Gerlinde Engel and Bouangeun Hanthavong visit Karlsruhe – 8 July 2016
Great joy and honour! Gerlinde Engel, co-founder of Angels for Children and one of the two members of the present board, paid a visit to the German team in Karlsruhe in the company of her long-standing assistant and “right-hand-woman” Bouangeun Hanthavong (aka “Linda”) and her son Thonee. It was a hot Friday afternoon – in the metereologically hottest city in Germany – when her nephew Daniel Wensauer-Sieber, also a member of the foundation, and his wife Elke Sieber and son Max welcomed the three guests into their home in Karlsruhe, where they would spend an eventful weekend together.
The first afternoon and evening, however, was reserved to a reunion with Prof. Martin and her Team I and II, and to an introduction to Team III. We had coffee and cake ready for 4 o’clock in our conference room for a traditional German “Kaffeetrinken”, and soon the room was filled with animated conversation. Apart from catching up with one another and showing Gerlinde and Bouangeun where we normally work, it was the perfect opportunity to introduce our university administration to Gerlinde in person: Chancellor Ursula Wöll and Head of Foreign Affairs Simone Brandt joined the party and were able to hear more about the background and origins of the work of the AfC foundation from one of the founders herself. As Gerlinde is a premium storyteller and as her Laos stories are so extraordinary and unbelievable anyway (from a European perspective), everybody stayed longer than expected, and fascination for the work of this great lady was tangibly growing. This included student reporters Judith Anton and Anna-Sophia ten Brink from Auriska-PH-Radio, who had come for a brief interview and stayed all afternoon.
Gerlinde Engel, Prof. Isabel Martin and Bouangeun “Linda” Hanthavong
Linda and her son Thonee
Chancellor of the University Ursula Woell talking with Gerlinde Engel
German “Kaffeetrinken”
Gerlinde Engel with the reporters from Auriska Radio
Prof. Martin with Simone Brandt, Head of the International Office
As the conference room also houses Prof. Martin’s Lending Library, our student librarian Marlene Findeisen gave a short introduction to the scope and diversity of the didactic material on offer, which had served as both a source and a model for the new Lending Library of primary didactics material in Sikeud, which we founded last year. Double copies had been donated, publishers had donated material (cf. “Thanks“), and AfC footed the bill for whatever else Prof. Martin had considered essential for a library starter-set in Laos. The same work is awaiting us in this second year regarding a new Lending Library for Ban Phang Heng secondary school, and the necessary research for suitable didactic literature is already well underway.
Another study room Prof. Martin set up in 2014 is the Self-Study Centre with its digital state-of-the-art language lab including butterfly tables and software from Tandberg, two Interactive Whiteboards, and an i-theatre. Marie Kiefer, doctoral candidate and a member of Prof. Martin’s Erasmus+ STORIES project, introduced 6-year-old Thonee and Max to digital storytelling, which made them forget instantly that they had only just been too hot and tired for anything. They got completely engrossed as the i-theatre is so easy for children to operate, and started to put their own first digital story together quite intuitively.
Marlene Findeisen presents the Lending Library
Linda, Jana of Team II and Anika of Team III
Linda, Gerlinde Engel and her nephew Daniel Wensauer-Sieber
Marie Kiefer in the Self-Study Center
Thonee working with the i-theatre
Thonee and Max explore the i-theatre
Volunteers of Team I Franzsika and Laura
Daniel, Elke, Gerlinde and BNN reporter Tina Kampf in the Self-Study Center
Then another reporter arrived from the Badische Neueste Nachrichten, Tina Kampf, for her interview with Gerlinde, and she stayed thrice as long as she had intended. Her article on the AfC schools in Laos was published the following week (“Schulen als kleine Oasen”, BNN, 14.7.2016, p. 21).
We therefore arrived late at the Chinese Restaurant and thus missed Julia and Jule from Team I and II, who had waited there for us, but they returned later to at least spend a bit of time with Gerlinde and Bouangeun. AfC treated everybody to dinner, as usual, and a great time was had by all, also as usual!
Linda greets Jule
Linda, Jule, Julia, and Gerlinde Engel
In the Yangda restaurant
Max and Thonee with their chopsticks
Laura and Heike MĂĽller, our interim Blog editor, guest-author, and Singlish Workshop leader
Text by I. Martin
Photos by I. Martin & L. Kringe
New videos uploaded
Enjoy our new videos on the “Teaching English in Laos” project and the work of the Angels for Children foundation! Each new video is added to our page Videos.
We look forward to giving you insights into our work and lives in Laos by keeping this page up-to-date and extending it on a regular basis: Further videos on lessons, workshops, “Activities”, and interviews to follow!
Teaching English in Laos “Activities”: “Singlish”
Text by J. Zeck
Unique features of the University of Education Karlsruhe: The new profiles
The Universities of Education in Germany share a certain profile which distinguishes them from regular universities, but each of them also has its own unique features. There are only six of them left, all in the federal state of Baden-Wuerttemberg: Karlsruhe, Heidelberg, Schwaebisch-Gmuend, Weingarten, Ludwigsburg, and Freiburg. (In other federal states, the universities of education were amalgamated with regular universities.)
Their hallmark is the education of future teachers and other educators, i.e. the process of life-long learning. When our students are in their 4th or 5th semester, they build on their initial “Orientation Internship” (4 weeks spent at a school) by working at another school for an entire term (“Integrated Semester Internship”). This way they get first-hand experience of the ins-and-outs – and ups and downs – of their future profession, and they also regularly teach lessons themselves. They are mentored in small groups by a cooperation teacher and a supervisor, but also by a staff member of the university, who visits once a week to sit in on lessons, which are then evaluated in the group. A third internship (“Professionalization Internship”) consolidates and deepens this hands-on experience.
During the course of the second internship it becomes crystal-clear to our students whether or not they have chosen the right career path. In the latter case it is not too late to change the subject or degree. This is probably the gravest difference to teacher education at regular universities, where this kind of mentoring, feedback, and insight usually only  materializes after completing one’s 4-year teaching degree, i.e. in the second phase, as a teacher trainee at school. The other salient difference is the role of didactics and methodology: Subject disciplines and subject didactics are integrated in both our research and curriculum.
Baden-Wuerttemberg substituted the state exam degrees by the new Bachelor of Education degrees comparatively late, i.e. in 2015. (The old degrees of 2003 had already been updated in 2011.) As each process of change offers new chances to develop and improve the curriculum further, our university devised a new component which is now a distinguishing feature: Apart from the practice term spent at school, another full semester is freed from other obligations for students to pursue in-depth individual studies in one of the 20 or so new “profile windows“.
When I came back from my first stay in Laos in November 2015, it was clear that – or what – I would contribute to this offer. Under the heading of “Intensified Subject Studies”, I devised two profiles: Profile I, “Teaching English in Laos“, starts in the summer term 2017. Profile II, “Teaching How to Teach English in Laos“, picks up from Profile I a year later, in the summer term 2018.
By choosing one or both profile/s (and by being granted a place), future volunteers can gain substantial credit for the work which our first teams donated on a personal basis, i.e. 15 Credit Points for each profile. (1 CP measures 30 hours of work.) The other conditions remain the same.
On 27 and 28 June, the university organised two information sessions explaining the new profiles to the first cohort of students in the Bachelor degrees (primary and secondary schools), who are now in their second semester and the first to think about a suitable profile for next year.
As the profile “Teaching in Laos” is not on offer yet this coming winter term (because participating in the preparatory seminar in the summer is a necessary condition) I did not really expect visitors at my stand. I was all the more pleased to receive a small group of keen students who asked questions for a full hour – and then took their leave by asking me for the third time whether I really would not forget to inform them about the deadline for applications for 2017.
I hereby promise once more: I shan’t forget, I will write you an email, and I will also post the exact date on our Intranet platform StudIP and on the homepage of the English Department. As the interviews will take place in the first half of February 2017, the deadline for your written applications will be some time in January. I look forward to continuing our conversation then!
Text by I. Martin, photos by K. Buttgereit
Team III: Teaching material assessment and guest lecture on “Languages education in global contexts” by Dr. Michiko Weinmann
Another step in the preparation of the English graduates of Team III was marked last Friday, 24 June 2016: In Prof. Martin’s seminar “Teaching English in Laos”, the volunteers came together in order to assess English language teaching material for the Lao schools and to discuss the theoretical implications of teaching English as non-native speakers in Asia. The session, which lasted from 2 to 6 p.m., was divided into three parts.
The first part focused on working with Lao English teaching materials. The formalized school system in Laos does not have a long tradition, and the acknowledgement of the necessity of the English language as a means of global communication is relatively recent, as is the implementation of English as a school subject in the education system (read more here). Therefore, there are only few English teaching resources which are specifically geared towards Lao English learners.
The Ministry of Education distributes the English language learning materials which were developed by the Research Institute of Educational Sciences (RIES) for Lao English learners. They are mandatory for all public and private primary and secondary schools in the country. Therefore, the volunteers of Team III who will work at the primary and secondary schools in Ban Phang Heng and Ban Sikeud will have to use these materials as well. The English graduates will face the task to teach with these textbooks without compromising the scientifically backed language learning insights and principles which form the basis of their English education studies in Germany. Then they will supplement these books with our more communicative Western course material, which, however, first needs to be re-assessed in the light of cross-cultural appropriateness.
During the first part of the session, the volunteers acquainted themselves with the Lao English textbooks and developed ideas on how to implement them in a modern language learning classroom.
The second part of the afternoon was marked by a guest lecture open to the public by Dr. Michiko Weinmann, who is a researcher and lecturer of languages education and the Co-Director of the Centre for Teaching and Learning Languages (CtaLL) at Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia. In her lecture on “Languages education in global contexts: Reconceptualizing the ‘Asia literacy’ debate in Australia”, Dr. Weinmann carefully outlined the languages education situation in Australia and explained the complicated implications and multi-faceted attitudes towards the study of Asian languages in Australian schools. She challenged the audience to reflect the general geographically-bound concept and construct of Asia as the Other in language teaching. With special regards to the preparatory situation of Team III, Dr. Weinmann offered impulse questions for theoretically penetrating possible meanings of teaching English in Laos as non-native speakers. A lively discussion followed her inspiring lecture, which left ample food for more thought.
After a short break, the third part of the session led the volunteers back to familiarizing themselves with more English teaching material, this time course books published by international publishers which are to be used systematically for teaching the teachers as from September 2016.
Prof. Martin had narrowed down her initial choices by collecting and assessing the teacher lesson experiences made by Team I and II in the pilot phase with different course books (for a list cf. “Thanks“), and her findings were laid out on three different tables:
1) For English teachers: New Headway (Elementary and Intermediate), New Headway Pronunciation (Elementary and Intermediate);
2) For non-English teachers: Straightforward (Beginner and Intermediate);
3) For the LGTC: Technical English (volume 1 and 2) and Straightforward, possibly others – the process of pre-selection and evaluation is still in progress, as we are surveying a large new field.
After carefully examining these course book series, i.e. the respective student and teacher books, workbooks as well as additional audi-visual and digital material, the team collated a book order list for teaching the English teachers of the three schools and the Lao German Technical College. These resources will be provided by the Angels for Children Foundation.
This extensive afternoon programme serves as a fundament for our future work with the chosen teaching resources: All material will need to be adapted to meet the actual needs of the Lao English learners, and in order to do this well, we need to work out in more detail first what their “actual needs” relating to the English language actually are. In other words, apart from the satisfaction of helping our Lao partner teachers and schools, there are fascinating field explorations and research tasks waiting for us out there, and we’ll keep you posted here!
Text and photos by H. MĂĽller and I. Martin
Education in Laos (Part I) – The beginning of a formalized school system
Supporting education in Laos is our focus. Due to this, it is crucial to take a careful look at the history of education in Laos, which is quite diverse. Therefore, this new post series in four parts focuses on the development of education in Laos. Part I focuses on the period between the inauguration of a formalized school system by the French colonial rulers, which started in 1893, until the Lao independence in 1954.
Part II surveys the period of 20 years of civil war in Laos, from 1954 until 1975, especially the differences in the education systems of the two hostile parties, the Royal government of Laos and the Pathet Lao. Part III deals with the current Lao education system since the Communist coup in 1975. With regards to the ASEAN Economic Community, established in 2016, Part IV sums up the future challenges and goals for the present-day Lao school system.
Due to its culture, Laos does not have a long-standing tradition of formalized education in public schools, compared to European countries. As a Buddhist country in Southeast Asia, following the oldest branch of Theravada Buddhism, through the centuries education took place in the monasteries and temples. The deep religious faith within the Lao society has preserved this system all the way through: During the French colonial rule from 1893 until 1954, the long-lasting war up until 1975 and since the Communist coup in 1975. Temples still offer free education for children who choose to become a monk or a nun. Especially in rural areas, where public schools suffer from a lack of teaching materials, teachers and also even school buildings, attending education in temples opens up a huge opportunity for both the children as well as their parents. The history of a countrywide public education system, however, goes back to the inauguration of a formalized schooling system that the French colonists began in 1893.
The French colonial rulers incorporated Laos in 1893 as a protectorate into the Indochinese Union, together with Tonking, Annam, Cochinchina (which is now Viet Nam), and Cambodia. From this time on, the French began to implement the educational system of France in Laos. Despite the economy and infrastructure, the education system in Laos remained at a low level, due to its low strategic value as a colony for France. An example can serve to illustrate this low significance: In a country 2/3 the size of Germany, even in the 1940s not more than 600 French people lived there. Only ten kilometres of railroad tracks were laid by the French during that time, which illustrates the low economic interests, especially compared to other colonies. And so, human resources, which only come after economic exploitation within the colonial system, also remained low.
Furthermore, education in public schools was mostly irrelevant to the needs and lifestyles of the majority of Lao society during that time, as it did not have a middle class to support this system, as in Europe. Public schools were mostly established in the few urban areas and some in district centers. Consequently, as late as 1953 more than 90% of the population worked in subsistence agriculture (and many still do), where formal education was unknown. The French attempts in education during the 60 years of their colonial rule led to the existence of a small urban elite, primarily out of the royal Lao family and other bourgeois households. Many students were the children of Vietnamese immigrants to Laos, which was supported by the French so that they could recruit them as civil servants for lower-administrative functions. With the Communist coup in 1975 nearly all of them together with their families fled the country to seek asylum in Australia, France, the USA, or Thailand, which is why an urban elite was almost fully absent from this time on.
The education system during that time only consisted of primary and secondary schooling. The Collège Auguste Pavie in Vientiane opened up in 1924 as the first secondary school in Laos with four classes and 120 students and until 1954 remained the only secondary school throughout the whole country. As a mirror of education in France, students in Laos learned French history, culture and of course, the language – which was irrelevant to the needs and lifestyles of most of the population.
The following wonderful film made in Northern Siam and Laos in the mid 1920s gives a good impression of what these lifestyles looked like at that time.
Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness (USA: 1927. R: Cooper, Meria C./Schoedsack, Ernst B.)
Further studies after secondary school graduation were not possible in Laos. Some Lao citizens attended colleges or universities in Pnohm Penh, Saigon, Hanoi, and a few also in France.
Within the Indochinese Union, French was the common language of civil servants and the first foreign language in schools. In Laos it was taught from the second grade on. A small Lao elite, recruited from not more than 200 families throughout the country mainly around Luang Prabang, Vientiane, Pakse and the few other urban areas, was distinguished by its use of the French language and the assimilation of the French culture from the majority of the Lao population – the Grande Nation with its specific culture was far away from the beliefs, lifestyles, interests, and the environment in Laos.
Remnants of the French influence can be seen in architecture.
The school system inaugurated by the French was irrelevant in the rural areas.
This minimal influence also explains the low number of pupils within this first formal education system. Even in 1963, according to a governmental report, more than 75% of the total Lao population never attended a formal school. French overall influence remained minimal, due to the low number of schools throughout the country, the low number of French colonists, and Laos’ ethnic diversity. French did not replace the native languages as it did in many of the African colonies. This is why French does not play an important role in contemporary Laos; besides the signs on a few governmental buildings it is not common in everyday life.
However, between 1893 and 1954 the elitist French education system paved the way for the set-up of a broader formalized education throughout the whole country, starting in the mid-1950s up until today. If we look back at the beginnings of formal education, especially the challenges, we can see some parallels to the present situation. Ethnic diversity and the marginalized rural areas are still the major challenges for the Lao education system, as for almost half the population the Lao language is not the mother tongue, and as many remote villages still lack access to education.
Part II of this series will trace the end of the colonial rule with the Lao declaration of independence in 1954 and survey the different educational models run by the hostile parties during the war, the Royal Lao government on the one side and the Communist Pathet Lao on the other.
To be continued!
Text & photos by J. Zeck
References:
Postiglione, Gerard A., Jason Tan (2007). Going to school in East Asia. Westport: Greenwood Press.
Stuart-Fox, Martin (2008Âł). Historical Dictionary of Laos. Lanham: Scarecrow Press
Inc.
Internet sources:
Hays, Jeffrey (2008). Education in Laos. In: http://factsanddetails.com/southeast-asia/Laos/sub5_3d/entry-2981.html (last accessed 04/29/2016)
Halpern, Joel M., Marilyn Clarke Tinsam (1966). Education and Nation-Building in Laos. In: http://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&context=anthro_faculty_pubs (last accessed 04/29/2016)
Vientiane High School (2002). Vientiane High School. In: http://www.fedu.uec.ac.jp/~thavisak/f_ourschool.htm (last accessed 04/29/2016)
Team III: 9 new volunteers approved & first steps in preparation
From fifteen applications submitted for the new project phase, nine applications have been successfully selected and approved for the new project phase following the interviews at the University of Education Karlsruhe on 6 May 2016. These nine English education graduates will work at Ban Sikeud primary school, Ban Phang Heng primary and secondary school, and at the Lao-German Technical College in Vientiane from September/October 2016 until January/February 2017, generously supported by the Angels for Children Foundation. Additionally, two more graduates were approved as volunteers for our new satellite project with the Sunshine School in Vientiane. Congratulations!
During the next project phase, the exemplary work at the primary schools and the secondary school will be continued and expanded in three significant new places.
1. The new science laboratory at Ban Phang Heng middle school has been completed in the meantime, which features as an attractive new asset but now demands to be with filled with meaningful learning. Therefore, two volunteers of Team III will commission and supervise the new facilities and support the Lao teachers in establishing physics and chemistry classes, with special regard to integrating the English language as a learning tool and a learning target at the same time. (One of our two English graduates has led a Chemistry Lab at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology for the last decade and will bring lots of ideas!)
2. The second new development in our project is the cooperation with the Lao-German Technical College in Vientiane. This College, specialized in vocational training, prepares adolescents for future careers and prospects on the ASEAN job market. Similarly to our goals in the pilot schools, this new cooperation aims to enhance the students’ and the teachers’ English competences alike.
3. The private Sunshine School in Vientiane has a pre-, primary and middle school as well as a kindergarten and a kindergarten in the village of Veuntaen in Xaythany District on the (Nam) Ngum River (40 km away from the capital) and is known for including green issues, meditation, yoga, vegetarianism, and arts projects into their school life. This school does not belong to the schools supported by the foundation, but we will be looking into possibilities for a future cooperation in the next project phase of 2016/17.
The preparations for the on-site English teaching at the project schools have already started! At the University of Education Karlsruhe, Prof. Martin now offers a new “Teaching English in Laos” seminar for the new volunteers. In this class, the volunteers evaluate teaching methodology as well as foreign language teaching methods and techniques, analyse and create English teaching materials geared towards the needs of Lao pupils and Lao English teachers, and develop ideas towards achieving the general goals and their special individual tasks for their work on-site. Furthermore, the volunteers get an insight into the Lao culture and language.
The first session of the “Laos seminar” took place on 27 May 2016. Johannes Zeck from the Angels for Children Foundation took the volunteers of Team III on an illustrated tour through the history of Laos, which is directly related to the current political and economic situation of the country. He also gave an overview of Lao culture and the prevailing religious beliefs. Stressing the importance of encouraging English education in Laos, he introduced the Angels for Children Foundation and delineated the history of the “Teaching English in Laos” project to the group in closer detail. The early efforts of the founder of the family foundation, Ingrid Engel, to encourage education in Laos form the basis for the project. Its most recent development was achieved through the cooperation with the deputy chairwoman of the Institute of Multilingualism at the University of Education Karlsruhe, Prof. Isabel Martin, which has taken the efforts for improving education in Laos to a more profound and effective level.
After this introduction, the volunteers gathered in focus groups according to their placements. Within these focus groups, the new volunteers seized the opportunity to talk to the project partners Johannes Zeck and Prof. Martin and the volunteers Jana Brecht and Isabella Stryj from Team II about the different schools and the upcoming tasks. What does a normal teaching day look like in Laos? Which methods have been implemented successfully in working with the pupils? What are the needs of the Lao English teachers? Experiences were shared and first questions were answered during the briefing within the focus groups.
Prof. Martin then explained the next step in this (Blended Learning) course, i.e. more exact preparation by an online reading assignment. Homework 1: Read the blog entries for background information. Homework 2: Read the documentation posted in our Intranet StudIP course “Internship in Laos”. These include official documents about insurances, vaccinations, and medicine as well as our “AfC Starter Kit” and material produced and collected over the last 9 months: Teaching reports, press cuttings, contact lists, Lending Library inventories, bibliographies, lecture slides, teaching tips, handouts, flashcards, picturebooks, academic articles, didactic material, and workshop material.
Tip: It is better not to rely on downloading these files on-site as you will lose patience with the (v_e_r_y_s_l_o_w) Internet. Just create your own “Laos Teaching Achive” before you go.
The second part of the seminar on Friday consisted of an introduction to “Singlish”. During the pilot phase of “Teaching English in Laos”, the combination of singing and English has found favour among the Lao pupils and teachers. Motivating young learners for language learning while learning the language shows lasting effects, and hence Team III will continue to work with “Singlish” in Laos. Jana and Isabella from Team II shared video recordings of “Singlish” activities in Ban Sikeud and Ban Phang Heng in the spring of 2016, which witness the spark that motivating language learning activities can create in pupils, and which also show that there are other ways of successfully taking up communication when regular dialogue fails.
Afterwards, the volunteers were able to experience “Singlish” themselves in a workshop by Prof. Martin and Heike MĂĽller, the lead member of Isabel Martin’s “Singlish” band at the University of Education Karlsruhe.
The volunteers and project partners ended this very interesting day with a dinner together at a Thai Restaurant around the corner, where the new volunteers and project leaders had the chance to get to know one another better.
Already on Friday, 15 April 2016, some of the English education majors who are now among the volunteers of Team III seized the opportunity to expand their foreign language teaching repertoire. On this date, Prof. Martin hosted a Modern Western Square Dance party (“PH News” SqD at 1:35 and “Junger Kulturkanal” report) and, on the next day, a workshop with professional Caller Andreas Hennecke. The party was open to the public and a crowd of almost 60 first-time Square Dancers and returners joined the party.
Within 2.5 hours only, the dancers learned about 8 different dances and 14 dancing formations; the careful observer could also perceive more than 80 words in English, ranging from everyday language to technical dancing terms. Among the dancers were students and members of the staff of the University of Education Karlsruhe as well as visitors and guests from “outside”, English native speakers as well as non-English speakers, dancers and non-dancers, and young and older guests (the youngest being approx. 3 years only!). Neither English skills nor dancing skills were required to take part. No matter what the respective levels of English and dancing proficiency were, everyone seemed to have a blast: Lots of smiling faces and laughter filled the room, which created a great atmosphere and united the heterogeneous group, regardless of their previous skills in English or dancing.
In the following workshop on Saturday, 16 April, the workshop participants learned about the significance of rhythm and beat, of timing calls, as well as other basics for calling, in many hands-on activities.
Prof. Martin gave an overview of implementing Square Dance in teaching English from a didactic perspective, such as didactic-methodological principles of foreign language teaching and the approach of “Learning Through the Arts” (LTTA). Of course there was a lot of dancing, too!
The volunteers for the “Teaching English in Laos” project are preparing to take the technique and the underlying approach to Laos in the upcoming fall, in order to teach and inspire the Lao English teachers and learners in fun and innovative ways. We will keep you posted on our progress!
Text by Heike Müller & Sara Stöhrer
Photos by Heike MĂĽller (Laos seminar) & Isabel Martin (SqD Workshop)
“My personal highlight” by Jule Reissig
Most people probably wouldn’t pick a farewell as their overall highlight, but the Lao farewell was an outstanding experience hands down. Although the whole stay in Laos was totally unique, the last days of my stay were truly an impressive time.
The thought of having to leave this beautiful country and its warm-hearted inhabitants soon depressed my mood somewhat. However, the Lao teachers easily managed to draw a smile back on my face. For almost one whole week we celebrated the farewell – or to put it more positively, the last days we got to spend together.We had dinners and feasts together and went on a very impressive trip to Nam Ngum.
Our Baci, a traditional Lao ritual, was the peak event during these wonderful days. All the teachers gathered around, gazed at us in our Lao skirts and traditional Lao clothing, and of course seized the last chance to take pictures with the “falangs”.
Some pupils sat there and watched the whole ceremony while others were involved in the entertainment program and performed some traditional Lao dances for us. For me, a very emotional situation came when my principal called me up front to present a certificate to me and thank me for my work. Standing there, in front of the others and knowing that this meant seeing most of them for the last time was very moving.
On the last day of our stay, I went to Ban Sikeud Secondary School where I had worked for the past 7 weeks to finally say goodbye to my dear pupils and colleagues. My plan was to stop by and get it over with within a few minutes so that it wouldn’t get too emotional.
However, I had made this plan without my Lao teachers. When I arrived at the school, my cooperation teacher Souvanh asked me if I had 10 or 20 minutes to spare. Of course I could spare 20 minutes, and suddenly he ran out of the office after he told me to stay there. He returned shortly after and told me that I could now say a few words to the pupils and say goodbye to every single one of them. At first, I wasn’t sure whether I had understood him correctly. But when the principal handed the microphone over I knew that this was not another communicative misunderstanding (of which we had had so many).
After stammering a few words I was placed in front the pupils, who were standing in rows in the schoolyard as they do every day before the first and after the last lesson. Souvanh gave them some instructions in Lao, and only when the first row of students started walking towards me I realized that “saying goodbye to the students” literally meant saying goodbye to EVERY SINGLE ONE of them. It took me about 10 minutes to shake the hands of roughly 600 pupils. I felt somewhat between overwhelmed and dizzy at the same time.
On my way home I couldn’t stop smiling because this farewell just represented my whole Lao experience so well – the hospitality, desultoriness, spontaneity and most importantly the Lao kindness.Therefore I would like to take this chance to thank all the Lao people I’ve met and especially all my new friends.
Text & photos by: J. Reissig
“Hello and goodbye Laos” from Team I (January 2016)
Hello. Every hello comes along with a goodbye at some stage. For the rest of Team I (Franziska, Laura and me) and Prof Martin the time to say goodbye had come.
As you can imagine saying goodbye after such a long intense time is very sad and I still got a lump in my throat while writing these lines but our flights were booked and the luggage ready for departure.
The 6th of January was another lovely Lao day with blue sky and plenty of sunbeams. Nevertheless, the daily routine was sort of different to the usual procedure. In the morning we took the opportunity to say goodbye to our teachers and pupils. We handed over some useful presents like crayons and pencils for the kids and English dictionaries for the teachers. Everybody experienced some last heart-warming moments and one or another tear could not be held back.
Our last task had been to prepare a short workshop about our English Lending Library and all of the Lao teachers attended. This gave us the chance to give appreciation to them publicly for their work, help, friendliness and effort throughout this closing first chapter and pilot project phase.
Besides some warm words from our side Prof Martin and Johannes handed over “Certificates of English” to our Lao colleagues. They were really proud of themselves and could not hide it: Happy faces all around. Special thanks went out to the directors of both schools, who then took the opportunity to also give speeches of thanks (we think – this was in Lao).
The highlight of this farewell celebration was the deliverance of special “Vouchers” for four special English teachers. To foster their development in the English language Mit, Noy, Souvanh and Done Keo received a voucher for a visit to an English Language College in Great Britain. By their puzzled and surprised looks one could easily tell that they did not exactly realize what they had just received: The opportunity to go on a trip to Great Britain to improve their English in an authentic setting under the supervision of professionals for 3 months in a row. It took them a while to let this amazing news sink in.Prof Martin finished by extending the thanks round to our side of the team: We, the volunteers, Johannes, as well as Gerlinde Engel were presented with hand-made decorative boxes with home-made Xmassy sweets inside.
Then the time had come for some last words and hugs. Quite sentimental moments for all of us. After we took some last group photos on the schoolyard we had to rush off to catch our plane and that was the end of the first chapter in Laos. Goodbye.
Text by T. Mayer
Photos by I. Martin & T. Mayer
Project video uploaded
You can now find the video about the pilot phase of “Teaching English in Laos” with Team I on Videos (under “Extras”). Live and in colour: what it looks like to do Singlish lessons, Square Dance workshops and, of course, to travel in Laos.
Enjoy watching!
“My personal highlight and lowlight” by Jana Brecht
It is quite difficult to make out one special event which is supposed to be the best one as I had so many of them.
Nevertheless, there was one moment that I kept thinking about many times.
Close to the end of our stay in Laos, Noy, one of my English tandem-teachers, asked me to join her and her family for a big party in Vang Vieng. Her older sister and her brother-in-law got a new house. As it is a tradition in Laos to celebrate this special stage of life, they invited their whole family, all their friends, and me.
When I arrived in Vang Vieng, Noy and a friend of hers picked me up at the bus station and brought me to the party location. Driving through a huge archway, I was impressed by the scenery that manifested itself right in front of me.
We arrived at an immense courtyard with a meadow. On the meadow numerous tables and chairs were arranged and white tents were pitched. I was surprised and unable to come up with a guestimate. Therefore I asked Noy how many people would come to the party. She told me that over 400 guests had been invited. I was impressed!
As there were some more organizational things to do some of the women were busy putting everything in the right spot, while the men were busy drinking their beers. When I got out of the car the men invited me to come and join them. We drank some together, and it was actually really funny because none of them was able to say a word in English. Therefore, I had to fall back on my rudimentary knowledge of the Lao language.
After a little while, the hosts and guests started to get ready for the party. I put on my Lao-skirt and felt a little bit uncomfortable because all of the women were wearing astonishing traditional Lao skirts and beautiful blouses. Compared to them, my dress just seemed so casual. I think Noy saw my desperate glances and so she asked me whether I would like to wear something from her. Before I could say anything, three women were standing in front of me and put me into an elaborate robe (unfortunately, it was quite tight).
Afterwards, Noy’s sister asked me if I would like to join the Baci. The Baci is a spiritual ceremony celebrated on significant events in an individual’s life. This Baci was organized for family members only, and being a part of this ceremony was a great honour for me. The people treated me as if I belonged to the family, and they behaved in such a cordial way. At the end of each Baci, every participant gets a handful of colourful threads that function as bracelets. Then the participants walk around in the room and put on the bracelets on the people they want to wish good luck to. It was incredible: Numerous people gathered around me, all wanting to wish me good luck for the future! I would have loved to know what all these gentle people said to me in Lao.
After the ceremony Noy took me to another room of the house and asked me to take off the robe and to sit down. Suddenly I was surrounded by several people. One woman did my hair while another did my make-up. A third woman ironed my robe. It took them nearly one hour to do my styling. Afterwards I looked in the mirror. The person I saw didn’t bear any likeness with me. I never knew that it was possible to wear so much make-up. My eyebrows were nearly black and my cheeks were red like the bottom of a little baby.
Then it was time for the party to get started. The family had arranged a huge gate of flowers for the guests to walk through. In front of the gate the family, including me, was standing in a row to welcome the guests. Noy’s brother-in-law asked me to offer a whiskey shot to each guest. Every time when a new group of guests arrived, he proudly presented his Falang (“Falang” means “long nose” in Lao, and it is used to refer to foreigners). Nearly every single one of the guests wanted to take a picture of me in front of the gate. So I was quite busy serving whiskey and having my picture taken with the guests.
After three hours my legs felt like a lead weight and I decided to sit down to eat something. I talked to many interesting people in Lao and to two Laotians who spoke English. We enjoyed our dinner, drank beer, and danced the whole night.
At three a clock I finally went to bed and fell asleep immediately. When I woke up during the night, I realized that I was sharing my bed with three other people. Laotians just don’t need so much space.
In the morning I got up at six o’ clock to help with tidying up. Imagine the dirty dishes of 400 people and only 8 women washing everything in the morning. Moreover, the whole meadow looked like a mess, and it was clear to all of us that the party had been a great success.
In the afternoon I was really tired because it took us hours to tidy everything up. After we had finished our work, Toum, a girl I had got to know the day before, took me by the hand and gave me a tour of Vang Vieng. We went to the Yang Cave, where we met some of the people from the party and their children. When the children saw me, they ran to me and pulled me all over the site, to show me everything they had explored. We had so much fun and laughed nearly the whole time.
After our short sightseeing tour, the guests who were still there had a little hangover party. We were sitting together, drinking some beer, and some of the people sung karaoke.
Unfortunately it was time to leave and to say goodbye to everyone in the evening. Noy’s brother-in-law told me that he would like me to come and visit them again in Laos because I now was part of the family.
As much as I enjoyed the weekend, I caught an intestinal bacterial infection at the party. And so I was sick for the last few days of my stay in Laos. It got even worse because I wasn’t able to enjoy our farewell and the Baci our teachers organized for us. I had to leave prematurely and couldn’t join our farewell lunch. I stayed in bed for two days because I had a fever, body pain, a gastrointestinal infection, and strong stomach cramps.
Despite everything I will never forget the beautiful days in Vang Vieng and want to say thank you to Noy and her family once again for having me as their guest! This was one of the most wonderful weekends of my life.
Text & photos by J. Brecht
A day in the Lao life of Isa
It is 6 o’clock in the morning and my alarm wakes me up with its soft tunes – if the loud birds and roosters outside haven’t done so beforehand. I put on my running clothes and shoes and head to the local sports compound for a few rounds. I am not the only one here: The pupils of the nearby Secondary School “École Sportif” also prefer to do sports in the morning when it is comparatively cool and the air is still fresh. By 6.45 a.m. I am on my way back home, passing by a few street food sellers, who are preparing their BBQ grills, greeting them with a friendly smile and a Lao “Sabaidee!” After a refreshing shower I get dressed appropriately for school, which means wearing clothes that cover knees and shoulders. I got myself a Lao skirt tailored and I really like it!
Then it is time for breakfast and I usually enjoy a hot cup of tea and muesli (cereal) with delicious fruit, such as mini banana, dragon fruit, papaya or watermelon.
On my way to Phang Heng Primary School I pass by a little street shop run by a Lao woman named Miaa. It started with a daily “Sabaidee” and when I stopped by one day and I introduced myself in Lao we became friends. Now each morning she waves at me and greets me in English!
Lots of people on motorbikes and tuk-tuks pass me by on their way to Trio, a textile factory in Sikeud village, where many people from the surrounding villages work. (Trio used to be the largest private employer in Laos, with 1,600 employees, and it was our host Gerlinde Engel who set up this factory here in 1995 for the Austrian company KTC.) I also have to cross the very busy “Street 13”, a road that connects the West of Laos vertically in approximately 670 km between Nateuy near the Chinese border in the North and the Lao capital Vientiane. It is rush hour, so there is a lot of traffic and thus polluted air. As Lao traffic follows its own rules, I’m always happy to make it to school alive and unhurt.
As I enter the school’s compound, a lot of children pass me, greeting me with big smiles and a friendly “Good Morning, Isa!” What a good start into the day this is! And yes, this happens every single day.
I teach English with the hand puppet dog Mopsy in two pre-school classes every week, which I and (as I think) the children really enjoy. Mopsy is such a cute character you just have to adore!
Afterwards it is time for my English group with Loungsay and Lathsamy, both English teachers at the Ban Phang Heng primary school. Together we discuss their English lessons, talk about didactics and develop strategies for implementing better-suited methodological approaches and techniques in their foreign language classrooms. Grammar and pronunciation are two major topics of our meetings, since improving their own English proficiency is another goal of the project. At the end of our meeting, there is always time for intercultural learning through conversation, e.g. about life and teaching in Laos and Germany, cultural differences, and so on, or a game to consolidate lexis, e.g. (the politically somewhat incorrect) “hangman” or charades.
Before lunch break, I usually visit either Lathsamy’s or Loungsay’s English lesson to observe their teaching. I take notes, which form the basis for our subsequent discussion about what went well and what could be improved. Nevertheless, the highly repetitive method whereby the pupils simply echo in chorus whatever the teachers says (all day long, year in, year out), which is so typical and omnipresent in Lao classrooms, is present in every lesson. Afterwards, my ears usually ache from all the pupils’ shouted repetitions.
During lunch time (11.30 a.m. – 12.20 p.m.) I meet the other two German volunteers Jule and Jana at the Trio VIP canteen where we enjoy a delicious three-course meal, often featuring a starter such as chicken curry or laap (Lao dish), then fried vegetables, steamed rice and meat as a main dish, with a variety of fresh fruit for dessert. During lunchtime we usually discuss current issues from our respective AfC schools.
This is not a long break for me since I have to head back to school to teach English to the non-English-teachers Dia and Khoun at 12.30 p.m. Usually, I start the lesson with a word game (charades or “hangman”) and then we deal with grammar and pronunciation or other topics they both want to learn about, and pragmatics. I have to say that they are very eager to learn English and they invest a lot of effort, especially in the field of pronunciation.
If I have not visited and observed an English lesson in the morning, I do so in the afternoon. Even though this time of the year (February-March) is by far not the hottest in Laos, the classroom situation can become almost unbearable if a power cut occurs and interrupts the aircon – it can get very hot and quite smelly in the classrooms. Yes, even Lao people sweat!
3 p.m.: School is over! After school I conduct an “English activity” during “Activity time”, and the students are already waiting for me. Together we sing and play English songs and games: “Simon Says” is very popular at the moment. At about 4 p.m. the pupils grab their schoolbags and head home. And so do I. “Goodbye, Isa!”
Back at home, relieved to put on some shorter clothes, I turn on my laptop to plan the next lessons, write my weekly teaching report, or manage my special task as the multimedia manager of Team II.
After a quite busy day, I enjoy a healthy dinner “German style” with Jule and Jana prepared by our generous and friendly host Gerlinde Engel.
In the evening we sit together on the balcony of our villa overlooking the Sikeud Primary School’s compound, drink a refreshing Beerlao and let the day fade away.
Text & photos by: I. Stryj
My personal highlight – by Isabella Stryj
My time in Laos was relatively short (six-and-a-half weeks), but still I experienced many great and adventurous moments! Nevertheless, there is one memory that makes me smile whenever I think of it:
Jule and I took Chanhpasong, Noy and Sackbong, three of the non-English teachers from Sikeud Secondary School on a day trip to Nam Ngum. Nam Ngum is a water reservoir located a 2-hour motorbike ride away north of Ban Sikeud. When we arrived at the boat terminal, Noy told me that he had never been on a boat before! When I asked him whether he was scared he said that he was very excited. Since the young teachers don’t have much money, we invited them on a boat cruise.
As we left the harbor the three young men were sitting opposite us and smiling from ear to ear like little boys. Seeing them so happy and joyful made me very happy. A moment I will definitely never forget.
We had lunch on the boat – fish, fried rice, morning glory, fried vegetables and of course beer Lao. The first stop was on a little island where we went tubing in the lake. What fun we had plunging in the water like little children! Fortunately all of them could swim.
Back on the boat we had our private party going with loud Lao music roaring from the speaker. Our captain – a 20-year old man – set course for a panorama platform, from which we had a great view over the lake with all its little islands and the dam.
The 3-hour boat trip did not cost much but gave us a joyful and memorable time.
Text & photos by: I. Stryj
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