TOPIC 1: MYSELF INTRODUCTION 

I’m very happy to introduce myself. My name is Linh Chi, but my friends usually call me Katy. 

I live in Bac Lieu province, a province in the west of Vietnam. My family consists of four people: my parents, my younger brother and I. My father is a farmer, and my mother is a house-wife who always takes a good care of my family. My brother is an 11^th grade student. And I am a junior of Van Lang University. 

I like learning English very much. I have learnt it for years at high school and university, but my speaking skill is not good enough. Therefore, I try my best to learn it now, and I hope I can speak it well one day. When I graduate from university, I will be a teacher of English because it is my major.

In my free time, I like listening to music, watching movies, reading newspapers, and going shopping. On Sundays, I usually go to the coffee shop to chat with my friends in the morning, and I always join the English Speaking Club to improve my speaking skill in the afternoon.

In short, I am very happy with my life. Of course, I am going to make it happier and more meaningful.

TOPIC 3: MY FAMILY

There are five members in my family: my parents, my older brother, my younger sister and I.

My parents are living in one of the central provinces. My mother is 53 years old. She is a housewife. My father is 55 years old. He is a fisherman. My older brother gets married, living separately near my parents’ home. He has two children and works for an industrial park with his wife. My younger sister is a schoolgirl. She is three years younger than me. We are very united.

Now I'm living in HCMC for my higher education. However, I always miss and think about my family because it is the best place for me in the world. There I can feel safe, warm, and free. My home is a place where I keep all things that I love and am with people who love me most. It is also the place where I spend the happiest moments in my life. In addition, I believe that my home is a foundation for me to develop myself and a school that forms my personality. 

In short, I always keep the sentence “no place is like home” in my mind.

TOPIC 5: A DAY IN MY LIFE

My day usually begins at 6. I get up and do some exercise for about an hour. Then I take a bath. After that I get dressed and have breakfast with my family. I usually have a light breakfast. At 7.30 I leave for school.

I often take a bus to school. I catch the bus near my house, and it takes me about 30 minutes to get to school. My first class starts at 8.00 a.m. and finishes at 11 a.m. Sometimes I stay there for the afternoon class. However, I usually stay at home in the afternoons.

In the evening, I go to evening classes. I am learning English at SPEAK UP. When I get home, I have dinner and watch TV for an hour. Then I start my homework. Sometimes I go out with my friends. I usually go to bed at 12.

On Sundays, I usually go to coffee shops for chatting with my friends. Sometimes we go fishing or singing karaoke. Moreover, every Sunday afternoon, I go to SPEAK UP English Speaking Club to improve my speaking skill.

When I have free time, I usually listen to music. I like English songs very much because they help me improve my English. 

A day in my life is very interesting.

TOPIC 12: GOING CAMPING

Camping is a very popular activity to all Vietnamese pupils and students. On special occasions such as the Teacher’s Day, the Anniversary of Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union or the Independence Day, they usually go camping.

They often encamp in their schools or in some parks. Camping is a great way to spend time with classmates. However, sometimes at weekends or on holidays, I go camping with my family and close friends. Usually, we go to places a campsite, which have a lot of shade from the sun, which are near a river or on the hill, and which have a good spot to set up a tent.

The most interesting time is when the camp-fire is built. After dinner, we all sit around the fire and tell stories, sing songs or play games together. Thanks to these activities, our relation is closer. Moreover, we can forget all tiredness of our daily life.

When you have enough free time, you should go camping to feel its real interest.  

VOCABULARY TIP

1. to encamp:                                                             to set up camp

2. a campsite:                                                           a place to encamp

3. shade [∫eid] (n)                                                      an area of darkness

4. a spot (n) =                                                             a place           

Ex:      My home is in a remote spot.

Quê tôi ở một nơi hẻo lánh.                           

5. to pitch =                                                                to build, to set up 

TOPIC 14: THE CITY OR THE COUNTRYSIDE?

As we see, more and more people are coming to big cities to live or earn their living now. Although I am living and working in HCM City, I prefer to live in the countryside.

First of all, most cities now are polluted. The smoke from factories, industrial waste and noise spoil the environment seriously. Moreover, many people drop litter everywhere. Then, traffic jams happen all the time causing me a lot of trouble. Another problem is that the sanitary system does not work very well; as a consequence, streets are flooded whenever it rains heavily. Also, city people lose their touch with nature. Last but not least, human relationship is not good, and social life is sometimes complicated because of crimes, social evils, or unemployment. 

On the contrary, in the countryside, life is very peaceful, and people are too. Moreover, country people treat one another quite well. They are always very hospitable and willing to help others. Moreover, the countryman can live with nature and enjoy its real beauty.

In short, although the standard of living in the countryside is not high and it lacks schools, hospitals, or entertainment activities, I still prefer to live in it.

VOCABULARY TIP

1. industrial waste:                                                   chất thải công nghiệp

2. to drop litter:                                                         to leave rubbish

3. sanitary system:                                                   hệ thống thoát nước

4. as a consequence: ['kɔnsikwəns]                as a result

5. to flood [flʌd]                                                          to overflow

Ex:      Mekong Delta is flooded every year.

                        Chinese motorcycles flood the Vietnamese market.

 6. to lose s.o’s touch with s.th / s.o else:               thiếu tiếp xúc, liên lạc

7. standard of living:                                                            material comfort

8. hospitable ['hɔspitəbl] (a):                                     having an open mind

 TOPIC 36: ADVANTAGES OF CELL PHONES 

Nowadays,  cell  phones  are  very  popular. Nearly each of us has it. We like talking on cell phones,  sending  SMS,  playing  games  etc, which are very good ways to communicate. 

The most  important advantage of cell phones is  that  we  can  use  them  almost  everywhere without  cables  or  electricity.  The  next advantage of using a cell phone is that we can reach people easily. By using mobile phones, we can communicate with everyone whenever we want and wherever we are.  

Furthermore,  we  can  access  the  Internet  by  using  a  cell  phone. Recently,  the most  common way  of  communication  in  the world  has been  the SMS. Cell phones  include  this system;  in  this way, we can communicate with someone for cheaper than a normal call.  

Last but not least, we can carry a cell phone easily. Furthermore, cell phones  are  not  only  used  for  communication,  but  they  can  also  be used for taking pictures, listening to music, playing games, and so on.  

So, cell phones are not dispensable.  

TOPIC 90: TELLING LIES 

It seems that people are telling lies more and more. On mass media almost every day, there are stories about some important persons being accused of telling lies, and at the same time, our parents and teachers are telling us that it is not ok to tell lies. 

When we were little kids, what we wanted to do most was pleasing our parents. At that time, we sometimes thought that it would make our parents mad if we told the truth about doing something wrong, and then we found /that our parents got even madder /when we told a lie. When we get older and we know /that telling the truth is important, we can still get lots of confusing messages.

Do you know why people tell lies?  Here are some of the reasons. Some people tell lies to get out of trouble, to avoid getting into trouble or to avoid embarrassment, to keep themselves safe like avoiding a stranger asking something, or to protect their privacy. To others, they tell lies to keep a friend out of trouble or to make themselves look more interesting to others by exaggerating, bragging or boasting. To children or teenagers, they do that to get their own way with a parent or teacher to avoid punishment. For example, they say to their parents: “The teacher says I don't have to do the homework". The rest tell lies to keep secrets or avoid hurting people's feelings. 

However, many people think that there are two kinds of lies, 'black' lies and 'white' lies. They think that 'back' lies are always bad, but 'white' lies might be OK. Thus, when is it never OK to tell lies? In my opinion, it is not good to upset or tease someone like telling lies about someone or spreading rumors. Another case is to pretend that you have got permission to do something when you haven't. In addition, nobody accepts those who hide things belonging to others and pretend that they do not know where they are because this is not just teasing; it is unkind.  Moreover, we should not tell lies about people such as saying someone has told you something and it's not true, blaming someone else for something you have done to get them into trouble and get you out of it, and cheating someone or cheating in a test.

So, when is it OK to tell lies? I think it is ok when we want to keep ourselves safe, to use good manners as "Thank you. But I couldn't eat another piece" in a meal so that your host can have the last piece of cake or food, not to hurt people's feelings as “Thank you for a lovely present." even it's not what you really want or it’s what you hate, and to keep 'good' secrets like not telling your age or your phone number. 

In short, we should know when we tell lies. If there were no bad lies in our life, no one would get hurt and the world would be a place / where people could trust and respect each other.