English Recordings

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.

The best transport for traveling between cities in Vietnam

I think that the best transport for traveling from one city to another city in Vietnam is the airplane. People can save a lot of time when they travel by air. For example, it takes them about 37 hours by train but only 2 hours by airplane to travel from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi. Moreover, it is much safer to travel by airplane than any other type of transport. At customs, people scan all passengers’ luggage through an X-ray machine before they get on the plane. Also, passengers cannot bring any sharp objects, such as knives, scissors, and many other dangerous items on the plane to ensure security. To many people, flying is relaxing. They can enjoy their flight with food and drink served. They can even entertain themselves by watching movies available on the plane. To conclude, no other type of transport is better than airplanes to travel between cities in Vietnam.

My name’s James Martin and I’m going to tell you about the transportation in London. There are seven hundred bus routes covering all of London. Buses aren’t as fast as the subway, but there are over nineteen thousand bus stops in London. You can pay for tickets using a London travel card. The subway in London is called the Underground. There are eleven underground train lines covering over four hundred kilometers of track with two hundred and seventy stations. It’s really fast. Also, there is a large train network with special lines connecting central London with Heathrow Airport. The trains are as fast as the underground but not as cheap. Finally, there are taxis. You can see these famous black taxis all over London. Taxis are very expensive, but they are convenient if you are in a hurry.

The Wowscoot by Tony Thompson

“I believe the Wowscoot is the best transportation for kids in my city. The Wowscoot is the most convenient way to ride around any city. It is easy to carry because I can fold it and put it in my backpack. The best part of the Wowscoot is the electronic map. I just need to tell it the address I want to go to and it knows the way. Kids won’t have to worry about getting lost ever again. They can just enjoy the ride. All the other kids in my city need to have a Wowscoot.”