544-word version:
The children replied in unfamiliar dissonance when I told them to repeat the ABCs my friends and I had just articulated. Teaching English to Vietnamese children was difficult at best. But we were encouraged that they had at least responded. So my friends and I carried on...

567-word version:
...But I could tell the children dreaded the lessons; only a couple looked amused, few seemed bored, and several appeared to be on a different planet altogether. Even worse was that we did not have the children’s trust. Then I soon realized that their response was just intuitive...