Brief Introduction Top

I have taught Vietnamese at the National University of Australia for 9 years before moving to Singapore to set up the first Vietnamese language course in the Southeast Asian Studies Programme, FAAS at NUS.
I studied Political Science at the University of Geneva. After my studies I went back to Saigon and worked as a reporter for a year before going to live in Australia where I pursued further studies in language methology and language teaching at the Australian National University and the University of Canberra.
Having lived in Switzerland, France, Argentina and Tanzania, I have always had a keen interest in learning foreign languages. I can speak French and Spanish.
Currently I am a lecturer in the Vietnamese language course.

Teaching Areas Top

Vietnamese at all levels: Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced.

On four occasions, I accompanied students to Vietnam as part of their immersion program in Hanoi. I collaborated with the Hanoi University of Foreign languages in the design of a curriculum for our own students. Besides studying the language intensively, we visited many great places and had a great time. Work and play are very good ingredients indeed for language acquisition.

Current Research Top

I just completed a new 1st year Vietnamese textbook, co-written with Pham Thuy Kim Le from Arizona State University, USA. The book uses the language which reflects the socio-linguistic changes in the homeland. The format of the new textbook aims to facilitate language acquisition and enhance the teaching-learning process. Listening activities will be incorporated in the new book. The manuscript was among the 5 finalists to be awarded the Charles Tuttle Grant in the category of Southeast Asian languages textbook (June 2005). The book will be published in 2007.
My second project is a book on "Colloquial Vietnamese", with the same co-author. It is a dictionary of colloquial expressions with explanations on their usage and with examples in Vietnamese, English and French with exercises. This book will be useful to advanced learners of Vietnamese. At this level students should be able to learn and be familiar with idiomatic expressions. The book is also useful to the young generation of Vietnamese born overseas who are not very familiar with idioms and colloquial expressions. (near completion)
My third book is "Business Vietnamese: The language of Business" . A research grant for this project, awarded by Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences NUS has facilitated the writing of a chapter on Business Culture. (5 chapters completed)

I am continuing my work on a paper titled: "Interpretative puzzles: The Vietnamese language used in the homeland and among the Vietnamese community in Australia"

Research Interests Top

• Developing teaching materials for teaching Vietnamese at all levels. 
• New 1st Year Language textbook "Let's Speak Vietnamese" to be published in 2007
• A book on "Colloquial Vietnamese"    View abstract on  :http://www.public.asu.edu/~ickpl/texts/kngu.htm
• The language in the homeland and the language spoken by overseas Vietnamese: Differences in meanings and interpretations.
• Business terminology.

Publications Top

BOOKS/MONOGRAPHS AUTHORED

• "Contemporary Vietnamese: An Intermediate text". Northern Illinois University,
  1997, with 4 audio tapes
   
  
• "Spoken Vietnamese for Beginners" co-written with Marybeth Clark and Nguyen Long. Northern Illinois University, 1994. With 3 audio tapes Interactive Learning resources based on the textbook and developed by NIU:
  http://www.seasite.niu.edu/vietnamese/VNMainpage/vietsite/vietsite.htm
  
   
  
• "Contemporary Vietnamese Readings", Northern Illinois University, 1999
   
  

ARTICLES IN JOURNAL

• Nguyen and Thomas: Young women and emerging postsocialist sensibilities in Contemporary Vietnam. Asian Studies review. June 2004, Volume 28, pp 133-149.

  
   
  

CONFERENCE PAPERS

• Default 1
   
  

PUBLISHED REPORTS

• “Interpretative puzzles: The Vietnamese language used in the homeland and among the Vietnamese community overseas”, CLS September 2003
  
   
  

Other Information Top