Tieng Viet lovers club

[jackbl]

What do students about to graduate do?
===============================
VietNamNet Bridge – Rushing to make up courses, paying debts and preparing for jobs in the future are the things last-year students in HCM City are doing.

The thing that worries last year students most is repeating a course. As the second semester has begun, a lot of students are worried about the subjects that they must repeat as they did not pass the exams the first time. If they cannot pass the exams prior to the end of the academic year, they will not be able to graduate when the year finishes.

Vu Van Phuc, a student of the HCM City University of Technology, related that he still ‘owes’ a lot of credits. Phuc said that he has moved heaven and earth these days to register for re-training and make-up exams. He regrets that he did not spend more time learning, and now has to ‘race against time’ to be able graduate from university in June. Meanwhile, he does not want to stay at the university one more year as it would cost his parents more money.

English seems to be the toughest subject for students. A quick survey showed that nearly 40% of last-year students at the HCM City University of Social Sciences and Humanities must still pass the English exam.

Students not only ‘owe’ subjects, but also money. Truong Manh Hung, a student at the HCM City University of Natural Sciences, said that he squandered his money on gambling the past few years. He had to borrow money from friends to live and keep studying, and now he has to save every VND to pay debts.

Other students also feel anxious about their studies. “I hope I don’t have to retake any subjects the last year. If I have to stay at university for one more year, my parents will have to pay a lot of money. It would have been better to spend time learning,” said Nguyen Tien Trung, a student at the University for Social Sciences and Humanities.

However, some other students complain that they are tired of learning. Tinh, an economics student, still ‘owes’ ten credits, but he does not intend to spend more time learning. Tinh does not think that it is a big problem to go to school for another year.

The pressure of living independently and seeking stable jobs after graduation also worries students. Meanwhile, many think that the knowledge they get from universities is not good enough to support them in their works.


When asked where she will work after graduation, Thu Trang, a student of the Library-Information Faculty under the HCM City University of Social Sciences and Humanities, said: “I still don’t know where I will practice, let alone find a job. I’m not sure if I can find a job.”

Most students about to graduate are not sure if they can find jobs after they graduate. Meanwhile, they do not get any support from universities in seeking jobs.

Most students about to graduate think of temporary jobs after graduation. “I think I may not be able to find a job for one or two years after I graduate,” said Minh Hai, a Hong Bang University student.

VietNamNet/Dan tri

[KangTuo]

another sms from vn gal L

e biet a va P roi. N noi voi M, e vo tinh nghe dc. E nghia rat yeu P, nen dung gi co mat e ma a tro thanh nguoi kg tot. A up lai dum e cho e cam on. E muon du trong truong hop nao a kg nen dem e ra de vi li do nao do. E hieu va thong cam cho a nen minh van la ban! e co long tu trong nen kg bao gio lam nguoi thu 3. Kg phai la tro choi e kg dang de a phai thay doi va noi doi tro thanh kg tot.

[Hurricane88]

In need of some snake-blood
Mar 5th 2009 | HO CHI MINH CITY
From The Economist print edition

A rescue plan for exporters


BUSINESS is booming for at least one Vietnamese entrepreneur: an old lady in a traditional conical hat whose tiny roadside stall faces the infant Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange. To make her wares she decapitates small green snakes with a pair of scissors and drains the blood into a plastic bottle. Many Vietnamese men believe that drinking snake-blood enhances both good fortune and sexual prowess. The vendor, who also peddles pet turtles, says she is selling more of the stuff these days. “People are so worried about the future.”

The global slowdown is casting a lengthening shadow over Vietnam’s once-booming export-driven economy. Sales of more conventional consumer goods have slumped as the fast-growing middle class has stopped spending. Electronics shops say that Tet new-year holiday sales were down by as much as 50% compared with last year. The carmakers’ trade association reports that sales tumbled by 68% year-on-year in January.

Like China, Vietnam has used manufacturing for export to transform a stale, closed economy. Last year it overheated. The government earned some plaudits for calming rampant inflation, which reached a year-on-year peak of 28% in August. But Vietnam is badly exposed to the sharp drop in demand in the West. Exports fell by 5.1% year-on-year in the first two months of 2009, with electronic goods down by 13.7% and shoes by 7.3%.

That is why government is now trying to relight the fire it had previously doused. It plans to boost spending this year by 23% (almost 100 trillion dong, or $6 billion, about 6% of GDP). Of this about $1 billion will subsidise loans to cash-strapped exporters. In the scheme’s first month, commercial banks lent some 93 trillion dong, says the central bank.

An estimated 500,000 workers lost their jobs last year, and the government reckons a further 400,000 may be laid off in 2009. These are daunting numbers in a young country that needs 1m new jobs every year to absorb its growing workforce, now around 45m people. Like China, Vietnam does not have much of a state social-safety net. Laid-off factory workers tend to return to the countryside and rely on their extended families. But farmers will find it harder to cope without the money factory workers have been sending home. The prices of their produce, such as rice and coffee, have been falling.

Many economists believe that what Vietnam, like China, needs are not measures to sustain supply but incentives to increase domestic demand: investment in infrastructure, but also in health care and education, saving for which suppresses consumer spending. Vietnam’s GDP expanded by 6.2% in 2008, the slowest rate for nine years. Most observers, including the IMF, think it will be lucky to reach 5% this year. Yet the government’s target is still 6.5% and Nguyen Tan Dung, the prime minister, has predicted that the economy will start to pick up as early as May. As weeks go by, that makes him sound more like a seller of snake-oil than of snake-blood.

[jackbl]

Coconut land
=============

Ben Tre Province at the mouth of the Mekong Delta is an amazing patchwork of criss-crossing rivers, canals and channels that create a thousand islands covered in coconut trees.


With 40,000 hectares of coconuts, Ben Tre is easily Vietnam’s biggest producer of the fruit, which is shipped around the country and abroad in huge quantities, fashioned into handicrafts, and turned into confectionery.

A visit to a candy factory should be on every itinerary.

Of the untold number of gardens and orchards hidden under the green canopy of Coconut Land, as Ben Tre is known, are nearly 30 that have been turned into tourist destinations with the best-known being An Khanh, Tan Thach, Cho Lach, Cai Mon and Phung Island.

Before Rach Mieu Bridge opened in January, getting to Ben Tre required a long ferry trip across the Tien River. More than halfway across, the ferry went close to Phung Island, where the tourist park has been quite popular among day-trippers and overnighters for some time.

The island, which is about 80 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City, can be reached by boat from the Ben Tre side of the river, in Chau Thanh District.

On Phung, visitors can cool down in the breeze off the water, sip a long drink, go for a swim, learn about the Dao Dua religion founded by local architect Nguyen Thanh Nam, and see how coconut candy is made in the little workshop.

The entire process of making coconut candy can be viewed up close, from mixing and stirring the ingredients through the setting and cutting stages to wrapping and packing. The workers will even let the visitor get involved, and there are plenty of samples to scoff down.

Just outside the tourist park are souvenir, craft and food shops stocking the province’s many specialties.

Driving to Ben Tre only takes two hours from Ho Chi Minh City, and less if the trip is made at night.

With its interwoven waterways and green gardens in abundance, Coconut Land makes for an ideal getaway when the weather is sultry and the city too stifling.

Reported by Diem Thu

[jackbl]

Drug addiction and HIV/AIDS rates fall
===================================

The number of people contracting HIV and AIDS in 2008 fell by 26.6 percent and 14.35 percent, respectively, compared with 2007. The number of people dying from AIDS fell by 18.75 percent.

These figures were presented at a conference on HIV/AIDS and drug and prostitution prevention March 4 -5 in Hanoi.

Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong presided over the conference.

In 2008, authorities conducted investigations into 13,371 cases of dealing and carrying narcotics, involving 20,718 people.

The country helped 45,261 people receive treatment for drug addiction last year.

Programs educating people about HIV/AIDS were carried out and contributed in reducing the number of people catching and dying from HIV/AIDS.

By the end of 2008, Vietnam had 173,603 drug addicts, 4,702 less than 2007.

The number of people with HIV and AIDS in 2008 was 138,191 and 29,575, respectively. A total of 41,544 people died from AIDS related illnesses.

By Q. Lap – Translated by H.Mien

[jackbl]

Duty-free to stop for those entering Vietnam
====================================

From July 1, 2009, those who enters Vietnam will not be allowed to buy duty-free goods, according to a decision recently issued by the Prime Minister.

According to the new regulations, those who are entitled to duty-free goods are people who leave the country, passengers in transit and passengers on international flights of Vietnamese carriers and joint ventures.

Those allowed to also buy duty-free goods are agencies, organizations and individuals that enjoy diplomatic privileges and immunities, and crews working for international oceangoing vessels, including Vietnamese and foreign nationals.


By T. Yen, translated by Phuong Lan By Tr. Yen – Translated by Phuong Lan

[jackbl]

Gender equality not yet sustainable
==============================

VietNamNet Bridge - It’s twilight, the end of the work day for migrant shoe seller Vu Thi Soi, although she is not happy with the outcome.

"I only sold a couple of pairs today, less than other days. In any case, it’s time to go home now," Soi says, clutching her shoe push-cart as she heads to her rented home in Dinh Cong Ward, Ha Noi.

Hailing from northern Nam Dinh Province, the 29-year-old woman has been in the capital for three years to earn a living.

It’s common these days to encounter rural women like Soi making their way around big cities, either as street vendors, domestic cleaners or waitresses.

Living in a country greatly influenced by Confucianism, Vietnamese women often occupy a position lower than men at every level. Typical women were known only as mothers and mothers-in-law within their family while men were responsible for making the money to feed the family.

The gender role, however, is changing, with more and more women becoming family breadwinners.

"My husband stays at home for his job as a river fisherman. He also takes care of our three-year-old daughter," Soi says.

"What he earns is meagre, but enough for our daily needs.

"My work is very hard, but I have to earn more money to save up for a new home."

Soi estimates it will take her at least 10 years to save VND100 million (US$5,700), enough to buy a house of "common quality" at her current monthly earning level of VND1 million ($57).

Equal role

The country’s economic growth in recent years has provided both men and women with economic opportunities, one of the key factors to reduce gender disparities.

Figures provided by the Viet Nam Development Report 2004 show that labour force participation rates for women in Viet Nam are among the highest in the world, at 83 per cent for the 15 to 60 age group. The rate among men is 85 per cent.

"Taking into account those rates, the women’s role in the country’s economy is high," says United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Viet Nam Representative Bruce Campbell.

Campbell also praises Viet Nam for having "a strong record on the promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment."

He says the record is manifested in the constitution and legal frameworks, particularly two recent laws, the 2006 Law on Gender Equality and the 2007 Law on Preventing and Combating Domestic Violence.

Implementing equal roles in labour and employment for women is the first out of five targets Viet Nam has striven for in the national action plan for the advancement of women between 2006-10.

"The number of women participating in the labour force is on the rise year after year," says Pham Nguyen Cuong, vice director of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) Department of Gender Equality.

She attributes the increase to encouragement from legal decisions and the implementation of socio-economic development policies.

Cuong says that women’s participation in the labour market is significant given that it creates chances for them to escape poverty and improve their access to better education and information.

"It will ultimately benefit their children and society as a whole."

Campbell says that although income earned by women accounts for only 71 per cent of men’s, "Viet Nam is far better than countries such as Malaysia (36 per cent) and even Japan (44 per cent), according to United Nations Development Programme’s Development Report 2006."

"It’s a very good indicator," he says.

Besides taking an active socio-economic role, Vietnamese women are also hailed for their political activities.

"Viet Nam has the highest proportion of women in Parliament in East Asia and the Pacific. Worldwide, Viet Nam also performs well, with the 18th highest proportion of women parliamentarians," Campbell says.

He is also optimistic about the progress Viet Nam has made in attaining the Millennium Development Goal 3, which aims to promote gender equality and empower women by 2015.

"Viet Nam is well on its way to achieving its goal of eliminating gender gaps in primary and secondary education, and has already achieved a gender-balanced youth literacy rate."

The country’s statistics show that 91 per cent of girls and 92 per cent of boys attended primary and secondary schools in 2006.

In tertiary education, women now outnumber men, according to UNFPA Viet Nam.

Unequal playing field

The Vietnamese Government, the UN and non-government organisations in Viet Nam recognise a number of challenges the country faces to ensure sustainable gender equality.

Legislation is existing, but "implementation of laws in provinces, districts, communes and at the household level is much more important," says Campbell.

"Additional support is required to raise awareness and capacity of local authorities and law enforcement officers.

"We had already had requests for that support," he says.

Research carried out by ActionAid Viet Nam (AAV) last December found that there is a low rate of women participating in leadership and management roles at the commune level.

One of the reasons for that, according to AAV’s Women’s Rights Co-ordinator Ha Thi Quynh Anh, is the lack of due attention from local authorities, which in turn is largely influenced by the traditional stereotype that women should stay at home.

Cuong from MoLISA says the stereotype is the biggest challenge that Vietnamese women face.

"The question should be how to invest in changing society’s perception of women’s roles," she says.

Campbell is more concerned with the unequal results the economic growth has brought about for women as compared to men.

"The playing field is not level, and women are not yet able to compete on equal terms with men.

"Men benefit more from jobs with decision-making power and status. Issues such as relatively lower wages and higher wage gaps in the private sector will impact more and more women in the future."

Vietnamese women are also among the most vulnerable to the ongoing global economic downturn, according to Campbell.

"They are some of the first to be unemployed, some of the first to be forced to migrate from one sector to another, or from urban back to rural," he says.

The Vietnamese Government and the UN have developed an ambitious $4.5 million joint programme on gender equality.

The programme brings together 12 UN agencies in Viet Nam to provide technical assistance to the Government to better implement Gender Equality and Domestic Violence laws.

To Soi and many other domestic migrant women, challenges are always imminent.

"Living far from home, we are rather disadvantaged. We live and eat every day in very temporary conditions. We lack family connection," she says.

She does not mention, but many studies have discovered that urban life can pose many threats to them, including diseases and abuse.

"Unlike you, we never celebrate International Women’s Day," Soi says.

VietNamNet/VNS

[KangTuo]

recieve this sms 6:30am in the morning.

e thich a. e nghi e thich 1nguoi con trai nen hang ngay tu nhac nho minh phai tot voi nguoi do chi dc lam sai kg dc lam deu co loi voi ban trai cua minh. con trai suong thich e. e chua la con gai cua a thi muon gi kg dc. a co e roi thi dc bo e va dc thuong e. dung hay kg dung. e can uong thuoc moi ngu dc. chuc buoi sang tot lanh.

convert e to a and a to e; trai to gai and gai to trai, you can send to your vn gal liao..

checking vdict you will get the meaning of this sms.

[RockViet]

Xin Chao cac ban!

Been reading SBF for quite sometime but did not register n post until today as I Was inspired by Cassonva03's story.. heehee

here's some good vn song. I tot of learning vn thru music could be a way too rite?some got translation too. bro here enjoy if not nice dun zap me hor 1st time post here not sure is it irritating to embed link like tht. so only put 2 test test

Chung ta hoc tieng viet, nghe nhac viet hoc tieng viet!

Phuong Vy - Em Biet



tim lai - microwave (hard rock)

[Hurricane88]

Originally Posted by RockViet

here's some good vn song. I tot of learning vn thru music could be a way too rite?some got translation too. bro here enjoy if not nice dun zap me hor 1st time post here not sure is it irritating to embed link like tht. so only put 2 test test


tim lai - microwave (hard rock)

not sure you can learn tieng viet listening to rock music...

but your tieng viet is already power liao...dun tell me you learn from the songs...

[leecs]

Anybody can help me with this translation?

bi ben sao nhan tin tieng viet kg vay ta ai chi anh vay

Thanks

[RockViet]

Originally Posted by Hurricane88

not sure you can learn tieng viet listening to rock music...

but your tieng viet is already power liao...dun tell me you learn from the songs...

Bro Hurriance .. no power la biet it it hehe ...Can learn la ..e.g...title is Tìm Lại then i go vdict.com find the meaning..if not wrong is "to find back" something like tht..abit abit learn mah....

Another nice MV song nice music ...go go listen la(erm nice babe oso she's a model leh)
Ho Ngoc Ha - Giac Mo Chi La Giac Mo MV

[jackbl]

Chrorumchec – a festival worshipping the sea in Soc Trang
============================================
VietNamNet Bridge – Khmer people in the Mekong Delta have many year-round festivals, most of them featuring ethnic religion and culture, namely Chol Chnam Thmay, Dolta and Ok Om Bok. In Soc Trang Province’s Vinh Chau District, Chrorumchec, the festival to worship the sea, is held on the 14th and 15th days of the second lunar month (March 10-11) and is aggressively promoted to attract millions of visitors.


Local children perform pentatonic instruments in the Chrorumchec festival in Soc Trang.

The festival worshipping Vinh Chau Sea has existed for hundreds of years and the meaning of the festival is to pray for peace for the country, safety for the people, good weather and a great harvest. Moreover, the festival commemorates forefathers who were devoted to the country, the god who blessed them with a good life and the sea that provided them a bounty of food.

For these reasons, the festival has become a tradition not for only Khmer people but also for Chinese and Vietnamese in Soc Trang.

The festival opens with a requiem at an ancient tower built by a local man, Ta Hu. The requiem aims at honoring the contributions of forefathers and praying for good luck for villagers. After that, people make a procession from Cang Sa Pagoda to a Buddhist pavilion to celebrate a solemn religious ceremony to pray for peace for the country.

After the ceremony it is time for recreation activities and animated programs which feature traditional cultures and reflect the daily life of the Khmer people. At the festival, visitors will have a chance to see hundreds of country girls with barrels on their shoulders while they still talk and smile together. The activity illustrates the hard life of the locals but proves they still try to reduce worries and overcome fatigue in their hopes for a better life.

The most animated activity may be the wagon race which features dozens of wagons full of shrieking, laughing participants. The race is to commemorate the past, when Vinh Chau had no machines or tractors and used oxen to plow the fields.

The most exciting part of the festival is a boat race not on water but on dry land. The race represents the hope for rain in times of drought. Racers make boats from banana trees.

The festival also features parallel sentences and traditional songs whose lyrics are prayers for rain and a good harvest.

Visitors to the festival will have a chance to enjoy the sweet voices of Khmer girls singing traditional songs and talented dancers moving with the rhythms of Khmer drums. The two-day event also features traditional folk games that represent the hopes and beliefs of the Khmer people.

VietNamNet/SGT

[Hann899]

Hi helpful bro here ,
Please help to translate this for me .
Tinh yeu phai chung thuy moi la tinh yeu dich thuc .


Thx alot .

[jackbl]

Foreign workers flowing into HCM City
=========================================

VietNamNet Bridge – More than 10,000 foreign workers in HCM City are skilled labourers who can’t be replaced by local workers.

According to the HCM City Department of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs, more than 10,000 foreign labourers are working in the city. There are around 2,000 in industrial and export processing zones, including 505 Chinese, 317 Taiwanese and 300 Japanese.

Mainly experts and skilled workers

Though the number of foreign labourers is rapidly increasing, the HCM City Department of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs’ Director Le Thanh Tam said most foreign laborers are highly-skilled ones who can’t be replaced by local labourers. The flow of foreign workers, therefore, isn’t affecting local labour.

The Chief of Ajinomoto Vietnam’s Human Resources Department, Nguyen An Chung, said the company has 15 foreign employees among its 1,800 workers. They hold key positions in the firm, such as general director, vice general director. Vietnamese are appointed to medium-level management positions.

“Vietnamese staff can learn new things and professional working styles from their foreign colleagues. Foreign employees often assume jobs related to policy making, while Vietnamese are involved in business. At banks, the use of foreign employees doesn’t affect Vietnamese,” said Ho Ngoc Anh from the Technological and Commercial JS Bank (Techcombank).

The Chairman of the Management Board of the Vietnam Industrial and Commercial Bank (Vietinbank), Pham Huy Hung, said the bank plans to recruit laid-off labourers from America and Europe. Hung said Vietinbank is willing to pay tens of thousands of USD for excellent foreign financial experts who have lost their jobs.


The Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Committee for Culture – Education – Youth – Children, Ngo Thi Minh, said: “Through surveys in many localities, I see that Vietnamese labourers’ skills are limited. Foreign companies bring modern machinery and technologies to Vietnam. They want to use local workers but Vietnamese workers don’t meet their requirements. Foreign investors have to take a lot of time to retrain Vietnamese workers. Some foreign firms that are not as financially well-off will choose the solution of hiring foreign employees.

Illegal foreign workers

Tam said foreign workers need work permits to work in Vietnam. To get a permit, they must meet the following conditions: hold at least a bachelor’s degree and have at least five years of work experience.

However, many foreign workers in HCM City don’t have work permits because they don’t satisfy the criteria for work experience. Some work at two firms at once. Tam said the department is seeking solutions for these problems.

Many workers from Africa and the Middle East are working illegally in the districts of Go Vap, Binh Tan, Binh Chanh and Tan Phu. They do different jobs, such as selling garments, working as porters, builders, etc.

A company in Go Vap district employs around 100 Chinese workers who don’t have work permits. One firm uses over 900 foreign workers but declares only 300.

The vice head of the Southern Immigration Department, Phan Quoc Thai, said the number of labourers from Africa and the Middle East coming to HCM City increases year by year. The number rose from 2,893 in 2005 to 4,080 in 2007 and 1,765 in the first half of 2008.

Thai said it is very easy for foreign workers to enter Vietnam. They declare that they are entering Vietnam for travel or business purposes to get tourist visas but actually, they intend to work illegally.

VietNamNet/PL TPHCM