15 SPEAKING TOPICS

1. The means of transport you like/hate most Among many means of transport, I like to travel most by train. The seats and space of a train are larger and more comfortable than those of a car. Every one hour, passengers are offered with food, drink. I am happy with the train schedule because it rarely delays as car and plane. I just go to bus station on time and wait for 10 mins, then the train will leaves on time. Especially, the train often moves at moderate speed then I dont feel sick as I travel by car and I can relax by looking the scene outside.

The means of transport I hate most is bus. When I was student I often went to university by bus. I had to walk from my home to bus stop and it took a long time to travel from my home to my university. At rush hours, the bus was so crowded that I found it difficult to stand or move to the door. Many times, I could not get on the right bus because it was too crowded and just let passengers get off at bus stop, but could not let anyone get on. On average, I had to spend 2 hours to travel on the bus each time, though it takes only 30 mins to travel by motorbike to my university

2. The most useful machine in the twentieth century In my opinion, the most useful machine in the twentieth century is computer. It was first developed in 1940s in the US and UK, applied in military. After a long time of development, now it is too important that no companies, no organizations, no schools can work without it. Every normal house, normal person uses it every day. It helps to process information, programs, store data in its memory then it is widely used in any sectors like: agriculture, engineering, aviation, transportation, commerce, entertainment... Based on computer, people develop many other modern devices such as laptop, mobile phone, tablets...Computer is a really powerful machine.

3. Your favorite leisure activity for women/men My favorite leisure activity for men(women) is singing karaoke. A group of people sing and listen to one another. It makes people feel happy, comfortable, excited, relaxing. Anyone can join, sing without caring he or she is good at singing or not. Its funny and interesting when songs of different styles, languages, eras are sung by unprofessional singers. Thats why people often choose to go singing karaoke in many events such as Tet holiday, weekends, birthday parties

4. The advantages of living in the countryside In the countryside, houses are usually large with plenty of greenery, not surrounded by high building, factories...We can live in the midst of nature. So the air is very fresh and people there are healthier. People in the countryside usually start and finish working earlier than people in cities. Streets are not so crowded with vehicles. Thats why country life is more peaceful and quieter than city life. Housing, schooling and food demand is quite moderate and affordable for 1/9

normal people. People do not have to face with much pressure, enjoy normal life pace and healthy environment.

5. The disadvantages of living in the city In city, life is busier as a city is so wide and crowded that people have to spend a lot time on travelling, facing with noise, dust, ashes of vehicles which make people feel stressed and uncomfortable. Many people think it is unhealthy to live in a city as the space is limited, not much fresh air, restaurants and food suppliers, market often provide citizens with low-quality food. People are too busy to visit and talk to each other then relationships among people are not so strong. Another problem is high demand for houses, schools which pushes price of a house and number of school applications to increase and very few people can afford to buy a house or send their children to good schools. Living in the city can give people more job opportunities, but these disadvantages must be considered carefully.

6. Talk about your weekend activities At weekend, I often gather with family or my friends. After playing sports such as badminton, football, the winner of the game offers other people a lunch or dinner. Sometimes we cook a big meal at home or go to restaurant to celebrate the victory of the winner. We have chances to play sports, chat, have fun together, share our problems in life and help each other to solve problems and release stress. After each weekend, I feel I can refresh myself, recover my energy and get ready for the new week.

7. Talk about one of your hobbies One of my hobbies is reading books including detective story, funny story and history books and books about famous people. This activity helps me to relax, have fun, gain a lot of information, enlarge my knowledge, especially, detective story requires me to think, guess and predict events. When reading books about famous people, I can learn about their lives, achievements and also their failures. To some extents, I improve my skills and knowledge through those books and it will be helpful to me in my life. 8. The most interesting place you have been to The most interesting place I have been to is Singapore. It is small country but is the most developed one in South East Asia region. The city is clean, fresh and attractive with many entertaining places such as Disneyland, Esplanade the Great Theatre of every art performance, Sentosa Island. I could visit museum, modern cinema, theatres, zoos in Sentosa. I travelled to those places by bus quite easily and cheap. In Singapore, I could enjoy food from Malaysia, China, India and Western countries. 9. The importance of learning foreign languages Foreign lanaguages in general and English in particular are the means of expressing ideas, messages, reading materials, communicating with people from different countries and cultures. Now you can see that every product such as computer, hair dryer, washing machine we are using now has its information in multi-language such as Chinese, English, Arabic, French... If we know Chinese or English, we can know how to use it properly. When we go to famous 2/9

places even in Vietnam we also see the introduction in English, Chinese and French. At school and at work, we may meet foreign students, professors, clients or managers from various countries in the word. We can understand them clearly and work effectively with them in English or one of other popular languages in the world.

10. Ways to have a good health In my opinion, to have a good health, people should have a good schedule to manage time and their daily activities, ensuring that having meal and sleeping at the right time. Next, we should have a diverse, suitable menu for our meal with collection of vegetable, meat, seafood, fruit...I know our life is very busy, but however busy we are, we should spend some time, about 20 minutes a day taking exercises or playing sports. Lastly, to be sure that we really have good health, we should go to doctor periodically (nh k), every 6 months to check our health. If we have sickness we can have early treatment to protect our health.

11. Talk about your favorite television program My favorite television program is Discovery. Like its name, it is really a journey which helps viewer to explore every aspect of the life, from creature in nature, history, geography to peoples experience in life. Anything unclear in the world, Discovery researches and gives explanation. The program is very interesting when the scientific content is presented in an artistic and creative way. Its like watching a movie then viewers are impressed and remember the knowledge easily. Moreover, filming quality is so good that I always wonder why how producers, directors and camera men of the show can do that.

12. Talk about yout favourite sport My favorite sport is badminton. It can be a game between one or two couples and it does not take a long time to play one set then every player can join and come out of the game in a short time. The shuttlecock (qu cu) is small and flies over the net quickly then players have to focus highly on it to beat it exactly. This helps players improve their eyesight, reaction, speed. It is not only good for health but also strengthens relationship among players. I started play badminton when I was and I often play badminton with my friends when we have free time.

13. Talk about one of your close friends One of my close friends that Id like to talk about is.... We first met each other when we learned in the same class at .... She/he is smart, kind, sociable, enthusiastic. Though our personalities are so different, even inverse, but the most important thing is we trust and respect each other. Sometimes we have disagreements about some issues, we talk to each other straight forward and understand that there is no absolute, no right or wrong answer. It is just because we have different points of view. When I face with difficult decisions in my work or life, I often ask for his/her idea. Maybe she/he can not help me much, but I am still happy and feel confident to go ahead.

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14. Talk about your house The house which I am living in is the renting house. I do not own it but I am comfortable to live there. It is in ....District. It is about 20 meter square, 4 floors. The living room and kitchen share the same space on the first floor. 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms are on the second and third floor. My washing machine and some unused stuff are put on the fourth floor. Despite small area, we can arrange our furniture quite tidily. The only one thing I do not like about my house is that the space for taking exercise is limited. But it is not a big problem, I can play badminton at my company yard after work instead of taking excercise at home in the morning.

15. Talk about your job Now I am a lecturer at ....University. I like my job and I think it is a good choice for me. I am teaching ....This subject requires combination between theory and practice. My students often say it is a hard subject and I like to share my understanding with them. Working with students make me feel excited, energetic. Additionally, my colleages and managers also support me at work. Sometimes I move to branches of my department in provinces to teach students there. This change helps me refresh myself and I do not feel bored when working at the same place day by day.

15 writing topics
1. This is part of a letter you receive from an English friend I went to a live concert last night with my friends. It was great! Do you often go t live concerts? What kinds of music do you like listening to? Who is your favourie singer? Tell me about it. Dear... I am happy to receive your letter. I must say I really wish I had chance to go to live concert with you. Because I rarely have chance to be there. It must have been exciting, right? Option 1: I like Rock music and often listen to this kind of music. Rock music has some sub-styles such as Metal Rock, Hard Rock, Alternative and Ballad Rock... I like Hard Rock, Alternative and Ballad Rock a lot. The sound of drum and electronic guitar make me excited and relaxing. My favorite Rock band is Scorpion from Germany. I listened to them very long time ago and I fell in love with them at the first time I listened to the song Still loving you. This song is still famous now and has attracted millions of people in the world since its first launch in 1984. I like Klaus Meines voice. He is the lead singer of the band. He has strong, high and powerful voice at the age of 60s. If you have never listened to the song or Scorpions, I suggest that you should do. I would be glad if you also like them. Option 2: I like modern Vietnamese music because the rymth, beat and words of those songs are young and easy to remember. Though many people say that quality of current songs are not so good but I can find some quite worth to listening. Among many young and new singers, I like .....most. He/she has a good and emotional voice, special style of music and performance on stage. Most of his/her songs are successful and covered by other singers. Many of my friends choose his/her 4/9

songs to sing when we go to karaoke. If you have never listened to his/her music, you can search on internet and enjoy. I would be glad if you also like him/her.

2. This is part of a letter you receive from an English friend We had dinner at a new restaurant yesterday. It was great! How often do you eat out? What s your favourite restaurant like? Dear... I am happy to receive your letter. I think you had a good time at a restaurant yesterday. I often go to restaurant every month and my most favorite restaurant is Sen. It is a chain of some restaurants, located at different districts in Hanoi. The restaurant offers buffet to customers with a wide range of food from seafood to meat and vegetable, from Western to Easten food of particular countries in the world. Therefore, people can easily find suitable food for themselves. The food is delicious, clean, diverse, staff are nice and well-dressed with traditional clothes of Vietnam. The restaurant is spacious, elegant, tidy and looks like a French-style villa. If you have a birthday party there, the restaurant staff serve you a beautiful birthday cake and plays a live piece of music for you. When you come to Hanoi next time, I will bring you to Sen restaurant and offer you some traditional Vietnamese food. I am sure you will find it interesting when spending time here.

3. This is part of a letter you receive from an English friend. In your next letter, tell me about a teacher from your past that you remember. It was great to get your letter. Now back to your question. The teacher who influenced me most is my English teacher at my primary school. It was in my six grade when she moved to my school. She was a middle-aged woman with big eyes and gender smile. She was kindhearted and treated everyone equally in the class. She applied many method to encourage us to answer questions and discuss our own views with her. My passion to study seems to be promoted and I took up my interest into English. The breakthrough took place after an English competition. Actually I did not want to participate in it at first but she persuaded me and said I had good chances to display my talents. I was convinced and the result was incredible, I won the first place in the contest! That was the first time I got a sense of fulfillment. No doubt the first person I should thank was my English teacher. By the way, do you have good time at your Japanese class? Please tell me about it. I am looking forward to hearing from you.

4. This is part of a letter you receive from an English friend. You went to a party last weedkend, didnt you? Did you have a good time there? Tell me about that party! It was great to get your letter. Last weekend I had a blast at the alumni party of my university. As you know, I have left my university for 4 years. It was happy to meet ex-students of my department and classmates again. We talked a lot about our current jobs, lives and about funny memories we had during the time we studied. We felt proud of new students at our department as they were dynamic, active and smart. They showed us their talents in some dancing and art 5/9

performances at the party. We danced, sung, told funny stories and played games together in a very friendly atmosphere. After the party, I had contacts of many other alumni students of my department and who knows they could be my client or partners in my future network. I am happy to hear that you will go to Vietnam this summer. Please tell me more about your plan. I am looking forward to hearing from you. Cheers,

5. This is part of a letter you receive from an English friend. Its so wet here, can you describe the weather in your country? Whats the weather like at the moment? What outdoor activities are you able to do at this time of the year? Tell me about it. Dear . It was great to get your letter. Now back to your question, there are 3 regions in Viet Nam: North, South and Centre. The weather is different among these regions. In the North, there are 4 seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. In winter and spring, it is quite cold but in summer it is too hot that I do not want to travel at all. In South and Centre, there are only dry and rainy seasons and the lowest temperature is about 20, except for some forestry areas like Tay nguyen and Da Lat. Now, it is the autumn in Hanoi so the weather is cooler and more comfortable than June and July. The temperature varies from 24 to 33 Celcius degree. The level of humidity, cool breeze, soft sunlight and clear blue sky make Hanoi become so romantic and beautiful. In September, Hanoi proudly celebrates National Independence day and Mid Autumn Festival. During this time, many big events are organized around the city so you can go to walking streets, Hoan Kiem Lake to take photos of beautiful star-shaped lights, moon cake and colorful flags. I am happy to hear that you will go to Vietnam in the next few months. Please tell me more about your plan. I am looking forward to hearing from you. Best regards,

6. This is part of a letter you receive from an English friend Im glad you like your job. In your next letter, tell me about it! Dear... Thanks for your letter. I changed my job 3 months ago. Now I am a lecturer at ....University. I like my job and I think it is a good choice for me. I am teaching ....This subject requires combination between theory and practice. My students often say it is a hard subject and I like to share my understanding with them. I suggest them to read textbook and other sources of documents on internet. Because there are many images, information and practice on internet but not printed on textbook. Working with students make me feel excited, energetic. Additionally, my colleages and managers also support me at work. Sometimes I move to branches of my department in provinces to teach students there. I often go to Quang Ning province which is 6/9

located near the sea. This change helps me refresh myself, have short break at the sea and I do not feel bored when working at the same place day by day. I am happy to hear that you will go to Vietnam in the next few months. Please tell me more about your plan. I am looking forward to hearing from you.

7. This is part of a letter you receive from an English friend Could you give me some advice? Im going to spend my next summer holiday in your country. Where should i go? What should i see?

8. This is part of a letter you receive from an English friend Ive just seen a brilliant program about dolphins on TV. Which programs have you enjoyed recently ? How much TV do you watch? (Football)

9. This is part of a letter you receive from an English friend I know you often go to the cinema. Tell me about the last film you saw and whether you enjoyed it.

10. This is part of a letter you receive from an English friend In your next letter , could you give me some advice? Tell me how you keep fit and healthy! Thanks for your letter. As you know, the most precious asset of one person is health. Do you think that in such a busy life, it is challenging to keep fit and healthy? To have a good health, I try to follow a schedule which I set up to manage time and my daily activities, ensuring that having meal and sleeping at the right time. Next, I often have a diverse, suitable menu for my meal with collection of vegetable, meat, seafood, fruit...Of course, we can not feel like eating if our food is the same day by day, right? However busy I am, I usually spend some time, about 20 minutes a day taking exercises or playing sports. Nowadays, living environment is not so fresh, people easily get sick. I also watch TV and update information on internet about some popular diseases to have proper protection. Luckily, my father is a physician so he helps me to check my health regularly so I can have early treatment to protect my health if I have sickness. Hopefully you always stay healthy and visit me soon. I am looking forward to hearing from you.

11. This is part of a letter you receive from an English friend Im glad you like learning English. Your teacher sounds really nice- and your friends do too! Tell me all about your English classes Dear..,

Thank you for your letter. I have learned English for a long time and still like learning this language. I am attending pronunciation class. Perhaps this is funnies and the most exciting class I have ever learned. Previously I learned much grammar, theory, very little practice. My pronunciation teacher is from England. She is enthusiastic, kind and helps us much with 7/9

correcting our mistakes. She shows us many effective tips to pronounce exactly. My classmates are also helpful to me. Some are better at pronunciation than me and they are also ready to help me with practicing. We work in group and each group prepares one or two short conversations in English and try to record and correct mistakes for each other. I am like a child learning to speak and I feel I am improving day by day. I am happy to hear that you will go to Vietnam in the next few months. Please tell me more about your plan. I am looking forward to hearing from you.

12. This is part of a letter you receive from an English friend I know you ve just come back from holiday. Tell me about the holiday and whether you enjoyed it! Thanks for your letter. I came back from my holiday to Singapore last week. It was one of the most interesting and exciting holiday that I really need to share with you. Singapore is small country but it is the most developed one in South East Asia region. The city, also the whole country, is very clean, fresh and attractive with many entertaining places such as Disneyland, Esplanade the Great Theatre of every art performance, Sentosa Island. I could visit museum, modern cinema, theatres, zoos, colorful garden in Sentosa. I travelled to those places by bus quite easily and cheap. In Singapore, I enjoyed food from Malaysia, China, India and Western countries and mixture of different cultural beauties. We spent five days and four nights in Singapore, stayed at a small but comfortable hotel. I would say this holiday was value for money and I like to come back one day. I am happy to hear that you will go to Vietnam in the next few months. Please tell me more about your plan. I am looking forward to hearing from you.

13. This is part of a letter you receive from an English friend I know you often play sports at weedkends. Whats your favorite sport? Tell me about it!

14. This is part of a letter you receive from an English friend In your last letter , you said you had some close friends. Tell me about one of your close friends! Dear... It is nice to get your letter. Both of us agree that friends are important treasures in our lives. One of my close friends that I would like to tell you is.... We first met each other when we learned in the same class at primary/secondary school. She/he is smart, kind, sociable, enthusiastic. Though our personalities are so different, even inverse, but the most important thing is we trust and respect each other. Sometimes we have disagreements about some issues, we talk to each other straight forward and understand that there is no absolute, no right or wrong answer. It is just because we have different points of view. When I face with difficult decisions in my work or life, I often ask for his/her idea. Maybe she/he can not help me much, but I am still happy and feel confident to go ahead. 8/9

I am also happy that you are one of my friends and we share with each other many issues in life. Hope to see you soon.

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