For drinks in Vietnam, Vietnam has most of the drinks.
However, tea and coffee are traditional preference. Especially, drinking tea
can be considered as both a normal habit and the art of drinking in Vietnam.
Here are some other drinks.
·"Chè”
- Vietnamese Sweetened Porridge: Chè
is a Vietnamese term that refers to any traditional Vietnamese thick, sweet
dessert soup or sweetened porridge. Sweetened porridge is a kind of sugary
flavored beverage which is protein-rich.
·Nuoc mia,
or sugar-cane juice: Sugar-cane
juice is a type of drink commonly found in Vietnam as a refreshing drink during
the hot Vietnamese climate.
·Vietnamese
wine: Rice alcohol. Alcohol has
been called spirit because it symbolizes for men willingness in the old time.
Besides tea, plain rice alcohol is also offered respectfully on the ancestor
altar in rituals or ceremonies to show deep gratitude such as wedding parties,
ground - breaking, Tet holiday... Vietnamese also drink alcohol to celebrate
joy to reduce sadness or wish for blessings.
Imagine:tin.lukhach24h.com
·Bia hoi (
Beer): Cheap, cold, draft beer, sitting on a plastic stool on the side of
the road. That pretty much sums up the
bia hoi experience. Bia Hoi is a draft
beer, made with no preservatives. It is
delivered in kegs to bars (generally referred to as Bia Hoi) around Hanoi. The
bars are simple, with plastic chairs, and no frills.
Imagine:vietnamtravelblog.org
Source: internet
Vocabulary:
cola / coke: coca
cola
squash: nước
ép
lime cordial: rượu
chanh
iced tea: trà
đá
milkshake: sữa
khuấy bọt
still water: nước
không ga
sparkling water: nước
xô-đa
mineral water nước
khoáng
Questions:
.Can you name other drinks in Vietnam?
.What drinks do you like the most? Why?
.What are features of Vietnamsese drinking
culture?
.It is said that Vietnamese people drink so much.
Do you think so? Why?
.What drinks do you think the foreign tourists
like the most in Vietnam? Why?
.How can we promote Vietnamese drinking culture?
*Bonus:
Whether you’re at a wedding or eating snails, the Vietnamese are fond of a beer. Here’s some vocab that might come in handy if you find yourself drinking beer in Vietnam.
How to toast:
một, hai, ba, dô!
= 1, 2, 3, cheers!
Incase you can’t or don’t want to drink:
[Anh/Chị/Em/...] không uống bia được.
= I can’t drink beer.
Somebody may well clink glasses (cạn ly) with you and say:
một trăm phần trăm
= 100% (they want you to down the glass)
You may be able to get away with:
năm mười phần trăm (= năm mười)
= 50% (they want you to drink half of your glass)
Eating goes hand in hand with food and snacks vary from peanuts to seafood. You’ll be encouraged to eat, or you can invite others’ to eat with:
ăn đi!
= eat!, please eat
Or if you spend too much time eating, you may be told to: uống đi!
According to Wikipedia, a gift or a present is an object given without the expectation of payment. Although gift-giving might involve an expectation of reciprocity, a gift is meant to be free. In many human societies, the act of mutually exchanging money, goods, etc. may contribute to social cohesion. Economists have elaborated the economics of gift-giving into the notion of a gift economy. By extension the term gift can refer to anything that makes the other happier or less sad, especially as a favour, including forgiveness and kindness. In many cultures they are traditionally packaged in some manner. For example, in Western culture, gifts are often wrapped in wrapping paper and accompanied by a gift note which may note the occasion, the recipient's name, and the giver's name. In Chinese culture, red wrapping connotes luck.
Gift Giving Occasions
The occasion may be:
Expression of love or friendship.
Expression of gratitude for a gift received.
Expression of piety, in the form of charity.
Expression of solidarity, in the form of mutual aid.
To share wealth.
To offset misfortune.
Offering travel souvenirs.
Custom, on occasions (often celebrations) such as birthday, wedding day, christmas, Mother's Day, Father's Day,...
Vocabulary:
reciprocity
to elaborate:
to package:
to connote:
recipient:
piety:
Questions:
1. What kind of gifts do you look forward to receiving?
2. Do you often give presents to your parents, relatives or friends? What are those presents?
3. Who often give you presents on some special occasions? is there any present you don't want to receive?
4. What would you do if your gift was refused by your friend/ girlfriend/boyfriend?
5. What problems do you have to face when choosing a gift?
6. Do you think that the meaning or the purpose of giving presents today may has changed in some situations? How and Why?
"According to the American Institute for Social Research, the Vietnamese people have 10 major characteristics.
First, they are hard working but easy to satisfy. Second, they are smart and creative to cope with short-termed difficulties, but lack long-termed and active reasoning abilities. Third, they are dexterous but hardly pay attention to the final perfection of their products. Fourth, they are both practical and idealistic, but don’t develop either of these tendencies into theories. Fifth, they love knowledge and have quick understanding, but hardly learn from the beginning to the end of things, so their knowledge isn’t systemic or fundamental. In addition, Vietnamese people don’t study just for the sake of knowledge (when small, they study because of their families; growing up, they study for the sake of prestige or good jobs). Sixth, they are open-hearted and hospital, but their hospitality doesn’t last. Seventh, they are thrifty, but many times squander money for meaningless reasons (to save face or to show off). Eighth, they have solidarity and help each other chiefly in difficult situations and poverty; in better conditions, this characteristic rarely exists. They love peace, and can endure things, but they are often not frank for sundry reasons, so sacrifice important goals for the sake of small ones. And last, they like to gather, but lack connectivity to create strength (one person can complete a task excellently; 2 people do it poorly, and 3 people make a mess of it)"
Vocabulary:
1. Dexterous (adj):
2. Fundamental (adj):
3. Prestige (n):
4. Squander (v):
5. Solidarity (n):
Questions
1. Do you agree on these characteristics of Vietnamese people? Do you want to add other traits?
2. Do you think that the characteristics of Vietnamese people have been changing a lot? Why?
3. What are the differences among the people in the north, the central and the south of Vietnam?
4. What are some typical traits of Vietnamese young people nowadays?
5. A lot of foreign tourists say that Vietnamese people are very friendly, kind-hearted, but many of them never return to Vietnam ? what is your point of this?
Club's address: 31, Giai Phong street, Ha Noi (LESH English Center)
Hey guys, it's so great that we meet up every sunday and we talk about our favourite topics! By this way, we can upgrade our english vocabulary and improve english speaking. It's also very interesting to listen to some one's stories and share ours. This week, we talked about Teacher's Day! Any one wants to be an english teacher in the future? ^.^
Video:
Club's address: 31, Giai Phong street, Ha Noi (LESH English Center)
Have you considered if you should choose state, private or foreign invested enterprises? Come and share your thought at 9.30 a.m -11 a.m on 10/11 at Lesh English Center.
State Owned versus Private & Foreign Owned Companies
Before 1986, there were no private enterprises operating in Vietnam, apart from family firms that did not have other employees as laborers. Đổi Mới is the name given to the economic reforms initiated in Vietnam with the goal of creating a "socialist-oriented market economy". State-Owned Enterprises are created by the government in order to take part in commercial activities on the government's behalf. A state-owned enterprise can be either wholly or partially owned by a government and is typically identified to participate in commercial activities. Private-Owned Enterprises are businesses owned by one or more individuals for the common goal of making a profit and refers to any business not owned by the state. Foreign direct investment is a direct investment into production or business in a country by an individual or company in another country, either by buying a company in the target country or by expanding operations of an existing business in that country. An increasing number of private and foreign companies are creating employment opportunities for young adults who must decide whether to work for them or to work for the state. Questions: 1.Can you name some foreign invested enterprises in Vietnam? 2.What are some differences between working in state enterprises, private and foreign companies? 3.Which kind of company do you prefer to work for? Why? 4.In order to be employed by state enterprises, what criteria are you required to have? 5.In order to be employed by private enterprises, what criteria are you required to have? 6.In order to be employed by foreign enterprises, what criteria are you required to have? 7.Do employees of all receive the same health insurance and pension (society card) benefits? Are these important to you? 8.Why do you think many foreign enterprises have chosen Vietnam as an ideal location to do business? 9.What are some advantages and disadvantages when a country allows many foreign enterprises to operate?
Natural vs Artificial Beauty In this modern society, artificial beauty is a very common thing and many people become more beautiful thanks to it. However, many prefer natural beauty because it can last longer. So, individuals have their own idea of beauty. Let's join my English club and share your opinion or you can comment right here!
Vocabulary:
Enchanting: Possessing a magical or ethereal beauty. Having the ability to charm or enchant the viewer
Captivating: Possessing the ability to hold the attention of others.
Grace: An elegant gesture, action, or mannerism.
Allure: Possessing a great deal of charm or fascination.
Plastic surgery: a medical specialty concerned with the "correction" or restoration of form and function
Cosmetic surgery: an optional procedure that is performed on normal parts of the body with the only purpose of improving a person’s appearance and/or removing signs of aging
Complication: a secondary disease or condition aggravating an already existing one.
Questions:
What is natural beauty and artificial beauty?
In your view, which beauty is most preferred natural beauty or artificial beauty?
What are advantages and disadvantages of artificial beauty?
Which beauty do you prefer?
If your boyfriend/girl friend wanted to get plastic surgery or cosmetic surgery, what would you say to her/him?
What if your girlfriend/ got plastic or cosmetic surgery in the past?
Hey guys, It's good to see you again :-)
We're in the middle of autumn. It's getting much cooler than summer, but it's cold at times especially at night. In this season, many people tend to catch the cold more easily because of unexpected weather change. So, how to prevent it? You can obtain a lot of useful information in the today's lesson!
First, let's watch this video.
The common cold.
English subtile:
The common cold is a group of symptoms in the upper respiratory tract caused by almost 200 viruses.
The most common perpetrator is the rhinovirus, which causes around 40% of colds. The cold enters your body through your nose or mouth and is easily spread when touching someone or common objects.
You are more likely to catch a cold if you are excessively fatigued, have emotional distress or have allergies with nose and throat symptoms. ......(updating)
On this thursday, we're going to read Matt Cutts's speech about Trying something new for 30 days. I do hope it can inspire you if you're stuck in something or find your life getting down. Don't forget to join room in time and if you confuse anything just let me know by commenting here! See you :->
English Subtile:
A few years ago, I felt like I was stuck in a rut, so I decided to follow in the footsteps of the great American philosopher Morgan Spurlock and try something new for thirty days.
the idea is actually pretty simple, think about something you’re always wanted to add to all of your life and try it for the next thirty days .
It turns out thirty days is just about the right amount of time to have a new habit or subtract the habit like watching the news from your life.
There is a few things that I learned while doing these thirty days challenge, the first was instead of the months flying by forgotten the time was much more memorable.
This was part of a challenge I did it take a picture every day for a month, and I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing that day.
I would also notice that as I started to do more and harder thirty day challenges my self-confidence crew, I went from desk to dealing to the computers to the kind of guy who bikes to work for fun.
Even last year, kind of hiking up mount Kilimanjaro the highest mountain in Africa.
I would never have been in that adventure before I started my thirty day challenges
I would also figure out that if you really want something badly enough you can do anything for thirty days, have you ever wanted to write a novel?
Every November tens of thousands people try to write their own fifty thousand-word novel from scratch in thirty days.
It turns out all you have to do is right sixteen hundred and sixty seven words day for a month so I did it by the way the secret is not to go to sleep until you’ve written your words for the day, you might be sleep-deprived, you’ll finish your novels. Now is my book the next great American novel?
Reference translation:
Vài năm trước tôi có cảm giác như mình đang sống tụt dốc vì vậy tôi quyết định theo bước bước chân của nhà triết học vĩ đại người Mỹ Morgan Spurlock và cố gắng thử cái gì đó mới trong 30 ngày xem sao.
Ý tưởng thực ra rất đơn giản. Hãy nghĩ về những điều mà bạn đã mong muốn được thực hiện suốt cả cuộc đời và thử làm nó trong vòng 30 ngày tới. Hóa ra 30 ngày là khoảng thời gian vừa đủ để them vào hay loại bỏ thói quen trong cuộc sống của bạn như là xem tin tức chẳng hạn.
Có một số điều mà tôi đã học được trong khi thực hiện 30 ngày thử thách này. Đầu tiên là, thay vì có những tháng trôi qua dần bị lãng quên, thì thời gian trở nên đáng nhớ hơn.
Đây là một phần trong thử thách chụp mỗi ngày một bức ảnh trong một tháng. Và tôi nhớ chính xác nơi tôi đã ở và những việc tôi đã làm vào ngày hôm đó.
Và tôi cũng nhận thấy rằng. khi tôi bắt đầu thực hiện những thử thách 30 ngày nhiều hơn và chăm chỉ hơn, thì sự tự tin của tôi tăng lên. Tôi chuyển từ một nhân viên say mê máy tính suốt ngày dính chặt vào bàn làm việc thành một người đàn ông đạp xe đi làm – chỉ cho vui mà thôi.
Thậm chí vào năm ngoái, tôi đã leo lên đỉnh Kilimanjaro, ngọn núi cao nhất châu Phi.
Tôi chưa từng thích phiêu lưu đến vậy trước khi tôi bắt đầu thử thách 30 ngày đó.
Và tôi cũng đã tìm ra rằng nếu bạn có đủ khao khát để làm một việc gì đó, bạn có thể làm mọi việc trong 30 ngày.
Bạn đã bao giờ muốn viết một tiểu thuyết chưa?
Cứ mỗi tháng 11, mười ngàn người cố gắng để viết những tiểu thuyết dài 500,000 từ của họ từ con số không trong vòng 30 ngày.
Việc đó có nghĩa, tất cả những gì bạn phải làm là viết 1,667 từ mỗi ngày trong vòng một tháng. Và tôi đã làm điều đó. Nhân tiện, bí quyết ở đây là không đi ngủ cho tới khi bạn đã viết được số từ yêu cầu cho một ngày. Bạn có thể bị thiếu ngủ, nhưng bạn sẽ hoàn thành tác phẩm của mình. Vậy tác phẩm của tôi có phải là một tiểu thuyết vĩ đại tiếp theo của nước Mỹ?
Không. Tôi viết nó trong một tháng. Nó rất kinh khủng. Nhưng trong suốt phần đời còn lại của mình, nếu tôi có gặp John Hodgman trong một buổi tiệc của TED, tôi không phải giới thiệu rằng, “Tôi là một chuyên gia máy tính.”
Không, không, và nếu tôi muốn có thể nói, “Tôi là một tiểu thuyết gia.”. Và đây là điều cuối cùng tôi muốn đề cập. Tôi học được rằng khi tôi đạt được những thay đổi nhỏ và dễ duy trì,những việc tôi có thể tiếp tục làm thì chúng sẽ dễ trở thành thói quen của tôi hơn.
Chẳng có vấn đề gì với những thử thách lớn lao hay điên cuồng. Trên thực tế, chúng chứa cả tấn điều thú vị. Nhưng chúng thường khó duy trì hơn. Khi tôi kiêng đường trong 30 ngày, ngày thứ 31 sẽ như thế này đây. (Tiếng cười) Và đây là câu hỏi dành cho các bạn: Bạn còn chờ đợi gì nữa?
Tôi đảm bảo với bạn rằng 30 ngày tới đang sắp sửa qua đi dù bạn có muốn hay không, vậy tại sao không nghĩ về việc gì đó, bạn đã luôn muốn được thử và bắt đầu thực hiện nó trong 30 ngày tới. Cảm ơn các bạn.
Living in a foreign country seems very fantastic for many people, but some may feel awful and challenging. What about you? Are you living abroad? Which country is it? For me, I'd love to travel as many as possible, but I gotta think twice about living in a perfectly strange country.
If You're preparing for moving to some different country, let's watch this video! The girl's experience is interesting and useful! Don't forget to take a look at new words below and discuss questions.
Useful
vocabulary:
to be polite/impolite
acquaintances
“I was brought up never to talk about
politics.”
to be a ‘no-no’
illness, disease
to be self-obsessed
to be careful about
to criticise (UK), to criticize (US)
to be interested in (working,
politics etc)
in your own home
to be (rather) tasteless, tasteful
actually = really
currently = actuellement (fr)
Questions:
Do you know anyone who lives in a foreign country?
What are the diffculties of living abroad?
Do you agree with people who study oversea become a citizen
of the country which is not their country?
If you have chances of living and working in a foreign
country, which country would you like to immigrate?
What do you most miss about
your own country or culture when you go abroad
Discuss how important you
think the following are in your country?
Are they:
1. important 2.
not important or 3. best avoided?
·
Shaking hands or kissing
when greeting someone
·
Formality (how to dress, how
to talk to colleagues, what names to use etc)
Are you interested in this topic? Well, I'm proud of being in Hanoi but definitely I'd love to have a trip in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) which always appeals to me. Hope it come soon!!! Let share with me your thoughts about this topic by commenting! Now, Enjoy this video, learn new words and don't forget to discuss questions below ;-)
Vocabulary: 1. The rain Hanoi: The rain is like the character of Hanoi girls - pleasing and lasting Saigon: The rain is like the character of Saigon girls – kinky (different) but easy to forget 2. Karaoke Hanoi: Fun is most important, but it is no problem when the singing is bad Saigon: Beautiful singing is the most important 3. Supermarkets Hanoi: Expensive and goods are not practical Saigon: Convenient and cheap as a normal market. It is a place to relax on weekends 4. Weekends Hanoi: The whole family gathers and cooks fresh food Saigon: Eating out 5. In coffee-food cafes Hanoi: If you sit for a long time (more than 30 minutes) without using any drink or food, you are forced to get out! Saigon: It is no matter how long you care to sit, even if you drink and eat or not! 6. Greetings Hanoi: You have to greet using formal words! Saigon: You can use gestures: bend your back! 7. Wealthy Hanoi: You are considered rich when you have a lot of money Saigon: You are considered rich when you spend a lot of money In the morning Hanoi: Get up very early, do exercises around a lake or in the park Saigon: Usually oversleep Fashion Hanoi: Fashionable and able to show their own style as well as rank in society “Many people who drive a luxurious car and wear fancy clothes actually don’t have money” Saigon: Clothing must be comfortable and casual “Many people who wear simple clothes and drive an old car are actually rich men” Nightlife Hanoi: Hanoi’s night life pales (lacks) to what Saigon offers. Hanoi pretty much shuts down right at midnight, but there are still some great hot spots Saigon: Some say there are places in Saigon that haven’t closed in over 10 years Questions for discussion: 1. Do you agree with all the comments about the differences between Hanoi and Saigon? What would you like to add? Ex. People, food, traffic, architecture… 2. Could you give reasons that explain these differences between Hanoi and Saigon? 3. Which city would you prefer to live in? Why? 4. What specific things do you prefer in Hanoi and Saigon? Why? 5. In your point of view, are there any things Hanoi should learn from Saigon and vice versa?
