1.

Describe an interesting animal you have ever seen

For a long time, my closest friend invited me to visit her house. Because of
having a lot of homework to do I kept declining her offer. Then suddenly, one
morning, she dropped by my house to pick me up. I had to give in this time and
go along. Upon reaching her house, there were a few things that left my jaw
dropped. However, what excited me the most was that she had an Alaskan dog.
One of the largest domestic dog’s breeds, it had a double coat. The undercoat was
extremely soft while the outer one was waterproof and coarse. Also, he was black
and white in colour, which made him look even more attracted.

His most attractive feature was the small, upright ears that were slightly out of
proportion. His blue eyes made him look charming. I spent an entire day with him
and found out that he learnt quickly; he was quite smart. While playing, I threw the
ball for him to catch. Initially, he looked clueless but soon caught up with my
tricks. I threw a few more objects afterward, and he chased all of them
successfully, got them, and brought them back. It seemed like he understood
everything. Since I met him for the first time, it didn’t seem odd, even I feel
familiar with him. He was quite a friendly animal and tried spreading his love all
around. I always wanted to have a dog of my own, but my mother didn’t allow it
because of the congested space. But it looks like it is time to convince my mother
and get a pet.
2. A special occasion when you had a really enjoyable meal
I have had many meals and taken part in many celebrations and parties over the
years but among these, there’s one particular time that I remember the most. A few
months ago, I went to a barbeque party on the rooftop of one of my friends’ homes.
It was actually a farewell party for my best friend since she was going to study
abroad, and the meal and the party were both really fantastic. We had been
planning this party for a long time and so on the day, we gathered at my friend’s
house and all went shopping and prepared everything together. We had a lot of
amazing food that night as my best friend has a real talent for cooking. Thanks to
her secret recipe, all the meat was marinated and seasoned perfectly and the taste
was simply delicious. Besides the main dishes, a lot of drinks and snacks were
served too. I myself enjoyed the dessert the most. It was a fluffy red velvet cake
with a classic cream cheese frosting. We bought that from a famous bakery in
Hanoi and it was worth every penny. The party lasted until late at night. We had a
happy time; everyone talked and there was so much laughter that sometimes we
had tears corning out of our eyes. It was a really great day with terrific food.
Everybody had a wonderful time.
3. An exciting competition or sporting event you have witnessed
Frankly, I’m not a big fan of sports. But if you ask me about an exciting sport
competition which I have witnessed, I would tell you about a football match
between U23 Vietnam and U23 Uzbekistan. I still remember the animated and
cosy atmosphere when people in my place gather together to watch this sport
competition. According to my memory, this match took place in Changzhou, China
on 27th January 2018. Luckily, the moment I started to watch it was when Quang
Hai shot one of the most beautiful goals in history which is still called " the
rainbow in snow" and took the score back to the starting line. So amazed by the
beauty of it, I shocked for a couple moment and then quickly turned insane with
people around me as the atmosphere was heated up with a lot of energy. After that,
we excitingly watched the rest of that match. Despite of a big disadvantages in
terms of climate - heavy snow fell continuously, Vietnam still combated positively.
Unfortunately, our team lost with the score 1-2. Although we lost the final round,
the Vietnam team proved their ability and strength under guidance of coach Park
Han Seo. This match makes me be proud and I will never forget.
4. A memorable day out that you enjoyed recently
Last Sunday, I had a memorable going out with my friend. She was my good friend
in high school as well as my neighbor. Eight years ago, she moved to another city
and we haven’t seen each other since then. We wanted to meet and catch up over
lunch because we were both on summer holiday. We planned to meet each other at
the park about a kilometer from my house and then decide on where to go later.
We got two takeout milk tea glasses and hamburgers from a small street vendor
and found a familiar comfortable corner, where we used to go when we were
small, to enjoy ourselves. We sat there watching people passing by, talking about
random things that came up in a little shyness after years of not seeing. The
weather that day was pretty nice actually. The sky was so clear and blue that I can
see its reflection on the lake surface. At moment later, we updated each other on
what was going on in our lives and discussed our plans for the future. It was a nice
feeling to know even though we couldn’t meet and talk frequently, we could still
bond easily. I guess what makes the day special was the fact that we had a lot more
fun than I had expected. It made me realize that sometimes all we need is nice
company and good conversations to have a memorable experience.
5. A friend that you spend a lot of time with/ A friend that you enjoy being
with
I spend a lot of time with my best friend, Mai Chi. She is one year older than me.
10 years ago she moved closer to my house and we have been friends ever since.
She has a well-looked appearance. She is a tall and thin girl with a long black hair.
She has an over face and light skin. When we were small, we spent a lot of time
together. But now we are in university, so we only see each other during our
university holidays because we don’t study in the same city. My university is in Ha
Noi but she lives in Vinh.

When we are together we always play lots of sports like badminton and tennis. I
prefer badminton but I am not as good as my friend. We also both enjoy playing
computer games. Our favourite is probably World of PUBG many of my friends
play too. As we live in a small town there aren’t many places to go so we normally
hang out at the shopping centre or in the big park near my house. We’re both big
film buffs so we go to the cinema quite often and we get a student discount.

I really like spending time with her, she’s such a nice person and very friendly. I
always have a good time when we are together and she never fails to make me
laugh. In fact, I think she’s the funniest person I know.
6. A hobby or sport you enjoy doing in your freetime
My favourite hobby is reading. You may say that I’m kind of bookworm. I enjoy
reading a book when I am free. I started to do it when I was four years old. The
first time I did it, I felt interested. So I kept reading. The teachers always taught me
to read the difficult words. I was happy when I read a story with a happy ending. I
was thrilled when I read a detective story. I enjoy reading because I like to explore
the imaginative world of my favourite author, J.K.Rowling who writes “ Harry
Potter” . There are a lot of advantages of reading. Reading can make me relaxed
and calm. I can also learn new vocabulary items. Then I can further improve my
English. Moreover, it can give me an unlimited imagination, so I can write books
in the future. I can learn the different cultures and customs of other countries in the
world too. I read at least one hour every day. I read books by myself. I usually read
it at home. I wish I could read different kinds of books because it might be very
challenging.
7. A TV program that you really enjoy watching
Right, so I’m gonna talk about a TV program that I recently stumbled upon. I
didn’t know the exact name of the game show, because at that moment I was just
mindlessly switching between channels, looking for something remotely fun
to burn off time. It was a particularly tedious day, to be honest.
Anyway, I stopped at a game show that caught my attention. So, the special thing
about this show was that the players weren’t people, but were dogs. Basically, this
was a competitive game for K-9s, you know, the type that is trained to be police
dogs. The dogs compete in different obstacle tracks, ranging from jumping over
barricades to sniffing for tagged objects.
The premise of the show is simple yet extremely brilliant. I mean, we’ve seen tons
of game shows where people play each other, but with dogs? This is definitely a
breath of fresh air. And to be frank, I’m not a dog person, but admittedly, I was
immediately hooked by the performances of such intelligent animals. The show
kept me intrigued for hours on end, so after that, I had to look for more of it on the
Internet. 
8. Your favourite place that you have ever visited/ An interesting city you
know and like
My favorite place to vacation is Danang city because it has relaxing spaces, great
weather, and the people are friendly. The first time I visited Da Nang is at my age
of ten with my family. The first reason I’m into Danang is that Danang has well-
known My Khe beach, which is famous for its blue sky, smooth white sand, gentle
slope, clear and warm water year round and beautiful areas surrounded by coconut
trees - Everything around you is peaceful, natural, relaxing, which helps people
clear their minds from all stress. For example, during the year I felt stressed at
school and life; however, in the summer, I was on the My Khe beach. When I was
on the beach, I listened to music and just stared out into the water, and no thoughts
entered my mind. Da Nang is also my favorite place because the weather is so
comfortable; it is neither too hot nor too chilly. For instance, every morning, every
afternoon, and every evening, the sun was warm, but there was always a refreshing
breeze, especially when I visited Ba Na Hills, which really made a person feel in a
good mood. Finally, I like Danang because the people are so friendly, which makes
the atmosphere that much more pleasurable and peaceful. To illustrate, every time
I went into a store, a restaurant, or even out on the streets, everybody was always
greeting me warmly. The local people always have a smile on their face and treat
tourists with respect. In conclusion, for all these reasons Danang is my
indispensable destination. I hope I will have chance to visit Da Nang again to
watch the changes of it.
9. A job that you would most like to do in the future
When I was little, everyone thought that I was a hyperactive child. I always ran and
could not sit over 5 minutes. Bringing in myself the interest of exploring and
discovering new things, that time, my biggest dream was about to become a great
explorer, traveling all over the world and exploring things that people had not
known. Many times in my dreams, I find myself becoming a cowboy or a
shepherd, discovering new, vast and valuable land. Sometimes, on my adventure, I
have to fight with some wild animals such as tigers, leopards, lions … but with
determination and brave, I have overcome all difficulties, accomplished my
destiny: discovering the secret of the vast ocean, the ancient pyramids, exploring
diamond mines, fossils from hundreds of years ago.
When I told everyone about this job, they were very surprised, especially mom.
Mom was very supportive of this dream, it made me feel very happy. I believe that
in the future I will have an interesting journey.
10. Your favourite means of transport
Transportation is termed as the most important fact and we cannot do without it for
a single day. Among different types of transportation mode, I prefer the bicycle. A
bicycle is a very common and popular transportation mode and is available around
the world. It is mostly used for its light and easy carrying system and for its health
benefits as well. The wheels are attached to a frame for smooth movement.
Bicycles are the key transport modes in the backwards geographical locations. It
also helps the riders to keep fit. Besides, I can have access to a bicycle where even
a motorbike cannot enter. So, the riding on a bicycle is beneficial for me. If I use
public transports, I have to stand in a queue to get on the vehicle. Moreover, the
traffic congestion occurs more during the office hours. So, I ride my bicycle to
reach the destinations, particularly at the school before it is late. Riding a bicycle
has numerous benefits. Firstly, it makes you fit on each of your rides every day.
The bicycle requires physical labour to ride on. You are to pedal the cycle using
your legs to move on and that pedalling requires a lot of physical energy. It helps
to burn the fat, strengthens your leg muscles, ankles and feet and thus makes you
fit physically into your daily activities. Moreover, you could reach your
destinations quickly and could also move to places where motorbikes cannot enter
easily. Riding a bicycle is much better than running in the morning or evening. So,
I started using the bicycle in my everyday transportation.
11. A famous person you like or admire / A successful woman
The person I really look up to is my idol, Emma Watson. Emma first came to my
attention when I was 11 years old and saw the movie 'Harry Potter', in which she
played Hermione Granger. Her full name is Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson. She
was born on 15 April 1990 in France and raised in Oxfordshire. She is an English
actress, model and activist. Emma Watson is known as ‘an English rose’. She is
extremely stunning and attractive. She is a quite tall and thin woman. She has
brown hair and big maroon eyes. Emma's complexion is light, she has freckles and
a petite oval face. However, the most attractive thing about her is not her beauty, it
is her personality and her talent that are the most larger-than-life to me. She is a
talented actress and has many roles in acting career. Besides, she is independent,
creative, hospitable, gentle and really generous. If you have ever seen “Harry
Potter”, she is exactly ‘Hermione’ in reality. She is also very bright and elite.
Emma has great passion for social activities. She is an activist, which pursues
gender equality. Although she is still young, she is a major shareholder of many
luxury famous fashion brands. With all my respect, I love Emma to the moon and
back. If I have a chance to meet her, may be I will faint away because of
happiness. Emma Watson is a very admirable person that I always try to learn
from.
12. A teacher who you feel most impressed with
Well, when I was in primary school, art class was always my favorite. So the art
teacher, Mrs. Mai, really left a mark on me. In my eyes she was like a superhero.
She could do anything! I still remember clear as day that she taught us to draw
stick figures, make paper lanterns and even make paper cuttings. I have to say
she’s pretty skilled in paper-cutting. I remember that during one class, she took just
a few minutes to cut two butterflies. It seemed like she had magic hands. But I
couldn’t keep up with her at all.
My fingers were clumsy and I could never cut the papers well. But Mrs. Mai didn’t
look down on me. She personally came to my side and helped me fold a piece of
paper in half several times. Then she asked me to draw an image on it and cut it
along the lines. When I unfolded the paper, it really looked like a butterfly. I
remember I was over the moon and thanked her a lot.
Actually I learned many art skills from Mrs. Mai. She was patient and kind to
every student and was always smiling, so I was very fond of her. After so many
years, my memory of primary school is fading, but I still remember tons of
moments from art class and with Mrs. Mai clearly. I really miss those days in
primary school. It was the happiest and most carefree period of my life.
13. A piece of electronic device that you find useful/ Your favourite gadget/ A
present you have given to someone
The piece of equipment I’d like to talk about is my iPhone, which is a smartphone.
It was a present from my parents. I’d been pestering them for months to get me one
and at last they gave in, when it came round to my birthday. I think they bought it
online as it was cheaper that way. I was the first of my friends to get one, and I
think they were all really envious. It has various uses. It functions as a normal
phone so you can make calls and text people. But, more unusually for a phone, you
can also surf the Internet and send emails. It also acts as a camera, though
admittedly not a very good one. You can donwload applications from an online
store, which allow you to find your way, play games, read e-books, and much more
besides.
New applications are being added all the time, and some of them are really crazy,
like one that lets you record your voice and then it plays it back to you but making
you sound like an alien! And last but not least, you can listen to your music and
watch videos. It is the latest must-have. People love it because it is so beautifully
made, so intuitive, so robust and so clever.
It is because it is so many things rolled into one that it is so useful. I just love my
iPhone, and if I lost it I wouldn’t know what to do with myself. I use it on the way
to university to entertain myself, I use it to stay in touch with my friends, I use it to
check where I am. It is so much useful to me as absolutely essential.
(Thêm cho đề Gadget: If I don’t use it properly, it will make me distracted from
my studying, which makes my study results worse.)
14. Describe an old person that you know/ A family member who has had a
positive impact on you
Today I’d like to tell you about my grandmother whom I love very much.

My grandmother is in mid-60s. She’s pretty beautiful with a round face, full lips
and sun-tanned complexion although she has some wrinkles. She has a good
figure as she has a balanced diet and regular sleep schedule.

I used to see her very regularly, say twice or three times a week. I haven’t visited her
for weeks as I’ve got too much work. I will spend more time with her when my
schedule gets less tight. She is known for her punctuality. She’s on time without
fail. She often tells me that punctuality is very important as it shows respect for those
waiting for us, especially business partners. She is also very hard-working. She
doesn’t bother working from dawn till dusk to finish work. I would say that she sets
a really good example for her children.
There are two main reasons why I really respect her.

▶ Firstly, she is ahead of her times and open to new ideas. Unlike her peers in mid-
60s who choose to enjoy the convenience of modern life, she chooses to devote
herself to being a volunteer calling for helping disabled children. She welcomes
novel ideas and rarely makes any judgements on others’ thoughts or decisions.
That’s why I love sharing my plans with her as she is a good listener.

▶ Secondly, she always looks on the bright side. In times of hardships, she stays

calm and tries her best to figure out solutions. For her, difficulties are inevitable, and
we should regard them as an opportunity for personal growth. They will sooner or
later will disappear, and we should live our life to the fullest. I learned about a lot of
things from my grandmother

That’s all I want to say.

15. A book or a film that had a strong impact on you

Everybody has possessions which they extremely cherish. They can be cars, houses,
jewelleries or anything. It seems to me that the special possessions are my books. I
must say that I am a self-described avid reader. I mean I have read a lot of books and I
took enormous enjoyment in reading them. However, the book that left the most
profound impression on me was 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'. It's a
fantasy novel written by J. K. Rowling, a British novelist who has become extremely
well-known all over the world as a result of this amazing series of novels. The book is
thick and has a nice cartoon cover. The novel depicts the adventure-filled school life
of Harry Potter, a young wizard, and his two best friends, Ron and Hermione. Harry
had a powerful enemy, the Dark Wizard, Lord Voldemort, who longed for
immortality and was ambitious to rule the magic world. I suppose I was given this
book by my cousin when I was about 8 years old. At the time, I had no interest in
reading this book because 'Harry Potter' was such a thick book. However, the more I
read, the more I enjoyed being immersed in the fantastic world that J.K.Rowling
creates and the scent of the pages of the book. I truly admired the story of Harry’s
friendship with Ron and Hermione. And I believe it gave me faith in friendship, love
and justice. I suppose that is the major reason I am into this book so much.

16. A conversation you had which was important to you

I like to consider myself as an intelligent and confident person, and as such, I have
always maintained that I don’t really need to consult or discuss things with other
people. And then, I had this important conversation one day with my elder uncle who
basically hinted that I was probably a bit too(!) smart and confident for my own good!
Well, here is how the story goes - about a couple of years ago, I started to believe that
I could do some kind of lucrative business even after doing a full-time job. Of course,
I had my reasons to think like that since I saw that one of my university friends was
doing just that. In fact, he wasn’t only having his full-time job and a part-time
business, but also becoming a successful entrepreneur within a rather short period of
time. So, I got all set and ready to start my part-time business of making bread and
cakes after having a little conversation with my parents.

But, then came the dreaded summon from my elder uncle whom I've always tried to
avoid because of his straight and practical talks. Anyway, I reluctantly agreed to
discuss the matter with my uncle, and after learning everything about my plan and
ambition, he told me in a very fatherly and loving tone that I should never put both
legs on two boats because that would make us lose our balance sooner or later. He
also told me that being successful in business required a huge patient, apart from a
reasonable amount of capital and hard work, which I didn’t have. Needless to say,
after having the conversation, I gave up the idea of starting my part-time business.

Well, I considered this conversation to be important because it taught me two things.

First thing was that being over-smart(!) and over-confident(!) is not always a recipe
for success but also can be a recipe for disaster. Second thing was that we always need
to find out our weaknesses before relying on our strengths. Some great and powerful
lessons indeed!

17. A team member in your group that was very helpful

Well I would like to talk about Huyen Anh, one of my friends whose company I really
enjoy. Speaking of how long I have known this person, we’ve been classmates since
highschool. She sat next to me for four years, and so it is fair to say we know each
other quite well. She was also my math team partner during all 4 years of school.
Although she is a devil in disguise, there are many reasons why I like to have her
around.

For one thing, she is the most talkative person I know who is capable of talking
nonstop for hours. She often bothered me with her endless stories during our lessons
and often got us scolded by our teachers. Because most of her stories were funny, I
could not stop myself from laughing and talking with her. She helped me a lot with
my math. Although I lost my math roots in some parts, thanks to her attentive
teaching, those parts of me improved a lot.
But every time we meet, it feels like we lost touch for 10 years as she would keep on
updating me stories about her life even with or without my consent. Luckily with an
introverted personality, I am quite a good listener and had no problem with that. I
guess we make a perfect team.

18. A leisure pursuit you enjoy

So now I would like to tell you about one of my leisure activities which is going to the
gym. You know all my friends love hitting the gym after work and they
have inspired me to follow them too.

Actually, I never miss a day at the gym. I mean I always go there after
work except for Sunday, when I need to rest so that my muscles have time to recover.
Normally I will spend around 1 hour per day if my schedule is tight.  

The gym I go to is not far from my office, which is only 10 minutes away by
motorbike. This is such an ideal distance because I can make the best use of my time
at the gym. 

Gymming is what I really love to do because after work I need to do something

to unwind. In the office, I am sometimes overworked and stressed. Hitting the gym
is a great chance for me to release all the negative feelings after long working hours.
What’s more? I have made a lot of new friends who share the same interest as me
since I started being at the gym every day. Those are the reasons why I choose the
gym to be my favorite thing to do.

19. A happy event in your childhood

Every person's life is divided into three stages: childhood, adolescence, and old age.
However, childhood is the best time in a person's life because there are no worries and
stress. One of the happiest events in my childhood, which I still remember clearly like
just happened yesterday, is making Chung cake for Tet holiday at my grandparents'
house at my age of ten. When I was small, my family would gather together to make
Chung cake for Tet holiday every year. As a result, making Chung cake has become
our family tradition over the years. But that year was even more special - that was the
last year the whole family made Chung cake because our grandparents were getting
older and making Chung cake also costed a lot of time and effort. At that time, my
two cousins and I were too small to do anything, so we just played with each other
and watched our grandparents and our parents prepare the ingredients for the cake.
That night, Grandpa made me a cute little Chung cake as usual, which I cherished for
the next few days. After all the cakes were finished, we ate the leftover food which
looked so yummy. Tet that year was like every year before, was the only time of year
when we were permitted to stay up late, which is why it is so unforgettable. We talked
to together while watching the pot of Chung cake all that night. Despite the frigid
weather, we all felt warm and cozy inside; we had so much fun together. This family
tradition is a event that I will never forget, I hope we can start doing it again in the
future.

20. A technology product you bought and was dissatisfied with

People purchase various kinds of new products all the time. I am also fond of buying
new things, especially new clothes and technology-based products. I generally take a
good look at these products before purchasing in order to be sure. It has happened a
few times that I purchased a few products from a renowned e-commerce website, and
I was highly dissatisfied with them.

One particular incident was when I purchased an emergency light from the website. I
live an area which experiences frequent power cuts and I find it difficult to move
around or to study during evening and night time. I ordered it and received it on the
third day. I was relieved on its arrival and ecstatically opened it to find a poorly
wrapped light that was not packaged properly.

I started using it but my happiness was short lived. The light was rattling and its
brightness was inconsistent. Using it in such condition was annoying but I kept on
using it. After a week of daily use, I found that it worked only while charging, and lost
its battery almost immediately. I was tired and highly disappointed with this product.
More so, due to the fact that it was manufactured by a famous electronic brand and I
purchased it due to an urgent need.

The light was almost of no use to me, and I requested for a replacement under the
warranty program. Thankfully, I got a replacement from another brand, and the new
light worked fine for the next two years. Since then, I avoid purchasing any products
offline and prefer buying from shops where I can take a look at the product before
purchasing it.

21. A foreign city that you enjoy visiting/ A place to which you like to go/ A
foreign country you want to know more
I love traveling and exploring new places. Today, I’m going to talk about a foreign
city I wish to visit. It’s London, the capital of United Kingdom.  Since London is
about 7000 km from my hometown, the only viable modes of transport to reach there
are water and air. If I were to choose between these two modes, I’d prefer a flight
because it’ll take less time as compared to a cruise. From safety and economic points
of view as well, I think going by air is definitely the better option.

Talking about the time when I’ll go to London, I haven’t yet decided, maybe in
summer this year. I don’t know who I’d take with me but it would probably be some
people that are close to me, I feel that visiting a new place is more fun if you’re with
your family or friends. I’ll have a word with my parents and friends, whoever wants to
come with me is welcome.

Coming to the many reasons why I want to visit London, I guess the main reason
would be my fascination with history and art. You see, London is one of the oldest
multicultural cities in the world. I’ve read about the changes which transformed this
city into a center of history, art, business, and education through many of its conquests
of the world. And thus, London is home to world-class museums and art galleries, all
having a different and unique story behind them.

Other than that London also happens to have the oldest underground railway system
in the world. To visit the most popular tourist attractions of London has been on my
bucket list for a long time. These include the London Bridge, National Art Gallery,
and the British Museum. I’ve heard that the bakeries in London are some of the best
out there. I’d love to see what they have to offer.

22. A place near water that you enjoyed visiting

My family take a vacation every summer. Last year, we went to Ha Long Bay, which
is located in Vietnam. As it is among Seven Wonders of the World, the beach was
so impressive to me.

My family and I took a 12-hour plane journey through different time zones, which

made me get really bad airplane sick; so I didn’t enjoy the first day that much.
However, to be honest, I have to admit that the scenery there was so beautiful
and appealing to me, especially the beach. The beach, after a makeover, was
extremely breathtaking, and the crystal clear water seemed to stretch endlessly till
the horizon. To make it even more attractive, the waves continued to crash onto the
shore, sounding like a romantic melody from nature. Though I was a little tired, I was
so excited that I just wanted to jump into the water right away.
While some people enjoyed swimming, there were a lot of people who preferred
sunbathing or playing volleyball, team-building games or making sandcastles. My
family, after swimming a lot in scorching hot weather, chose to come back to the
hotel to change clothes before heading for some good seafood restaurants.

Actually, this vacation gave me a wonderful chance to have some days off, and all my
worries seemed to fade away. Furthermore, it helped strengthen the bond between my
family members. That’s why I am always looking forward to going on more holidays
like this every year.

23. A science subject that you studied and liked

Well, one of the most enjoyable science subjects which I love to talk about is
definitely Physics. It was a compulsory subject and we had to study at least twice a
week.

I still vividly remember that our Physics teacher was Mr Minh - an experienced

teacher with a fantastic teaching method. Through his clear explanation, everything
about Physics was just a piece of cake. I acquired some basic knowledge of Physics
which included Newton's laws, some theories about waves and particles,
and Einstein's principle of relativity. What I found this subject tremendously
useful is that it provides a great number of unknown facts such as how sound and
light travel so on.

Actually, at first, I couldn’t see any realistic applications in this subject but
eventually it turned out to be much more practical.

Gradually, I developed a great sense of interest in this subject because it enabled me

to understand how the universe works as well as unlocks most of the mysteries of life.
I started to know how to explain some common phenomena, such as why there are
storms and why we always see lightning before we hear the thunder’s sound.

The amazing thing from this subject is that it enhances my logical thinking.
Therefore, I could see things from different perspectives and care about every
variable.

24. A global language that you would like to learn

To me, it’s an interesting language with a lot of culture behind it. Also, Vietnam has
a very close relationship with Korea, so I believe it will really help my future.
I suppose that it would be really challenging for me to learn Korean because it is
not a Latin language, which is totally different from my mother tongue. Korean
uses its own characters in its writing, so I would have to get familiar with its
own alphabetical system. There are a lot of hard tones and stresses, too so it would
be time-consuming to master Korean, but I think I will get a grasp of it gradually by
following various lessons on Youtube. As well as this, I will enroll on a Korean
course at a reliable centre. I will also get a good textbook that summarizes
all essential vocabulary and grammar. I think Korean vocabulary would be much
easier for me to acquire than their grammar because I have heard that learning
grammar is extremely frustrating.

The reason why I really want to be fluent in Korean one day is because I am so in
love with its adorable sounds. I myself actually can pick up some common
phrases through a lot of Korean dramas and K-pop songs. 

I bet it would be easy to find a language partner or join a language exchange club to

practice Korean because the number of Korean tourists visiting Vietnam has been on
the rise and there are many Korean people staying in Hanoi now.

You know, knowing Korean in combination with my English skills can give me a

competitive advantage in the not too distance future and it undoubtedly would make
my future holiday in Korea more enjoyable. On top of that, I would be such a great
feeling to be able to watch Korean movies without Vietnamese subtitles. 

25. A free day off work or school you enjoyed

Honestly, I've been up to my ears in study recently, so I don't have so much spare time
to unwind. If memory serves me correctly, the most recent day off that I can
remember is a Sunday about several weeks ago.

I have to say that I am kind of an introvert, and I'm not big on things like socializing,
noisy knee-ups and crowded places. On top of that, I was quite exhausted after a week
of studying night and day, so I decided that I would spend the day at home.

That day I slept in until 8 o'clock in the morning. Then I went to a swimming pool
centre that's within walking distance of my house, and I swam in about an hour. You
know, I'm a big fan of swimming and personally, I think it's the best way for me to
stay in shape and release the stress I get from work.
At noon, I went to a small, cosy vegan restaurant with my family because we weren't
in the mood for cooking and washing dishes. In fact, we had a great time there
because the food was outstanding and the service was second to none.

In the afternoon, I read my favourite book while lying on the couch with some snacks
and light music playing in the background. It was a perfect way to end the day.

Although I had only one day, I think the way I spent it is a wise choice. It helped me
get away from the hustle and bustle and regain my vitality so that I would come back
to study the next day full of energy and freshness. I also realize that a day-off like this
is so precious that I should enjoy every moment of it. I hope that in the future I can
arrange my schedule so that I will have a better study/life balance.

26. A person who is good at a foreign language

Now l’d like to give you some description of a Vietnamese man I saw speaking
English impressively fluently. That was a motorcycle taxi driver who was kinda of
medium height, quite old, with gray hair… in his early sixties, think, or probably in
his late fifties. I came across him a couple of years ago somewhere near Le Loi street,
the area famous for attracting a huge number of Western tourists as backpackers in
this city. 

At that moment, while I was riding my motorbike on the street, I suddenly heard some
people quarrelling loudly on the sidewalk. That drew my attention immediately, cuz
they sounded like they were speaking English rather than Vietnamese. It turned out
that they were foreigner and a local man shouting at each other. According to what I
heard, they were yelling at each other due to some misunderstanding related to the
charge of the trip from a certain coach station… I can’t remember the exact details,
but, you know, what took me aback was the unbelievable fluency of the local
motorcycle taxi driver, who was shouting and cursing at the tourist, using big bad
words, four-letter words, whatever the name is. Though the local driver didn’t seem
to have a perfect pronunciation, he obviously showed a great command of spoken
English, especially when it came to the grammar of offensive language. The more
they talked, the more intense the heat was, and a lot of curious passers-by, including
me, got around them. That was actually a memorable afternoon in my life that
changed my thinking about things like.. how well the so-called ‘motorcycle taxi
drivers’ could speak a foreign language like English.

27. A person you don’t like to work with

Well I would like to talk about Huyen Anh, one of my friends who I really don’t into
working with much.

Speaking of how long I have known this person, we’ve been classmates since
highschool. The first reason why I don’t like to work with her is that she is the most
talkative person I know who is capable of talking nonstop for hours. She often
bothered me with her endless stories during our lessons and often got us scolded by
our teachers. Because most of her stories were funny, I could not stop myself from
laughing and talking with her. I know she is funny, but I I couldn’t concentrate on
studying when laughing like that. Besides, she's quite bossy, and I'm someone who
doesn't like being ordered by others. This is reasons why I don’t like to work with her

28. A game you enjoyed when you were young

To be honest, I am a lucky girl who was born in a family where my parents love me so
much. They never let me feel inferior to my peers, so they tried to offer me many
kinds of games back in my childhood, among which I loved the chess board the most.

If my memory serves me right, it was on my 6th birthday, my dad and mum gave me a
very large box carefully wrapped in blue colored paper. I was stunned since that was
quite a huge size of the gift that I had ever seen. It was so rapid of me to unwrap it,
and I was so fascinated when I recognized that my favorite chess board model was
right in front of my eyes. That was the one I had been dreaming of and had mentioned
several times with my dad on my way home every day. It is in black and white color
and is made of plastic and metal with the length of each side of 50cm with a
sophisticated design. 

I was elated to receive that gift and I had been practicing playing chess with my dad
since then, but unfortunately, I lost to him umpteen times. One time, I accidentally
dropped it from a height and one of the pawns was nowhere to be found, which really
hurt my feelings. Fortunately, my dad said it was all ok and managed to find it for me.
From that moment on, I promised to myself that I would be more careful and never let
it have any scratch.

I still have the chess board in the closet now and sometimes I still play chess with my
dad but today I am the winner most of the time.