Summer School: a film about a Czech–Vietnamese familyCEFR A2
17 Aug 2025
Adapted from Filip Noubel, Global Voices • CC BY 3.0
Photo by Daniel Silva, Unsplash
Summer School is set in 2001 in Cheb, on the Czech–German border. The town had busy street markets run by Vietnamese sellers, and those markets often sold pirated clothes, tobacco and undeclared electronics after the rapid economic changes after 1989.
The story follows a local Vietnamese family and the elder son, Kien, who was born in the Czech Republic but sent back to Vietnam for ten years. He returns with red, spiky hair and feels different from his family. Kien becomes romantically involved with his male Czech‑language tutor, Viktor. The film mixes Czech and Vietnamese and was shown at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in July 2025 before reaching cinemas in the Czech Republic.
Difficult words
- pirate — to copy or sell goods without permissionpirated
- undeclared — not officially reported to government
- tutor — a teacher who gives private lessons
- spiky — with short points of hair standing up
- festival — a public event with films or music
- mix — to join two things togethermixes
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Discussion questions
- How does Kien feel when he returns to his family after ten years?
- Do you like films that mix two languages? Why or why not?
- Why did the markets sell pirated and undeclared goods after 1989?
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