e-magazine 7
TRANSCRIPT
Dear colleagues and students, E-magazine has been more than a tradition to teachers and students in ULIS. It has become our joy and pleasure to write, publish and read each and every issue of ULIS’ E-magazine, where the events in our university are updated, where the personal and sincere thoughts of freshmen are shared, and many more. This issue is no exception to that. You will find out more about the life of 1st year students and their feelings after spending one year together in our ULIS family. Useful tips for better studying are also passed around in this informative magazine. And some of the readers may even find yourself somewhere between the pages. If you notice, there seems to be a lot of cute monkeys dangling, jumping around, and having fun in this issue of E-magazine. Can you guess? Well, the magazine is all dedicated to our dear freshmen – the fresh monkeys. We hope your time in ULIS will be full of fun, life-time lessons and happy moments. Best regards, Board of Editors
IN THIS ISSUE
Events of the month ULIS’s got talents Miss E18 Teacher’s Corner The Vision My Very First Garden Voices of Freshmen Roommates A Death… Invisible Development Q&A Info box Useful Sources to Learn English Tips for Effective English Learning Fun Corner
I find this competition very exciting. It
is a good chance for every student in ULIS
to show their abilities. It organizes various
useful activities for students. It helps
students discover their own special
abilities. This competition makes
everyone understand that students in
ULIS are not only good at foreign
languages but they are also endowed with
special and unique talents. After the
competition, the most important thing, I
think, is that students are self-aware of
their values as well as their strengths.
Dam Thi Lan – 10E15
My class is an interesting group because we always know
how to create happy, funny and friendly memories together.
Particularly, an event has recently been organized especially
for the girls in the class - The women’s day 8/3. We had
unforgettable impromptu performances that the actresses
had not prepared in advance but still performed greatly in our
special Miss E18 Contest. They had to demonstrate their
talents to be the winner, and the highest title was given to a
lovely girl. Although there was only one winner in the contest,
we found that all of the contestants were almost equally
talented with excellent performances which brought us
surprising and fascinating moments, so it was really hard for
us to choose the winner. We had such a great time enjoying
the Contest and laughing together. We realized that each
person in our class has their own hidden strengths that need
to be discovered, so there definitely should be more
occasions like this for us to better understand ourselves and
others around us. I believe that organizing such activities is
not too hard for students in our class in particular and in ULIS
in general because many of us are active and confident
youngsters.
Nguyen Kim Phuong - 10E18
Since a kindergartener, I had
always fantasized about the
vision of becoming a teacher.
Standing in front of the whole
class of students looking at
you with innocent and
trusting eyes—that must be
really proud. I used to play the
teaching game all by myself
with pieces of chalk picked up
after class, and the tiny
shabby board Dad brought
home for me so as to keep me
from wandering the
neighborhood all day. Back
then, my only student was the
rag doll; and the timeworn
electric fan was the devoted
teaching assistant I had. I was
comforted with just that; and
the flame of passion was
started that way.
The passion maintained till I
got into high school. During
that time, I also had my own
class with little kids from the
same hamlet, which only
lasted for three or four
lessons before our schedules
clashed. My major started
with Mathematics, then
switched to Literature, and
finally English when I got
accepted into the English
specialized class at high
school. Whatever the major
was, never had I doubted I
would become a teacher in
the future.
With that unblemished vision,
I entered the fast-track class
at the Faculty of English
Language Teacher Education,
College of Foreign Languages
(as its former name), Vietnam
National University. It must
be the most motivating
environment I have ever been
in, though everything did not
start with such positive
feelings. Being a timid
provincial girl who was not
able to make a decent
utterance in English, I got
quickly intimidated by other
classmates and had a nasty
fright for speaking in front of
the whole class who, in my
eyes at that time, were just as
sophisticated as native
speakers. It took me as long as
two years in college to
overcome the initial
complexes and redefine my
characteristics; and it was not
until my junior year that I
made significant leaps in both
self-confidence and charisma.
I became more confident and
proud of my capability than
ever before, to the extent of
being somehow self-centered.
Not surprisingly, this marked
the point when I began having
second thoughts about my
future career.
Attracted by a wider range of
opportunities which would
enable me to freely challenge
myself in more promising
environments, I began to
think of teaching as a boring
and repetitive job which
would only constrict self-
development. Throughout
that time, doing business,
organizing events, meeting
people, earning money and
getting around seemed much
more attractive alternatives to
teaching, as they would give
more grounds for me to prove
myself. And so, I swayed back
and forth between ideas.
Seriously, who does not for
once in their life? I even went
as far as applying for a Master
program in Business
Management, so that I could
switch my major after
graduating.
Life is full of interesting
coincidences; and one of them
is that I found myself revived
again, by the teaching job
itself. I came to realize that
teaching is not all about you,
but about what you can do to
help others. With that in
mind, working with people
would never be boring, and
you yourself can be greatly
inspired by those you need to
inspire in return. Up till now,
having been teaching large
classes for over half a year, all
I must say is that I have
matured a lot along the way.
It became so big an
encouragement for me to
know how much my words
influence my students, how
much they look up to me and
how significant the bond
between us means to both
sides. They would say in great
attitude, “Thank you teacher,
we are so blessed to have met
you,” though it is me who
should be grateful for their
appreciation. Isn’t it a blissful
thing to be able to stand in
front of a class with all
attentive and trusting eyes
and to know that they all
appreciate your existence? I
have realized that there is no
greater feeling in the world
than to help others achieve
their goals. It feels even more
thrilling than when you
achieve your own; or in my
case, when I was given the
title of Overachiever for my
accomplishment in high
school. So formidable is the
power of helping people I’ve
never seen before! After all,
isn’t living about others and
not just about yourself? More
importantly, there are always
people supervisors, senior
teachers, and even students
themselves - who help me
realize how sufficient as a
teacher I am, thus could never
stop improving myself to live
up to others’ expectation.
Indeed, there is never enough
room for self-development in
becoming a good teacher.
Interestingly enough, the
childhood vision of mine has
become clearer than ever.
From my own experience as a
young teacher who had
struggled through a career
crisis, I would tell someone
entering college that they
should be open to everything,
and choose a major that
points them towards what
they would choose as their
ultimate profession-
something that they would
enjoy and that can also
provide for the necessary
comforts in life.
“The future’s not ours to see,
que sera sera,” there the song
goes. I don’t know what the
future brings, but for now,
may I keep this path forever,
and may passion burn a
never-dying flame inside me.
Nguyen Thi Lien Huong -07E1
“Mom, I’m gonna be a
teacher!”
“Of course my dear, three
years later, when you
graduate.”
“No, Mom. I mean NOW! I’m
gonna have my first class in the
next few weeks!”
Now and then my mother still
recalls that exhilarating
conversation and pictures me
as a cheerful 5-year-old child
who has just been given a box
of crayons and a painting book
for her birthday. Actually, it
was not my birthday and I was
no longer a child but a college
freshman; however, on that
blissful day, I did receive a
precious gift that enabled me
to paint a gorgeous classroom
with the loveliest colors I have
ever known – my beloved
students.
While my heart was singing
happily, my mind was
somehow anxious about the
first lessons in my teaching
career. It however was not a
puzzle to figure out why my
heart and my mind did not
share the same feeling.
Although I was chosen to be
one of the 25 students in the
Honor/Fast-track program
partly because of my strong
passion for becoming a
teacher, I was then confused
by the fact that many of my
classmates did not really enjoy
teaching and some even
applied for this program just
because it was prestigious.
Amazingly, such questions
about my future career found
their answer in a 16-square-
meter classroom with two
neatly arranged rows of table
packed with 20 students,
where I began my journey, a
both promising and challenging
one.
My first class was a
heterogeneous group of
university students and
working adults whose English
level was quite low. That
choice was disobedient since
my parents had once advised
me to take only high-level
classes which were believed to
be more motivated to learn
and therefore tend not to
cause troubles to the teacher.
However, I was determined to
choose a “not-so-excellent”
class to challenge myself to do
more than the work of a mere
knowledge-giver. It does not
mean that I was free of tension
when going to the first lesson.
As I climbed the staircases to
the fourth floor of the building,
my heart started to beat faster
and even jumped in my chest
excitedly and nervously. I felt
like a singer the first time
performing on the stage of a
big theatre. Drowning in my
flow of thoughts, I was only
pulled back to reality by the
vibrant sounds of people
talking and laughing. The
students did not expect that
they were going to have such a
young teacher so they were
stunned and curious when I
said hello to them, going
straight to the board, and
started to introduce myself.
That was like when the singer
started to sing; her love for
singing was so strong that it
vanquished her fear, at that
moment she entered the music
world and all mattered was to
take the audience with her to
that fantastic land. I was happy
that my audience, my students,
joined me on the trip to the
world of English and showed
genuine enthusiasm in every
activity. If happiness was to be
defined, the singer would be
proud of the flowers and
applauses she received, and
the teacher, which was me, felt
wonderful about the twinkling
eyes and the bright smiles on
my students’ faces.
My class always went home
with a good mood and
everyone seemed to look
forward to the next lesson. I
might have feared it was purely
my imagination if it had not
been tested by an angry storm.
One evening it poured like the
water pipe system in the sky
had broken down, or maybe it
was just meant to be a kind of
test to prove how badly
someone wanted something. I
waded through the murky
flood with no other feeling
than my heart’s fear of being
broken if there was only the
empty classroom to welcome
me. I could not believe my eyes
when I saw my students were
actually waiting for their
teacher on the first floor. I was
deeply moved and proud as
they anxiously called me:
“Teacher! We are here. Please
wait there! We will go out and
help you get into the building.”
There were eyes on the streets
gazing at me admiringly or
maybe even enviously as my
students led me across a small
bridge of stones and bricks that
they built to cross the water.
While we were all soaking wet,
our hearts were warm, and the
lesson was even more
energetic than usual.
From then on, even when wind
and rain rattled the windows,
and the grumble of thunder
worried my mother, I would
eagerly leave the house
knowing that my students
would also be challenging the
storm and they would be
waiting for me. As long as my
students were there, I would
pass any test of weather, and
together we would still have
wonderful lessons and enjoy
the journey in our own world
inside the classroom.
Teaching is like gardening. It
needs one’s passion to start,
time and effort to nurture, and
then some day we find it
extremely rewarding to see
how our care has encouraged
the growth of the various
plants in the garden. I am
contented to be a passionate
gardener and to work hard on
my special garden, the garden
of dreams.
Nguyen Thuy Linh – 07E1
hen I started writing these words, I
have been a real student for seven
months. Time passes so fast. I still
remember the first day I left my
house, my parents’ arms and started student
life.
I live in Foreign Language Dormitory with eleven
girls. They come from some provinces in the
North of Vietnam. Some of them are one year
older than me. Some are at the same age to me.
We broke the ice and made acquaintance so
quickly. At the first night, we ate ice-cream
together and talked about ourselves. Everything
seemed to be yesterday. Now, we are a family.
I feel like there’s no distance among us. We
share many things even our secrets. Seven
months is not a long time in our lives. However,
we had a lot of warm moments, chatting with
each other until midnight. We talked about our
first loves, our families and many memories in
High school. It is the first time we lived apart, so
missed our parents and our relatives.
Sometimes, one of us cried alone when thinking
of families, we gave her cheers and advice. We
held our hands and promised to study hard and
get high results which make our parents happy.
Every month, we organize a small party, in
which we sing, play games and watch films. We
smile and burst into tears with the main
characters naturally.
In our lives, we have memories which are
unforgettable and so do I . The thing I like most
is that we played one-two-three to choose the
person having to buy many things for the whole
room. We laughed and shouted so loudly when
one of us was the loser and others were luckier.
On special days, we went for a walk in famous
streets and places in Hanoi, eating specialties.
We walked hands in hands, took photograph
and enjoyed sweet memories together.
Student life makes me more confident and
active. However, the most wonderful thing is
having more new friends, who are always
besides me. They make me feel less lonely
when my family is not here. Perhaps, I never
forget warm memories which now are part of
my life. It’s as plain as the nose on your face. I
want to express my true emotion to my
roommates, my 505 A >:d<.
Student life started with me, an18-year-old
girl, like that. What about you?
Ngo Thi Trang – 10E20
W
A Dea h…
he city where I lived had a park with a mini
zoo. Although it was called “zoo”, there
were only a few animals: some normal
birds, some little squirrels and one
chimpanzee locked in a cage, alone and
lonely. When I was in secondary school, I
usually rode my bike through the park, looked
into “the zoo” and saw the birds sang, the
squirrels teased each other. However I
noticed the cage where the poor chimp
locked. He screamed every day; hit the iron
door as if he wanted to escape. But that time
I could not feel that, I just knew that his
action was very strange and I was curious.
Sometime later, I did not go through that park
because the place where I studied was in
other street. Thinking of my friends, studying
and preparing for the exams took almost all
of my time. It was like a storm that pulled me
away from the zoo, so the image of the chimp
was fading in my mind. Sometimes I thought
about it, but this did not make me noticed.
One day my younger brother asked me if I
remember the park and the chimp. I said yes.
Then he told me the story:
Since the park was to be deserted, the addicts
often gathered there to inject, especially in
front of the chimp’s cage. At first, the chimp
had no reaction, he just saw these people
injected each other and used drugs. Gradually
he got used to it. A day like any day, after
having injected, the addicts threw the
syringes around the cage. There would have
been nothing if the stupid chimp hadn’t taken
one and… injected himself, mimicking these
people as the inherent nature of the
primates. He felt hurt. He startled, through
the syringe and moaned.
Sometime later, he got weaker and weaker.
He did not screamed or beat the iron door.
The corner where the cage was placed was
getting quieter. One day, one of the addicts
realized that the chimp had died. He had lain
stiffly in his cage for a long time. The people
told the authority to resolve and they realized
that the chimp had the symptoms of the
century disease. Everybody was very
surprised. It was unbelievable that how a
chimp locked everyday could suffer from the
terrible disease. The reason was found out
quickly: he died of injecting HIV virus through
the syringes around the case…
Listening up to this point, I laughed, but I
suddenly stayed silent. Something covered
my mind. These different feelings… I thought
about the
fate of the
wild
animals.
They were
T
and are being killed by the heartlessness and selfishness of human being. If they hadn’t been
insensitive, if they had listened , they would have known that the chimp desired for freedom,
desired for coming back to the great forest, for being able to live with his fellows, and that chimp,
as well as many chimps, wouldn’t have died unjustly, by this way or another…
P/s: if you think this is a funny story, no problem… However, after you laugh, please let your mind be
silent and think… do not let the laughter makes you heartless.
Pham Nguyet Lieu – 10E15
have been a freshman of ULIS - VNU
for a semester and 5 weeks. What I feel
about new environment? What about new
friends? What I have learned? New school,
new friends, new ways of studying... were
fun, interesting, and a bit strange to me. In
the first week studying in the college, I
remembered I had to rush from the 1st floor
to the 4th one to find class, sighing with relief
when seeing some classmates in a hall, then...
suddenly realized every student is studying in
another hall! :))
I study in class E15 with other 27 students.
After 5 weeks there were many things to
discuss. My new friends are pretty wonderful.
Bach is the tallest boy in…. the school, maybe.
He’s also good at English and love games.
Xuan is a good buddy, he was the only and
the first boy who talked to me on the first day
at school; he’s also sociable and helpful; he’s
been accepted to conduct a research on
“Department For Students” that makes me
proud. I often call him “Jami” as an Arabian
used to call him. :)
I
Duc is older than us, he was born in 1991. He
is not very sociable but I like to play volleyball
with him because of his experience in this
sport. :) Phi is a grown-up boy; he’s good at
sports and English vocabulary. That’s the
boys. What about the girls!? I can’t help
laughing when Van Anh - one talkative,
extremely funny, humorous, sassy girl of the
class - talks
or does
cheeky tricks.
She often
makes minor
scandals in
Math =)) Our
class’s
secretary is
on the way to
Vietnamese Communist Party that everyone
looks up to her. :) Hang is a gracious, pretty,
hard-working girl especially in maths.
About my class’s monitor – my buddy. I first
knew him on the first day at school, in
Pronunciation lesson. He adventurously took
the position of a monitor, and at first I find
him not interesting at all, he was blue, a bit
skinny, ugly with red hair… But now after 5
weeks know more about him and we soon
became buddies. Hahaahh, he’s fun, funny,
humorous, and proactive and I know, a
thoughtful person inside. We call him P!nk, I
also call him ‘lovely little boy’ because
sometimes he’s just like a kid. :)) To be
honest, we have many things in common and
we find ourselves easy to share our own
stuffs with each other. I hope we will build a
long last friendship and corporation in the
future. :)
About the subjects, as for first year students
of 721, Reading, Listening, Writing, Speaking
are compulsory almost every morning. But we
have to self-study very hard because we also
have Basics of Vietnamese culture, Advanced
Maths, Philosophy. Now, our Target skill to
master is Listening. But to listen well, we
must speak and pronounce English fluently,
naturally, correctly as well. We were lucky to
have Mr.Tuan Anh teaching Listening skill this
semester. He is very proactive, professional,
interactive, and funny also. For 4 skills we
study, we have assignments every week, so
we can develop our Team-work skill too. You
know, Socializing is very important in life. As
far as you’re in an active environment you’ll
have to integrate into it, but not to get mixed
with it, however.
It's interesting when you look back and
suddenly realize that you are growing up. :)
Tran Duc Thang – 10E15
Q: As a “English 721” student, I want to
know the location of the library of
University of Economics and Business
(UEB); and the administrative procedures
of the library like how to borrow books
and how long we can keep them?
A: You can go to the library of Vietnam
National University located in the 7-storey
building in front of B2 building and ask the
librarian for more details.
Q: We’re learning about Economics,
when we graduate, will we have the
Economics diploma or the Language
diploma?
A: You will have a double-majored
degree: English and Economics.
Q: Where can I submit the form if I have
some problems with marks of general
subjects?
A: Should you have any problems with the
marks of general subjects such as
Philosophy or Psychology, go to the Training
Office in A1 building. Basically you will have
to file a form in which you explain what is
wrong with your marks, submit it and wait
for other actions to be taken.
Q: I’ve been wondering if there could be
any way to give more authentic
environment to us to practice
communicating with the native speakers.
A: Why don’t you take the initiative to go
meet with many foreigners to talk and
improve your communication skills in
English? There are various places where you
can try such as Sword Lake, the Old Quarter
or the Ethnic Museum.
Q: Is there any likelihood that our
university will be able to organize such
events as English speaking contests, game
shows, debates or field trips to UK/US
Embassy and encourage us students to join
while we are still these young-and-fresh
men?
A: Actually English Club (EC) and English
Teacher Development Club (ETDC) have
been organizing quite a few activities like
these for students. You may contact the
leaders of these clubs for registering. Also,
it is a good idea to keep track with what is
happening at the American Center at the US
Embassy so that you will not miss any
interesting event or seminar held there.
Q: I want to ask you about the
scholarship in our school. As I know, the
scholarship for us to go abroad is rare. Is
there any scholarship like this? If there is
any, how to achieve this scholarship?
A: It would be a good idea if you seek for
a scholarship to study abroad from different
sources instead of waiting for a scholarship
from our university. There are bunches of
study abroad scholarships out there, either
from the embassies of foreign countries or
other companies and organizations. Do
some research to see what is being offered.
Q: Can I set up a club on my own? If yes,
what are the necessary procedures?
A: Yes you can, but you need to contact
the Student Association first to present
your club plan and ask for the next steps.
Q: I am a first-year student, should I work
part-time?
A: It might be a good idea for you to try
working part-time when you are a student,
as long as this job does not have any
negative effects on your study. Being a
tutor is a nice choice, don’t you think?
Tips for effective English learning Improving English vocabulary
You may want to go to Ego4u.com
for very useful tips to improve your
English vocabulary such as learning
10 English new words a day, learning
new words from reading, listening to
songs or watching movies and films.
Improving general English using the Internet
I am a 1st year student. When I entered university, I
couldn’t get on well with new environment and
catch what my teacher was saying. However, after
the 1st semester, my English skills were better and I
felt more confident. In my opinion, the most
important thing when studying a foreign language
is interest and diligence. I know there are a lot of
ways studying and useful sources but I specially
care about the Internet. It will be a useful source if
we know how to make use of it. There are many
websites which teach English and you can learn
from. Moreover, to raise your enthusiasm and
interest, you can learn English by watching films or
listening to songs. However, you shouldn’t use
computer for too long time because it’s not good
for your eyes. In my opinion, you should have some short breaks while studying English. Instead of
playing computer games, you can listen to music or chat with your friends in English. These are my
effective ways of learning English and I hope that they are useful for you too.
Nguyen Thi Tuyet – 10E18
Improving English pronunciation skill
In my opinion, if you want to improve the Pronunciation
skill, you should buy the book “Ship or Sheep”. I used this
book to study pronunciation and prepared for the entrance
exam. I think this book is very useful. It is written in a way
that everybody can easily understand. The book is
accompanied with 2 CDs and they will help you practice
correct English pronunciation. Each unit starts with
introducing about the sound, then guides you how to
pronounce that sound correctly. After that you are
provided with several exercises to practice.
This book costs only 12,000 VND, and you can find it in
every bookstore. Just go to the bookstore in A2 building,
you can buy the book and start learning with “Ship or
Sheep”.
Luong My Linh - 10E17
Speaking to the crowd confidently!
YES, YOU CAN!
Do you want to be a convincible and
confident speaker when standing in
front of the crowd?
Do you have a PC or a laptop?
Do you have a mirror?
Step1: Search for some speech of Barack Obama on
Youtube, try to remember his body language,
his face and his voice, his speed while making
speech.
Step2: Find a topic that you interested in, find
useful information, make the outline with main
ideas.
Step3: Stand before the mirror and try to speak to
yourself first (do not forget use body language
and control your speed)
Step 4: Do this act again, day by day, until you think
that is ok.
And finally, prepare for your own speech in class
before you go to school. Trust me, I did all of
those steps, and it worked! Try your best! You
can do it!
Nguyen Thi Anh Hong - 10E18
Grandma wouldn’t lie
Little Johnny was at his first day of school. The teacher advised the class to start the day with the pledge of allegiance, and instructed them to put their right hands over their hearts and repeat after him. He looked around the room as he started the recitation, “I pledge allegiance to the flag…” When his eyes fell on Little Johnny, he noticed his hand over the right cheek of his buttocks. “Little Johnny, I will not continue till you put your hand over your heart.” Little Johnny replied, “It is over my heart.” After several attempts to get Little Johnny to put his hand over his heart, the teacher asked, “Why do you think that is your heart?” “Because, every time my Grandma comes to visit, she picks me up, pats me here, and says, ‘Bless your little heart,’ and my Grandma wouldn’t lie.”
Great Mystery
Newsboy: Great mystery! Fifty victims! Paper, Mister?
Passerby: Here boy, I'll take one (After reading a moment) Say, boy, there's nothing
of the kind in this paper. Where is it?"
Newsboy: That's the mystery, sir. You're the fifty-first victim.
Why They Have French Lesson -What's the idea of the Greens having French lessons? -They have adopted a French baby, and want to understand what she says when she begins to talk.
Goodbye and Badbye! -What do good friends coming home say? -Goodbye. -So they’re enemy what do they say? -Uhm….I don’t know… -You’re stupid. It’s “badbye”.
My Daughter's Music Lessons - My daughter's music lessons are a fortune to me! - How is that? - They enabled me to buy the neighbors' houses at half price.