A: Hello and welcome to VOV’s regular Wednesday feature, The Letter Box. Last week, we received dozens of letters and emails but the one from William Patalon III from the USA impressed us the most. We must say that he’s already made a record having the thickest letter, about 20 pages altogether.
B: Thank you, William. We are very happy that VOV has listeners like you. William listened to the English program almost every day even when he and his family were on holiday in Delaware, Maryland. With your letter, we now know that you have just celebrated your 17th wedding anniversary and your son’s birthday. Although your letter came to us a bit late, missing your celebrations, we still want to say congratulations to you and your wife as well as your son Robin.
A: We learn that people in the US and other western countries often hold wedding anniversaries called different names depending on the number of years they have been married. Is it true that in the US, you can receive a greeting from the President on your 50th wedding anniversary or in Canada, where you receive a message from the Governor General for the 50th anniversary, and every 5th anniversary after that.
B: If it’s correct, it’s very interesting as it proves that the Governments of these countries attach a lot of importance to the value of marriage and family. In Vietnam, for many years, we haven’t celebrated wedding anniversaries but things have changed a lot in recent years, especially amongst young people who are in more contact with western culture.
A: Vietnamese people have what we call Vietnam Families Day. Ever since 2001, June 28th began to be observed as national Family Day to uphold the important role played by the family and family values in developing the human character. In the past, although Vietnamese people didn’t have an exact day to mark this event, many other public days and the way the Vietnamese treat their parents and ancestors, proves that Vietnam is a nation which treasures family values as well as loyalty between husband and wife.
B: William, we hope that in your next letter, if possible, you can tell us about wedding celebrations in your country. What and how do you prepare for this special event? We guess you must be a meticulous and romantic husband! Regarding your detailed reports on what you heard, of course, we won’t forget to send you QSL cards for recognition.
A: This week, we had a new listener, welcome Mr. Koichi Ikeda from Tokyo, Japan. Koichi often listens to VOV’s Japanese programs but this is his first time he has sent a letter to the English section. So we could say that Koichi is a half new and half old listener of VOV.
B: He reported listening to our broadcast by SONY ICF-SW7600GR, on the frequency of 12020 kHz at 13.28 to 14.00 UTC and ‘the conditions were very good to enjoy the program’. Your comment is also ‘great’ for us as nothing is better for VOV broadcasters to know that their programs are being enjoyed by listeners around the world and are good quality.
B: Regarding your hesitation about the structure of the English program, which you said ‘there was not a fixed program and the closing announcement came suddenly.’ We think it might be because it was the first time you listened to us, you haven’t got used to our structure yet. On each day every week, there are fixed features/stories in an English program except for special national celebrations. For example, every Monday, a 27-minute English program includes a news bulletin followed by Current Affairs, and Vietnam’s Land and People. Similarly on other days of the week, the news and Current Affairs for that day will come first. It continues with a Society and Business edition on Tuesday, a Letter Box on Wednesday, and et cetera.
A: For more details of the English program throughout the week, we will send you the latest broadcast schedule to help you. But in case the letter doesn’t arrive, take some time to log onto our website at www.vovworld.vn where you can hear both live and recorded programs as well as find things you haven’t heard about.
A: You’re listening to VOV’s Letter Box, broadcast every Wednesday. The song you’ve just heard was about Vietnam’s Mid-Autumn festival. One of our listeners’ requests was to broadcast more about Vietnamese culture, traditions, festivals, lifestyles and places. Anil Tamrakar, Chairman of the Radio Listeners Club for Katni District, India has been listening to VOV for a decade and what has made Anil stick with VOV for so long is that our programs are rich in cultural information.
B: In this week’s Letter Box, we will introduce you to one of Vietnam’s major annual festivals, the Mid-Autumn Festival or Full moon festival or Children’s Festival. This year, it falls on September 30th. The ancient festival, which revolves around children, takes place on the full moon or the 15th day of the eighth lunar month.
A: The festival involves the customs of contemplating the moon, processions of star and moon - shaped lanterns, lion dances, as well as parties with moon cakes and fruit. For a month before the main festival, the streets are full of people buying things for the festival and wandering about downtown Hanoi.
B: In the past, children often made their toys themselves – making colorful toy lanterns of different sizes and shapes, girls’ headdresses, grapefruit, pomelo dogs, and strings of grapefruit seeds to light up on the full moon. Today, when people’s living conditions are much improved and parents are always busy, few children have the chance to feel the eagerness of the preparations ahead of the celebrations.
A: But what hasn’t been lost over the years are the lion dances, which are important before and during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Both non-professional and professional groups of children dance on the streets or go to people’s houses. Besides, it is customary to offer boxes of moon cakes, which are traditionally very rich in taste. B: The cakes are filled with lotus seeds, ground beans and orange peels and have a bright yoke in the center to represent the moon. Today, the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, together with the affection for children, promotes education, poetry, dance, the arts and crafts. Most overseas Vietnamese families, though far away from their home country, often hold the festival in their host country to remind their kids of their origins and national culture.
A: Not only local people, but also tourists from overseas are warmly welcomed to take part in this special festival. You will have a lot of fun when watching the crowds, seeing the children carrying their lanterns, eating cakes and receiving gifts during the Mid-Autumn Festival!
B: On every Letter Box show, we try to mention as many listeners as possible. This week we welcome Claes W.Englund from Sweden. Claes now aged 74, listened to the English program on August 20th on 7280 kHz. He said the signal was quite good. Hello also to Johann Sedlak of Vienna in Austria who listened to VOV programs in both English and German; Hannu Kiiski from Finland; Rudolf Grimm from Sao Bernardo, Brazil; our regular listener Fumito Hokamura in Japan and all you others.
B: All these listeners sent us either letters or emails with detailed reports on the English programs they listened to and comments on both the technical side and content. We highly appreciate these. Dear listeners, your reception reports are sufficient for us to send you letters of confirmation. If your name wasn’t mentioned this week, don’t feel bad. We’ll try to acknowledge you next time.
A: That’s it for today’s Letter Box. Please keep in touch. We really look forward to receiving your comments and suggestions. Our contact address is: The English Program, Overseas Service, Radio Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu Street, Hanoi, Vietnam.
B: Or you can email us at: englishsection@vov.org.vn. And if you miss any of our programs, you can always catch up by logging onto our website at www.vovworld.vnwhere you can hear both live and recorded programs. Good bye until next time