B: Mr. Yashihiro Toyama sent us a letter to say hello from Hamamatsu, Japan. This is his first report to the English Service, but he has often listened to VOV’s Japanese service since 1978. Yashihiro said: “Reception on June 28th was good and it was almost perfect this time. I was sorry that Sunday had no news bulletins, but I enjoyed your Music segment.”
A: Thank you for listening to VOV’s English program and sending us a reception report. At the beginning of the year we changed our program format to include no news on Sunday. We added a longer music show to introduce Vietnamese contemporary songwriters and singers. On Sunday national and world news is posted on our website at vovworld.vn.
 Vietnam's inbound tourism recovers strongly after the COVID-19 pandemic. (photo: Hoi An Ancient town) |
B: Peter Ng of Malaysia tuned in to our English program on the frequency of 9840 Khz on June 1st. He rated SIO at 454. The program content was mainly about the COVID-19 pandemic, production recovery in Vietnam, and redeployment of foreign experts and skilled workers to Vietnam.
A: Economic recovery is now the main task in Vietnam. Having contained the pandemic better than most other countries and recorded zero deaths, Vietnam’s government is now encouraging businesses to resume normal activity. While the entry ban on foreigners remains in effect, the government has also asked relevant authorities to facilitate the entry of investors, technical experts, high-skilled workers, managers, officials, and diplomats. Vietnam remains closed to foreign tourists for the time being.
B: Hundreds of foreign experts, managers, and students have already entered Vietnam from South Korea, Japan, China, and Russia on special flights. The Vietnamese government recently announced plans to resume international flights on a bilateral basis to China, South Korea, Taiwan (China), Laos, and Cambodia, though no official start date has been set.
 Lan Ha island is a new destination in Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO recognized natural heritage site. |
A: I’m reading a reception report from Frank Fischer of Austria for VOV’s English program on May 24th and 31st on 7280khz. Frank said he used the Shazam app to identify the songs we played.
B: Technology is wonderful. Shazam identifies a song by creating a digital fingerprint to match what you're hearing with one of the millions of songs in the Shazam database. Many of our listeners want to listen again to the Vietnamese songs we play, and Shazam helps them find the correct song name in Vietnamese.
A: We continue to receive entries for our contest “What do you know about Vietnam?” and for the ‘Vietnam Fights Coronavirus' addendum to the contest. The 1st prize winner of our 2015 contest, John Rutledge of the US, who lives and works in China, told us: “I am still working on my COVID-19 supplement to the contest. Creating a satisfactory entry seems to be more difficult than I imagined. I should finish in a few days and will send it to you as soon as it is finished.”
B: VOV has extended the contest deadline to August 31 to provide listeners more time to answer the 6 main questions and the addendum.
 Ninh Binh tourism complex has many attractive spots for visitors to explore. |
A: Faria Khanam Mumu of Bangladesh told us he read the Food Delight feature on our website to learn how to roast duck with honey. Were you successful?
B: Varieties of ducks are raised in almost every rural area in Vietnam and roast duck is a popular dish. Different localities have different recipes. The northern province of Cao Bang is famous for roast duck with seven flavors. Before roasting the duck, the cook marinates it with ginger, garlic, shallots, peppers, honey, tofu, and a special ingredient which is Clausena indica, a fruit grown in Cao Bang’s forest.
A: When they eat roast duck with seven flavors for the first time, many people try to guess the 7 ingredients. You can cook it at home, but it never has the same flavor as it does in Cao Bang.
B: Duck meat can be found almost everywhere in Vietnam, but it has become a specialty of Van Dinh village on the outskirts of Hanoi because of its especially delicious taste. One whole street there is lined with duck restaurants.
A: They prepare a variety of dishes containing duck meat – boiled, roasted, baked, fried with galangal, stewed with sour fruit, or served with rice noodle.
B: One dish of baked duck is flavored with galangal, citronella and a special kind of leaf picked in the forest in Vietnam’s northern mountains. Whether roasted or baked, the meat marinated with this leaf always has a distinctive fragrance people can’t resist.
A: You can get some useful cooking tips from VOV’s Food Delight to vary your menu while you’re social distancing due to COVID-19.
B: This week many of our listeners sent us congratulatory messages for the Eid al-Adha Islamic festival. Eid al-Adha is an Islamic festival to commemorate the willingness of Ibrahim to follow Allah's command to sacrifice his son. Muslims around the world observe this festival, as do Vietnamese Muslims.
A: Vietnam’s Muslims represent about 0.01% of its population. Most are ethnic Cham, while a few are foreigners and a few are converts. Every year, the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Hanoi hosts an Eid al-Adha festival at the Al Noor Mosque. Afterward they gather in the Indonesian Embassy's Multipurpose Room for lunch.
B: This year 100 people of the Indonesian community in the Hanoi area and the families of the Vietnamese staff of the Indonesian Embassy enjoyed an Eid al-Adha meal.
A: The festival also celebrates Indonesian Independence Day on August 17th and introduces Indonesian culture.
B: Thank you all for sending your reception reports. We’ll send e-verification cards to confirm your reports. We welcome your feedback at: English Service, VOVworld, the Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu street, Hanoi, Vietnam. Or you can email us at: englishsection@vov.vn.
B: You’re invited to visit us online at vovworld.vn, where you can hear both live and recorded programs. Check out our VOV Media App available on both the IOS and Android platform to hear our live broadcasts. We look forward to your feedback on the mobile version of vovworld.vn. Once again, thank you all for listening. Goodbye until next time.