English Recordings

- Every morning I get up at 7:45 .
- First I have a shower.
- Then I get dressed
- ...and I have breakfast. I usually have milk and cereals.
- I brush my teeth and I'm ready to go to school!
- I usually leave at 8:30, I meet my friends and we walk to school together.
- We finish school at 3:00 pm. I go back home...
- and I arrive at 3:30.
- Sometimes I tidy my room or I phone my friends. I sometimes watch TV or I play video games with my brother.
- We usually have dinner at 6:00 in the evening.
- Then I do my homework.
- Finally I go to bed around 9:00pm. It's not too late, I don't like going to bed too late...

Hi John,

I was happy to read your letter. Everything is going well now, but I was really busy with my studies at my school. I got a lot of projects to work on, did a lot of homework, and took different tests for a week. I was so happy with my test results because I received high marks on all of them. It could be because I changed the way I studied. I chose to work in groups and got practice every day.

Last week, my mother bought me a new bike as a reward. She was so pleased with my test results. That was the most I could do to make her happy. I hope to get all As in my upcoming exams. Do you want to discuss how to study for exams in our next letters?
Write back soon,
San

Hi San,

How’s everything? I remember the last time we wrote to each other was last July. I finished my final examination a week ago and now I have the time to write to you. You know! I was so happy with the results. I passed all the tests. I even got an A in math, my favorite subject. But Spanish, history, and science grades were not that high. My mom looked a bit disappointed. But my dad wasn’t upset about my grades in those subjects. He even said I did a good job. But I did not feel the same way as my parents. I told myself I needed to try more in my next tests to make them pleased.

How about you? Can you tell me about your studies?
I hope to hear from you soon.
Have a lovely weekend!
John

To: annanguyen356@gmail.com
Subject: Test results

Hi Anna,

Thanks for your email. Did you get your test results? I got mine yesterday. Good news! I got the best result in our class on the biology test. I also got an A plus on my math test and an A minus on my chemistry test. I was really surprised because I even got a good grade on my English test.

Mom is delighted with my results. She says she’s going to take me shopping because I did so well. She wants to buy me some new clothes, but what I really want is a new laptop. That would be really cool! How did you do in your test? Let me know.

See you soon,
Julie

Are you ready for the next Up Helly Aa? It is a famous fire festival in Lerwick, Scotland and it’s one of the most exciting festivals in the world. Every year, participants wear costumes and carry a Viking longship around the town at night before setting it on fire. Sounds fun, right?

The festival will take place on January 28th next year. Many people are busy planning for it and you will be able to see the preparations at a big exhibition soon. The exhibition will open to the public from May to September. You will see the Viking longship, participants’ costumes, and many photos of previous festivals.

If you go to Up Helly Aa next year, you will experience more than just a giant bonfire. There will be lots of music and other fun events on the days before and after the festival, so make sure you plan your trip to Lerwick around the festival to get the whole experience!

Traveling in Vietnam can be easy for a first-time visitor. Public transportation is usually really cheap. Some types are also reliable. Flying is the fastest way to travel between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Many of Vietnam’s most popular cities have airports. Many locals and tourists take the bus to travel to nearby cities. Some cities have eco-friendly buses. The buses aren’t usually as expensive as planes. Trains are often slow and not as fast as the buses. Trains are a great way to see the country. You can buy tickets online for planes, buses, and trains. Taxis are a great way to get around a city quickly. Vietnam has many choices for traveling.

Dear Aunt Ivy,

I hope you are well. Thank you for the sweater and the gift card for Christmas. Green is one of my favorite colors and the reindeer is very cute. I was going to buy a new game, but Mom won’t let me. She is really annoyed because I failed some of my tests. I didn’t do well in math, English, history, and biology.

I’m so surprised because I studied a lot before the tests. I studied for 30 minutes every day before I played my PC games. I think I failed because the tests were more difficult this year.

One good piece of news: Dad was delighted because I passed my P.E test. I’m not sure, but my teacher might put me on the basketball team.

Can you maybe ask Mom to let me buy a new game?

Have a great week!
James

The largest festival in the world is Brazil’s Carnival which is considered by many to be “the greatest show on Earth.” More than 5 million people travel to Brazil in February or March to attend this religious celebration that begins 40 days before Easter. The festival is full of live music and people dancing in the streets. More than 70+ samba schools compete every year for cash and prizes. Dancers from these schools wear colorful and creative costumes. They form a long line of people in the street called a parade that starts in the city center and stops at the ocean. The festival takes place before the Catholic season of Lent and celebrates the last day before Brazilians must give up the things they love for 40 days. The festival ends with a beautiful fire show on the beach when the sun goes down.

Halloween and Día de Los Muertos

It’s fascinating to learn more about various celebrations of people all over the world. Let’s talk about Halloween and Día de Los Muertos today, the two well-known celebrations in the United States and Mexico.

Although Halloween and Día de Los Muertos are celebrated around the same time, they are not the same. Halloween is celebrated on October 31st. On this day, Americans decorate their homes with scary decorations. Children dress up in various costumes and go around their neighborhood asking for candy. It’s trick-or-treating, the children’s favorite on Halloween evening.

Different from Halloween, people in Mexico celebrate Día de Los Muertos or The Day of the Dead on November 2nd every year. Mexican people believe that the dead people return to their homes on this day. They build an altar for their dead relatives and decorate it with candy, flowers, photographs, food and drinks, and fresh water. They also visit their relatives’ graves on this day.

The Lim Festival

The Lim Festival takes place in Lim Village, in Bắc Ninh Province, Vietnam. You can see it in February every year. The local people celebrate their history. The center of the festival is the local temple. During the festival, there is a folk song competition. The best singers from the area sing traditional songs. The songs have different parts for men and women. They are very beautiful. The singers sing all night! At the festival, you can see traditional costumes and dragon boats. There are also bamboo swings, tug of war, wrestling, and lots of other games! You can also try the local food. It is a very interesting festival.