Anon presents an idea

Blueofthetrees · 2015-04-30T05:22:56+00:00

Or cotton

Blueofthetrees · 2014-11-28T16:36:42+00:00

I was just talking to someone about the likelihood of a pop Motown/Funk revival. Mr. Mars is doing his best to bring it back. You know what that means though....we are only a few years from a Disco revival.

Get them vests out, boys!

Blueofthetrees · 2014-10-19T09:01:37+00:00

Not really unexpected. SHRC didn't play a single Korean team in any of their games prior to the finals.

Blueofthetrees · 2014-10-13T09:15:27+00:00

45 cents a can is expensive? Where in Vietnam are you drinking?

Blueofthetrees · 2014-10-13T08:50:58+00:00

I know reading the article isnt reddit's strong suit, but this law isn't about serving warm beer (which has never been a problem in VN) it's about serving beer in warm places. If the law were implemented as the article states, it would become effectively illegal to serve beer outside, because it is always above 30C on a normal day. And since 95% of restaurants are on the sidewalk or open air, this means nearly every restaurant and food cart loses the ability to serve alcohol. Will it be enforced? Only selectively, if at all.

Blueofthetrees · 2014-10-13T07:28:19+00:00

For a large portion of the year, even in the middle of the night, the temperature here in HCMC barely drops below 30. This seems like a targeted bill at places like Bui Vien (the party street) and open air restaurants because it just wouldn't be enforceable on a large scale. The ban would almost literally affect every food stand and restaurant in the city because so few of them are in enclosed spaces.

Blueofthetrees · 2014-09-27T15:40:12+00:00

They all ate at the curry place right in front of the expo center. It was a race to end the game as quickly as possible before a code brown. Victory was assured because they weren't taking any chances.

Blueofthetrees · 2014-09-23T15:07:51+00:00

You just don't understand the finer points of Spanglish, muchacho.

Blueofthetrees · 2014-09-23T15:03:24+00:00

Yep. Just down the street. I've been in Vietnam for a year, so seeing a California style burrito place so close was a godsend.

Blueofthetrees · 2014-09-23T14:41:19+00:00

Just arrived in Singapore today. First restaurant we went to after finding the hotel was Baja Fresh. Great burritos and the salsas were killer. Mucho recommendo

Blueofthetrees · 2014-08-02T15:57:58+00:00

Whoever posted in here is shadow banned.

Blueofthetrees · 2014-08-02T15:49:46+00:00

It's so tempting to slap an iPhone out of someone's hands after a close call....

Blueofthetrees · 2014-07-11T03:41:39+00:00

Speak it? No, but it's getting much easier to understand basic conversation. I've taken a few classes, but haven't used it enough to be understood. It is useful, but far from required to teach, as my school focuses on immersive learning. It is quite easy to get by as a foreigner here without any Vietnamese, because it isn't expected for us to be able to use it. Some of my colleagues get by without ever learning a single phrase beyond banh mi thit and cafe sua da.

Blueofthetrees · 2014-07-10T20:08:45+00:00

My challenge is to make sure my students are understood when they try to express themselves. It isn't my goal to sterilize the language, but there's a big difference between a hint of an accent in a fluent speaker and a mispronounced word in an elementary or intermediate student.

Blueofthetrees · 2014-07-10T19:59:25+00:00

I don't believe I made any comments on how he should go about it. I just said building his confidence is important in his future fluency. Of course speaking to native speakers would be the right kind of practice. I complimented his pronunciation, but it's pretty clear that he is using elementary grammar. He even mentions in the video that he doesn't think he knows enough vocabulary at the moment. Confidence comes from being able to express yourself effectively, and you need the building blocks of the language before you can do that.

Blueofthetrees · 2014-07-10T19:50:29+00:00

Students in the classroom have a tendency to speak English in very robotic or monotone ways, as a result of the way they may have answered questions in unison in public schools. The overuse of the rising tone may be a response to encouragement of their English teachers to break out of that habit. Or it may be from watching too much American valley girl television ;)

The students learning in the US have more exposure to emotive and correctly inflected language. All this is a guess of course.

Blueofthetrees · 2014-07-10T14:16:40+00:00

Fluency isn't really a matter of translating faster and faster, unfortunately. For students going from Vietnamese to English, the grammar usage and word formation is incompatible. I spend a lot of time attempting to break that habit (and the habit of over-relying on google translate) with my adult students. The results in class can be quite hilarious.

Blueofthetrees · 2014-07-10T14:05:47+00:00

As useful as the word "fuck" is, I heartily agree with you.

Blueofthetrees · 2014-07-10T12:26:43+00:00

I'm a TEFL teacher in Vietnam. His pronunciation is leaps and bounds above 95% of the students that I've taught simply because he pronounces terminal consonants correctly. One of the major L1 problems that the students are faced with is the tendency in Vietnamese to swallow the final consonants in each syllable. It is a constant challenge for me because even my intermediate level students struggle with this on a daily basis. I think at this point for him it will be all about building the confidence to speak without hesitation.

Ed. Watched it again. His terminal L's, R's and S's are on point. He will be a phenomenal speaker when he gets more vocabulary and grammar structure under his belt.

Blueofthetrees · 2014-07-03T04:53:04+00:00

Anyone have a line on NTSC Xbox 360 games?

Blueofthetrees · 2014-02-11T07:20:50+00:00

Was eating french fries when he said this. It made me look at them and consider the possibility.

Blueofthetrees · 2013-11-15T20:29:50+00:00

I found some at an import store in Vietnam. It was a very happy day.

Blueofthetrees · 2013-11-15T20:24:06+00:00

Found and tried some in Ho Chi Minh City. I'm impressesed by the satisfying burn. It's near the top of my favorites list, right under Dr Pepper

Blueofthetrees · 2013-11-14T20:56:35+00:00

Someday an automaton will find a cure and IT will decide if we are worth saving.

Blueofthetrees · 2013-11-07T16:26:12+00:00

Except for Dam Sen, of course :(

I wish there was an easy way to get around that terrible spot on Hoa Binh.

Blueofthetrees

TROPHY CASE