-^-for posterity-^-

i sit with an english teacher behind me. he wants to learn. he has desire. he has passion. he is one of the few. the majority of the english teachers don't care a lick about improving. they graduated and that's that.

the main problem we have in the english department is that the english teachers don't want to improve. the english teachers have a mindset. the majority of them want to remain where they are. they do not want to continue studying. they do not want to better their english speaking skills. they want to hide and save face.

many english teachers don't like foreigners who don't speak vietnamese. if you're a foreigner and you don't stumble through the language, they don't like you. if you fall and trip over the odd word and sound like a moron, they love you. they need to see that you are willing to lose face.

the english teachers don't want to talk with the english students. the students that major in english speak wonderfully and there are only a handful of teachers who are able to teach them: the foreigners and three vietnamese teachers who are absurdly motivated. the rest of the teachers teach the non-major students and they do so mostly in vietnamese. the students don't want to learn spoken english. they want to learn written english and the teachers end up losing their ability to speak. if you hear a conversation between an english teacher and a student who majors in english, it sounds one sided. the teacher talks brutally and doesn't admit when they make mistakes. the students are afraid of offending the teachers and speak softly and humbly. some how this situation needs to be rectified.

we have worked with the teachers but have made little progress. it's frustrating working in a culture for a couple of years and making no substantial change. the change is subtle and you become narcissistic. you can't focus on changing things. you have to focus on yourself. if you don't, you'll implode.