Topic 5: Hung

Topic: Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? People should sometimes do things that they do not enjoy doing. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

Many people think that if they have to do things that they do not enjoy, the result will be very bad. However, I oppose this thought. I totally believe that sometimes we do things we hate we can find new things that we can interest and change our attitude.

I admit that sometimes we can found something new if we do things we have never enjoy before. I have a cousin who is younger than me. His mother told me that he used to hate going to the bookstore. He thought that place is boring, and it was better to search e-books and read e-books in the computer. But once time, his mother forced him to go to the bookstore near his house to buy her a cooking book. He did not enjoying this so much but he still went. At the bookstore, he met a new friend and had an interested conversation with her. Then she became his best friend.  If my cousin did not go to the bookstore that day, maybe, he would have never found that best friend.

In addition, doing things we never like can make us change our attitute. My friend used to hate classical music. He considered that it was boring and difficult to understand. He loved Rock and Rap music. However, last year I introduced him a symphony writen by Vivaldi named four seasons. And he tried to listen to that symphony. After that he told me with the happiness that it was the first time he found the peace from classical music. From that time, he changed his attitude about classical music. Now he loves this kind of music, and listen to it everyday. 

In conclusion, doing things we hate make us unhappy, but sometimes it can bring new things to us, change our attitude that can change our life. We do not need to do things that we do not like but sometimes doing that things can benefit us.

Topic 4: Hung

Topic: We all work in our jobs with many different kinds of people. In
your opinion, what are some characteristics of a co-worker (someone
you work closely with)?

Nowadays, the amount of work of our projects is very huge, so all of
us have to cooperate with other people to do projects. Co-workers are
key members because they can decide if our projects are success or
fail. Thus, I totally believe that a co-worker must be hardworking,
smart and truthful.

One of the colleague's crucial characteristics is hardworking.
Usually, we divide our project into many parts. Each colleague will
have responsibility to solve each part. If any co-worker is lazy, he
can not finish his work on time. This can make projects not be
finished on the due day.

Apart from hardwork, a co-worker needs to be smart. I think that a
smart person can give many ideas to solve problems. One time, when I
worked in my company's project and we needed to collect data of
customers' need. One of my colleague suggested we use volunteer to do
this work. This brilliant idea saved us a lot of time and money.

Finally, truthfulness is also an important characteristic a co-worker
needs. A truthful person never lie, and he often straightly shows
flaws of other co-workers. I belive that this help all of members in a
team recognize their mistakes and prevent the projects from the
failure in the future.

In summary, co-workers are important persons who with us finish our
work. Hardwork, smart and truthfulness are the most important
characteristics, I think, that a colleague needs. Without any of those
features, a co-worker is not ideal to work with.=

Topic 3 _Giao

Topic 3: In some countries, teenagers have jobs while they are still students. Do you think this is a good idea? Support your opinion by using specific reasons and details

Nowadays, there are more and more teenagers have jobs while they are still students. For me, it has been a precious working experience to have some of part time jobs when being at university. Therefore, I absolutely agree with that phenomenon for a numerous reason and I would explore only a few of the important ones here.

There is a saying that real life is the biggest school. Students may be educated many knowledge and skills at school but the only way to intensify them is practicing in real life. Part time job is one of the most suitable chances for them to advance their knowledge. For example, economy students study not too little subject which concern with their faculty like marketing, business administration, produce administration, accounting, auditing… Sometime, theories may be too boring for them to set question themselves: Is it really important to study those entire subjects? When students have job, like a shop assistant... They will think about how to raise their sales, how to attract customer…At that time, it automatically for them to recognize the necessaries of deeply thinking and knowledge for almost business activities. Moreover, the theories which are put into practice is difficult to forget and obvious to understand. Those things will make progresses in student’s studies.

The other important point is student will be more confident and dynamic if they have job during school time. Job requires them to communicate with many strangers, to satisfy all customers, or to be agile with changes… If students aren’t dynamic, they will easily to loose their job. They may be like a fish out of water at the fist moment but after a short time, they must move themselves for suitable with their job. From all the hard-workings, the students will be mature, and well - prepared for their future jobs. Many millionaires had a part time job during their school time. Therefore, we can’t suppose to be attracted by the part time job always accompany with failure. Michael Dell is one of the most typical examples for hard working during school time. His part time job, seeking subscribers for Houston Post magazine, had not only brought him his first BMW car but also exposed his business talent at the ages of seventeen. Mark Cuban _ the America technology millionaire is not an exception. He did many works, from doing bar business, teaching dancing... to advertising service for earning enough tuition. In addition, the results of part time jobs may motivate students to become more and more confident in their abilities.

Last but not least, nowadays, experience counts for more than qualifications. The difference between school and real life makes almost companies prefer the people who have worked. Especially in the managing positions, there is no doubt that the people who have experiences in many-concerned field can be promoted easier than the one who only got a managing degree. Therefore, if you want to get a satisfactory job after graduating, you should take experiences as much as possible when you are still at school.

Working brings student experiences, confidences, money and a brighter curriculum vitae… Thus, I come to conclusion, that for me, having a job during the study time is acceptable

Topic 3 - Rikiel

In some countries, teenagers have jobs while they are still students. Do you think this is a good idea? Support your opinion by using specific reasons and details.


One fact we cannot deny is that nowadays, there are more and more students seeking jobs while they are still undergraduates. Of course having a job while studying brings you both good and bad effects. But for me, good things are many more than bad so I will say it's a "yes" if you come and ask me which side I go for.

The first bad thing we can see clearly for ourselves is that we will be distracted from our main task, and by main task I mean study. Since we have to spend time on searching for a suitable job, we have to spend 4 to 5 hours per day for the least on that job if that is just a part-time job, not to mention a full time job. And that means out time budget will be reduced. Then there is a second bad thing: we will get tired easily because of so many works: studying, chores, hanging out with friends...and last but not least: that part-time job. Surely we will neglect on our study and this is absolutely not good since studying is the most important thing we students have to do to achieve success on our future career.

But we cannot deny the so many benefits brought to us through that job. The first and the most practical benefit is; of course the money we earn from that job. No more "mom, i'm out of money" and we can buy some new clothes replacing those so out of date messy. Then there are other invisible benefits: we have chances to make new relations, to gain more experience and to learn from practice changing everyday not from a bunch of so call permanent theories at the university. And this is the fundamental reason why I will go for the idea of seeking a job while studying.

The point is that we should try our best to manage our time budget between studying and working and other stuffs. Actually not all of us can do such thing but for me, I will say "Hey, dynamic people of new generation, let's give it a try" because it's worth that.

Topic 3 - Duy anh

Nowadays, we can see a lot of students having jobs while they are still studying. It doesn’t mean that we have lack of adult labors or these teenagers are forced to work underage, in fact, almost all of them were looking for a job themselves. I think it is a good idea because they can gain a lot of benefit from their jobs without affecting their own study.
To begin with, the first benefit they get from their jobs is obviously their salary. They use their salary in many different ways. Some teenagers spend money on their tuition or other payments while others use the money they earned as their pocket money. Whichever ways they use their money, they start not to depend on their parents’ money as well as learn about the value of money. Using the money they hardly earned, teenagers will be more careful before spending money on anything. Learning about the money value in this early age will help them a lot in the future.

topic 3 - Mai

In some countries, teenagers have jobs while they are still students. Do you think this is a good idea? Support your opinion by using specific reasons and details.


I used to be a teenager and I used to have part time jobs while being at high school. At that time, people, especially adults gave me a lot of reasons and a load of worries in order to prevent me from working – “It will harm your health”, “It will influence badly on your study”, “it is no use for a teenager like you”...... But what happened to me? I was employed when being a monitor, volunteering for charity work and my grade did not drop. I honestly think it is a good idea that teenagers have part time jobs while still students; they will gain many benefits.

The most obvious advantage is that they can earn money. Teenagers have a lot of expenses – clothes, books, extra-curricular activities, hanging-out with friends....They can not ask their parents for money all the time, so may not be able to buy an exciting book or miss school camping. Part time jobs, however, help them cover these costs.

Some people believe if teens have much money, they will spend on wasteful, even harmful things; part time jobs are not good for them, therefore. The fact is actually opposite their belief. Jobs offered to teenagers are almost low- wage and manual ones like baby-sitting, dog walking, pet care or dishwashing. When working, they learn that money does not come easy; then form better spending way.

Moreover, part time jobs are the key open society door. They are exposed to people from variety of backgrounds, so can build communication skill. For example, when working as cashier in a mall, they have to communicate with many people, from a doctor to an entrepreneur, from a rich lady to a poor unemployed person, from a five year boy to an old man; sometimes must handle with awkward situations. Clearly, part time jobs help them get experience prepared to get out in the real world and somehow make them more mature than just sitting at school.

Last but not least, having jobs is a fantastic way to teach teenagers about responsibility and discipline which will be beneficial to them later in life. They must learn how to manage time efficiently so that they can keep up with studying at school. In work, they must be always on time and make sure their task run well.

“A little hard work never hurt anyone”. I totally agree with this saying. Part time jobs give teenagers a lot of benefits that help them to grow up. This experience may be an unforgettable memory in their life.

Topic 2- Mai

Some people believe that university students should be required to attend classes. Others believe that going to classes should be optional for students. Which point of view do you agree with? Use specific reasons and details to support your answer.

The biggest difference between high schools and colleges is that colleges treat their students as adults. Children are forced by law to attend school, but adults are not. Therefore, no college student should be required to attend classes.

In fact, some teachers always complain about the students who are absent from classes. They keep conservative opinion that these students are lazy and are forecasted to get bad studying results, then mandatory attendance policy is implemented strictly in their classes. Yet, have they ever wondered if the reason of students’ absence turns out to be their lectures? Some professors just read from Power Point presentation or from books students already have, ramble and ramble about a topic in a monotonous voice, which make students feel sleepy. And because they take points off for missing classes, the motivation for most students to attend classes is to get their points.

College is so much more than just classes; sports, clubs, part-time jobs, social activities like fund raise for charity or organize events...all play an important role on students’ lives and help them perfect their skills besides academics at school. Once in a while, students can not either attend classes or join these activities. They must trade-off, they must manage their time and take responsibilities for what they do. At the age of college students, over 18, they have already reached maturity stage; therefore, can make rational decisions.

In addition, many students can study on their own, they find it more efficiently than just attending lectures. They spend time studying at the library, finding materials by themselves; this way, on the other hand, practices students’ independence in learning. A student who does not attend classes all the time does not mean that he is a lazy and bad one with always low grades. And the core of the issue is that most students enter the colleges with their own free will. In other words, they actually want to study there, they actually want to gain knowledge prepared for their future; hence, they actually don't need much persuasion to attend classes.

In short, I honestly think mandatory attendance policy should not be enforced at college level. Professors are not baby-sits of students who are adults. This policy places a burden on both professors and students; therefore make them uncomfortable when teaching and studying.