A: Another week has gone by and we’re happy once again to be with you on our Wednesday Letter Box to answer all the emails and letters received this week. Let’s start with an email from a Pakistani listener. 
B: In an email dated August 8^th, Adeel Butt of Pakistan wrote: “I came to Vietnam for the first time to attend the Universal Congress of Esperanto in Hanoi which finished last week…I think The Voice of Vietnam’s World Service should add Urdu to their foreign language service. Urdu is a national language of Pakistan, has regional status in India, and is spoken widely around the world, especially in South Asian countries. In Pakistan, there are a lot of listeners who tune into foreign service programs like Deutsche Welle of Germany, Voice of America, and Radio Korea International…”
A: Adeel came to visit us in person at VOV’s English Section this week. Thank you, Adeel, for your suggestion. We’ll discuss it and who knows - may be broadcasts in Urdu will be available soon, in addition to our broadcasts in English, French, German, Russian, Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Lao, Thai, Cambodian, Indonesian, and Vietnamese for Vietnamese who are living abroad.

B: During our conversation at VOV this week, Adeel also suggested that VOV host more quizzes about VN so listeners worldwide can learn more about Vietnam and maybe win a trip to our beautiful country.
A: IN 2005 we started holding an essay contest called “What do you know about Vietnam and it’s been very popular. We are still in regular contact with Ziad Aqueel of Jordan who won first prize and a trip to Vietnam in our first contest. We’ll promote this contest more vigorously to encourage more listeners to enlarge their knowledge of VN and try to win a trip to VN.
B: From Victoria, Australia, Bert Sing, who just resumed his shortwave hobby, wrote to us, saying he listened to our July 26 broadcast on 9840 kHz from 12:30 to 12:56 UTC with good signal strength and only very slight interference.
A: In his letter dated July 27, 65 year-old Bert said: “I must admit I did enjoy listening to your entire program which was very interesting. I just like the Vietnamese culture…I was a shortwave listener to the Voice of Vietnam in the past. I have been busy lately. But now I have started to enjoy listening to shortwave radio again as it is a nice hobby to know the culture of the world, including Vietnamese.”
B: Bert added that: “I am happy to know that Voice of Vietnam is still providing interesting news and documentaries to the listeners of the world. Great job. I’ll be tuned in more often to your broadcast."
A: Welcome back to the VOV listeners’ community, Bert. We look forward to receiving more reception reports from you.
B: John Fisher of Massachusetts, USA, reported listening to our July 29 broadcast from 01:00 to 01:30 UTC on the frequency 6175 kHz with a strong reception and SINPO of all 4s.
A: In his letter dated the same day, John said: “I have always enjoyed your informative broadcasts. They provide good news about what’s happening in Vietnam. My cousin visited Vietnam a few years ago and was very happy with the visit…Please accept my very best wishes. I hope to hear from you soon.”
B: Dear John, Why don’t you plan a trip to Vietnam now? We’ll be more than happy to welcome you at the VOV headquarters here in Hanoi. And if you need any help planning your trip, don’t hesitate to contact us, as we love to keep our listeners updated on everything happening in Vietnam.
A: As many listeners say they love Vietnamese songs, let’s take a short break now with the Vietnamese rock band “The Red Tide” and a song called “After the rain”.

Song "After the rain" Red Tide Band
A: That was the Vietnamese rock band the Red Tide singing After the Rain. We now continue this week’s Letter Box with an email from another regular listener.
B: In an email dated August 11, American listener Ian Morrison, who now lives in China, reported listening to us on August 10 from 11:45 to 11:55 UTC on the frequency of 12020 kHz with SINPO of 54444. With pretty good reception conditions, Ian was able to catch our culture feature about Ha Nam province, the cradle of many Vietanamese cultural values.
A: He wrote: “Here’s another reception report for a recent broadcast of VOV. If details are correct, I would be very happy to receive another verification card from you…Recently you sent me a VOV pennant, many thanks for this. AS I already have one, I gave the spare pennant to one of my colleagues at work. He was very happy and has it displayed on his desk…”
A: Dear Ian, thank you for closely monitoring our broadcasts. We’ll send you a QSL card to acknowledge your listening to VOV’s English program on that day, along with some souvenirs of Vietnam as you requested.
B: Another American listener, Allan Loudell of Delaware, sent us a letter and said he caught our Friday show on July 20^th from 01:00 to 01:27 UTC on 6175 kHz with SINPO of 54444. He said: “Still good to hear the Voice of Vietnam via the relay site in Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada. Could you please confirm this reception report with your latest QSL?”
A: Of course we’ll send you a QSL to verify your report and thank you for joining us. This week we also received emails from regular listeners like Toshiya Nishimura of Fukuiken, Japan, Mizanur Rahman of Bangladesh, and Tony Bernhoffer of Ohio, USA. Thank you all so much for your interest in our programs. 
B: Time flies, doesn’t it? That’s it for this week’s Letter Box. Thank you all very much for joining us. We look forward to receiving more comments and suggestions from you. Our contact address is: The English program,
Overseas Service, Radio Voice of Vietnam,
45 Ba Trieu street, Hanoi, Vietnam
A: Or you can email us at: englishsection@vov.org.vn.  Our program is also available on our website at: www.vovworld.vn