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THE ARTICLE

The 30th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, or the American War as it is known in Vietnam, was marked in different ways yesterday. The fall of Saigon to communist North Vietnamese forces on April 30, 1975 signaled the end of the war and America’s decade-long military involvement in Vietnam. In Washington DC, war veterans wearing full military regalia attended a commemoration ceremony. They paid tribute to their fallen and missing colleagues; they laid wreaths and listened to patriotic songs. In Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, colourful parades were held to celebrate Liberation Day and the victory over US and South Vietnamese forces.

In American estimates, more than 58,000 US soldiers and up to 2 million Vietnamese died in the war. Vietnam puts the number of its dead nearer 5 million. Whatever the truth of these gruesome figures, it seems both sides have moved on. One million Vietnamese Americans across America held events under the banner “Remembering the past, shaping the future”. The nationalist political speeches were put away in Ho Chi Minh City with leaders focusing on economic rejuvenation and the future prosperity of their country. American corporate logos are now a common sight along the same boulevard down which North Vietnamese tanks triumphantly rolled three decades ago.

WARM UPS

1. CHAT: Talk in pairs or groups about: Vietnam / The Vietnam War / Ho Chi Minh City / Saigon / Washington DC / war / remembering the past / moving on… For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently.

2. VIETNAM: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with Vietnam. Share your words with your partner / group and talk about them.

3. THE WAR: In pairs / groups, interview each other about what you know (remember) of the Vietnam War. Where did you learn about the war? How much of your information is from movies? What do you know about the feelings of Vietnamese and Americans since the war? What are the lessons to be learnt from the war?

4. WAR: Write down three sentences that begin with the word “war”. Read one sentence to your partner / group and have a quick discussion about it, before moving onto the next sentence. Try to listen to as many sentences from other people as you can. Back with your original partner / group, make one conclusion about what you heard and share / discuss this with the rest of the class.

5. WARS: Wars are horrific and brutal events in our history and present day. Somehow nations move on and live together. Talk about how the following wars reshaped or changed the world and how peoples have moved on:

PRE-READING IDEAS

1. WORD SEARCH: Use your dictionary / computer to find word partners (collocates), other meanings, synonyms or more information on the words ‘anniversary’ and ‘end’.

2. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true or false:

1. The Vietnam War ended 40 years ago. T / F
2. The Vietnam War is known as The American War in Vietnam.  T / F
3. The fall of Hanoi signaled the end of the Vietnam War.  T / F
4. In Washington DC, US vets paid tribute to fallen and missing colleagues.  T / F
5. American and Vietnamese figures for Vietnamese dead differ by 3 million.  T / F
6. Very few Vietnamese people live in the USA.  T / F
7. In Ho Chi Minh City, leaders made nationalist victory speeches.  T / F
8. American corporate logos were a common sight on Vietnamese tanks.  T / F

3. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

4. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

WHILE READING ACTIVITIES

1. PHRASE FILL: Write the number of the phrase that belongs in each space.

US Vietnam mark end of war

The 30th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, or the American War ______________________, was marked in different ways yesterday. The fall of Saigon to communist North Vietnamese forces on April 30, 1975 ______________________ and America’s decade-long military involvement in Vietnam. In Washington DC, war veterans wearing full military regalia attended a commemoration ceremony. They paid tribute ______________________; they laid wreaths and listened to patriotic songs. In Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, ______________________ to celebrate Liberation Day and the victory over US and South Vietnamese forces.

In American estimates, more than 58,000 US soldiers and up to 2 million Vietnamese died in the war. Vietnam ______________________ nearer 5 million. Whatever the truth of these gruesome figures, it seems ______________________. One million Vietnamese Americans across America held events under the banner “Remembering the past, shaping the future”. The nationalist ______________________ in Ho Chi Minh City with leaders focusing on economic rejuvenation and the future prosperity of their country. American corporate logos ______________________  along the same boulevard down which North Vietnamese tanks triumphantly rolled three decades ago.

1. both sides have moved on
2. colourful parades were held
3. are now a common sight
4. political speeches were put away
5. puts the number of its dead
6. as it is known in Vietnam
7. signaled the end of the war
8. to their fallen and missing colleagues

2. TRUE/FALSE: Check your answers to the T/F exercise.

3. SYNONYM MATCH: Check your answers to this exercise.

4. PHRASE MATCH: Check your answers to this exercise.

5. QUESTIONS: Make notes for questions you would like to ask the class about the article.

6. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

POST READING IDEAS

1. PHRASE FILL: Check your answers to this exercise.

2. QUESTIONS: Ask the discussion questions you thought of above to your partner / group / class. Pool the questions for everyone to share.

3. VOCABULARY: As a class, go over the vocabulary students circled above.

4. STUDENT VIETNAM WAR SURVEY: In pairs/groups write down questions about the Vietnam War. Ask other classmates your questions and report back to your original partner/ group to compare your findings.

5. ‘ANNIVERSARY’ / ‘END’: Make questions based on your findings from pre-reading activity #1. Ask your partner / group your questions.

6. DISCUSSION:

1. What was the most interesting thing in this article?
2. Did you learn anything new from reading it?
3. Did an American or Vietnamese reporter write it?
4. What do you feel about the Vietnam War?
5. Was it a war that should never have happened?
6. The media often speak of “another Vietnam”. What does this mean?
7. Do you like watching movies about the Vietnam War?
8. Do you think the Vietnam War changed history?
9. The American Government at the time feared communism would take a hold of South East Asia. What do you think of this?
10. Is communism dangerous?
11. What lessons are to be learnt from the Vietnam War?
12. America is now Vietnam’s biggest trading partner. What does this show?
13. Would you like to go to Vietnam?
14. If you went to Vietnam, what would you like to do and see?
15. Does your country commemorate the winning or ending of wars?
16. How does your country deal with wars that were lost?
17. Do / Did you sing patriotic songs in your country?
18. When will countries stop going to war?
19. Did you like this discussion?
20. Teacher / Student additional questions.

7. GOODBYE WAR: Your task is to end a war by the finish of this lesson. You have all the power in the world you need to achieve this. Whatever you decide will take place when you leave class. Decide on one conflict in the world. Discuss what needs to be done to end that conflict within the next 30 minutes. Some of the following may need to be changed:

After you have ended the war, tell another partner / group what you decided. Your partner(s) will give you feedback on your decisions.

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find information on the Vietnam War. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson.

3. NO MORE WAR: Write a poem and read it to your class in your next lesson. Call the poem “No More War”.

4. GOOD FRIENDS NOW: There are many countries that have been at war but are now good friends. Write a short article describing two such countries. Outline the history between these countries and focus on the future of their relationship. Present your article to the class in your next lesson.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

1. The Vietnam War ended 40 years ago. F
2. The Vietnam War is known as The American War in Vietnam.  T
3. The fall of Hanoi signaled the end of the Vietnam War.  F
4. In Washington DC, US vets paid tribute to fallen and missing colleagues.  T
5. American and Vietnamese figures for Vietnamese dead differ by 3 million.  T
6. Very few Vietnamese people live in the USA.  F
7. In Ho Chi Minh City, leaders made nationalist victory speeches.  F
8. American corporate logos were a common sight on Vietnamese tanks.  F

SYNONYM MATCH:

PHRASE MATCH:

PHRASE FILL:

US Vietnam mark end of war

The 30th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, or the American War as it is known in Vietnam, was marked in different ways yesterday. The fall of Saigon to communist North Vietnamese forces on April 30, 1975 signaled the end of the war and America’s decade-long military involvement in Vietnam. In Washington DC, war veterans wearing full military regalia attended a commemoration ceremony. They paid tribute to their fallen and missing colleagues; they laid wreaths and listened to patriotic songs. In Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, colourful parades were held to celebrate Liberation Day and the victory over US and South Vietnamese forces.

In American estimates, more than 58,000 US soldiers and up to 2 million Vietnamese died in the war. Vietnam puts the number of its dead nearer 5 million. Whatever the truth of these gruesome figures, it seems both sides have moved on. One million Vietnamese Americans across America held events under the banner “Remembering the past, shaping the future”. The nationalist political speeches were put away in Ho Chi Minh City with leaders focusing on economic rejuvenation and the future prosperity of their country. American corporate logos are now a common sight along the same boulevard down which North Vietnamese tanks triumphantly rolled three decades ago.