Ton Duc Thang University – An Oasis of Peace and Greenery
10. September 2023Mgr. Katarína Nemčoková, Ph.D., teaches in the English for Managerial Practice programme at the Department of Modern Languages and Literature.
In her teaching and research activities, she focuses on translation, interpreting, and English linguistics, where she has, for example, undertaken a linguistic analysis of American advertisements. Since English is a global language, Katarína Nemčoková occasionally ventures abroad and encourages her students to do the same. She shared her experiences from one of these trips, this time to Vietnam, with the H-Journal.
What was the reason for your visit to Vietnam, and how long did you stay?
I spent just over a week at Ton Duc Thang University in Ho Chi Minh City. This university has strong ties with Zlín, and doctoral students there defend their dissertations at UTB after completing the “study” part in Vietnam. Since I have been teaching academic writing in the doctoral programme at FaME for several years, I travelled to Vietnam with a delegation of academics from Zlín. Vietnamese students have the opportunity to consult intensively with us and improve their professional knowledge and skills.
On the very first day, I met with the students for whom I had made the long journey—15 doctoral students in total. I gradually discussed and reviewed their assignments, which they had already prepared based on their studies via Moodle. At the end of the visit, the students sat a written exam in academic writing, which I managed to mark and record for the successful candidates before returning home. There was plenty of time for everything.
What were your impressions of the city and the university?
Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, is a huge metropolitan area in southern Vietnam with more than 10 million inhabitants. Even the northern capital, Hanoi, does not have such a large population. From morning until night, thousands of scooters and cars flow through the streets and narrow lanes. While there are several historical landmarks in the city, the city will be etched in everyone’s memory as a modern metropolis with a harbour that, in addition to its large size, rises to a considerable height. Ton Duc Thang University is a modern campus that, thanks to its location, feels like an oasis of calm and greenery amidst the bustling city.
Vietnam must feel like a completely different world. What surprised you most?
Vietnam is a treasure trove of surprises. Even if you prepare yourself for a different culture before travelling, the sheer number of people you encounter on the streets can be overwhelming. The traffic is something else entirely. Everyone moves slowly but surely, and there are no apparent rules. You won’t find traffic signs that anyone respects, and even traffic lights seem more advisory than mandatory. A U-turn by a taxi in the middle of a busy road wouldn’t faze anyone, except for us Europeans. As a pedestrian, you have to step into the flow of mopeds and let them weave around you; otherwise, you won’t make it to the other side of the street. What surprised me the most was the wealth. Vietnam has made an enormous economic leap forward, and particularly in affluent Saigon, you barely notice a socially disadvantaged segment of the population. And the people you met on the streets? I felt like everyone was young—or at least younger than me—and full of confidence and ambition to conquer the world.
After two days of searching, my colleague and I discovered that the only place to get espresso from a machine without sugar, as we’re used to at home, was Starbucks. And even then, we were lucky to meet a barista who knew “our” coffee from her time in the States. Eventually, though, I got used to it. Now, when I happen to have an open tin of condensed milk at home, I sometimes splash a little into my coffee—just as a lovely memory.
Text: Katarína Nemčoková
During my stay, I was incredibly grateful for the nearly constant company of colleagues from the university, as very few people spoke English, and even something as simple as ordering coffee could sometimes be quite challenging. Although I’m quite well-travelled and familiar with many cultures and languages, Vietnamese is probably the only language I couldn’t pick up at all. This made it even harder to get to know the locals better. However, if I were to mention those with whom I could communicate in English, they were very kind and hardworking people. They certainly aren’t lacking in ambition or motivation.
And what about the renowned Vietnamese cuisine and coffee?
That was absolutely the best part of what Vietnam had to offer, and I embraced it all with enthusiasm. We ate almost non-stop, and everything was delicious—except for the frog legs, which didn’t appeal to me. Vietnamese people eat everything fresh, with lots of vegetables, herbs, amazing soups, spring rolls, rice noodles, and seafood—all, of course, with chopsticks. Surprisingly, they don’t have desserts that match the sweetness of ours. I often felt that their cakes were not sweet enough. But that was offset by their coffee, which the Vietnamese drink exclusively with sweetened condensed milk and is usually drip-brewed younger than me—and full of confidence and ambition to conquer the world.
After two days of searching, my colleague and I discovered that the only place to get espresso from a machine without sugar, as we’re used to at home, was Starbucks. And even then, we were lucky to meet a barista who knew “our” coffee from her time in the States. Eventually, though, I got used to it. Now, when I happen to have an open tin of condensed milk at home, I sometimes splash a little into my coffee—just as a lovely memory.
Text: Katarína Nemčoková