A: Hello and welcome to the Letter Box on Radio Voice of Vietnam, I’m… .
B: Hello, I’m Nhat Quynh. We’re glad to be back with our listeners worldwide.
A: VOV radio enthusiasts will no longer need to worry about missing any of our broadcast because our programs have officially gone online. At www.vovworld.vn, you can listen to your favorite items at any time with perfect sound quality. The VOV Overseas Service’s website is the only one in Vietnam that offers audio and text in 12 languages.
B: Even during the trial run period, the site has attracted a lot of attention from foreign listeners. Rafiqul Islam, President of the Source of Knowledge Club in Bangladesh emailed us: “All 265 members of our listeners’ club regularly visit your website. We discuss your current program 3-4 times a week in our club room”. Ratan Kumar Paul of India wrote: “I enjoy your programs daily and visit your lovely webpage regularly.”
A: This is just a sample of listeners’ feedback about our new website. We look forward to more comments and suggestions from you to improve our programming, both on air and online. In his email, Mr. Kumar Paul proposed that we hold an annual quiz and asked for some information about the largest athletic field in Vietnam, as well as the name of Vietnam’s national sport.
B: Actually, we organized a writing contest called “What do you know about Vietnam” several times in the past few years with the top prize being a one-week paid trip to Vietnam. The quiz has sparked a great interest among our audience. We share your opinion, though, that more contests should be organized to boost interaction between VOV and its listeners as well as to increase understanding of Vietnam.
A: Now back to your questions. The largest sports field in Vietnam is the My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi. This multi-purpose sports arena with 40,000 seats is the centerpiece of Vietnam's National Sports Complex. The stadium was officially opened in September 2003 and was the main venue for the Southeast Asian Games later that year, hosting the opening and closing ceremony as well as the men's football and track and field events. The stadium is home to Vietnam’s national football team, and often hosts international matches.
B: The most popular sport in Vietnam is football. The V-League is the top football league in our country and currently includes 14 teams. Vietnam has always been among the top football teams in Southeast Asia, claiming the championship in 2008.
A: We’re also proud to have an indigenous martial art called Vovinam, which is performed with and without weapons. The founder of Vovinam was Master Nguyễn Lộc, who introduced it to the public in 1938. After a demonstration in 1939 in Hanoi, Vovinam quickly spread across the country, and internationally via France.
B: Vovinam is based on a balance between hard and soft. It involves training the mind as well as the body. It uses the strength and reaction of the opponent. Vovinam uses hands, elbows, kicks, escapes and levering techniques. Attack and defense techniques are taught, using various forms of combat and traditional wrestling. The wide range of techniques include punching, kicking and wrestling, using sword, staff, axe, folding fan and other weapons.
A: Vovinam is now practiced in many countries including the US, France, Germany, Australia and Italy. It has been added as an official sports at the biennial Southeast Asian Games. And that’s our answer to questions about Vietnamese sports posed by listener Ratan Kumar Paul of India.
B: Next we’d like to thank listener James Camilli of the US for a DVD and book he sent about Evans Fordyce Carlson, a revolutionary member of the US armed forces. Unfortunately, the materials came only yesterday so we haven’t had time to examine them closely. But we’re very impressed by the comments on the covers, which promise an interesting story about Carlson, who was a World War 2 hero.
A: We’re glad to hear that our token gift helped to brighten your spirits as you were recovering from an illness. We wish you good health and will definitely tell you how our thoughts after reading the book and watching the DVD you sent us.
B: From the Canadian province of Manitoba, Mr. Douglas Copeland submitted a reception report on our November 22 transmission at 1:00 UTC with SIO of 433. He listed a few items that he heard and asked for a QSL card.
A: Well, Mr. Copeland, although the information you provided is enough for us to recognize our Monday show and issue a verification card, we would appreciate it if you could provide us some comments on our programming. We look forward to hearing more from you in the future.
B: A QSL card will also be delivered to German listener Rudolf Sonntag, who caught our November 29 show and provided the following remarks: “Very good reception of your English program here in southern Germany. I think it’s been a long time since my last letter. But I’m still listening to the English and German programs from the Voice of Vietnam. Let me wish a healthy and happy New Year 2012”. Thank you for your dedication to our station, Mr. Sonntag. We wish you a new year full of luck and success. We hope that you’ll continue to tune in to our station and give us further feedback.
That’s our program for today.
Your mail is welcome at:
English program
Overseas Service
Radio Voice of Vietnam
45 Ba Trieu street-Hanoi-Vietnam
Or you can email us at: englishsection@vov.org.vn
Our website address is : www.vovworld.vn
We’ll see you next Wednesday at the same time and on the same frequency. Good bye!