...the first thing I should mention is that... ...

the point I'd like to begin with is

that... ...I could start off by saying that... ...my initial point would be that... ...I
need to start off by pointing out that... ...the main thing you need to know is
that... ...I suppose I should begin by highlighting the fact that... ...you may (or
may not) be aware that in fact... ...I really need to kick off with the point that...

Another point which I could add is that...

A second feature which I should mention is that... As well as that, I could say
that... On top of that I can also add that...
And I shouldn't forget to mention that... In addition to what I've just said, I can
add that... Something else that I need to comment on is that... I guess I could
also remark on the fact that...

LIKE QUESTION
Well in general I would say that...
Actually, I suppose that for the most part I'd probably say that...
Well, to be honest I should really say that...
Of course I think I'd have to say that...
Im quite interested in/ fond of/ passionate about, crazy about/ obsessed with/
intrigued by/ captivated by/ entertained/ amused/ have a preference for/ inclined
to/ have a propensity/
PREDILECTION
Certainly I would definitely say that... Well, I guess that generally speaking I
would certainly say that...
but in particular... ...particularly... ...especially... ...specifically... ...to be more
precise... ...to be more specific... ...to be more exact... ...to be more accurate...
And I guess this is probably because... This could be because... This might be
because... This is due to the fact that... I suppose the reason has something to do
with the fact that...
Well to be quite honest, in general I would say that I'm actually quite keen on...,
but in particular I would probably have to say that I'm really into...you know,
things like
...I guess the reason why I'm a fan of ...is because I adore...In addition to this I
suppose
I'm so pretty passionate about..., especially...and things like that, and this is due
to the fact
that...

DISLIKE QUESTION
I'm not so keen on

I'm not much of a fan of

I'm not really that fond of
And for very strong dislikes use the following: I totally detest...

Because, lets be honest, it can be quite dull and uneventful following the same monotonous
routine day in and day out
Trying something new that shakes up your routine can really give you a fresh perspective
and get you excited
The possibilities are absolutely endless when it comes to trying something new, and whether
its a big or small leap outside your comfort zone youll still reap the benefits.
Wouldve spent some more time coming looking for that
Visit country, tourist, travellers for the food
Throwing a tantrum
The only gripe I have with it/him/her
The thing about him is, but hes always going about his financial situation
This reflects the one of the most distinctions in culture between the West and
Vietnam. Children do have great sense of obligation, responsibility and gratitude
towards their forefathers. Unlike children in the west who know their rights and
ask for many things from their parents, children in Vietnam feel like they own
their parents everything: their life, their future so they have to try their best not
to disappoint them by becoming good students.

More indicative
Glamour-looking couples
Traffic in Hanoi is intense and chaotic. But you may find this a little surprising
that despite the intensity, the number of accidents, be it minor or fatal, is
virtually rare.
If you were able to make a trip to Hanoi, Id would love to take you around the
little beloved city so you can judge for yourself. Hanoi does look better at night,
especially in winter.

One thing you may notice the moment you walk out on the streets that theres a
blatant disregard for traffic law, even more so than the rest of Vietnam. Theres a
lot of people just no wearing helmet when riding motorbike, some remove their
bikes rear mirror, even though it is expressly specified in the law.
When you start thinking that the traffic couldnt get any worse, then you spot a
majority of women motorbiking at their own risk. I mean, they have little to no
sense of what or whos going around them, plus the equal opportunity right to

disrespect the traffic rules, they are themselves, one of the potential, if not the
most potential danger for other people on the streets.
I would have thought we had more than enough already. All those people saying
clever things that I could never think of its quite interesting but I wonder if Im
clever/smart enough to be doing this course.
I find it helpful to listen to the other people. I like the way were exploring the
subject, and working towards getting insight into it.
It was quite a struggle for me to get on with some tutors. I dont think Im on the
same wavelength as mine, so I feel Im not getting anything out of the tutorials.
It would more productive to read a book instead.
I dont really have a whole lot of conviction

Put on a show, I had a good run. My act was on point and I took use of the
sympathy situation.
In the

STUDY/WORK
Do you work or are you a student?
Is that a popular subject in your
country?
Do you like your university.
Is there anything you dont like about your study.
What are the most
popular subjects in China? Why
Did you choose that university?
What are your favourite classes/ courses/ subjects at university?
I have been studying at Curtin university Sydney for almost 2 years, I will
graduate in one year. My main major is Business Finance, along with Finance, Im
also studying Accounting.
It wasnt my desire to study accounting and finance. The truth is, my father is a
respected accountant in Vietnam and hes running an accountant firm. He would
want me to follow his path in accounting and take over the business so he sent
me to Australia to get the best education.
It ok, Im not really thrilled with it but Im getting the education necessary for
future career in accounting industry. I always wanted to get into one of the top
50 art university in the US. Im more interested in art than in anything else but I
didnt have the courage to go against my fathers will.

Basically studying. Im just kidding. Some of the subjects I just have to take for
the credits such as marketing, international business, political science which are
too abstract and impractical for me. The lectures get tedious all the time.

Whats the most interesting part of your working.

What I like most about working in the kitchen Is you can eat all you want,
whenever you want. Its basically like youre in an all-you-can it restaurant. But
you have to be stealthy, dont let anyone see that. The second thing Im most
interested in when working as a cook is the sense of achievement. When you
finish an order and its time, I feel like I have accomplished a unique temporary
masterpiece that will make the guests remember for the rest of their life. I also
should not forget to tell you about the thrill that most adventurous people like,
that is I get to be accustomed to the adrenaline rush during busy service, and
once you get used to it, I immediately fall in love with it.
Also, working in the kitchen is quite flexible, unless you work full-time, 7 days a
week, so it would suit someone who has children or wants earn a bit extra for a
living.

Nothing about cooking is inherently difficult. It is, however, stressful. The challenge is
being able to show up everyday to do the work. Getting faster, working cleaner, being
more efficient day after day. And then doing that while you have burns and cuts and have
been on your feet for the last 12 hours without a break. Being motivated enough after 13
hours to still take everything apart and scrub your station down. And do it all over again
tomorrow. I'd say that's the hardest part.
The learning is not difficult. It's the wanting to learn enough to keep showing up and
chipping away at it day after day that's difficult. Of course, you could find a job that
doesn't push you and challenge you mentally, physically, and emotionally every day.
When the cooks show up on a Saturday night and we are told that the restaurant is fully
booked, everyone knows absolutely that we have to be focused to pull off such a busy
night and still maintain excellent food and service.
There is no way you can be competitive at that level without a great deal of teamwork. If
one station is getting buried, it is up to everyone else to step in and help, so that the
whole operation doesn't get into the weeds.
Even if some of the tasks are simple, every aspect has to be just right and when it is
busy, if you lose focus for just a moment and are so caught up in completing one ticket to
the next, you lose sight of the big picture and can be caught unaware by running out of
an item or something else that could have been prevented.

Do you want to change your job.

Thats is a definite yes. I have to work in the kitchen because I cant find any job that is
relevant to my degree which is accounting and business finance. Basically, I have no
relevant work experience and that is the desired feature any employers want from their
employee. I hope I can land myself a decent position in accounting or finance firm when
the next recruitment season kicks off.

Do you get together with your colleagues?

I would love to but the kitchens closed at around 11 in the evening so most of us
are quite exhausted and dont feel like going out for a couple of beer and a little
chitchat. People just want to finish as quickly as possibly an return to their cosy
personal space at home. But on special occasions such as Christmas eve,
thanksgiving or public holiday, we do hang out, mostly hitting a club or a bar for
a few drinks

ACCOMMODATION
1. What kind of housing/accommodation do you live in?
2. Do you live in a house or a flat?
3. Who do you live with?
4. How long have you lived there?
5. Do you plan to live there for a long time?
6. (If you answer you haven't lived there long) What's the difference between
where you are living now and where you have lived in the past?
7. Can you describe the place where you live?

8. Which room does your family spend most of the time in?
9. What do you usually do in your house/flat/room?
10. Are the transport facilities to your home very good?
11. Do you prefer living in a house or a flat?
12. Please describe the room you live in?
13. What part of your home do you like the most?

I live in a pretty spacious apartment in Nanjing. I live on the 8th floor of a high-rise, and its
size about 120 square metres. It is a fairly nice place. Theres one living room, 3 bedrooms
with built-in toilet. Luckily, I dont get to share the bathroom with other people which can be
very frustrating and upsetting when you wake up in the morning being late to work and
someones taking a chill in the bathroom already. The flat is fully furnished though simple, so
we dont have to buy kitchen utensils and cleaning equipment when we move in.
Also, my room is exposed to the direction of sunrise so its quite hot in the summer and I
cant hardly sleep after 8pm because the curtains not big enough to shield all the light and
the noise from traffic gets very loud during morning rush hour.
That would be my room I guess, this sitting in the living with a lot of people doing their own
things is not convenient at all. Most of the time, after a long day of work in the kitchen, I
dont feel like socializing, even with my flatmates. I just want to escape to my room,
surrounding myself with the things I love. Most of the time, I play computer games or watch
professional live stream their play.

I would absolutely want to do that in the near future. I know living in a shared apartment or
house is fun and great experience when you are young, but when you get older, it becomes
impersonal. And eventually, when I have a stable job with decent income, I would want to
live in the countryside or on the outskirts of the city where I dont have to constantly deal
with the pressure from everyday city life.

Well, if I could choose, I would love to live in a house. Ive been living in an apartment and I
know it is not suitable for me, even it is a big apartment. Houses are better for me because I
have more personal space and I can invite friends over without having to ask for permission.
Entertaining your friends is a lot more pleasant when you have a yard, several bedrooms and
plenty of space in general. Back in my country, Houses usually include parking spaces or
garages and, as you may know, finding a parking space in front of a crowded apartment
complex can sometimes an impossible mission. So I guess its the same thing everywhere.

Houses are a lot cooler than apartments. If there are trees growing around your
house, its even better. You may not even need air conditioning during summer.
In conclusion, it all depends on your lifestyle and personal preferences. It
would be wrong to place one option above the other, generally speaking.

One of the positive sides of living in a HMO apartment is that you can decrease your living costs
by having your rent divided by the number of people you live with

You will also pay less for utility bills such as council tax, gas and electricity as you will share them
equally with your flatmates. Despite that everyone could happen to live in a shared flat, it proves
that most of them are bachelors, students and professionals who have just started a new job in a
new location.

Privacy and peace

The most obvious disadvantage of living together with flatmates is the fact that you have to
do without parts of your privacy. Having other people around you can be stressing very
quickly. Do you have to pee after you woke up in the morning? Sorry, your flatmate is taking
a shower.

Space
Another very natural thing about a WG is the fact that you wont have a
lot of space compared to your own flat. You might have a room and most
of the time, thats it. You can be lucky if you have a big kitchen or even a
living room where you can sit together. But in this case, you have to think
about point

Cleaning
Cleaning might be one of the biggest disadvantages of a WG: You do
not only have to clean the mess your flatmates produced, but you have
also clean much more and also much more often as it would be the case
if you would live alone. Speaking of the bath, cleaning can quickly
become more like a horror movie.

Another disadvantages of living in a shared flat is that you will need to ask your flatmate
for permission each time you want to hold a party or invite friends over for a chat. This is

because he or she may need some privacy in order to study for an exam, rest or will work
at that time. This is one of most common issues for having disputes between people
sharing a flat.

WEATHER

1. What's the weather like today?

2. What kind of weather do you like (best)? (Why?)
3. What's your favourite weather? (Why?)
4. What do you usually do during your favourite weather (or season)?
5. What's the weather (usually) like in your hometown?
6. Do you like that weather (or, that kind of climate)? (Why? /Why not?)
7. How often is the weather good in your hometown?
8. What did you do the last time the weather was good?
9. Are there any bad points about the weather in your city?
10. What is the typical weather in China like?
11. Have there been any changes in the weather over the past few
years?
12. Does the weather ever affect what you do?
13. How does the weather affect people (or, you)? (If yes, how?)
14. How do you feel when the weather is cloudy?
15. Do you always pay attention to the weather forecast?
16. Can you give any examples of unusual weather?
17. Do you like snow? (Why?)
18. Would you prefer to live in a place that has just one, warm season
that lasts the whole year or a place with different seasons?

It feels like sweltering hot outside,

Lasting from February to April, Hanois spring is humid and wet with drizzles. The average temperature
normally ranges from 15 to 20 Celcius degree. As this kind of weather is suitable for the plants to grow and
flowers to blossom, spring will be the best time for tourists to witness the vitality of tropical nature. Spring is
also the time for Tet holiday- the most essential and longest Vietnamese festival of the year.

Autumn
With me, autumn is the most beautiful season in Hanoi, when the climate is cool and dry
but still sunny. Autumn in Hanoi begins when people can feel the smell of alstonia
scholaris (that means milk flowers in the streets at cool nights and it lasts from
September to November before getting cold. People need to wear a light overcoat or a
cardigan when go out. Hanoi in autumn is truly romantic and peaceful. You can see the
many yellow and red leaf trees along the streets, the sky is bluer, and the water in many
lakes of Hanoi is greener. I can even say that Autumn is the season of love for young
couples, I dont know how or why a lot of people find their significant half during this
season, perhaps its just the weather that makes people do so.

SUMMER
Hanois summer is very hot with the average temperature of 32 degree (and has risen up in recent years),
lasting from May to August (July is the hottest month). Since global warming has become a more and more
serious problem, some summers are dry while others may be extremely wet with high humidity. Heavy rain is one

feature of Hanois summer, so dont forget to bring a raincoat or an umbrella with you whenever leaving home.
Moreover, be ready to be sweat under the sun during the day and a thunderstorm in the afternoon or evening!

FALL

Fall is considered the most beautiful and romantic time for travellers to visit Hanoi. This season is quite short,
typically from middle of September to the end of November. With the average temperature is 25 degree, Hanois
autumn is charming with warm sunlight, cool breeze and dry atmosphere. If you love seeing the leaves change
color, enjoying some local autumn specialties such as young green rice, living slowly for a to appreciate the
beauty of your life, you definitely should come to Hanoi in autumn.

WINTER
The cold weather of Hanoi will start from December and may last until late February, with the average
temperature of 17.2 degree. However, sometimes it may drop to below 10 degree, and the high humidity will lend
a hand in making the weather bitter cold. Bring some serious warm clothes is necessary, if you do not want to get
a cold when visiting a tropical country! Hanois winter is also famous for many delicious street foods which can
warm you up in a chilly day.

Remember to bring warm clothes if you dont want to get a cold when visiting a tropical
country.
Winter often brings a sad feeling, because the sky is often dark and gloomy. However,
Hanoi seems to have its busiest days of the year and streets are more crowded than
usual during working hours as people are in rush to complete all the remaining works and
prepare for Tet holiday. The cold weather enables people living in Hanoi or visitors to
enjoy the tasty hot food like hotpot or grill dishes.

Spring
Spring in Hanoi is short and often from the last days of January to March or first days of
April. Spring coming means a new lunar year is coming. People in Hanoi as well as other
places in Vietnam are eager to enjoy the Tet holiday the biggest holiday and festival of
Vietnam every year. On Tet holiday, Hanoi is quiet and peaceful, different from the
noisiness of daily life. Despite enjoying the Tet holiday of Vietnam, tourists travel to
Vietnam at that time will have to meet some difficulties, because there are little services,
so the price is much higher.
The weather in spring is much warmer, humid and has drizzling rains. This kind of
weather is suitable for the plants to grow and flowers to blossom. The green buds appear
on the trees and flowers seem to be more beautiful in the spring. Peach-blossom,
especially Nhat Tan peach-blossom, is a very famous kind of flower of Hanoi in the
occasion of Tet holiday. Other kinds of flower, such as rose, gladiolus, narcissus, are
also more beautiful than in other seasons. Tourists who love taking photos can have a
chance to take photos with Sa flower or Mountain-ebony flower (Ban Flower) in
some streets of Hanoi.
I must say the weathers quite erratic in my hometown. As my hometown city is situated
between the equator and the north pole, this makes Hanoi persistently hot in the
summer and endlessly freezing in the winter, apart from those two seasons, the
weathers temperature fluctuates greatly and you can even experience the whole four
seasons in a day, as its mildly cool in the morning, then sweltering hot during mid day
when the sun comes up, then it usually rains in the afternoon before getting cold again in
the evening.
To say that I like the weather may just be an understatement. I must admit that Im
madly in love with it even though sometimes it drives me crazy when all my plans are
ruined because of a sudden heavy rain, especially when we plan to go out on a weekend
picnic or have some games of tennis.
Well, there have been some changes but not quite obvious, I dare to say that the most
obvious difference is weathers been getting warmer and winters nowadays are not as

cold as those in the past due to global warming as most scientists and studies claim. In
addition, there have been more tropical storms and longer droughts.

Music