Extracts From Vietnam.. Content Warning.
Stories from an English teacher.
I had noticed in my short time teaching that there were some kids who struggled with English, to the point they couldn't retain anything. The Vietnamese way of dealing with this is forced repetition and shouting at the child until they learn it. In case you are wondering, this never works. These kids looked the same as the kids who would hear a word once and repeat it perfectly, it was around this time I noticed I hadn't encountered any kids or adults with learning difficulties. As far as the schools were concerned kids who fell behind their classmates did so as they were lazy. There was no mention of ADD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia or Dyscalculia. Words like Autism and Down Syndrome were not in the vocabulary of teachers, in English or Vietnamese. I asked the manager at the language center I was volunteering at and he wasn't keen to discuss the subject.
