A QUICK
GLIMPSE OF
VIETNAM’S
HISTORY &
CULTURE
英文專題－越南文化知多少？
NEHS@CTSP – English PBL Course 2017CONTENTS
Special Editorials ...2
A Quick Glimpse of Vietnam’s History ...6
The Popular Food of Vietnam: Pho Soup and Spring Roll ... 15
The Popular Food of Vietnam: Bánh Mì and Coffee ... 23
A Talk on Vietnam’s Pop Music ... 31
Students’ Reflection on the English PBL Course ... 40
Special Editorials
PRINCIPAL’S REMARKS
AN INSIGHT INTO VIETNAMESE CULTURE
It is a pleasure to say some words for the students who take the course of Vietnamese culture in the class and soon will have their papers collected and published. Here, I would like to give special thanks for the advisor’s instruction. From the booklet, I can see the hard work and effort the students have made to learn about core values of Vietnamese culture.
Although the Vietnamese culture is complex because of the influence from many foreign invaders over the centuries, one thing quite sure is that the foundations of the culture mainly come from Confucian and Buddhist philosophies. Since 1954, there has been constant political conflicts between Communist and Republican interests, and the whole country suffered from poverty and political turbulence. The wars lasted until South Vietnam was occupied by North Vietnam in 1976.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam undertook various economic, educational and political reforms to improve their people’s education level and standard of living. By 2000, they had established diplomatic relationships with all nations, and in 2012, their GDP reached US$138 billion, with a nominal GDP per capita of $1,527. According to a forecast by some financial experts, Vietnam could be the fastest-growing country with a potential growth rate of 10% by 2025. Vietnam now is a rich and prosperous country and deserves our attention and respect.
An old saying goes, “Those who respect others will be respected by others.” Another Chinese saying also teaches us,
“Know your enemy, and know yourself.” In doing so , I would like to encourage the youth who are interested in studying Vietnam to go further to explore the country and understand the country well.
It is important to maintain frequent interactions with the Vietnamese people because the feedback of their viewpoints could help us better know their country. Further, the way to achieve the goals of mutual understanding is to show your care and respect. One thing we must keep in mind is that the Vietnamese tend to avoid direct conflict and don’t like lose to face in public. Also, when you get a chance to talk to them, you should try your best to speak in an indirect way especially on some sensitive and controversial issues, such as human rights, politics, religion, and privacy.
Someday I hope that our school can further create a more active academic or cultural exchange with Vietnam through the sincere and mutual understanding of the new immigrants from Vietnam. Sincerely, I believe, when data and information about Vietnam become more accessible and transparent to the public, the authentic cooperation between Taiwan and Vietnam in the future could be enhanced.
Lin, Kun-Tsan 2018/01/17
ADVISOR’S REMARKS
THE WORLD BEYOND YOUR IMAGINATION: VIETNAM FAR OR NEAR? This course was designed to integrate a set of school-based curriculum in National Experimental High School at Central Taiwan Science Park. The class was intended to invite students interested in observing historical changes under the context of globalization and examining historical texts with a critical mind. Besides, this class also attempted to help students gain a better understanding of Southeast Asia and establish a connection with their life in the present and in the future. In this course, each of the students played the role of a historian and role-played their participation in a short essay on issues related to Southeast Asia’s history. To achieve the learning goals, they had to learn the historical development of Southeast Asia, elements of a historical argument, and procedures of the Big6TM. With the knowledge in mind and skills on hand, they illustrated issues about historical changes of Southeast Asia with their personal viewpoints, consisting of historical arguments without information problems.
Languages and cultures of Southeast Asia played a part in our daily life with the population of immigrants from Southeast Asia increasing in the recent two decades. Following the New Southbound Policy and the new Curriculum Guidelines, our school also made Vietnamese language learning available to our 10th graders. However, their knowledge of Southeast Asia was limited. The insufficiency of their background information resulted from the design of their history curriculum, in which the history of Southeast Asia was barely touched and discussed. In fact, even to those students taking Vietnamese as their second foreign language, they had a limited understanding of Southeast Asia for being bombarded with learning a new language within insufficient teaching hours (one hour per week on average). Most importantly, most of the students were indifferent to issues in Southeast Asia for their ignorance and
misunderstanding of the world. As a result, the course attempted to help them gain a better understanding of Southeast Asia through the process of learning how to write a historical argument and solve an information problem. In the course, they were asked to observe the historical development of Southeast Asia and stated their viewpoints on historical changes related to Southeast Asia. Through the process, they had to identify their information problem and solve the problem by means of the Big6TM to clarify relevant issues and find solid evidence.
Through the course, students were guided to think about the historical development of Southeast Asia critically and examine the historical texts independently. With the knowledge of being a critical historian of multicultural perspectives, they were expected to expand their cosmopolitan attitude toward the world and rethink the position on Taiwan in relation to Southeast Asia. In the language curriculum, they would be able to connect the language with the real context in their life. In the history curriculum, they would be able to think how their knowledge of history had been constructed and rethink whether such construction was valid and solid for them to understand the world in a cosmopolitan aspect. What’s more, when addressing multicultural issues in Taiwan or abroad, students could use a new spectacle to critique all the cultural phenomena with an open mind or a new historical construct. Most importantly, when engaging themselves in the sphere of Asia, they would become a freelancer, traveling between the boundaries of multiple cultures and transcending the regional borders of Asian nations.
SHIH YONG-TING 2018/01/12
A Quick Glimpse of Vietnam’s History
AUTHORS: CHANG, SHEN-WEI (張升瑋) LIN, TSE-HWA (林澤華) ADVISOR: SHIH, YONG-TING (施勇廷) I. INTRODUCTIONThese days, the French colonization brought a large influence on Vietnam. At that time, the Industrial Revolution began. Every country in Europe was eager to expand their territory, so France decided to invade Vietnam. The French made Vietnam’s economy prosperous, but they did it for purpose. They plundered Vietnam’s resources and freedom, which led to Vietnam’s vehement resistance. Eventually, according to the influence of WWII and the Cold War, Vietnam decolonized itself successfully. (林澤華)
前言介紹： 在現今，法國的殖民對越南帶來龐大的影響。在工業革命開始之餘，每一個國家 都渴望著壯大自身在國際上的影響力，因此法國決定以越南為殖民目標。雖然法 國給予越南經濟的繁榮；但法國是有特別殖民目的性，法國奪取越南當地資源及 人民自由，引起越南當地激烈的反抗。最後，藉由二戰及冷戰的影響，越南終於 成功獨立。（林澤華）
II. CRUCIAL ISSUES
(I) What was the attitude of European colonial rule on Southeast Asia? (1-3HW0524)
1. Summary: The colonial governments usually took a negative approach to dominate the colonized countries and they were reluctant to give the local residents higher education but fundamental communication skills or their local languages. The phenomenon came from the fact that the colonial rules were afraid of providing
higher education, which led to the vehement resistance of the local people. Furthermore, the labors who were controlled were exploited by the authorities concerned. The local workers were eager for a reasonable and normal working environment. Thus, the severe surroundings resulted in the fact that the workers had no enthusiasm to work continuously. In conclusion, it brought some bad effects on the colonized countries, such as their education and working environment. (林澤華)
2. Colonial education: The British government was discussing about whether to set up schools at the local place. They wanted to teach the locals basic knowledge but not too much, which could probably lead to a bad result. The British white-collar jobs would be taken, and their power would be threatened by local well-educated people. According to what Frank Swettenham said, “Whilst we teach children to read and write and count in their own languages, or in Malay, we are safe.” (黃奕緹)
3. Colonial exploitation: Obviously, it showed us a hard living situation of a plantation worker during the colonial rule in Vietnam. The worker didn't have any enthusiasm for their job. In addition, their bodies were not healthy. The article mentioned their sunken cheeks, crooked teeth, hollow eyes with dark circles around them, and clothes hanging from collarbones. (高欣湄)
法殖態度： 殖民政府往往用負面的方法去統治被殖民國家，而且殖民者不願意去給予當地人 民較高的教育，僅提供基本的溝通能力及當地的語言教育。這種現象來自於殖民 政權害怕提供更高的教育，開啟民治後造成更多的麻煩及挑戰，但此種做法卻引 起了當地居民激烈的反抗。此外，被控制的勞工被殖民當局壓榨。因此當地的工 作者渴望著一個合理及普通的工作環境。另外，惡劣的工作環境抹去了勞工們工 作的熱情。總而言之，殖民帶來被殖民國家很大的負面影響，像是在教育方面或 是工作環境。（林澤華）
(II) What was the key factor for French colonization of Vietnam? God, gold, or glory? (3-3HW0628)
1. Summary: In the 18th century, the Industrial Revolution had begun. Every country in Europe had a chance to expand their territory and leave an impact on the globe. Some people were striving for god, others were for gold, and still others were for glory. At that time, there was an economic recession which made the French eager to develop their power overseas. Thus, they desired gold to gain more profits. They made lots of excuses to achieve their goal. For instance, the French missionaries came to Vietnam for preaching their religion, but it was not their entire purpose. Moreover, they said that they had the duty to civilize the Vietnamese in order to set a trade base there. They proposed the so-called The White Man’s Burden to get the natural resources of Vietnam. To sum up, all they have done was for gold. Gold was more important than all the other reasons. (林澤華)
2. Gold (1): In my opinion, "Gold" was the key factor French to colonization Vietnam. Lots of European countries were searching for markets outside, the market in European became smaller and smaller, so they needed a new market to sell their goods. .Jean Marie Antoine de Lanessan said that "But soon the market became too small", they need to find a new market outside. Troops, colonies and basic construction needs a lot of money, markets can solve these problems. Compare with "Gold", "Glory" wasn't the most crucial factor. France lost the prestige in France-Prussian War, but most of the French were against that they lost the glory, and they think their glory remained the same. In conclusion, I think the most important key factor is "Gold". They search for new markets to earn more money, money made them more powerful, and then glory would come after that. (呂秉鴻 ) 3. Gold (2): To sum up, although gold, god, and glory were all
the factors for French colonization of Vietnam, gold was the most important. Owing to requirement of new markets, French was forced to develop Indochina and colonize Vietnam. (高欣湄)
法殖原因： 在 18 世紀時，工業革命開始，在歐洲的國家都在找尋機會去擴張領土及增加在 國際上的影響力。有些人為了神，也有人為了金錢，更有人是為了榮耀。在那時， 經濟的衰退導致了法國想要增進自己在國外的力量。因此。他們渴望追求獲得更 多的利益。法國透過許多藉口去達成他們的目標。舉例來說，法國傳教士來到越 南當地傳教，但傳教並不是他們全部的目的；更多的是，他們認為是他們的責任 去讓越南文明化，也是為了去建立貿易基地。透過白種人的負擔這藉口，去奪取 越南當地資源。總體而言。他們的所作所為都是為了錢，錢勝於其他任何理由。 （林澤華）
(III) Do you agree that French colonial rule left the Vietnamese worse off than before they were colonized? (3-4HW0830)
1. Summary: The colonial rule has a positive impact and also a negative one on the colonized countries. Admittedly, the French’s behavior led to Vietnam’s improvement before they were colonized in different aspects, including their administration, medication and education nowadays. Vietnam’s current administration followed the rules that the French left, just like their openness and transparency of their working process. (張升 瑋)
2. For: I agree with the issue that French colonial rule left the Vietnamese worse off than before they were colonized. “Worse off” means that their living didn’t improve. Judging from the workers’ health and their salary, I think that French colonial rule left the Vietnamese worse off. According to Tran Binh, who worked in Vietnam, said that most of the workers lost their health after continual backbreaking works, which meant that their health was ignored. Meanwhile, the Vietnam’s economy improved a lot. (高欣湄)
3. Against: I don’t agree that French colonial rule left the Vietnamese worse off because the French helped Vietnam develop their economy. As the French Prime Minister Jules Ferry said, “Our navy and merchant ships need safe harbors, defense bases and supply centers on the high seas.” This meant that the French government could not
only help Vietnam defend the attack but also improve the economy of Vietnam. (易辰耀) 越南處境： 殖民主義對被殖民國家所帶來的影響亦好亦壞，而不可否認地，法國的殖民確實 使越南在各個方面都比未殖民前來的進步，包括醫療、人事管理或是教育面向。 越南現今也承襲了法國殖民時所採用的制度，並且能在人們的日常生活和飲食中 看見法國的影子。（張升瑋）
(IV) What events led to the decolonization of Vietnam? (4-1HW0924)
1. Summary: Despite the Vietnam’s willingness to announce their independence after the Japanese Occupation, the European powers decided to reassert their control over Vietnam. However, the local people didn’t want to accept the colonial rule and, they were determined to fight for their freedom. During the WWII, the European powers were concentrated on their rivalry with other countries in Europe, which led to their authority in Asia decreasing. The effect of French decreased day by day, and the competition between American and the Soviet Union caused Vietnam to be separated into North Vietnam and South Vietnam. (張升瑋)
2. World War II: The World War II had actually become an incident that touched off the national independent movement to Vietnam. According to the history, in 1940s, the Europe was sinking into the World War II. The French surrendered in September 1945; then, the Japanese seized the opportunity to occupy the Vietnam and advocated the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. The French government in Vietnam had less and less powers to control the Vietnamese. But, at the same time, the Japanese political powers had only control a few cities, which means that the nationalists who were influenced by the thinking of national self-determination could get the opportunity to grow in strength in chaos. Soon after, the nationalists became to fight for their independence. Although their country could have been in a mess because
of these actions; in fact, the Vietnamese had owned the workers that had enough knowledge to take the place of French colonial government according to the article written by Lam Tuyen ( 林 泉 ). So, it was evidently an excellent chance for Vietnamese to be independent. (李尚 霖)
3. Cold War: During the Cold War, the competition between the US and the Soviet Union led Vietnam to be separated into North Vietnam and South Vietnam. North Vietnam and South Vietnam delivered the battle soon after signing the peace agreement. Without the help of USA, the South Vietnam was mastered by North Vietnam. Vietnam became a communist country after the war. Also it was no longer controlled by France anymore. (易辰燿)
越南脫殖：
二次大戰期間，歐洲國家自顧不暇，對殖民國家的控制日益減少，使越南得以反 抗。冷戰期間，越南分裂成北方和南方，各自由蘇聯、美國帶領，象徵著兩種不 同思想的對立，也讓越南抓到機會，建立自己獨立國家。（張升瑋）
III. Conclusion (I) Major Findings
We found that the factors behind the French colonization over Vietnam, and how the French administration colonized Vietnam. Most of the local people were not willing to accept the colonial rule even if it was good for them. The main reason why the French colonized Vietnam was for their benefit, and they took a negative sight to implement local education in fear of making them more competitive. So, it contributed to Vietnam’s vehement resistance against France. Moreover, the influence of WWII led the European powers to lose control over the places they once colonized. In fact, the Cold War was strongly stirred up by the Vietnamese to stand up for their freedom and dignity. Finally, Vietnam was successful in searching for their independence and built a magnificent country with their own efforts. (張升瑋)
我們發現了法國殖民越南的原因，和法國如何有系統的控制越南。大多數被殖民 的人民都無法接受殖民主義，即便其能為生活帶來更多的進步。法國殖民越南最 主要的原因是在於背後龐大的利益，並且為了避免當地人和法國人出現競爭，在 教育方面只教導當地人簡單的算數和語言，但這也同時埋下了越南人民日後激烈 反抗的種子。隨著二次世界大戰的局勢發展，被殖民國家漸漸不被控制，再加上 美蘇冷戰的發生，受到鼓舞的越南人民開始為自己的自由奮鬥，最後成功地獨 立。（張升瑋）
(II) Limitation and Suggestions
We need to find more information about Vietnam in the status quo in order to make the documents more
reasonable. Besides, we also want to explore more historical events to understand the truth better. (張升瑋)
未來建議：
為了讓文獻及研究資料更加完整， 我們需要找到更多關於越南的現狀資訊。除 此之外，為了瞭解真相，我們還需要探索更多的相關歷史事件。（張升瑋）
(III) Course Reflection 1. Lin, Tse-Hwa (林澤華)
With the march of technology, we can easily acquire the information of what we look forward to. Because of this phenomenon, getting another country’s information is no longer difficult. At the beginning of this course, I couldn’t quite understand the relationship between one country and another. I just felt confused about it. Via the lesson and the information from the Internet, I finally figured out about the relationship. France used a negative attitude toward colonizing the Vietnamese. The influence was not only on their education, but also on their working environment. The French wouldn’t provide a good education for fear that the local residents would take their job or authority. What’s more, the working environment was extremely awful that caused the local workers to resist. In conclusion, it brought the bad effect on Vietnam. In this situation, I felt so sorry for the Vietnamese about what happened to them. If I had been one of them, I would have been exploited so badly by the
colonial rules. Actually, I didn’t like the colonial rules at all, because they usually dominated the place where they colonized by their exploitation. They did what they wanted to do and couldn’t think twice about the local environment or the residents’ health. It was so selfish to them that I felt so angry about it. Eventually, I liked this theme, because it made me understand about the country’s development with a large amount of information. Furthermore, understanding another country’s culture is beneficial to me, and it could lead me to become a citizen connected to the world.
2. Chang, Shen-Wei (張升瑋)
Via this class, I saw the ugly state of the countries. To scramble more and more benefits, the country colonized another country without sympathy. The victims under the colonialism were exploited by the colonial countries, and were forced to work in a dirty environment. Before I was in this class, I thought the relationship between the colonial countries and the colonized countries was very simple, just like the plots in the cartoon which I watched before. After the class, I learned about the heavy pain behind the history and knew the truth of history. While knowing about what happened to those who had been colonized, I really felt sad for them. The selfishness of the rulers caused the local residents to be exploited. In fact, I needed to say that I hated colonial rules truly, the appearance of colonial rules showed the arrogance of the powerful countries. Least but not the last, I loved the lesson combined with English and history, because I could learn true stories in the past. At the same time, I could train my English proficiency more. Learning different countries’ history is good for me, and it equips me with a global vision. Next time when I take a trip to Vietnam, maybe I can introduce the history of Vietnam to my family.
(1) Seng, L. K. (2013). European Dominance and Expansion in Southeast Asia in the Late 19th Century. Singapore: Pearson Education South Asia Pte. Ltd.
(2) Cheong, Y. M. (2014). Decolonisation and Emergence of Nation-states. Singapore: Pearson Education South Asia Pte. Ltd.
(3) Minh, H. & Trang, H. (2015). Lược sử nước Việt bằng tranh. Vietnam: NXB Kim Đồng.
The Popular Food of Vietnam: Pho Soup and Spring Roll
AUTHORS: CHEN, WEI-YU (陳威宇) LI, SHANG-LIN (李尚霖) ADVISOR: SHIH, YONG-TING (施勇廷) I. INTRODUCTION(I) Background Information
Nowadays, the pho soup and spring rolls have become two popular dishes in Vietnam and have spread around the world. The following is the historical information about the special Vietnamese food.
Spring rolls
Early in the history of history, spring rolls were luxurious delicacy only for the royal family, because the process of making a spring roll was difficult. Spring rolls were only seen on special occasions, like in their New Year or for their wedding banquets. After the French ate spring rolls, they gave it a pretty name called Pâté Impérial, which means royal pie for an imperial family. Now, spring rolls aren’t only for the royal privileged anymore, but a dish sold as a special treat in a fancy restaurant and as a light snack at a street stand. Various ingredients are available to go with your personal taste. You can eat it with different sauces. That’s why spring rolls in Vietnam are definitely something that you should give it a try.
Graph 1: Vietnamese Spring Rolls Pho soup
The first pho soup was found in the southeastern region of Nam Dinh. It is said that in 1920’s, a cook created this dish to satisfy the need of Vietnamese people and French immigrants in their daily diet. However, some people had different views, suggesting the pho soup was created for the purpose of daily survival. The slum residents sold some food to make a living, which could be the origin of the pho soup.
From the information mentioned above, we can understand the historical development of these two dishes is similar, such as the origins and changes of the two dishes. Both of them were first introduced from China and underwent a French influence. And now, they have develop themselves into different faces and become widespread around the world. To find out their relationship, we are going to make a further study.
(II) Purpose of the Study
After the research of the background information and the evolution of these Vietnamese delicacies, here are three questions that we thought would be worth discussing. The questions are mainly about what, why and how the Vietnamese food has become what they are now:
1. What is the historical development of pho soup and spring rolls?
2. Does the Vietnamese food undergo any change in the modern society?
3. What is the reason for the popularity of pho soup and spring rolls?
(III) Literature Review
For the Vietnamese spring rolls, WRAP & ROLL is the first restaurant to modernize the way to sell Vietnamese spring rolls. The restaurant includes nearly 60 kinds of fillings and skins, mostly made of beef, pork, shrimp and crab. Different tastes of sauce are available in WRAP & ROLL. The most common one is Nước Mắm (fish dew), Tamarind sauce (a kind of soybean source) and peanut butter. There are a large number of vegetables that you can choose to wrap in your spring roll. It is a food that reveals a lot of potential for becoming a hot choice for our diet, since nowadays we gradually place an emphasis on balanced diets with sufficient consumption of vegetables.
Graph 3: New Restaurant Selling Vietnamese Spring Rolls (Source: Rubbish Eat Rubbish Grow 12/07/2017; retrieved from:
https://rubbisheatrubbishgrow.com/2013/03/18/wrap-and-roll-singapore/)
And for pho soup, as an article from TRAVEL AROUND THE WORLD tells, the food and culture of Vietnam are not only deeply affected by China and France but also by their regional differences. Because of the long stretch of Vietnam’s territory, the options and tastes of their food range from the North to the South. People in the southern region of Vietnam are fond of sweet flavors, those in the central part are crazy about spicy food, and those in the northern Vietnam enjoy salty dishes. Due to all the varieties, the food may taste different from place to another. It is worth trying every kind of food in each area, and each of them will amaze you in incredible ways.
(IV) Research Methodology
Due to the limitation of the relevant information, we conducted our research by finding and selecting different pieces of information from various books, such as personal travelogues and travel guides. We also confirmed our information with the readings of the geography textbook designed for second graders in high school to illustrate the development of Southeast Asia. Besides, we surfed through the sources on the Internet, including websites of world delicacies and historical knowledge.
II. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
According to our research, there is one thing in common. Pho soup and spring rolls all came from China, and they were influenced by France during the French colonial period. For pho soup, it was first created in the 20th century. We can target the development of pho soup through changes of their ingredients.
The noodles of pho soup were brought from Guangzhou. At that time, there were a lot of Cantonese people immigrating into Hanoi to work, and then the pho was taken into Vietnam because of them. After the French colonization, other important ingredients such as beef were added. Before colonized by France, Vietnamese didn’t eat beef because Vietnam was a typical agricultural society, which showed the the French influence on the Vietnam’s diet habit. Another ingredient related to the French culture was soup. The soup was made by some ingredients like bones, onions and ginger. It was similar to Pot-au-feu, a kind of French cuisine made of beef and vegetables. Nowadays, there is a variety of ingredients in pho soup. We can see not only beef but something like chicken or fish in it.
During the Vietnam War, there were a lot of refugees escaping to other countries. Then, the pho soup was also brought to other places worldwide by them. That is why now you can find a lot of pho soup restaurants in many countries, and actually spring rolls was also brought to different countries in this way.
As for the Vietnamese spring rolls, they came from China and then spread into Vietnam because they were China’s vassal state, After being colonized by the French government, the spring rolls were merged with Chinese and French cultures. The difference between the Vietnamese spring rolls and the Chinese spring rolls are their skins, fillings, sizes and sauces.
Most of the former ones are made of rice, while the latter ones are made of flour. Basically, any kind of fillings can go with the Vietnamese spring rolls. Most of them are meat or seafood, like pork or shrimp, mixed with vegetables and spices like carrots, onions, basils and parsleys. The Chinese spring rolls are filled with mushrooms and bambooshoots instead. The size of the Vietnamese spring rolls is usually smaller than the one of the Chinese spring rolls. Normally, the Vietnamese spring rolls was eaten with lettuce, dipped in sauce made with nước mắm (fish sauce), lemonade, sugar, chili, soy sauce and sweet chili sauce.
From the history of the two specialties, we find that they were all brought from China and then transported to Vietnam. In the recent time, the French invented more flavors for the Vietnamese food, making it more unique with a combination of local features and foreign tastes. Last but not least, it keeps developing under the trend of glocalization and become what it is now to spread around the globe.
III. CONCLUSION (I) Major Findings
It was generally recognized that the pho soup and spring rolls had a close connections with France and China. Although we couldn’t find the exact origins, here is what we thought from our research. For the pho soup, we could find the relation with China and France from their ingredients. For example, beef and soup of the pho soup were mainly affected by the French culture, and its noodles were affected by China. As for the Vietnamese spring rolls, Vietnam was colonized by the French. Vietnam is open to many harbor cities, so with the trading activities with different countries, their food culture is very diverse, composed of different cultural elements.
Spring rolls and pho soup are the traditional dishes of Vietnam. They are very popular with the Vietnamese and widely
spread to everywhere in Vietnam. You can see it on every street or at any food stand. Of course, we can also find a large number of pho soup and spring roll shops in other countries. Going deep into the historical stories of these famous local dishes, there are not only some special relations with other countries, China and French in particular. The development of the Vietnamese food was also influenced by the Vietnam War.
From the literature review, we can see that the Vietnamese food has changed a lot based on the development of the society. Even to nowadays, many restaurants have become more and more modernized. With customization, customers can choose what they want in their spring rolls or what kind of meat or vegetables in their pho. These changes have made the food account for an important position in the modern world.
(II) Limitation and Suggestions
The limitation of this research was that there wasn’t enough information about the history of Vietnam. We could only find a brief explanation, the two dishes were imported from a foreign place and very few records could be found detailing the complicated process. As for our suggestion, we believed that an actual experience of going to Vietnam and a learning of Vietnamese would help our search on the Internet and reading of the first-hand materials. All the improvement would make our research more accurate and recent.
(III) Our Reflection
This research is mainly about the two dishes in Vietnam, pho soup and spring rolls. For spring rolls, it is very important to the Vietnamese food culture, so the history behind it is also very important. Food is a big part of our culture. So by researching food that belongs to different cultures, you basically can understand a place’s geographic characteristics and cultural landscapes. After taking a close look at these dishes, we’ve known a lot about Vietnam,
including its history and geography. It is very knowledgeable and informative for us to catch a better understanding of their cultures. And actually, the dishes seem very delicious, and everyone should try it out at least once in your lifetime. IV. REFERENCES (1) 越南河粉：融會東西的美味結晶。2017 年 12 月 7 號，取自 https://nommagazine.com/%E8%B6%8A%E5%8D%97%E6%B2%B3% E7%B2%89%EF%BC%9A%E8%9E%8D%E6%9C%83%E6%9D%B1%E8%A5 %BF%E7%9A%84%E7%BE%8E%E5%91%B3%E7%B5%90%E6%99%B6/ (2) 舌尖上的東協。2017 年 12 月 7 號，取自 http://topic.cw.com.tw/2015asean/asean.html (3) 南洋料理（一）越南菜。2017 年 12 月 7 號，取自 http://www.fenc.com/magazine/show_faq_new.aspx?SN=7513 (4) 越南十大必吃美食。2017 年 12 月 7 號，取自 https://yahoo-traveltw.tumblr.com/post/153337290999/%E8 %B6%8A%E5%8D%97%E5%8D%81%E5%A4%A7%E5%BF%85%E5%90%83 %E7%BE%8E%E9%A3%9F (5) 從舌尖到報紙上的「越南河粉」。2017 年 12 月 7 號，取自 https://gushi.tw/pho/ (6) 洪德青（2015）。南向跫音。：貓頭鷹出版社
The Popular Food of Vietnam: Bánh Mì and Coffee
AUTHORS: YI, CHEN-YAO(易辰燿) LU, BING-HONG (呂秉鴻) ADVISOR: SHIH, YONG-TING (施勇廷) I. INTRODUCTION(I) Background Information
In the mid-19th century, French began to colonize Vietnam and set up a colonial government in Sai Kung, and also French missionaries brought coffee and bread to Vietnam. It developed into a kind of Vietnamese bread called bánh mì, the bread with lots of Vietnamese ingredients. Besides, the way of brewing coffee was influenced by France.
After WWII, lots of the Vietnamese started migrating to other countries. Also they brought their eating habit to those nations. Take Taiwan for an instance. Nowadays a numerous number of middle-aged Taiwanese would marry Vietnamese instead of a Taiwanese woman. Thus, the Vietnamese bread can be found in Taiwan easily.
After the Vietnam War, the East Germany signed a coffee agreement with Vietnam. The German even assisted Vietnam in growing coffee as one of their local produce. In 1994, the United States lifted the embargo regulations against Vietnam. By coincidence, in the same year, there was a poor harvest of coffee beans in Brazil. Soon, Vietnamese coffee beans was imported to different nations around the globe and conquered the market by their low prices, causing a threat to countries that sold coffee beans as their primary goods to export. In 2010,
Vietnamese coffee beans were exported to Germany, which amounted to 13,800 tons. In 2014, its exported produce of coffee beans added up to 3.4 billion US dollars. The acreage of field growing Vietnamese coffee beans increased 37 times in 35 years. Its yield also increased one hundred times after the Vietnamese War.
(II) Purpose of the Study
There were some questions that we found when we were searching for the information about the Vietnam’s culinary culture, their coffee and bread. Now, we are going to discuss all the questions about their mutual connection and historical background.
1. What are the special features of the Vietnamese coffee? 2. Why did the Vietnamese start to eat the Vietnamese
bread?
3. What is the connection between the Vietnamese bread and the Vietnamese coffee?
4. How did the Vietnamese bread and the Vietnamese coffee spread to other regions overseas?
(III) Literature Review
Since the 1860s, the French colonization started to dominate Vietnam for over sixty years. While the French colonized Vietnam, some of their diet habits were also affected by the French. Take the Vietnamese bread and coffee for example. The French brought the baguette (French bread) to Vietnam, and then some of the Vietnamese people started to add some local ingredients to the baguette. Then, the Vietnamese added the local ingredients to the bread. Bánh mì, was created. After the WWII, some of the Vietnamese who migrated to the Western countries also brought the Vietnamese bread there. Making Vietnamese bread isn’t a hard job. First, you should prepare some flour, rice flour and yeast. You mix those ingredients and water in a bowl. Then you wait for two hours for
fermentation. When the dough fermented, you can preheat the oven and put the dough into the oven for about ten minutes. At the end, cut off the bread and apply some pork liver paste on it. Then add some ham and vegetables and enjoy your Vietnamese bread!
Graph 1: Vietnamese Bread Sold in Vietnam
Graph 2: Vietnamese Bread Sold in Taiwan
Meanwhile, the French also brought coffee beans to Vietnam. Coffee gradually became an important income for Vietnam. Most of the people would drink coffee with milk in it, but the Vietnamese would add a huge amount of condensed milk and ice. Its name spread all over the world, becoming a symbol of Vietnam.
Someone said: “The classic hot coffee is in Central and South America, and the best iced coffee is in Vietnam.” Vietnam is hot in every season, so a cup of ice coffee can relieve the heat. Vietnamese coffee is unique because the brewing process doesn’t need electricity or a machine at all. What you only need
is a drip-filter pot (phin). The benefit of it is brewing a small amount of coffee each time, so you can control the proportion and time easily. It is convenient for washing and carrying it. Though Vietnam has grew coffee since France colonized Vietnam, but its coffee industry has progressed rapidly in the last 20 years. The Vietnamese export coffee to more than sixty countries each year and produce over a quarter of the global yields. Many famous brands introduce coffee from Vietnam.
Actually, to make a local iced coffee is simple. It only takes seven minutes for all the procedures. First, you need to prepare Vietnamese coffee beans (a kind named Robust), a drip-filter pot (phin), condensed milk, lots of ice, cups and boiled water. Second, add condensed milk in the cup. Third, screw in the lid of the drip-filter pot. Fourth, add the boiled water, wait for the coffee to brew, and stir the coffee and condensed milk with ice in it. Finally, enjoy your local iced coffee!
Graph 4: Iced Vietnamese Coffee (IV) Research Methodology
After quick readings on the history textbook of Southeast Asia, we found some basic information of their historical development. However, due to the limitation of the relevant resources, we conducted our research by finding and selecting different pieces of information from various books, such as personal travelogues, food guides and travel guides. We also checked out our information on the Internet and from different sources to illustrate the development of Southeast Asia. Besides, we surfed through the sources on the Internet, including websites of world delicacies and historical knowledge.
II. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
After searching for lots of materials and documents, we sort out several conclusions below:
There are three special features of the Vietnamese coffee, adding condensed milk, adding ice, and using their own special coffee beans. First, in the past, Vietnam didn’t produce milk, because it was expensive and turned sour easily. So they added condensed milk to replace milk, becoming one of the features for drinking coffee. Also, the Vietnamese enjoy a strong taste, and sweet coffee is just what they like for their daily beverage. Second, ice can reduce the bitter taste of coffee, so they use it
to replace water. Moreover, to drink a cool drink under the hot sun is a best choice for them to keep the heat off. Third, the product of Vietnamese coffee beans is called Robust, its caffeine is twice as high as the one of the average coffee beans, so it is more bitter. That’s why the Vietnamese will drink it slowly and only a small amount of coffee each time.
Initially, the Vietnamese traditional dishes were only popular among their poor citizens. The Vietnamese bread was only seen at roadside stand. The rich people at that time were afraid of being infected by some diseases from ghettos. Therefore, the rich people didn’t like to eat their stand food. On the other hand, the poor people didn’t have much money, so they would just eat the Vietnamese bread, which was cheaper than other types of food. In fact, at the same time, some of the Vietnamese couldn’t live in Vietnam because of their low wage and poor living quality, so they moved overseas to find jobs, bringing some Vietnamese food to other countries. Recently, they traded with the Western nations frequently, and the merchants spread their food around the world. Step by step, the Vietnamese food has gradually become an iconic symbol of Vietnam’s culture, which is known to the people around the world.
In conclusion, the connection between the coffee and the bread is that they were both imported and influence by France. But they made some changes to adapt their culture, which has become their specialties. In the recent decades, the food has been exported to other countries as a result of their migration and trading activities.
III. CONCLUSION (I) Major Findings
Vietnam was influenced by many countries, so their food culture showed diversity. They also made some improvements to overcome the limitation of their natural environment, and
soon it became a specialty of Vietnam. You have to keep an open mind when you want to learn more about a culture.
There are many special eating habits in Vietnam, like adding condensed milk in the coffee. At first, we thought it was a strange way to drink coffee in this way, but it seemed that we had a very narrow viewpoint before. After we did some research about the Vietnamese food, we discovered that adding condensed milk was a means to adapt themselves to their local situation, and then it became a daily feature in Vietnam. Not only the Vietnamese coffee but also the Vietnamese bread was made with lots of ingredients, which would make you associate the dishes with Vietnam’s characteristics.
Besides, it is interesting that a typical dish or beverage, when they get to a new country, those living in the place will change their form to adapt their culture. Vietnam was once deeply influenced by France, and lots of Vietnamese dishes were influenced by the French culture, but they changed these tastes into their specialties, which fit the loca environment and their customs. In fact, there are a lot of unknown cultures around the world, so the best way to live in the global community is to keep an open mind to learn, understand, and appreciate different cultures.
(II) Limitation and Suggestions
The history text book and tour guides will be very useful on the topic of the food. However, if you have a chance to take a trip to Vietnam and taste the local food, you might learn more about the local culture and their customs. It will be very helpful to compose more details for this article.
(III) Our Reflection
We think food is a great topic to research if you want to know more about a country. People need food to survive, so the couture in one country is always based on its food. You can
always find some connection between their food and customs. When you travel to another country, this topic will help you a lot to understand the historical development and cultural background of a place you are visiting.
IV. REFERENCES (1) 【越南咖啡篇】不可不知的 5 個為什麼(2016) 。2018 年 3 月 15 日，取自 http://www.inmediahk.net/node/1044561 (2) 越南 大量價低的致富傳奇(2015) 。2018 年 3 月 15 日，取自 http://www.cw.com.tw/article/article.action?id=5066280 (3) 越南的咖啡文化(2010) 。2018 年 3 月 15 日，取自 http://jasonplus.pixnet.net/blog/post/24781254-越南的咖啡文 化 (4) 越南咖啡大國的形成原來是如此(2016) 。2018 年 3 月 15 日，取自 https://kknews.cc/zh-tw/history/vk26ma.html (5) 越南咖啡的歷史起原及操作方法的詳細講解 咖啡入門學基礎(2015) 。 2018 年 3 月 15 日，取自 http://www.gafei.com/jishu/2015120145547.html (6) 咖啡成「液體黃金」！越南產量世界第二(2015) 。2018 年 3 月 15 日，取 自 http://www.setn.com/News.aspx?NewsID=81836 (7) 特色越南咖啡 － 怎麼自己做出美味越南咖啡？(2016) 。2018 年 3 月 15 日，取自 https://coffeehunter.tw/about-vietnam-coffee/ (8) 洪德青(2015)。南向跫音。出版社：貓頭鷹 (9) 一切要從越南百年前的法國殖民期開始說起(2016) 。2018 年 3 月 15 日， 取自 https://kknews.cc/zh-tw/food/8ejpgq.html
A Talk on Vietnam’s Pop Music
AUTHORS
GAO SIN MEI (高欣湄) CHEN YING YU (陳映妤)
HUANG Y TI (黃奕緹) LUO SIOU ZONG (羅秀宗)
ADVISOR
SHIH, YONG-TING (施勇廷)
Our Audio File: https://goo.gl/5v32yL I. SCRIPTS
ENG-CHOCO (巧克力磚)
(欣湄:M; 映妤:E; 秀宗:X; 奕緹:Y)
X: Xin chào bạn bè. Chúng tôi là học sinh của lớp học tiếng Anh đặt
biệt.
(Hello, everyone! We are the students from the English PBL course!)
E: Hôm nay chúng tôi cảm thấy rất vui có thể giới thiệu bài hát
tiếng Việt với các anh chị em!
(Today, we are very happy to introudce Vietnamese popular songs to you all!)
Y: These days, our government is gradually changing our sight into Southeast Asian countries. Our school, National Experimental High School at Central Taiwan Science Park, Zhong Ke Shi Zhong (中科實中), has also set up a Vietnamese language learning course.
E/X: Xin chào!
Y: Exactly, Taiwan has been in a frequent contact with Vietnam for mutual economic activities, but we rarely know about their culture. Today, we’re going to introduce Vietnam’s pop music and how glocalization has left an impact on it.
Y: When is Vietnam war? M/E/X: From 1955 to 1975.
Y: Very good! Right now, I’m going to tell you some background information before and after the Vietnam War.
M/E/X: Now, let’s listen carefully!
Y: The destruction of the Vietnam War resulted in the Fall of Saigon.
M: I know! Is it what we learned in our music class, Ms. Saigon?
Graph 1 Vietnam’s History between 1955 and 1975
Y: Yes, the following economic crisis forced many Vietnamese artists to leave their country. As the socialist government rose, the suppression on artists and singers made them flee to
other countries, especially European nations and the United States.
E: So that they could create whatever they’d like to do in those countries of freedom, right?
M/E/X: Rất tốt! Happy!
Y: When the Vietnam War ended, with the U.S stopping providing weapons for Vietnam, popular music produced before 1975 was prohibited for their sentimental nature, which sounded hopeless and blue. Patriotism thus became a popular form of music to promote a new spirit of Vietnam.
M: Do you know what patriotism is? It means we extremely love our country for doing something!
E/X: Taiwan number one!
Y: Until 1980s, V-pop recovered from the wartime, with many restrictions canceled and their diplomacy improved, particularly their diplomatic relationship with the United States built. In 1995, V-pop returned to a more stable way as it had done before the wartime. However…
M: Due to the long period of cultural restrictions, the music industry is just now beginning to be discovered and then thrive. Just like a baby!
E/Y: Baby~ baby~ baby~
Y: In 1997, the annual music award “Green Wave” was initiated. It began with a singer named Lam Trường, 藍長, who
was really popular among teenagers. It was a strong begging for the domestic music market during the development of modern V-music.
Y: At the beginning, a majority of V-pop was influenced by music styles of Korea and America. The Korean and American
music industries also worked with Vietnam’s emerging music industry, such as 4men and Super Junior, which helped shape a strong entertainment industry.
Y: As for 2015, the Asian Song Festival created many opportunities for cultural communication in the region. Between 2000 and 2010, the cultural influences of K-pop and J-pop spread to the whole world, and Vietnam was also deeply influenced by it.
Graph 2 Vietnam’s History between 1980s and 1990s Y: Now, everybody, welcome our 越南歐八! Đẹp trai!
X: Nguyễn Thanh Tùng, 阮 青 松 , is a famous male singer in
Vietnam. His stage name is Sơn Tùng M-TP, 山松. M stands for music, T stands for talent and P stands for personality. His style of music has been deeply influenced by the K-pop, and he is really successful in Southeast Asia.
X: After he made his first performance on stage, he gained great popularity and numerous fans immediately. He has several classical works, such as Em Của Ngày Hôm Qua, You from
Yesterday, 昨天的妳, Em Đừng Đi, Don’t Go, 不要走, and Chúng Ta Không Thuộc Về Nhau, We Don’t Belong to Each Other, 我們不屬於
彼此.
X: The song, Nơi này có anh, I Am Right Here, 有我在這, has even
X: This song is about a romantic story which a man loves a woman until he dies. No matter which season it is and no matter where he or she is, they will always stay together and love each other. Let’s enjoy this popular song!
Nơi này có anh by Sơn Tùng M-TP, 山松的有我在這 1:01-1:57 (Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN7ALfpGxiI)
M: Today, I’m going to introduce another Vietnamese male singer, Soobin Hoàng Sơn, 皇杉. He was born on September 10th.
He is not only handsome but also cute. In addition, he is 182 centimeters tall. Even though he was born in Vietnam, his music style is extremely similar to the music in Korea. Before he became the TOP 4 of the talent show, “The Voice of Vietnam,” he was an underground singer.
M: After he released the song, Phía Sau Một Cô Gái, Behind That
Girl, 那女孩身後, he became a real singer in Vietnam. And this is his most famous Vietnamese song in 2016. This song talks about although a gentleman is not allowed to fall in love with his lover, hold her hands, and stay beside her, he will stand around her to protect and attend her secretly. Much to his regret, he doesn’t meet her in a right place, at a right time. Now, let’s listen to this song.
Phía Sau Một Cô Gái, Behind That Girl, 那女孩身後, by Soobin
Hoàng Sơn,皇杉.
(Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCIc1g_4JWM; 03:28~04:50)
M: Moreover, he is good at singing not only sentimental songs but also lively songs.
Among his songs, my favorite one is Một Ngày Rất Khác, A Special Day, 很特別的一天. The lyrics of this song are pretty easy to remember. In this music video, he dressed like a senior high school student like one of us. The atmosphere of this song is
very energetic. I think this song can make us excited. Let’s get energetic now.
Một Ngày Rất Khác, A Speical Day, 很特別的一天 by Soobin Hoàng Sơn, 皇杉.
(Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIjreHymcWU; 01:35~02:20)
Graph 3 Vietnam’s Male Pop Singers
E: Finally, I’m going to introduce a Vietnamese female singer, Hương Tràm, 香湛. She was born in Vinhin, Vietnam. Hương Tràm
loved music since she was little because her dad was a musician of Vietnamese traditional music. Therefore, she had a talent for singing. She also participated in “The Voice Of Vietnam,” which is the biggest singing contest in Vietnam. To everybody’s surprise, she won the first prize in the first season of the contest when she was only 17 years old.
E: She said,
Y: There is absolutely no need to think and be disappointed with your choice because The Voice Of Vietnam has changed my whole life.”
E: Her story told us to Never give up easily! When being scolded, just look at the front and make your dreams come true. E: Her songs usually described love and sadness. When you feel upset about your relationship between you and your companion, you can listen to the music of Hương Tràm, and then you will
feel better. Now! Let’s enjoy the most popular song of Hương Tràm,Hương Tràm’s Ngốc, A Fool, 傻瓜, in 2017.
E: This song is about a foolish girl who loved a boy very much, but the boy didn’t treat her well. The man was a two-timer, who loved another a girl at the same time. The girl was so sad, but she still couldn’t let him go. She was tortured by this wrong love for a long time.
(Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsqlxq85SXw; 04:37~05:37)
(Music:https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=2fz PWsr7x0s; 05:24~06:26)
Our Conclusion:
E: In the recent six decades, Vietnam’s music style has transformed from sentimental features into a modern fashion. The two main reasons are the Vietnam War and the strong impact of Korean culture. During the Vietnam War, the Vietnamese love for their country were intrigued for the communist encouragement to stand together to fight against foreign forces. On the other hand, those who fled to other countries, especially, the US, were able to create their own music freely.
M: Therefore, their music style gradually turned into a combination of their local melodies and the Western rhythms. In the recent years, the Korean music and drama have spread quickly over the world. Cultures in various places, to some extent, have been influenced by Korea. The new features of Vietnamese pop music are a typical case, to show how strongly the Korean culture leaves an impact on their music style under the context of glocalization.
Features of V-Pop:
X: According to what we have introduced above, we can find that V-pop is influenced by K-pop deeply. Not only the music style but also their clothing style. In fact, the local Vietnamese music is spoiled seriously by foreign cultures, the Korean
culture in particular. Their traditional Vietnamese music has been changed with certain features of the Korean style music gradually.
Our Reflection:
Y: In the society today, although with the frequent contact with Vietnam for mutual economic interaction, our cultural understanding of Vietnam is somewhat deficient. These years, thanks to the government promotion of traveling to Southeastern Asia and learning of their diverse cultures, we are extremely interested in our topic, which is about the Vietnamese entertainment. During writing this essay, we learn research skills, historical analysis, and the culture of Vietnam. We also know how to collaborate with each other. We hope you enjoy our program on the Vietnam’s Music.
M/E/X/Y: We wish you a good day! Good bye!
Graph 4 Features of Vietnamese Music II. REFERENCES Music Videos: (1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSpmH6STZ6A (2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3tt5C-eXro (3) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyHQyF-f43A (4) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqIrIqzjMd8 (5) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVjzzHvd3Ec (6) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2oECQI7jaE (7) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pqkjYD4pvM (8) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYxY5omrnsA (9) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyJZ5zCe_Kk
(10) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejvrtZ29H-Q (11) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0h3ix2PJg0 III. CREW MEMBERS
(1) 影片編輯、後製、錄音：GAO XIN-MEI 高欣湄
(2) 投影製作、文稿、錄音：CHEN YING-YU 陳映妤、HUANG YI-TI 黃奕 緹、LUO SIOU-ZONG 羅秀宗
Students’ Reflection on the English PBL Course
LU, BING-HONG (呂秉鴻)
I joined this PBL course because I wanted to improve my English ability. It seems that I made a right choice that time. In the beginning, I learned the rules of debate, and it increased my experience in critical thinking and English listening skills when I was preparing for the competition. Though I didn’t do well on the competition, but it was a great experience for me. Then we had the class about Vietnam. The teacher told us about the history, customs, and culture of Vietnam. After that, we wrote an essay about the food of Vietnam. I learned how to search information and weave it into a full article, summarize a long article and analyze its content. By doing this, I studied more deeply about the article. My grammar improved a lot through all the writing tasks in class. I had a lot of interest in English, but in the past, I didn’t have a lot of chances to write any article or learn in English. But after I joined PBL, I wrote and spoke English a lot. If there were any words that I didn't know how to translate into English, my teacher and classmates were glad to help me. After all these practices, I can now write down what I am thinking fast and clearly. English debate, Vietnam’s history, and writing English essays were what I learn here, and they would be my useful skills in my lifetime. CHEN, WEI-YU (陳威宇)
In this class, it was very informative, because of all the research I did and the books I read. I found a lot of information of my research topic, and by doing so, I have become better at doing research and gathering information. Doing all of the homework in English have made my English better and the previous debate contest also made my English better. I found my grammar mistakes from doing all the homework, and now I
am more confident of speaking in English because of the debate contest and the conversation with the teacher in English. After doing this essay, I learned more knowledge about the Vietnamese spring rolls and pho soup, their background history and how delicious and popular they are around Southeast Asia. Before writing the essay, I had no interest in what Vietnam had to offer. I did not want to write this essay, but because of this research, I was more interested in the Vietnamese history. And the essay that we completed made me feel accomplished. This essay could help me apply to the college, so it was very worthwhile.
By participating in this class, I have developed skills like conducting research and organizing materials that I found on the internet, then turning them into the materials used in my essay. And writing an essay is another important skill coming in handy in my future. I have learned the skills that I will never have learned otherwise.
I choose to join this class is because I want to improve my English. It seems that I made a right choice that time. In the beginning, I learned the rules of debate, and it enhances my experience when I was preparing for the competition. It improved my listening, too. Though I didn’t do well on the competition, but it was a great experience for me. Then we had the class which was about Vietnam. Teacher told us about the history, custom, culture about it. After that, we wrote a literature about the food of Vietnam. I learned how to search information and gather them to an full article. In this class, I learned how to summarize a long article and analyzed what was in it. By doing this, we can learn more deeply about the article. My grammar improved a lot through the class. I had a lot of interest in English, but I don’t have any chance to write any article in English. But after I join this class, I wrote English a lot. If there are any words that I don’t know how to express in English, my teacher and classmates are glad to help me. After all these practice, I can now write down what I am thinking fast and clearly. English debate, Vietnam’s history, writing English
literature. I might not learn about all these in my life if I didn’t join this class, nothing but helpful can describe what I learned in the class.
I choose to join this class is because I want to improve my English. It seems that I made a right choice that time. In the beginning, I learned the rules of debate, and it enhances my experience when I was preparing for the competition. It improved my listening, too. Though I didn’t do well on the competition, but it was a great experience for me. Then we had the class which as about Vietnam. Teacher told us about the history, custom, culture about it. After that, we wrote a literature about the food of Vietnam. I learned how to search information and gather them to a full article. In this class, I learned how to summarize a long article and analyzed what was in it. By doing this, we can learn more deeply about the article. My grammar improved a lot through the class. I had a lot of interest in English, but I don’t have any chance to write any article in English. But after I join this class, I wrote English a lot. If there are any words that I don’t know how to express in English, my teacher and classmates are glad to help me. After all these practice, I can now write down what I am thinking fast and clearly. English debate, Vietnam’s history, writing English literature. I might not learn about all these in my life if I didn’t join this class, nothing but helpful can describe what I learned in the class.
LI, SHANG-LIN (李尚霖)
As a whole, I thought this PBL course was a highly useful class to me. Since I participated in this class, my English proficiency has greatly advanced. While being in class, I learned a lot of skills like information organization, summary writing, and so on. These skills all had a great impact on my English writing and project presentation. Additionally, my ability of English writing markedly increased for the homework which required me to write and think in English. At first, I thought that writing an article all in English was an
extremely difficult task for me, but now I could finish it by myself. Furthermore, through the course which was completely in English, I could develop my English listening ability easily. Although some words were still too hard to understand, I could learn more and remember more new words. For the English essay, this assignment could not only strengthen my English grammar but make me understand some features of foreign countries. Therefore, this task also brought me an opportunity to learn how to analyze and how to go deep on an essay. While I was looking for the information, I gradually became skilled at gathering information. As I came up with an idea, I could express it immediately and clearly. It was what I hadn't done before, feeling like I had been moving to another higher level. Besides, when finishing the essay in English with my partner, I was deeply touched by a sense of accomplishment. I thought I had developed my English proficiency. In conclusion, this class gave me numerous skills and lots of knowledge, and what I had learned would be a useful set of gadgets that would help me in the future.
YI, CHEN-YAO (易辰燿)
As I entered the NEHS, I noticed that my English ability was not good enough to be a student in senior high. So, I chose the PBL course for the purpose of improving my English. At the first semester, we decided to participate in the English debate with encouragement when we were just beginners. What we prepared for the English debate were summarizing skills, logical thinking and oral proficiency. Plucking up my courage to give a speech to all the audience was not easy. Not until I tried it in this class, I could never give a constructive speech to my classmates.
Learning debate skills made me understand that learning English was not only improving writing skills but also training my logical thinking. After the debate, we started learning the Southeast Asia’s history. In class, teacher taught us a lot of WWII’s background information and SEA’s traditional cultures.
Also, he told us lots of local dishes which he ate in Vietnam. Understanding the history of the Vietnamese, we started to write an essay on the Vietnamese food. By writing this article, I found it important to collect information from the Internet and historical books. Not only collecting the data, but also organizing the information played an important role in writing an essay. With the training in the first semester, summarizing all information was no longer a hard job. The ability of summarizing articles was also improved by doing that research. After classes of three semesters, I’ve learned lots of skills which are going to be useful capabilities in the future.
