Lesson 11

PEACH BLOSSOM
- The entire Xuan Du commune currently has 125 hectares of peach
trees. Peach growing here has a long history, many families thanks to
growing peaches have escaped poverty and become rich quickly. But
this year, due to erratic weather and a leap month, the peaches bloomed
early, not in time for the Lunar New Year. By the end of January, about
70 - 80% of peach trees in Xuan Du commune were in full bloom
and could not be sold during Tet.
- Ms. Nguyen Thi Hanh said her family has about 300 peach trees,
but around mid-January, all the peach trees in the garden are in full
bloom. "Peaches bloom too early. If this happens, there won't be many
flowers left during the Lunar New Year this year. Even if peach
traders and buyers buy them, they will pay cheap prices, or not
buy them at all."
- Mr. Hoang Khac Loi said: "My family has nearly 500 peach trees
planted for 3 years, and planned to sell them this Tet to get money to
repair the house, but I didn't expect them to bloom so early.
Interpretation & Translation 1
Maybe this time around Tet, we won't be able to sell many trees." Also
according to Mr. Loi, although peach growing is a traditional profession
But taking care of and "controlling" peach trees to bloom as desired
is very difficult, everything depends on the weather.
- Many longtime peach growers in this peach "capital" said that in the
past 10 years, every year there have been trees blooming early, but they
have never seen as many blooms as this year. Standing in the middle
of a peach garden with fallen flowers, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Binh sadly
said: "There were also a few people who came to ask to buy peaches,
but when they saw that the peaches were blooming so profusely and
the flowers fell all over the garden, they hesitated to answer whether to
buy them or not. At this time, like every year, many traders and
miners come to place orders, but this year it is very quiet." Mr. Hoang
Ngoc Son, Vice Chairman of Xuan Du Commune People's Committee,
said local peach growers will lose revenue this year because up to
now, about 70 - 80% of peaches have bloomed.
- “Many families wait 3-4 years to have a peach garden old enough to
sell to spend money for Tet and make ends meet. But this year the peaches
bloomed early, even if they sold them they sold them cheap, or they
were left until next year. Many families' plans to sell peaches were postponed
because they bloomed unusually early. We also advise people that,
even though peaches bloom early, they should choose which trees
can be sold and sell them. If the trees are too cheap, they should wait
until next year, or produce fruit to use as seedlings," Mr. Son said.
Source: Today's knowledge
Lesson 12
Real Estate
Experts assess that the strong increase of the middle
class will bring many opportunities to the real estate
market.
Deputy Managing Director of Savills Vietnam, Troy
Griffiths, said that developing countries with a growing
middle class, typically Vietnam, have brought investors
many opportunities in the housing market. . This is
the emerging rich class, a group of young people with
high, stable income and the ability to pay for
real estate. Strong growth of the middle class in the
This country also goes hand in hand with strong investment in infrastructure
traffic. Mr. Troy Griffiths explained, this is a need
development is inevitable because of the income source of households
increasingly high, the number of cars is larger, putting pressure on the system
traffic systems in cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City,
forcing these urban areas to invest in infrastructure.
- Savills Vietnam leaders assess that, in addition to infrastructure, capital
for public transportation in developing cities is also allowed to be
socialized as a potential solution in Southeast Asia. Typically, new metro
lines have been and will open up opportunities for a series of real estate
projects.
- Meanwhile, PhD student in Economics at Oxford
University, Linda Yueh, said that the development of the middle
class in emerging economies is creating an unprecedented
source of demand. for the housing market; At the same
time, this source of demand also extends to office real
estate.
- Besides the growth of the middle class, technology
is also said to be having a major influence on
the real estate market and this impact will continue in
the next decade. In its research on real estate
growth, Savills said that this industry needs to respond
quickly to the pace of urbanization, migration
trends and climate change.
- The future may have many unusual factors and experts'
opinions on the real estate market in the next decade
may differ, but one point of agreement is the market
Interpretation & Translation 1
- Real estate is changing every day. Economic and
social changes, especially demographics and the strong
growth of the middle class, will have a profound
impact on the real estate market. Savills predicts
that the next decade will be the time when new
types of real estate develop and perform better,
outperforming traditional types of real estate.
Vu Le, Source: VNEXPRESS
Interpretation & Translation 1
ministries, branches: departments
listing: listing
positive results: promising results
"greasing" cost: greasing cost, to grease one's palm

Lesson 13
150 businesses
The report of the Enterprise Development Board shows that the
number of state-owned enterprises has decreased sharply, from
more than 6,000 enterprises in 2011, there are now more than 500
enterprises, including 7 business groups. economy, 57 state corporations,
441 independent enterprises.
Enterprises with 100% charter capital held by the State are only
present in 11 industries and fields (in 2001 there were 60
industries and fields), focusing on key industries and fields,
providing products and services. Essential services for society,
national defense and security. It is expected that by 2020, there
will only be about 150 state-owned enterprises left in the
country. After equitization, most state-owned enterprises operate
effectively.

Mr. Nguyen Hong Long said that this year, there are 69
state-owned enterprises approved for equitization,
including very large state-owned enterprises, over 1,000
billion VND. This year alone, the value of State capital in
equitized enterprises was redefined as 160,083 billionInterpretation &
VND, 6.34 times higher than the total value of State capital
in 2017.
80% of state-owned enterprises are profitable
Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue said that compared
to before, the number of profitable businesses has increased, of
which over 80% of state-owned enterprises are profitable while
in 2019 there were only about 30%.
Divestment of State capital in an enterprise at 15.52 times the book
value is an unprecedented number, of which the divestment at Sabeco
alone brings a value of 32 times the face value, achieving maximum
benefits. "All proceeds from capital sales are put into the state budget
to serve development investment, the Government is not allowed to
use a single penny," the Deputy Prime Minister affirmed.
Besides the above positive results, the Deputy Prime Minister also pointed
out a number of limitations, the most obvious of which is that the results
achieved are uneven, some ministries and branches are still slow to equitize, and
many places are afraid of making mistakes. Many state-owned enterprises
have been equitized but still refuse to list, even though they meet the
conditions. The number of active businesses is still far from the target of 1
million effective businesses by 2025. "Financial costs of businesses are still
high, not to mention hidden costs, "lubrication costs", unofficial costs. "The
health of businesses is still not like this Rest assured," the Deputy Prime
Minister worried.
Enterprise Development Board: Enterprise Development Board
State-owned enterprise: State-owned enterprise (SOE) corporation: corporation,
holding (multi-industry corporation)
Lesson 14
Story of Survival
- The book "Vietnam Today - The Story of Making
a Living" by Dr. Gerald Sasgas includes 67 interviews he
conducted with Vietnamese people of all occupations
and ages about work, life and the desire to move
forward.
- The book helps readers gain a deeper insight
into life in Vietnam today, where ordinary
people are trying their best from dawn to dusk to
have a better life for themselves.
- The interviews in this book were conducted according
to the author's curriculum while instructing
the University of California's Foreign Education
Program in Vietnam.
- Dr. Gerard Sasges came to Vietnam in 2000 to begin
researching his PhD thesis in history at the University of
California at Berkeley. Two years later, he was appointed director
of this Program at the University of California, a position he
liked so much that he did not leave for the next 10 years.
Then, during the teaching process, he gathered students and
organized the project: Living Stories, from which he
gathered interviews and articles to produce this book.
- a living" The title of the book is attractive in its simplicity,
but its content is majestic, very clear about the socio-
economic classes in Vietnam. Articles The diverse interviews
and honesty in the words of the interviewed characters
make the book very impressive and useful.
 - The most important message of this book is that
every profession is equally meaningful, from
waste picker, to farmer, to advertising executive, all
with the aim of having a better life.
“A year or two of living in a country doesn't make
anyone an expert. But a decade is fine. Ten
years of living in one locality, with joys, sorrows,
despair, and hopes. During that time, a person
will live, love, and lose, not just once. And if that
person has eyes that are always observing, a heart
- Always understanding, that person becomes an expert. Clearly,
"Vietnam Today - The Story of Making a Living" is the
best work about Vietnam that I have read in a decade," said
Andrew X. Pham - an engineer at the University of
California at Los Angeles (UCLA). ) comment.

Lesson 15
Dai Lanh
The lighthouse at Dai Lanh cape (Phu Yen) is considered
the easternmost point on the mainland of the country.
With the desire to be one of the people on land to welcome
the first sunlight of a new day, we carried our backpacks
and set out. Arriving
in Tuy Hoa city after a night of sleeping in the car, both
The group spent a whole day exploring the beautiful young
city with straight roads and neat rows of houses. The hexagonal-
shaped rocks are arranged together to form a strange and
extremely special stone shelf amidst the blue water and
blue sky of Da Dia Reef. Mang Lang stone church is quiet
in a green space. O Loan Lagoon is so green that you can
see all the way to the bottom of the seafood cages... our
whole tour group was mesmerized by the splendid
scenery. After lunch, the group returned to Tuy Hoa and
headed to Dai Lanh. Standing on the lighthouse in Dai Lanh,
we thought we would be the first to welcome the dawn
of a new day. There was no food service, so we asked a
local resident to cook and 12 "strangers" asked the lighthouse
keepers to let us stay overnight to wait for the sun. Staying
at the "thousand stars" hotel, we waited for the sun. Light
is a feeling that is not always possible. Sometimes when you
open your eyes, you notice a sky of stars and a moonlight
on the top of the lighthouse.
Afraid of losing the first rays of the new day, no one
No one told me, we simultaneously set the alarm for 4:30.
As soon as the bell rang, everyone sat on the wall of the sea
posted, eyes watching the horizon waiting. The horizon is tinted
a blue color, in the distance are the lights of fishing boats
night.
The sky gradually turned pink, then orange, then red, then dark cheered as the
first sunlight escaped the cloud cover. The
sunrise that comes to us is also the time when the national
flag flies. The bottle of champagne was opened, like a
cheer for this moment... The happy moment was just over
5 minutes, the sun seemed to rise incredibly fast, and
in an instant the whole lighthouse was flooded with
sunlight.
At 6 a.m., the sun was high in the sky. Saying goodbye to the
lighthouse, we went down to the beach at the foot of the mountain,
continuing the trip with the happy feelings of those welcoming the first
sunlight on the mainland of the Fatherland...
Interpretation & Translation 1

Lesson 16
Elective subjects
Subjects at all three levels are divided into compulsory and
elective groups. Elective subjects include 3 types: Optional electives,
electives within subject groups or electives within
subjects.
On the afternoon of August 5, the Ministry of Education and
Training announced the draft General Education Program. The system of
subjects is designed to ensure content and qualifications suitable for each
level of education; Compatible with subjects from many countries around
the world.
The name of each subject is named after the subject in the current curriculum,
with adjustments to best reflect the
educational content. Therefore, the name of a subject can change
at each level.
Interpretation & Translation 1
Students will be able to choose their own subjects in the new school
year.
In high school, to harmonize vocational studies with
comprehensive studies, Social Sciences along with Physics,
Chemistry, and Biology will be for students studying
natural sciences. Natural Sciences along with History and
Geography will be for students studying social sciences;
At the same time, students can also choose appropriate
study topics.
Subjects at all three levels are divided into compulsory and
elective groups. Elective subjects include 3 types: Optional
electives, students can choose or not (TC1); elective in the
subject group: students are forced to choose one or several subjects
in the subject group according to regulations in the program
(TC2); elective in a subject: students are forced to choose some
content in a subject (TC3). Guided self-study is the time
when students study on their own in class (to replace self-study
at home) with the help of a teacher. This activity is only
available in elementary classes taking the above 2 sessions
day.
The career-oriented education stage (high school level) has 4
compulsory subjects including Literature 1, Mathematics 1, Citizenship with
the Fatherland, Foreign Language 1. In addition to compulsory
subjects, students are free to choose: Optional elective (TC1) including
Scientific and Technical Research, Foreign
Language 2. According to the draft, in all high school levels, students
Students can change elective subjects and elective study
topics but are required to complete a minimum number
of subjects and study topics as prescribed in the
educational program. The program spends some time creating
conditions for students to make this change. The
organization
of elective teaching is based on student needs
Nguyen Duc Chau 127
Interpretation & Translation 1
students and in the teaching conditions of the school.
The school can invite guest teachers to teach, send students to
study at neighboring schools.... to meet the students' needs
for elective learning. Therefore, this may vary between
schools and localities; For each school, next year may be
different from last year because the more the school
develops, the better it can meet the needs of students for
elective learning. The draft also clearly states that a school
year has 35 weeks of actual learning (including 32 weeks of
learning national content and 3 weeks for local educational
content). The content of compulsory subjects and the
contents of TC2 and TC3 are allocated compulsory education
time for all students in the education plan. TC1 content does
not allocate mandatory educational time for all students in
the education plan.
Lan Ha (According to Vnexpress.net Newspaper)

mandatory: compulsory
elective: elected
optional: optional elective
Ministry of Education and Training: Ministry of Education & Training
(MOET)
draft: draft
compatible: compatible
to be harmonious: to be harmonious
comprehensive: comprehensive
Profession: vocational
Elective major: elective major
Nguyen Duc Chau 128
Interpretation & Translation 1

Lesson 17
Vietnamese culture
Artists dressing offensively, artistic values being
overlooked, lack of culture in behavior... are
phenomena that show that Vietnamese culture is changing
rapidly. .
Lack of cultural knowledge caused the So
Pagoda national monument to be destroyed.
A series of information about violations in destroying
monuments without understanding the Heritage Law such as the
case of the Hundred Gian Pagoda, So Pagoda... appeared in
the mass media, but the violations continued. performance,
making public opinion angry and cultural researchers
sad. A series of music disaster clips appeared online, but
caused a large number of online communities to support...
showing that the audience's tastes are going down, or they want
to find something strange, new, even Strangely, that new thing
has no quality, and even destroys art.
Although there are regulations prohibiting it, many singers and
models Interpretation & Translation 1
still dressed excessively provocatively when performing, causing offense
on stage and being objected to by the audience. When punished by
the authorities, he expressed dissatisfaction and did not admit that he
had made a mistake.
In a program on VTV3 channel of Vietnam Television,
the band members innocently used the Pieu scarf,
which is the head scarf of Thai ethnic women, and is a
cultural symbol of the Thai people to play. ... loincloth,
making the audience, especially Thai ethnic
people, extremely angry...
These are just evidences that awareness of cultural
values, as well as cultural behavior in Vietnam,
are seriously changing, becoming a worrying
problem in life.
A cultural researcher had to exclaim that the lifestyle of Vietnamese
people now is very different from before. What is worth
mentioning is that this difference is not because there are many new,
good and beautiful features, but mainly because there are too
many bad things, especially the degradation of today's lifestyle.
According to Professor Ngo Duc Thinh, one of the causes of
moral degradation is mainly economic and social. When society
overemphasizes economic development and disregards cultural
values, the value system will inevitably change.
Some other researchers believe that the transition to a market
economy and globalization has led to a decline in lifestyle,
loss of good values, and Vietnamese culture is becoming
dependent on the world. into foreign culture among teenagers...
In response to many comments expressing concern about
the change of culture, I don't know where Vietnamese culture will go
Where, and what do young people need to do to preserve Vietnamese culture...
Professor
Ngo Duc Thinh said that Vietnam has gone through three cultures
culture, is Dong Son culture, Dai Viet culture and culture
Modern Vietnam. Although modern Vietnamese culture is still Interpretation &
is still in the process of rearranging, but we should not be too
pessimistic about the future of Vietnamese culture. Professor Ngo Duc
Thinh affirmed that he is not worried about Vietnamese culture being
lost or being crushed by foreign culture. He also believes that Vietnamese
culture is finding a way to return to its original culture and that
the young generation will be the owners of that modern Vietnamese
culture.
In the opinion of some cultural researchers, society
needs strong propaganda against bad habits that are forming,
schools and families need to teach more about
communication culture and behavior. Every parent needs to be a
shining example for their children to follow. Besides
teaching knowledge, schools need to focus on moral training
for young people to comprehensively develop Vietnamese
people. This will contribute to making Vietnamese
culture a bright spot in the eyes of friends around the world.

Lesson 18
Tan Son Nhat fights traffic jams
On the afternoon of February 2, working with Tan Son Nhat
International Airport on serving the Lunar New Year, Deputy
Minister of Transport (MOT) Le Dinh Tho noted that Tan Son
Nhat airport is always a "hot spot". "At this time, special
attention is needed.
"There must be reasonable coordination of takeoff and landing
times, organizing night flights on peak days to reduce pressure during
the day," Mr. Tho asked the Ho Chi Minh City Department of
Transport to increase buses and announce routes. program to let
people know when making night flights.
Mr. Tho also requested airlines to minimize
flight delays and specifically Interpretation & Translation 1
planes take off and land to avoid the situation of passengers
waiting or gathering in large numbers to say goodbye...
On peak days, airlines must increase their guiding force.
"When traffic congestion occurs, immediately notify from afar
to limit vehicles from rushing to the airport," Mr. Tho
said. Deputy Minister Le Dinh Tho also reminded about the
service attitude of airport staff towards passengers. "I
request Tan Son Nhat leaders to seriously rectify the situation.
Bad employees who affect the brand should be dismissed
immediately."
This year's Lunar New Year is estimated to have 4.1 million passengers passing
through Tan Son Nhat airport, an increase of 25% over the same period
last year. Accordingly, the number of take-offs and landings at the airport
also increased by about 20%, reaching nearly 26,300 flights.
"February 21 (the 6th day of Tet) is forecast to be the peak
with 971 flights per day," Mr. Mau said. The frequency
of Tet flights of domestic airlines is also expected to
increase by 15%, with more than 134,000 passengers per
day.
Mr. Mau expressed concern about congestion on Truong Son
Street and the area in front of National Station. However, his unit
"The police station will coordinate with relevant units to regulate vehicles
entering the two parking lots at the airport," the airport representative
said, adding that these two parking lots can hold 500-700 cars, so they
can solve the problem. Solve traffic jams.

Lesson 19
Land price warning
Not only has fraud flourished in real estate buying and selling, recently
there has also been the phenomenon of "inflating" land prices, causing
the market to be shaken by land fever.
Interpretation & Translation 1
Dealers and land brokers use many tricks to push up land
prices
According to the assessment of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee,
in the city there is a phenomenon of speculators manipulating and
giving false information about real estate projects and then pushing
up prices, exploiting psychological factors of transfer to gain profit.
difference, leading to a sudden increase in the transaction value of
these types of real estate, in some places up to 70% over the same period
last year. This is not true to the product value, not consistent with the
progress of completing the project's technical and social infrastructure
systems as well as the ongoing urban infrastructure system of Ho Chi Minh
City.

Having participated in "inflating" land prices, Mr. Nam, an investor in Ho

Chi Minh City, admitted that land prices have increased "hotly" in recent
times, partly due to the developing economy and strong money
flowing into the market, but also due to The hands of "land brokers". Taking
advantage of the hot market, these people continuously hoard goods and
push up prices, causing land prices to skyrocket. There was a period
when, in one day, a piece of land increased in price several times. Mr.
Nam took an example from himself, buying a 2,500 m2 plot of land on Binh
My Street (Cu Chi, Ho Chi Minh City) for more than 900 million VND,
immediately after that someone paid the difference of 100 million VND.
Mr. Nam sold a plot of land for over 1 billion VND. On the same day, the
land was transferred for 1.2 billion VND and after only 4 transfers,
the land price increased to 8 billion VND.
“The recent increase in land prices does not reflect the true value. Many
plots of land are just abandoned agricultural land and located in very
remote areas with no commercial market value but have increased
sharply due to land purchases such as buying vegetables or buying regardless
of price by speculators. Land prices increased mainly because
speculators transferred them to each other. Because it is speculation, they push
up the selling price to make a difference, surf the market but
have no need for long-term investment," Mr. Nam
said. According to Mr. Dinh Duy Trinh, General Director of Joint Stock
Company, the current situation of "inflating" land prices is not only
in suburban districts but also in inner-city districts where real estate
prices are also manipulated. Recently, the City announced the relocation
of the cemetery, taking advantage of this to push land prices up,
or Tuan Chau Group proposed a riverside boulevard, immediately land
prices in Districts 2, 9, Thu Duc or Cu Chi skyrocketed. . The reason
this happens is because middlemen and land brokers connect with
some local officials to push prices up. “Currently, land prices in
many places have cooled down and have subsided. However, localities
also need to have fundamental solutions, cannot use administrative
orders to suppress land prices," Mr. Trinh suggested.
Interpretation & Translation 1
Lesson 20
RAISING Pheasants

Fate brought Mr. Hanh to pheasant farming in 2015. When

he went online to learn how to earn extra income, Mr. Hanh
felt "connected" to the pheasant farming model: it brings
both high economic efficiency and requires little care.
Wanting to try his hand at this animal, he went to the North,
found reputable pheasant farmers to buy 50 breeds to
raise.
At first, due to not mastering farming techniques, Mr. Hanh
continuously encountered failures. More than half of the animals
died due to sudden changes in habitat. Not giving up, he went to
successful pheasant farms to learn from experience; At the
same time, read more books and newspapers, search for information
online about how to raise birds. Thanks to the application
of scientific methods, his flock of pheasants gradually
adapted to living conditions in the West and grew healthily.
Currently, Mr. Hanh has built a clean 100 m² barn that does
not pollute the environment. After only 3 years, from 20
surviving breeds, his herd of red and green pheasants increased
to 400. Hanh sells 1-day-old pheasants for 40,000 VND/
bird, 1-month-old pheasants for 100,000 VND/bird and
commercial birds for 240,000 VND/kg. Thanks to that, he earns over
300 million VND each year.
Stable output
According to Mr. Hanh, pheasants are inherently wild species, so
farmers need to master techniques to achieve high efficiency. Birds rarely
get sick, if they do it is usually lung disease and Ecoli disease is
quite easy to treat. The birdhouse is fenced with B40 mesh, the roof is
covered with corrugated iron to prevent birds from flying out, and there
are tree branches for the birds to perch on; The barn is always clean
and disease free. Pheasants' food is similar to that of chickens, including
bran mixed with corn, rice, vegetables... In particular, pheasants eat
very little. If 200 1-week-old chickens consume 10 kg of food per day,
200 pheasants only consume 3 - 4 kg of food.
Currently, pheasant output is quite stable. Not only customers
in the city. Can Tho, but provinces such as An Giang, Bac Lieu,
Soc Trang, Ho Chi Minh City... also come to the farm he ordered.
In the near future, Mr. Hanh will expand the farm, increase
the number, import seven-colored pheasants, sell breeds, and
provide technical support for raising local people. “With the same care
time and the same food cost, raising pheasants can bring much
higher economic value than conventional poultry. Therefore, if
you know how to invest properly, raising pheasants can completely
help people have a good source of income," Mr. Hanh shared.
shall.