In this project, you will create a blog to document the presence of Vietnamese culture in your town in the United States.

1. PROCEDURE

2. BLOG CONTENT

3. PRESENTATION GUIDELINES

4. EVALUATION

1. PROCEDURE

Step 1: Forming Groups

Form groups of 3 to work together. Your group will depend on your part so you will need to complete your tasks reliably for the group to work.

Each group member should take a specific role:

• The Task Manager keeps your group on track and brings paper copies of worksheets for the group members
• The Recorder records the interactions and interviews and shares a copy of the sound files to the other group members and the teacher.
• The Techie creates the blog and shares editing access with the other members so the group can collaborate. Recommended blogging sites: Blogger, Wordpress.

Apart from these specific roles, all group members carry out all tasks together.

Step 2: Setting up

• Together as a class, identify:
  • stores that sell Vietnamese groceries and have workers who speak Vietnamese;
  • restaurants that serves Vietnamese food and has Vietnamese-speaking workers.
  • Some suggestions for Chinatown in Honolulu are marked on this Google Map. (If you cannot see the map, try right-clicking on the link, "copy link URL," and paste the URL into a browser OTHER than the one you use for your UH login.)
• Together as a class, make a plan for a day trip to the Vietnamese groceries and restaurants in town (such as Chinatown in Honolulu). The class can go together or split up into smaller teams.
• A week before the day trip, the teacher OR a volunteer from the class calls the stores and a restaurant in Vietnamese to arrange for the visit by the class (if your class splits into teams, then each team should make the calls). Your call's purpose is to ask for their permission to record your Vietnamese conversations there to study ("Vì chúng con đang học tiếng Việt nên nhờ bác/ cô/ chú/ cho chúng con ghi âm lúc nói chuyện bằng tiếng Việt với bác/ cô/ chú để học."). Also make a reservation for a group lunch/ dinner at the restaurant.
• The volunteer should record the phone conversations and share with the class/ group so the rest of the class can also practice listening in Vietnamese.
• The Techie in each Blog Group sets up a blog for the group and shares editing access with the other group members and the teacher.
• Write about this step in Entry 1 of the blog (see instructions below).

Step 3: Day Trip - Part 1: Groceries

Survey Vietnamese food ingredients available in town, how they are used, and their significance in Vietnamese culture.

The Task Manager prepare paper materials when needed and makes sure all tasks are accomplished:

• Together as a class or in teams, visit the stores you identified in Step 2 that sell Vietnamese groceries and have Vietnamese store keepers. At the store,
  • Make a list in Vietnamese of all the items you find (stop at 10 per group member or 30 total for the group). For each item, take a picture to illustrate (you can take a picture of several items then draw an arrow to name each item)
  • Buy at least three grocery items (one per group member) by speaking in Vietnamese to the store keepers. Ask the store keeper at least one question about the product aside from the price (e.g., how to cook or use each item: Cái này nấu như thế nào?/ Cái này dùng như thế nào?). The Techie records the conversations.
• Write about this step in Entry 2 of the blog (see instructions below).
• Interview
  • Ask a Vietnamese person about the items you saw at the market (each group member chooses at least 3 items out of the 10 you took pictures of, or 15 total for group, make sure you don't choose the same items). You could ask these questions on the Day Trip or later.
    • The Recorder records the interview and the group takes notes.
    • Q1: how to cook or use each item:
      • Cái này nấu như thế nào?/ Cái này dùng như thế nào?
    • Q2: the cultural meaning of each item:
      • Cái này có ý nghĩa gì đối với người Việt?
    • Q3: the difference between the item found in the US and its equivalent in Vietnam:
      • Cái này ở Mỹ có ngon như ở Việt Nam không?
    • Q4: the Vietnamese person's thoughts about being Vietnamese in the US
      • Hàng tuần, bác/ cô/ chú/ anh/ chị.... ăn mấy bữa cơm Việt và ăn mấy bữa đồ Mỹ?
      • Bác/ cô/ chú/ anh/ chị... thấy người Việt ở Mỹ có nên giữ lối sống Việt Nam không? Tại sao?
      • Bác/ cô/ chú/ anh/ chị.... làm những gì để giữ lối sống Việt trên đất Mỹ?
      • Làm người Việt ở Mỹ có gì dễ, có gì khó?
• Work together to transcribe the conversations in Vietnamese (buying groceries and interview) and submit both the sound files and the transcripts to the teacher for feedback and evaluation.
• Write about your findings in Entry 3 of the blog (see instructions below).

Step 4: Day Trip - Part 2: Restaurant

Together, visit a Vietnamese restaurant to have lunch. Order food in Vietnamese and talk in Vietnamese with the Vietnamese people who work at the restaurant.

At the restaurant, each group member needs to do the following tasks:

• One person should get a copy of the menu to keep (you will need this later)
  • Cho tôi/ con xin một cái thực đơn.
• Order food in Vietnamese, ask the waiter at least one question about the food (record this conversation)
  • Cho tôi/ con một tô X/ dĩa X
  • Món này có cay không?
  • Món này có nhiều người đặt không?
• When you are ordering, the group should ask the waiter/ restaurant owner at least three questions in Vietnamese about the restaurant (record this conversation), such as:
  • Hiệu ăn này có món ăn của miền nào?
  • Đặc sản của hiệu ăn này là gì?
  • Sau khi gọi thức ăn chúng tôi có phải đợi lâu không?
• Take a picture of your food when it arrives
  • Take a picture of the restaurant's sign outside
• Give at least one comment in Vietnamese about the food and thank the restaurant owner for their help (record this conversation), such as:
  • Đồ ăn ở hiệu ăn này ngon lắm. Cám ơn bác/cô/chú giúp đỡ chúng tôi/ con.
• Write about this experience in Entry 4 of the blog (see instructions below).

After the visit to the restaurant, each group member

• compares the ingredients of one of the dishes on the restaurant's menu with a dish of the same name at Vietnamese cooking websites such as Webnauan, Mongingon, and 7monngonmoingay (to search, type in Vietnamese in the "tìm kiếm" box). What are the similarities and differences?
• transcribe the conversations at the restaurant and submit the sound files and transcript to the teacher for feedback and evaluation.
• Write about this experience in Entry 5 of the blog (see instructions below).

Step 5: Writing the Blog

Group members post blog entries as Lead Writers (see Blog Content below) by the deadline specified by the teacher.

Step 6: Giving Feedback on Blog Entries

Group members read each other's blog entries and write comments (see Blog Content below) by the deadline specified by the teacher.

Step 7: Presentation and Blog Comments

• Present the content of your group's blog orally to the class and share the link so your classmates can comment. Give at least one comment on each of the other groups' blogs after each presentation.
• Invite your Vietnamese friends and family members to read and comment on your group blog.

2. BLOG CONTENT

Your group blog must be entirely in Vietnamese and contain the following:

Tựa đề: Tìm Việt Nam trên đất Mỹ

Tác giả: [group members]

Bài viết: For each entry, one group member should be a lead writer and the other two members read, add details, and comments to the lead writer's entry. Group members take turns to be the lead writer for different entries. Use pictures whenever appropriate.

• Chợ Việt:
  • Entry 1: A narrative essay (lead writer #1 writes about 200 words) to describe how your group found the Vietnamese groceries ingredients, where they were, what you learned in the experience, what you enjoyed most about the experience, what would you do differently next time (Steps 2 and 3 above).
  • Two readers: Comments should be at least 50 words. [back to Procedure]
  • Entry 2: All 3 members should be the lead writer to give a list of the 10 groceries items you found with a picture and caption for each item. Based on the interview with the Vietnamese guide about 3 items, write a brief description (at least 30 words) for each item to show how it is used/ cooked, what it means for Vietnamese people, and how it is similar to or different from that item in Vietnam. Together, the 3 members of the groups as lead writers will list 30 groceries items with pictures and captions, and write more in-depth about NINE items.
  • Readers: Group members read each other's entries for this topic and comment. Comments should be at least 10 words long. [back to Procedure]
  • Entry 3: A discussion essay (lead writer #2 writes about 200 words) to summarize your findings and the Vietnamese guide's thoughts about how Vietnamese Americans have maintained and adapted their home culture in the US. What do they do to maintain their Vietnamese way of living? What challenges do they find? (see Step 3 above)
  • Two readers: Comments should be at least 50 words each.
  • Attach the transcripts of your conversations at the store with the shop keeper and your interview with the Vietnamese guide. [back to Procedure]
• Quán ăn Việt:
  • Entry 4: A narrative essay (lead writer #3 writes about 200 words) to describe your group's visit to the Vietnamese restaurant (What did you do? What did you learn in the experience? What was the restaurant like? What were the people at the restaurant like? What did you enjoy most about the experience? What would you do differently next time?) (Step 4 above)
  • Two readers: Comments should be at least 50 words each. [back to Procedure]
  • Entry 5: All 3 members are lead writers, each writes a comparison (about 100 words) about the ingredients of the food at the restaurant you visited and the ingredients described in a Vietnamese cooking site. (Step 4 above)
  • Readers: Group members read each other's entries for this topic and comment. Comments should be at least 20 words long. [back to Procedure]

3. PRESENTATION GUIDELINES

• Dùng tiếng Việt 100%!
• Each member should present a section in each of the two main topics of the blog
• Do not read the blog word for word but show pictures and talk about the images
• Comments and questions for the other groups' blogs: You can
  • suggest corrections for language errors
  • suggest corrections of content
  • ask questions about the content
  • give examples to support the content
  • add information to compare the content with your group's blog

4. EVALUATION

Your teacher will evaluate you individually by using:

• this rubric to evaluate your oral interactions outside of class: groceries shopping, restaurant, interviews.
• this rubric to evaluate your oral presentations in class, including your comments on your peers' blogs.
• this rubric to evaluate your written work on the blog.
• this rubric to evaluate your project work as part of a group.Image