arrival of some more of us (11) volunteers, which almost completed the group, unfortunately, Prof. Martin had to leave in order to pick up her work in Germany again. Due to the fact that we had met our Lao teachers only in school up to this time, we decided to bring all these events together and, following the tradition initiated by Team I, to celebrate our first “Falang Friendship Feast“. Ms Gerlinde Engel invited all the Lao and German English and natural sciences teachers – from Ban Sikeud, Ban Phang Heng, the Lao-German Technical College and from the Sunshine School – to Ban Sikeud Primary School to have a festive lunch together. As we had arrived in the rainy season, the table was not set outside like the last two times when Team I and II had had their Feast. When it starts raining in Laos, there is only a short forewarning, and after just a minute or two of wind and grey clouds the torrent begins. No chance to clear a big table.
Almost complete
“There were ten in the bed…”
At the beginning of the day there was a lot to prepare.
“Linda” (Bouangeun) prepares the soup
Laap
Seasoning for laap
In Linda’s living-room
Mittaphone tosses the salad
David and Denise having fun in the “kitchen”
Chopping for 30 people
Change of clothes for the occasion: taylored Lao dress
Soup
Almost ready!
When everything was set up, Ms Engel welcomed her guests and wished everyone “Guten Appetit”. We sat down together at a huge table in the dancing-hall and enjoyed typical Lao food such as noodle salad, mixed salad, laap, mushroom soup, grilled chicken, and baked banana.
However, because of us “Falangs” (Thai: ฝรั่ง [faràŋ], in colloquial speech often “falang” = white foreigners), the usually huge amount of spicy chilies was set aside for individual seasoning. For more coolness, there was cucumber salad and tomato salad to relish.
During the meal, we enjoyed our first private Lao language lessons and, amongst other things, learnt to count to ten – which was not as easy as it sounds ;-)! Lao works on a tonal system, English and German are stress-based languages. The question whether we are capable of learning to perceive a new sound system well enough to reproduce “simple” things such as numbers or names (with tone rather than stress) therefore remains open for the time being. This is why many Asians adopt an English first name – the “Falangs” just can’t pronounce or remember theirs.
Gerlinde Engel then showed us a rare treasure after the meal: One of the first scriptures in the Lao language. She went on to share some of her incredible stories of her life and work in Laos with us. We wonder when she will finally agree to write a book!
David, Gerlinde Engel
Kerstin, Denise, Pauline
Lao scripture
Who can translate this?
After lunch, we played pantomime together. During that game we experienced some cultural differences. To give an example, we had suggested the word “clown” and then realised that an explanation of this concept was needed.
In the end, we tidied up together, but the washing-up was done by Teo, Memon, and Kanthong as usual in their own special fashion.
Teo at work
Teo and Kanthong
Thanks to Ms Engel, we all had a delicious lunch (and a taste of Lao beer) and a fun afternoon that helped us to break the ice and get to know each other better, which is also very important for our didactic work in the classroom. We are the same age as our Lao teacher-students and will no doubt learn a lot from each other!
Text by I. Martin, K. Petter & S. Schäfer
Photos by I. Martin & D. Burkhardt
Meet our Lao teachers who do not teach English, but now also learn English
Today I would like to introduce my English students to you. All of them are teachers in Ban Phang Heng Secondary School and all of them have one thing in common: They do not teach English. Their subjects are the Lao language, mathematics, chemistry, physics, geography, history, and informatics; but from Monday to Thursday they become students themselves for one hour a day when they learn English with me.
“Me” is “Pauline”, and my special task in this project is different to the ones of my Team III colleagues:
a) I do not teach English teachers in tandems, but I teach English to the “non-English-teachers” who expressed the wish to be included in the programme.
b) I therefore do not accompany them in their (“non-English”) classes for didactic-methodological assistance, but teach the pre-schoolers English instead with “Mr Mopsy” in that time.
English beginners class and teacher Pauline
I have worked with the “non-English teachers” for three weeks now, whom Prof. Martin had placed in two study groups after conducting interviews and explaining the new course system and schedule earlier in September.
There is a “Beginners” group and an “Elementary” group – the latter already had English lessons with Teams I and II. The beginners are real beginners, so we work with the second edition of the Straightforward Beginners Book and the appendant Workbook (Macmillan). This sounds like a simple statement, but it is not.
This is the first time we can follow a complete course programme. Last year, Team I experimented with different books Prof. Martin had brought to identify the most suitable one, and then the book order of Headway and Straightforward course books just did not arrive. It turned out several weeks later that it had not made it past customs. Several days later we heard this happened because of a coffee machine which was in the same box – Christian Engel had bought it as a Xmas surprise for the team. Coffee machines are consumer goods, unlike English course books, so need to be processed differently. It took another few weeks to obtain the box. By the time we had the books Team I was already leaving.
So now we are happy to start teaching more systematically with a complete course system which includes books!
Back to the Lao teachers: Because everything English is new to my class of beginners, I mime and draw a lot so we are getting a lot of good laughs together.
Last week I asked whether they would write a short text about themselves for our readers. They all wrote some lovely lines but read for yourself:
My name is Na Lee Vonkhamaxai. I am a teacher. I teach computer. I’m 25 years old. I am from HuaPhanh Provin. I live Sumked village at Sikord District at Vientain. In my freetime I lik listen music and a cooking Lao foods. My family 6 People, mother, two sister, brother, young brother and me.
My name is Daovone Chantha BouSee. I’m twenty-six years old. I teach Lao Language. I live in Phonsavant village Naxay Thong district. I’m my freetime I like Cooking and have a nap. My family there are four people.
Hello. My name is AmPhaivone chandavong. I 24 years old. I’m a teacher. I teach geography at sekeud secondary school. I live in Chansavong village Sekhodtabongat district vientine capital with my familly. There are six People have grandmother, Parents one and two young brother. My freetime I like football, music and cooking and volleyball.
My name is Chunsamon Vilavong. I’m 25 years old. I teach history. I live in Dong Dok village Saithany district. In my freetime I like dancing and cooking.
My name’s Bounthanh Nanh thavong. I’m 22 years old. I’m a teacher. I teach Laolanguage in at Sekeud secondar school. I live in Nonesavong village, seekhod district. My family had 8 Peoples. Mother, father, sister and borther. My freetime I like cooking and plays football. I like Lao food Nooder soup and Papayasalat. I drink orange and apple, but dont´t like coffee.
My nam’s KongPhet PhanThavong. I’m 25 years old. I teach history. I taught school with a locomotive. I live in Huaxang. I ike art, cooking, have a nap, wath TV, music, play game. I like learning English now. I speak a litte. I’m glad you came to teach us English.
My name is Mr. Noy Sibounheuang. I’m 24 years old. I Teach Mathematics I live in Pak Heak Village Nasaithong district Vientiane capital. Free thime I like play Kator and football and internet. My family me 11 people sometime I like drink Beerlao.
My name’s Thong Sing Sinapisit. I am 30 years old. I teach mathematics. I live in nalien village Nasaythong. In my freetime I like football and music.
I continue (Pauline): And here comes my “English elementary” class, who had English lessons before with Sandro and Julia from Team I and with Julia from Team II:
Hello. My name’s Toukam Chanthavong. I’m 22 years old. I’m a teacher. I teach Mathematics in Sekeud Secondary school. I live in nakhoun village, Naxaythong district vientiane capital. My family have 4 People, Mother, Father, I and yung sister. My free time I like cook for my family. English self learning in Book or youtube and other. Lao food I like Nuder soup, Papaya salat and other. I think English language interesting.
Hello My name’s Saysamone Singhalath. I’m 25 years old. I’m a Teacher I teach history. My family I have Five People. I have one brother and one sister. I live in Donglouang Village, NaxayThong district capital. My Favourite I like cooking cake or other desserts. In my Freetime I like Dansing, listen to music and English Conversation. I want to Learn English more. I will try to be the best.
My name is Mr: Sackbong Boulapan. I’m 22 year old. I’m teach chemistry and Physics. I live in Phang Heng Secondary School. I share room with ChanhpaSong and Onsy. My fimily name Boulapan. In my freetime: I like read English book and I do home work and play tabletennis and youtube in internet. My teacher is Pauline. (Thank you)
Dear reader, My name is Vienglakhone Keopaseud. I’m 26 years old. I live in Nasaiw vilage at vientiane. Now I live with my family. I teach mathematics and I study English. I like play sports as volleyball, football, table tennis, Petung, Arts and dancing. In my freetime: I read English books and Maths books but sometime I’m listening Music and pay in the internet. My teacher in 2014 were Sandro and Julia. In 2015 was Julie. Now in 2016 is Pauline.
My name’s Mr Chanhpasong Lorvanau. I’m 23 year old. I teach Laolanguage an study English. I live in Phang Heng Secondary School. I share room with Sackbong and Onsy. I like sport, badminton and free time I play sport and study English. My teacher is: Sandro, Julia…thank you!
My name is Onsy Vanpheng. I’m 25 year old. I live in Ban Phang Heng velles Nasaythong District viengtian capital. I’m a teacher. I teach lao languauges at the sikeud secondary school. freetime lesionning conversesion English, play volleyball, football and swimming and I stadyied English, come here when was 11.45-12.35.
Text by P. Kern & I. Martin
Photos by P. Kern & J. Zeck
Joining forces: BHS “Recruitment and Training Programme” starts at the Lao-German Technical College
Globalization drives the “Recruitment and Training Programme” (“RTP”) of BHS Corrugated and the Lao-German Technical College (“LGTC”). BHS is a machinery-producing company and the world market leader in the corrugated board industry. Its headquarters are in Weiherhammer, Germany (near the Czech border), and it has had close ties with Laos and the LGTC for a long time.
I was first invited to BHS Corrugated on 15 July 2016 for a guided tour, during which I was also able to acquaint myself with the “UEBZO” (Überbetriebliches Ausbildungszentrum in Ostbayern), a renowned vocational education institution which now also serves as a model to the new training programme at the College in Vientiane.
Prof. Dr. Isabel Martin
Johannes Zeck
Christian Engel with a miniature of the production line made of corrugated cardboard
Plan of new BHS building (under construction)
New production hall under construction
Service Department and Training Department (“ÜBZO”: Überbetriebliches Bildungszentrum in Ostbayern)
Roll for rotary printing
Reinhold Hautmann, Director of the Training Department (“ÜBZO”), shows us around the training hall
Journeymen’s pieces
Project work made by vocational students in the “ÜBZO”
BHS plants worldwide
The new training programme emerged from the cooperation between BHS Corrugated and the LGTC, which was signed and sealed in a “Memorandum of Understanding” in an official ceremony in Vientiane on 15 December 2015 and is funded by German aid. The German Ambassador, His Excellency Michael Grau, chaired the ceremony.
Somlith Virivong, Director of the LGTC, and Christian Engel, Managing Director of BHS, with German Ambassador His Excellency Michael Grau
Somlith Virivong, Director of the LGTC, and Christian Engel, Managing Director of BHS, during the MoU ceremony on the 15th of December 2015
The programme connects the AfC Lower Secondary School in Ban Phang Heng and the LGTC in Vientiane: The more ambitious graduates of the AfC school are looking for a placement in vocational training (as an alternative to helping their family in the rice field or food stall), and the College is looking for able students. The country, in turn, needs a trained work force asap, which means apprentices to professions in industrial electricity and machinery, for example, for later hire as service technicians in the Asia Pacific region, and, of course, to attract foreign businesses into the country for a boost to the economy and the creation of new jobs.
Excursus: Due to the implementation of the ASEAN Economic Community in 2016, a common Free Trade Agreement of all ten ASEAN Nations, Laos has to raise standards in education, economics affairs, trade – and in English, the common language used in this Community. Globalization and internationalization challenge many ASEAN countries, amongst them Laos, which only “surfaced” in the 1990s following the fall of the iron curtain in Europe, with the ensuing collapse of the Soviet Union. French had been the main language in administration and education until the Communist coup in 1975, and then Russian until the beginning of the 1990s.
The Recruitment and Training Programme’s 3-year courses started in September 2016, with a first cohort of 44 students who graduated from the AfC lower secondary school this summer. The enrolment procedure itself involved administrative matters none of the students or their parents had ever been faced with before (such as bank accounts or insurances), so it took a week or two until everything was in place and could officially begin.
Project coordinator Saythong Insarn of the LGTC during the interviews for the apprenticeship placements at the secondary school Ban Phang Heng
The interviewers: Saythong Insarn (LGTC), Nina Blechschmid (BHS) and Bouangeun “Linda” Hanthavong (AfC)
Secretary Moukdala Keomixai (LGTC) and Johannes Zeck (BHS and AfC) during the interviews
The 55 applicants from the secondary school in Ban Phang Heng after the interviews (18-19 August 2016)
44 students win a grant and sign the LGTC subscription forms and the BHS training contracts
Handing out of BHS contract
Souvanh Vong, English teacher at the secondary school Ban Phang Heng, helps during the handover ceremony
Gifts to students from BHS
Thumbs up for a new chapter in the lives of 44 new students: Vocational training at the Lao-German Technical College in Vientiane, supported by BHS Corrugated
After a promotional tour in February, which had informed the pupils and their parents about this new career option, the interviews were conducted in August. 44 places of the available 50 were filled.
So what does all this have to do with teaching English in Laos?
Let me reverse the question: What does it not have to do with teaching English in Laos?
The question why vocational colleges were not automatically included in the professionalization of English studies in Laos was one of the first puzzles that presented themselves to me when I first visited the country in October last year. I wondered how any project could work in which donors/operators and recipients/actors had little or no shared language, or rather, which did not include English language work in the project.
Our two pioneer graduates Denise Burkhardt and Lena Wink (Team III) have just moved into an apartment on the LGTC campus, and we will now
- provide systematic English training for English teachers and vocational trainers,
- mentor and co-teach the English lessons of the Lao tandem-teachers,
- help develop the curriculum and teaching materials, and
- evaluate the results.
The LGTC is the first partner-College in our programme, but invitations from other Colleges are trickling in, and we shall visit them later this year.
Text by I. Martin
Photos by I.Martin & J.Zeck
The Lao-German Technical College in Vientiane Capital
The Lao-German Technical College (“LGTC”) is a vocational training school under the auspices of the Ministry of Education and Sports. It was founded in 1964 as part of (East-) Germany’s development aid in Laos during that time and is supported today by the Federal Republic of Germany.
The LGTC offers different vocational training courses for Lao students who finished lower secondary school or high school. Degrees range from “Skilled worker” to a Bachelor’s degree. More than 1,300 students are currently enrolled, with 670 new students taking up their training in September 2016.
For graduates from lower secondary schools (e.g. our school in Ban Phang Heng), the LGTC offers so-called “9+2” or “9+3” training courses, which means nine school years plus two or three years of vocational training. For upper secondary, i.e. high school graduates the LGTC offers “12+2” and “12+2+1” courses. The syllabus is divided up into semesters: the “winter” semester lasts from September until the middle of March and the “summer” semester from the end of March until mid-July.
The LGTC is divided into six main sections: Automotive, metal machinery, electro-electronics, welding-plumbing, heavy equipment and agro-machinery. Each section has its own workshop; theory lessons are held in the main building.
Since the LGTC is closely connected with Germany and its (unique) dual training system, their objective is to include more and more companies in the training courses on offer, in order to provide a practice-oriented vocational education. Compared to the German system, in which vocational training is split up between vocational schools (theory) and the companies (practice), the LGTC developed a system whereby both parts are (partly) combined in the College. Companies use the variety of machines and training devices in the College to offer training courses they cannot provide in their own workshop due to the lack of machines or personnel. Whenever possible, companies offer in-company training in their own workshops.
Due to good management and equipment, the LGTC cooperates with many different local and international companies, such as Toyota and RMA Ford in the automotive section, Phu Bia Mining in the metal and electrical sections, Kubota in the agro-machinery section, Endress Hauser and Nam Theun 2 Power Company in the electrics section, and BHS Corrugated in the electric and mechanic section.
Horst Lindner, vocational trainer of BHS, teaches a maintenance course (September 2016)
Phonesavanh Chachueyang, metal machinery trainer at the LGTC, works with a milling machine
RMA Ford also started a training programme at the LGTC, similar to the one by Toyota
Learning by doing – Toyota has cooperated with the LGTC since 2006 and trains students on Toyota automobiles
Bernhard Fuerst, vocational teacher from Bogen, Germany, shares his expertise with students at the LGTC
Bernhard Fuerst shows how to use a file correct
The LGTC is considered to be the best in the country and has been titled “flagship of vocational training in Laos”, but the level of English proficiency is – with a few notable exceptions – very low or, mostly, non-existent. (English never played a role in the history of the country up until very recently, so this is hardly surprising.) However, English is becoming more and more important because of the growing competition between the ASEAN states in the new common market of the “ASEAN Economic Community” (AEC), officially established in 2016.
The demand for skilled Lao workers who can communicate in English has therefore sky-rocketed in a very short time, but the domestic job market cannot currently meet this new demand. Many of the skilled workers who can communicate in English follow the offer of higher salaries and better job opportunities in Thailand, Malaysia or Korea, as the AEC now also allows the free flow of goods and work forces.
This is why BHS Corrugated and the LGTC started working together on a new “Recruitment and Training Programme” following the model of the German dual system last year, in 2015.
At the same time, the Angel Foundation started its cooperation with the PH Karlsruhe to professionalize the teaching of English at the three AfC schools in Vientiane Province.
When the question arose how any vocational training aiming to meet international standards could not incorporate the development of English skills, the connection was made. Early in 2016, the project leaders of the “Teaching English in Laos” project were asked to teach the LGTC teachers so they would be able to teach their students better in the future. The teachers of “Technical English” and other vocational trainers were also faced with donations of equipment and machinery from various international companies whose instruction manuals they could not understand – because they were written in English (and other European languages). This means the LGTC has great equipment which cannot be used.
Therefore, in February 2016 it was decided to extend the “Teaching English in Laos” project to the LGTC, starting in September 2016. This way, a new partner college was included in our programme, less than six months after the start of the pilot project.
Text and photos by J. Zeck and I. Martin
Team III: Our first impressions
On our flight from Bangkok to Vientiane we already noticed the different landscape. No more rice fields but a lot of forest and small villages. We asked ourselves where the major cities are. Arriving at the airport (Wednesday afternoon, 14 September), we were surprised how small it actually is. However, this had the advantage that our coordinator, Johannes, found us very quickly.
Driving along the main street to Ban Sikeud, we stopped at one of the many small fruit vendors’ stalls and bought different kinds of exotic fruits we had never tasted before, e.g. Rambutan, Longan and Mangosteen.
Exotic fruits
Turning into the small street leading to our new home, the street changed extremely. Due to the rain – it’s the rainy season right now – the dusty, red dirt road, which was full of potholes and puddles, turned into the muddiest path we had ever seen.
Muddy streets
We could not believe our eyes when at the end of the street an impressive villa showed up: our new home for the next few months!
Our Villa
After a chat with Prof. Martin and a refreshing shower, we rode our bicycles through the mud to meet Gerlinde Engel in Sikeud primary school. She and her assistant “Linda” (Bouangeun) welcomed us very warmly and offered some delicious, crispy rice rolls with black sesame.
At the end of the day, we cooked a red curry with vegetables bought at the village market. Having been kept busy to help us stay awake through our jetlag, we were finally “allowed” to go to bed at 8 o’clock in the evening and slept right through the noise of the outdoor Karaoke bar nearby.
Cooking red curry
The next two days were also very eventful. On Thursday, Johannes and Prof. Martin showed us around the schools at Ban Sikeud and Ban Phang Heng where we met the Lao teachers. They were very friendly, curious, and open-minded towards us and the project, and everybody including ourselves was also a little excited. We spent an entire hour taking turns introducing ourselves (we are all about the same age, in our mid-twenties), and it was just as difficult for them to pronounce our names as it was for us to pronounce theirs. It had not even been clear before to either party which of the names (typed on a list) was male or female. “How old are you? How many people are in your family? And also: “Are you single?” were the most frequent first questions.
Another highlight of the day was the first volleyball game with some teachers and some students during “Activity time” in the hot afternoon sun (35 degrees, and very humid). Straight afterwards, we had the pleasure to enjoy the Lao hospitality we had heard so much about when we were invited to join some of the teachers and school employees to go and have something to eat at one of the nearby eateries. This is also where we had our first Lao beer, of which the Lao people are extremely proud. Usually they celebrate their pride by downing their drinks.
On Friday, we accompanied Prof. Martin and Johannes on their way to Vientiane. They had an official meeting with the Head of the English Department to prepare a possible future cooperation, and we looked around campus. In the end, we did not only meet the English department but were introduced to teachers of the German department as well, by a student of German Studies, another “Linda”, who addressed us on campus because she had overheard us talking in German.
Informal talk with the German department at the NUOL
After lunch, we went to the Lao German Technical College, where Prof. Martin had arranged to meet the English teachers for the first time, for initial contact and some first conversation practice. We were invited to have one-to-one conversations with the teachers which turned out to be quite difficult but – after an hour or so – also a lot of fun so that Prof. Martin had to interrupt the conversations at the end of the lesson, which had finally begun to start flowing. Everybody was happy that it had gone so well, and the teachers said more than once that they were glad to finally be able to hear some “real” English, as they had had very little contact with speakers of this language so far.
Conversation club at the LGTC
Afterwards, we strolled along the banks of the Mekong, where we were fascinated by the radiant sunset, and then the “Night Market”: So many strong and vivid colours, sounds, and scenes – and lots and lots of interesting things to buy.
After only 24 hours in this place we felt like having spent at least 3 days here already.
Sunset at the Mekong
Text by P. Kern, K. Petter & D. Schrep
Pictures by I. Martin, P. Kern & K. Petter
New places available for internships in spring 2017: Apply now!
English students from the University of Education Karlsruhe can now apply for an internship in the project “Teaching English in Laos” for spring 2017 by 14 October 2016. Interviews will be held on 26/28 October 2016.
Address your applications to the International Office of the PH Karlsruhe (Akademisches Auslandsamt). Details on the general application procedure can be found on the AAA homepage.
Please also send your letter of motivation and CV to the project leaders (names below).
More detailed information the application procedure here:
For any further questions please contact Johannes Zeck.
We look forward to your applications!
Prof. I. Martin & J. Zeck
We are Team III
Hallo, Sabaidi and Welcome,
Today, in our first blog post, I would like to introduce you to our new team of 11 English graduates who will be spending the next few months working in the AfC/PH “teach-the-teacher-project” in Laos. Together, we will be teaching at a number of schools throughout the area: The Sunshine School and the Lao German Technical College in Vientiane, The Secondary and Primary School Ban Phang Heng and in the Primary School Ban Sikeud.
Juliana and Julia will be working as a team at Sunshine School. Here they will develop new lesson plans in cooperation with the “AfC Schools”, introduce project work and apply the “Learning Through The Arts” approach.
Denise and Lena will be based at the Lao German Technical College in Vientiane, with their special task of teaching Technical English to the teachers and mentoring their tandem-teachers in didactics and methodology.
The Primary School in Ban Sikeud will be the base for Kerstin, who will teach English to her tandem teachers and improve the school’s English Lending Library.
Sarah will be at the Primary School Phang Heng, and she will also teach English to her tandem teachers, introduce them to the Lending Library, and keep this blog updated with new photographs and videos of our time in Laos.
Pauline is our “stand-in” teacher and has the special task of teaching the pre-school children with “Mr Mopsy”. She will also teach English to the non-English teachers of the three schools and will generally lend a hand wherever help is needed. She is also in charge of organising the housekeeping in our new residence, where 7 of us will be house-sharing. (The other 4 will be accommodated on campus at the Sunshine School and LGTC.)
David, Anika, Silja and Thorsten are at the Secondary School Phang Heng. David, Anika and Silja have the exciting challenge of setting up and maintaining an English Lending Library at the Secondary School, trying out the new didactic material with their tandem-teachers. They will also give them English lessons, of course. Thorsten will be the resident “Blogmaster” and will be keeping you updated on everything that happens during the next project phase in Laos. He will also set up chemistry and physics lessons in the new laboratory (in English) with his chemistry and physics teacher-tandem.
There will be some more detailed introductions to the individual members of Team III coming soon, so watch this space! We are all very excited to be embracing this new experience and we can’t wait for our journeys to begin…
Text by T.Feldmann
Photo by L. Kringe
Preparing the teaching of Technical English at the LGTC with Bernhard Fuerst – 10 August 2016
Bernhard Fuerst, a vocational teacher in metal production technology and First Chairman of the Bavarian Industrial Master Association got in contact with Angels for Children and the Lao-German Technical College on an educational journey to Laos with his Association in 2014. Impressed by the work carried out by both, he visited them again in November 2015, when Christian Engel and Prof. Martin were also both in Laos, and then decided to support the foundation and the vocational school himself. He has since committed to working as a voluntary vocational training advisor for the “Recruitment and Training Programme” of BHS Corrugated at the Lao-German Technical College. He started in February 2016 with a “Promotional Tour”, informing pupils of Ban Phang Heng middle school and their parents about the professional training offered at the LGTC. It has to be understood that sending children off to the city to receive vocational training is a new concept for a lot of Lao families.
Bernhard Fuerst at the Lao-German Technical College earlier this year
Lena Wink talks with Saythong Insarn via Skype
To help set up “Technical English” classes for both teachers and students in this new Lao-German training programme as from September 2016, the beginning of the new academic year, the University of Education Karlsruhe will send two English graduates: Denise Burkhardt and Lena Wink. The three of us researched course books and handbooks in the – vast – field of Technical English and collated a comprehensive book list. The “Bookshop at Kronenplatz” let me order all of them (!) for inspection, and after a few weeks we were finally ready for Mr Fuerst’s visit, with a shortlist of 10 course books and handbooks and inspection copies of all of them on the table.
Our meeting took place in my office on 10 August 2016. We started with a skype conference with Mr Saythong Insarn, the Coordinator for Technical English at the LGTC. This was an exciting first contact for both sides, as it clarified our questions regarding the language level of the teachers, the exact number of teachers (34), the number of students in the two programme strands (50), and last, but not least, accommodation and transport facilities in Vientiane for our two volunteers. Anticipation rose, and things became even more exciting over lunch in the “Badische Weinstuben” when Mr Fuerst and his wife Baerbl told us about their experiences in Laos, China, and Japan.
View from the restaurant in the Botanical Garden next to the Castle of Karlsruhe
Obligatory photo for visitors: Bernhard and Baerbl Fuerst under the mammoth tree
Heading back to the office
After our little lunch break we discussed our book list: This took 3 hours. We learned about the expectations that a German advisor would have of the knowledge and competencies that students should have by the end of the 3-year training programme, and we detailed the added complexity of achieving these standards in English, a foreign language in which most of the learners will have had very little training, if any.
I suggested a three-tier build-up system for the four different groups of learners, i.e. the English teachers at Pre-Intermediate level, the non-English teachers at Beginner level, the non-English teachers at Elementary level, and the students. A general English course would be offered at Beginner and Elementary Level, a Technical English course at Level 1 and 2, with specialist courses in technology (electricity and metal) for advanced teachers (later), and the English translations of the standard German handbooks for reference and self-study (much later). This means a total order of 303 copies of 20 titles, for which the “Recruitment and Training Programme” of BHS Corrugated provides the funds. We will strive to guide the learners through this programme in the three years that we will have together at the College.
This challenging task would of course be infinitely easier if students came from middle school with a sound basis in English. This is why we will continue to help improve English lessons in Ban Phang Heng middle school at the same time. Eventually, the task should become less daunting.
The teachers at the College would be available for English training 2 hours every day, which is a good basis. This equals 30 teaching hours per week for us. The two volunteers teach 20 hours each, which includes visiting and co-teaching their tandem partners’ own English lessons for the development of didactics and methodology, which means we have a plan. Mr Saythong announced that an “English Speaking Club” would be most welcome, too, so motivation seems high and it all sounds quite promising. We are really looking forward to getting started – only 4 weeks to go now!
Text by I. Martin & L. Wink
Photos by I. Martin
Team III: Third and last preparatory session – 22 July 2016
Our last preparatory session for Team III was packed with things to do and plan. However, the seminar was preceded by the state exam ceremony on the previous night, after which the graduates go out to celebrate, and followed by the annual music festival The Feast in Karlsruhe, which many people attend to celebrate. The timing was not quite ideal, in other words, so we concentrated on what was most important.
Johannes and I had been preparing the ground: Two meetings with potential volunteers for spring 2017, a meeting with Christian Lutsch, design expert and friend who donated his time and expertise to help us professionalize our Blog, several meetings with Dr. Daniela Schlemmer, our new team member for fund-raising, a meeting with Maximilian Richter from the “ZIM” (Centre of Information Technology and Media of the PH), who explained how to organise and incorporate a “page-flow” into our Blog to show our daily routines, encounters, and discoveries, and, last, but not least, a meeting with Chancellor Ursula Woell, to prepare a formal cooperation agreement between the PH and AfC and an extended strategy for the next five years.
The seminar began with a visit by a PH TV reporter, and the filming took a while. Maximilian’s idea is to film instalments of our pre-, while- and post-work, to be aired on the PH TV news, and this was to become the first instalment, with Johannes Zeck (AfC) and Thorsten Feldmann (Team III) as narrators. We will be curious to see it!
We then proceeded to hand over the “Teaching English in Laos” Certificates to Team I and II, who shared some of their early impressions with Team III.
Team I: Tobias, Alessandro, Laura (missing: Franziska, Julia))
Team II: Johannes with Isabella, Jana (missing: Jule)
Certificates for Team II
“Mr” or “Ms”?
Certificates for Team I
Johannes continued with an updated overview of our flight times and project timeline, establishing who would be taking over which special task exactly when. 
He and Anika also reported about their meeting with the PR manager of the PH and distributed the promotional material: T-Shirts, pencils, notepads.
Juliana and Anika open the parcel
S, M, L, or XL?
A good garment for “winter”
Top: Sara, Pauline, Johannes, Anika; Below: Kerstin, Juliana, Silja, Prof. Martin, Denise, David; Missing: Thorsten, Lena, Julia
As we started to run out of time, I offered individual planning meetings in August. All further information concerning preparations and any new files will be posted on StudIP, our working platform and project repository. (This has already been filling up nicely and will make sure that the team keep one another up-to-date.)
My own prep-task regarding the next teaching scenario is completed. Several large new book orders are being processed via the (excellent) bookshop at Kronenplatz:
– for a comprehensive General English course at the LGTC (4 Lao English teachers),
– for a comprehensive technological English course at the LGTC (20 Lao non-English teachers and 50 students),
– additinal technological English coursebook material at the LGTC for support and extended reference in electrical, metal and mechanical engineering (2 German and 4 Lao teachers),
– for a Lending Library collection of EFL didactics and methodology for secondary school (for our 4 German and 8 Lao tandem teachers in Phang Heng),
– additions to the primary English didactics and methodology Lending Library in Sikeud,
– three course books series (New Headway, New Headway Pronunciation, and Straighforward) for the teach-the-teachers programme both at the three AfC schools and the College.
After having tested the waters with different English course books in the pilot phase, and after having scrutinized the international course books in the engineering sector, our choices follow the assessment and experience of needs, intercultural considerations, but also our more clearly defined project objectives. “Teaching English in Laos” could now yield more predictable and more structured learning outcomes.
The choice of suitable books therefore took quite some time, but was never difficult. On Monday afternoon, for example, as I was sitting on the bookshop’s sofa as so often lately, reviewing new material that had arrived for inspection, I opened one of the new arrivals: Technical English for vocational schools. First page: A photo of a teenager with a speech bubble coming out of his head. Text: “This is Sam. He is 17 years old. He has gel in his hair, 7 piercings and 6 tattoos.”
Well… 😉
Text by I. Martin
Photos by I. Martin & A. Broghammer
You must be logged in to post a comment.