To my students, with love.

I'll sneak this short post in before we get into our Sapa trip.

What a joy and a pleasure it has been to teach in Vietnam for a year. Vietnamese students are diligent, bright, curious, conscientious. Many of my students have remarked how much they have learned from me. Well, really, I'm the one who has learned from them.

I have learned how to be curious and appreciative about America again. Since one group I taught will soon be leaving for America to study for four years, they were particularly interested in American culture and how they might best fit in. Looking at America through their eyes reminded me of all that is good and expansive about our great country.

I have learned the value of not giving up. Admittedly, many of my students have been studying English for 10 plus years; however, it has mostly been with Vietnamese teachers. So while their writing and reading skills are good, what they lack is how to speak and listen like a native. To learn a language so utterly different from their own has been a huge challenge. When I first started one of my classes, I could barely understand anything the students said. Even when they were reading out loud and I was following along! Their pronunciation was, in some cases, non-existent. I watched these students struggle in mastering new sounds, and over the course of nine months or so through sheer determination and perseverance, they have improved tremendously. Most of them are now at university level English. I am so proud of them.

I have learned how to approach a completely new experience with a curious attitude and an open mind. Standing up in front of each new class on the first day and having each pair of bright eyes watching my every move and each pair of ears listening to my every word, never failed to humble me and make me stupidly frightened that I might say the wrong thing. I reminded myself that if my students can come and be open to something different, then I can stand up and be just as curious about them.

Here are some of my students:

This was one of my first classes at a small private school.

The students were always unfailingly warm and giving.

This is the group that will study in Oklahoma. We spent nine months together and definitely bonded.

I will miss all of them.
O.