Topic 1 Describe a skill you want to learn There is a skill that I really want to learn. It is presentation skill. To do presentation is a big and tough challenge for me because of my shame. I do not feel confident and pleasant when standing and speak in front of many people. I hope that taking part in a short course, in which instructor and the others are able to provide me advices and experiences of making presentation; will make me become a brave person. Additionally, I am working as a researcher and my job requires me to do presentation often, to present my report or paper in conference. That is the reason why I would like to choose presentation skill in preference to other ones. What skill university provided? Role of family for children to learn skill? I have learnt a lot from professors and lecturers of my university. The knowledge and understandings that I was taught are precious; among them, methodology or the skill of doing research is the most important and valuable to me. In my opinion, the family in general and parents in particular can play a very important role for children to learn any skill. In other word, parents are the one who encourage or discourage their children to do or not to do something. With respect to me, my parents always supported me to learn and develop methodologies, which are crucial to a junior researcher like me. Topic 2 Describe a book that you have read Reading has brought much knowledge to me and I have found interesting things in many kinds of book. There is a book that I like to read the most; that is “Vietnamese cultures” (or “Co so van hoa Viet Nam” in Vietnamese). Its content is really attractive and helpful when makes reader understand more about our nations and cultural values throughout the long history. You can find and assess the richness of cultures, from the Northern area to Southern provinces and you can be proud of our cultural achievements and heritages. I can be sure that you will be attracted when reading that book. Difference between men and women when choosing what to read There are obvious differences between men and women. In general, the two genders have different intention when choosing what to read. For example, in terms of literature, women often like to choose novels which seem to be romantic, while men have a tendency to look for detective or science fictions. Meanwhile, cookery books are very attractive to women but not very interesting to most of men, who prefer books on technologies or computing. It is the common trend but anyway, which book that an individual choose also depends on his or her hobby and personality. For example, a man could try to read a romantic novel. It is normal thing and we should respect that. Topic 3 Difference methods of transportation There are many ways to transport and travel; among them, bike, motorbike, car, bus, train, air plane, ship are popular. To ride a bike is the friendliest to environment and really helpful to our health. The most notable weakness of riding a bike is slow and it not a suitable vehicle when you are in hurry. You can drive faster with a motorbike, it can approach small lanes and the most important is that it is not really expensive. Many people choose car as their first option when traveling but car is expensive and causes more air polluted. Bus, train and airplane are public services. In big city, you can travel by bus but every bus is always full of passenger. For long trip, train is a good choice due to its cheaper price in comparison to airplane’s ticket, and you can see the landscape outside. If you want to get to your target as soon as possible, you will travel by plane but it is expensive trip. Fixed tour or backpacking Many people go traveling for the love of adventure when they yourself try to discover new interesting things, that why they choose backpacking tour. Vice versa, I myself prefer a tour which is fixed by travel agent. Why? Firstly, to enjoy a backpacking tour takes a lot of time to find information about your trip and your destination; it also takes you days to organize your tour. I still have to keep working, so that I will choose a short tour. Secondly, a backpacking tour seems to be dangerous to me. I dare not to throw myself to a tour about which what you know is limited. It could make you nervous. And we should not exclude any risk that you will have to face with; in that case, a professional tour guide will be helpful. Topic 4 Describe a friend? Who? When? Why friend? Why important? Influence? You and I, we can not live without friend. Everyone has his or her own best friend. As for me, my mother is my best friend; that is a truth. You need not to ask when our friendship is set up because it is our natural feeling. I can share everything with my mother and receive best advices from her. Sometimes, I get good tellingoff from mom for silly things that I made but I know that she just wants a better me. I am now grownup and mom also treats me as a friend of her. She often talks to me when facing challenges. We keep exchange ideas on various things. Where to find your best friend? In my opinion, she is not far away but in front of you. Important factors to make friend? What breakup friendship? Friendships are an important part of life, but many of us find it difficult to look for, make or keep friends. There are many important factors to make friend. Making friend is a process including factors which I do not know what is the most important but I can list some factors as follows. Firstly, it is loyalty. People like to be assured that they can rely on someone in time of emergency and want to feel that their friends will stick to them when things get wrong. Secondly, it is honesty. In making friends, being honest pursues your friend to share and you can make him or her to say things that they can not say to another one. Thirdly, you should respect each other even when you do not have same idea about anything. You also should care about your friend and be ready to listen to you friend anytime and anywhere. All factors that I discussed above are also important and if your friendship lacks of any factor, I am afraid that your friendship will not last long or come to an end soon. Topic 5 Describe job in the future? What? Requirements? Why like to do? How suitable? All of us have to work. Some person would like to take part in not only one but also more than two jobs. I am now happy with researching mission at my institute but in the future, I wish that I could be a visiting lecturer at universities. I would like to bring knowledge and transfer all of my researching results to the students, provide them necessary information and advice as well as experiences of a researcher. All above these, I wish I could help all students develop positively. Of course, it is not easy to become a good lecturer. I deeply know that I have to work more carefully to find the best results; meanwhile, a good lecturer must do speaking fluently to make presentation more attractive and be always ready to face with tough questions from students. Doing team work or working individually? Reasons? Details? E.g. When I was student, I was encouraged to learn from not only professors but also my classmates. Even now, when I have been working as a junior researcher, I still realize advantages of taking part in a workgroup. That is why I often accept the invitation to join a group to carry out a research project at any level. I realize that to work in a group help me know how to organize a group, how to distribute work to each member and how to collect all parts and make them become one. Otherwise, I could develop myself, approach new understandings by learning from senior researchers. What I discussed above does not mean that I refuse or ignore the advantages of working individually. However, because of being at the early stage of my career, I prefer working in group to working individually. Topic 6 TV program? What? When? What is about? Why? Tv is an easy way to entertain nowadays. Due to the development of cable as well as digital tv, we have chance to watch many interesting tv shows. There is a show that I like the most, it is socalled “Just two of us”. It is a singing contest between showbiz stars. The show’s producer invites showbiz stars to join and they will be divided in two every couple. Every Sunday evening, they go to the stage and show the audience what they can do in singing. There are three judges and their mission is to assess the performance of each couple. Audience can also vote for his or her favorite. Of course, except professional singers, not all stars can sing very well. However, seeing stars singing beautiful melodies on tv every weekend and voting for them is a good way to relax. Advertisement good or bad? Most people do not like watching advertisement because it often interrupts their favorite program. In fact, it is unpleasant when advertising program appears every fifteen minute and separate an interesting movie into discursive parts. Otherwise, producers always overstate their product’s quality and most products are not as effective or good as they are in the advertisement. That the bad side of advertisement. However, it is not really bad. It provides us information on needed goods for daily life. And, the real one that troubles you is advertisement producers and the one being responsible for broadcasting. If producers tell us the truth about their products and advertisement is broadcast at acceptable duration, it will not be ignored by customers and audience. Topic 7 Thing you hate to be without? What? What it does for you? What happen without it? There are things or equipments or tools which are very important to me. However, among these useful things, my laptop is more crucial than anything. According to me, I do not want to be without laptop because it helps me either work effectively or find information. Nowadays, due to everyone’s business, I can not meet and talk directly with your friends and relatives but with an internetconnected laptop, I can chat with them regardless the distance. Its mobility makes me easily bring it along when I travel. I can not imagine one day without my laptop when I feel that the world outside seems to be excluded, when I can not get information. Additionally, my work is also negatively influenced. Modern technology like mobile phone and internet make relationship worse while other can not live without. It is an undeniable truth that modern technologies and inventions play a very important role in our life today. Some people often look at the wrong side of modern technologies like mobile phone or internet and consider that they make human relationship worse. I do not ignore that even new technologies have some bad effects on us but their advantages overshadow negative influences. If new technologies are completely bad, they will not survive or be destroyed soon. Mobile phone and internet have helped us too much, created conditions for people to make and keep friendship regardless the distance of space and time. “Every coin has two sides” and we should have an open look at the better side. Topic 8 A hard decision you had to make? What to decide? Why difficult? Final decision? Why decided? Two years ago, I had to make an important decision. It was the time when I worked for a famous university without a legal working contract. I had to decide if I would leave or not. It was a really hard period of time and of course, denying a job at a wellknown university is never easy. Finally, after discussing with some experienced professors, I felt that I should go away and look for new a challenge as well as a friendly working environment. I hoped that my ability would be realized and I would have chance to show what I am able to do. Luckily, I soon found a new job at a research institute and so far I have been very happy working there. Your way of making decision? Quickly or carefully? Decisionmaking is a part of our life. Sometimes, we have to face challenges and they require us to do or not to do something. It is the time when we must make a decision. I myself have had to make many decisions so far. In that case, firstly, I will calmly analyze the situation in which I am. Secondly, to carefully think of or assess my capability of dealing with the issue. Then, I myself should look for someone, who is reliable and experienced, and ask him or her to give me valuable advices. Sometimes, the advisors are very essential because they are less nervous and stay calm. All after that, I will make my own decision. I mean making decision is not easy, particularly when you must deal with serious issues. Any wrong decision could lead to bad result, so that we should be careful when making decision. Chủ đề 9: Describle a piece of equipment you often use There are things or equipments or tools which are very important to me. However, among these useful things, a computer (a laptop or a PC) is more crucial than anything. According to me, I do not want to be without a computer because it helps me either work effectively or find information. Nowadays, due to everyone’s business, I can not meet and talk directly with your friends and relatives but with an internetconnected computer, I can chat with them regardless the distance. I can not imagine one day without a computer when I feel that the world outside seems to be excluded, when I can not get information. Additionally, my work is also negatively influenced. That is the reason why I always bring my laptop along even when I travel. Impacts of electrical equipment on human’s life? Role of tenological development? Advantages and disadvantages of computer and internet? It is an undeniable truth that modern technologies and inventions play a very important role in our life today. Some people often look at the wrong side of modern technologies like mobile phone or internet; they consider that new technologies make human relationship worse, and people seem to be lazier than we were or using computer leads to a passive generations. I do not ignore that even new technologies have some bad effects on us but their advantages overshadow negative influences. If new technologies are totally bad, they will not survive or be destroyed soon. Mobile phone and internet have helped us too much, created conditions for people to make and keep friendship regardless the distance of space and time; computer helps us working effectively and quickly too much; new machines makes improvement in working capacity, etc. “Every coin has two sides” and we should have an open look at the better side. Chủ đề 10: Learning English English is the most important language? The most suitable time for children to learn? In my opinion, the English language is so vitally important because it is spoken in so many parts of the world. Businesses, educational fields, academic domains, and even realms that deal with security all use English as a language of communication. In a practical sense, one could survive without English, but with the globalized nature of the world and commerce, knowledge of English is quite essential. The knowledge of English could help to open many professional doors. If a child does not speak English as his or her first language, the best time to get them to learn it would be during the time when they are thinking about doing primary schooling. Primary schooling is extremely important and allows children to expand their knowledge and grow up. Because of the rapid rate at which children tend to learn at this age, English language training is definitely a good idea. Childhood hobby: what? How to develop? Why like doing? Most children have hobbies. Like other child, I myself have my own hobbies, among which I like to watch documents or listen to the stories about great persons, like national heroes or great scientists, the most. When I was at primary school, I often looked for books about them. Luckily, my parents and teachers strongly encouraged me to do that. I felt that those great men inspired me very much. The more I know about them, the more determined I am to study better and better. I have kept this hobby so far and I will never give up this. Are hobbies important? Hobbies of youngsters in your countries? What hobbies should children develop to become adult? Hobbies play an important role in developing one’s personality. A person may lose interest in working or feel bored of it. Most people should take some time off from their routine work and play games or go on picnic, movies or pursue their hobbies. A hobby keeps a person active, busy and cheerful. There is hardly a person who does not have a bobby. Not only the educated but also the uneducated pursue one hobby or the other. Some of the common hobbies are playing cards, petting of birds and animals, cooking, photography, swimming, listening music, watching movies, surfing internet, traveling, etc. What hobby that children should develop depends on his or her personality. However, when a child has free time, some kind of hobbies like reading books or taking part in sport activities or enjoying healthy entertainment could be a good choice for them to develop at the best condition. A place where you feel happy: Where? Who to go with? What to do there? Why special? Some places bring you the feeling of protection, comfort and peace. In my opinion, no place can make me feel happier or more comfortable than my house. Due to my own job, I have to live afar from my relatives and beloved. It is not very far away from Hanoi; however, my business prevents me from going home often. I have tried to return home at weekend once a month in order to visit my parents, to gather with my sisters and brother and play with my either nephews or nieces. Every moment which I spend at home is the greatest and happiest period of time. When I am at home, there is no work, no business, but laughings and happiness. How does tourism affect a country? Advantages? Can cultures learn from each other? Tourism is very important to the country. Money from all over the world is spent in the country which helps with the development of that country. Tourism also helps with how popular the country gets since more and more people will go to that country to go sight seeing. In addition, tourism creates seasonal jobs and brings extra incomes for workers and employees. Tourism gives us the opportunity to see unknown and uninteresting places. One can come to discover new traditions, new customs and exotic foods and drinks. Moreover, it is a great chance to meet people all over the world, make friends and enjoy at the maximum during your vacation. Through any travel, we understand more about cultures which we knew little and we can learn good values of it. A competition or tv show for only men or women? What kind of that? How do you know? What people have to do? Prize? In vietnam, there is a TV show for women only; that is New Vitality or “Suc song moi”. After 6 years of broadcasting (since 2006), the program has given women necessary and useful information, encouraging messages, fostering them to change for a better life. The program is broadcast at 6.p.m every Sunday on VTV 3. The producer of this program will invite famous people as well as another character, who is an ordinary woman, to join and discuss and share their experiences on topics. Just like every reality show, the program is around a specific topic such as fashion, beauty, answering questions related to emotion, stories of daily life, which are considered to be useful for women in general. Traditional convention of women and men’s roles? Changes of women’s roles in modern society? For many centuries, in any eastern countries like Vietnam, women had been underestimated. Only men could study and work and be the family’s breadwinner while women must be stay at home to take care of household duties. That’s what happened in the past. How about the moment? Of course, women still do housework but now the vocation is also shared with men. In some families, the fathers help their wives to pick children up, organize the furniture of the house and even wash clothes or cook meals. Women also take part in many social functions of the communities. They even achieve high positions in their companies or offices. Women’s role is becoming more and more prominent in the society. Party that you enjoy: Whose? What celebrate for? Where? Who attended? What did people do during party? Why you enjoy? I have participated in many parties so far and there is a party that I am impressed the most. That is a Midautumn party which was organized by young staffs of my institute last year. At that time, I was a newcomer and trying to positively integrate with senior staffs. That was a good chance for me to talk with the others. Meanwhile, I can not stop smiling when seeing my colleagues’ children to take part in mini games and sing beautiful songs of them. The children seemed to really be confident and brilliant. I wish that we would hold another Midautumn party and maintain that great atmosphere this year. To name some of national celebrations? Who tend to enjoy: young or old? National celebrations are waste of money or not? We have several main national holidays in our country. The first and most important is the Tet Festival. This is to celebrate the end of the lunar year and welcome another one. Beside, held on the 10th day of the third month every lunar year, Kings Hùng’s aniversary is an important nationa celebration. Still another is Mid Autumn day. During this holiday we eat a traditional dish known as moon cake. Older people tend to enjoy national celebrations more than the younger generation because they feel more connected to them. The younger people prefer western holidays, such as Valentine’s Day, because they like the romantic aspects which do not appear in national holidays. I do not believe that spending money on government celebrations is a waste of money. National holidays are an important part of our culture and help to create a sense of being Vietnamese. However, the government should not spend too much.