A: First we’d like to welcome a new listener, Stu McLeod of Napier City, New Zealand. He listened to the VOV World service on Sunday, April 5. Stu told us our news section was well understood and the song about Hanoi was very relaxing. Reception on his 1936 Philips Vintage Radio was very good with SINPO rated at 55545.

Stu McLeod said he uses a 1936 Philips Vintage Radio,which works very well.

A: Listeners sent us a lot of positive feedback on our most recent “Colorful Vietnam, Vietnam’s 54 ethnic groups” segment. Fumito Hokamura of Japan said he likes the Colorful Vietnam segment and hearing about Vietnam’s ethnic minority groups. On March 16 we began a new series about the Giay ethnic people in northern mountain provinces. Fumito said it was interesting to learn about the group’s habitat, work, lifestyle, and clothing.

B: In addition to complimenting our programs, listeners also made some suggestions. In Sweden, Christer Brunstrom said: “I believe a program like Colorful Vietnam deserves a bit more time. You tend to devote far too much time to news. You should probably cut down the amount of international news and concentrate on Vietnam and neighboring countries.”

A: I’m reading an email from Danish Dx’er Michael Mayer who says he would be happy to hear more music and entertainment from Vietnam, because news is easily accessible on the webpage. Music makes one curious to find out more, he said.

B: Here’s one more opinion from John Cooper of Pennsylvania, the US, who tuned in to our program on March 21 from 02:30 to 03:00 UTC on the frequency of 6175. John said: “I really enjoyed listening to VOV. I thought the news was very good and balanced. Overall the entire program presents Vietnam in the best light with a good mix of national news along with world news.”

A: Thank you all for your opinions, which we take into consideration when we attempt to balance news, features, and music in our 30-minute programs. Due to the limited time of our shortwave broadcast, we provide additional news, stories about Vietnam, and music on our website at www.vovworld.vn.

B: Gary Edward Embry of the US reported listening to VOV’s program on February 25 and March 14 on the frequency of 6175 khz. He marked the signal strength at 5 on a scale of 0-5. 71-year old Gary is a retired radio studio engineer. He said if we need transmitter help at VOV, he’s available.

A: We greatly appreciate your offering to help our radio studio engineers. We think your regular feedback and comments on our program content and transmission are already a great deal of help. Thank you, Gary.  

B: S.B Sharma of India tunes in to our channel every day and his feedback is quite useful. On April 2 he listened to our program at 16 UTC on 7220 khz and said the reception was good. After the news, Current Affairs detailed the Hanoi Declaration of the Inter-parliamentary Union’s 132^nd Assembly, which promised sustainable development in Vietnam toward global millennium goals and post-2015 development targets. A speech by the IPU President was aired in which he said the focus has moved from problems to process  by which to achieve sustainable results.

A: Mr. Sharma said the Assembly was a very successful event hosted by Vietnam, that will benefit Vietnam’s development and people. Sharma has closely followed Vietnamese news and he always has specific questions about Vietnam. This week he wants to know about Vietnam’s general education system and graduation examinations.

B: Vietnamese children go to primary school from grade 1 to 5, to secondary school from grade 6 to 9, and to high school from grade 10 to 12. Primary and secondary schools are compulsory and provide general education for all children. Students’ academic records in the 4 years of secondary school are the basis for deciding whether to take examinations to qualify for high school or to continue at a vocational training school. All students must take national exams to graduate from high school. Colleges and universities organize separate qualifying exams for post-high school study.

A: We got an email from Ivan Lebedev of Russia, who told us this interesting recollection. “When I was young, my grandparents often told me about foreign countries, including Vietnam. That was wonderful.  We played with books and a radio receiver. What is the country called Vietnam? This question touches my fantasy even now. Legend has it that from the union of a dragon and a goddess came the hundred venerable ancestors of all Vietnamese. Somewhat reserved and very polite, Vietnamese are warm and friendly toward other people. That’s dragon pride.”

B: Ivan continued to talk about his knowledge of Vietnam. “I know two types of animal. The first is the elephant. In the plateau and hill regions the elephant remains the primary work animal. The second animal is the water buffalo, which is used primarily as a draft animal, especially in the rice paddies. No scene is more typical of rural Vietnam than a peasant and his water buffalo at work in a rice paddy, fat bags of rice on the way to market over the canal system. Paddies are located mainly in the Mekong River Delta and lowland areas of central Vietnam. It’s a land of abundant rice crops.”

A: It’s nice to hear a foreigner tell the legend of the origin of the Vietnamese people. Will such legends inspire you to gather information about modern Vietnam and participate in our contest “What do you know about Vietnam”? Your memories and personal experience of Vietnam will surely make your entry exceptional. You’ll have a chance to win a trip to Vietnam to visit the land of the dragon and the fairy.

B: Ok Ivan and other listeners, we’re waiting for your stories about Vietnam’s achievements. Your time and effort may be repaid with a fabulous free trip to Vietnam. We welcome your feedback at: English section, Overseas Service, Radio Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu Street, Hanoi, Vietnam. Or you can email us at: englishsection@vov.org.vn. Tune in to our English program on the Internet at vovworld.vn.  Good bye. See you next time.