The opinions expressed here are personal and do not necessarily match VnExpress's viewpoints.

The price of prestige: A 7th grader's struggle leaving an expensive international school

A friend of mine, a manager at a trading company, had to make a difficult decision last summer to pull his child out of an international school with tuition and expenses totaling VND450 million (US$17,100) per year.
October 28, 2025 | 06:24 am GMT+7

Why I turn down outstanding resumes with IELTS 8.0

Many candidates who graduated from top universities, scored an impressive IELTS 8.0, participated in research projects, and achieved remarkable accomplishments still get rejected at my company after the interview round.
READERS' VIEWS October 23, 2025 | 01:15 pm GMT+7

Who guards the hometown accent?

Once when I was in Thai Binh, someone asked me in Vietnamese about my "nương". I froze for a second. "Why's he asking me about barbecue (nướng)?" Seeing my confusion, he burst out laughing: "Ah, I meant 'lương', your salary."
October 21, 2025 | 07:56 am GMT+7

Jesse Peterson

My 3 years living among orderly, silent Japanese

Having witnessed the Japanese lining up in perfect order and maintaining a quiet demeanor everywhere, I could not help but compare it to the bustling, noisy conversations I often hear in other places.
READERS' VIEWS October 18, 2025 | 08:06 am GMT+7

Unity of chaos? When Western cuisine crosses the border into Vietnam

Vietnamese people don't just like to eat; eating here is a lifestyle, a commitment, almost a kind of faith, the backbone of the entire culture.
READERS' VIEWS October 16, 2025 | 06:25 am GMT+7

How the next generations can benefit by learning AI from 1st grade in school

During a business trip to Hanoi many years ago my foreign colleague and I met a woman while walking around Hoan Kiem Lake.
October 14, 2025 | 06:04 am GMT+7

Nguyen Duy Cu

What it's like to spend 15 minutes moving 400 meters in Hanoi traffic

Every evening on Nguyen Chi Thanh Street, it takes me 15 minutes to crawl just 400 meters as cars and buses spread across five lanes, forcing motorcycles to climb sidewalks or squeeze through gaps.
READERS' VIEWS October 11, 2025 | 08:34 am GMT+7

I bought a high-end apartment in Hanoi for peace of mind. Then it flooded

For five hours, I lived a nightmare. My “luxury” apartment in central Hanoi, the home I trusted to keep me safe, suddenly became a man-made lake, with water soaking books, bedding, wardrobes, even dripping through electrical sockets.
READERS' VIEWS October 9, 2025 | 06:02 am GMT+7

When will we count the last wild animal?

After a rhino carcass was discovered in Nam Cat Tien, I met village elder Dieu K'Giang (possibly the first person to see rhinos in Nam Cat Tien), hoping to hear it was not the last of them.
October 7, 2025 | 05:58 am GMT+7

Trung Thanh

9 days off for Tet isn't enough for Vietnamese families

Vietnam's proposed nine-day Tet holiday in 2026 may look generous, but for millions who spend days just traveling home, it feels short.
READERS' VIEWS October 5, 2025 | 06:01 am GMT+7

My son spent his entire 11th birthday party glued to his phone

Despite everyone's efforts to cheer him and invite him to join the celebration around a beautifully crafted cake, my son could not take his eyes off his cell phone.
READERS' VIEWS October 4, 2025 | 12:11 pm GMT+7

Two floods in one month, and Hanoi still has no answers

The night before heavy rains caused widespread flooding in Hanoi on Tuesday, my son asked, 'Any announcement, Dad?' He hoped school would be canceled. I searched too, for warnings from Hanoi's authorities, but found nothing.
October 2, 2025 | 03:13 pm GMT+7

Bui Phu Chau

Every storm turns Hanoi into a lake. Where did all the drainage money go?

On Sept. 30, it took me six hours to cover 10 km through Hanoi's flooded streets, a night that revealed how unprepared the capital is for every heavy rain.
READERS' VIEWS October 2, 2025 | 06:01 am GMT+7

3 places that remind us of what life is about: hospital, prison, cemetery

There are three places that I believe everyone should visit once in their life, not out of curiosity, and certainly not for thrills.
September 26, 2025 | 07:39 am GMT+7

Nguyen Tuan Quynh

I had to wait 3 months to see a doctor in Canada

Finding a specialist in Canada proved nearly impossible without a referral from my family doctor, which took up to three months.
READERS' VIEWS September 25, 2025 | 08:39 pm GMT+7

Narrower car lanes: lessons from 10 days of driving in Thailand

When I first drove in Bangkok and on its expressways, my immediate reaction was: "These lanes feel a bit narrow." So after reading news about proposals to narrow inner-city car lanes in Vietnam, I was pleased.
READERS' VIEWS September 23, 2025 | 06:04 am GMT+7

I am annoyed by airport staff's abrupt questions

I have often had unpleasant experiences with the superior attitude and abrupt questioning of airport staff during check-in.
READERS' VIEWS September 21, 2025 | 06:36 am GMT+7

Quitting a high-paying job at 40 saves my career

At the height of my career two decades ago, I was an HR manager earning a steady VND15 million (US$570) a month, a job many would call safe. But one question unsettled me: What if I lose this job after 40?
READERS' VIEWS September 20, 2025 | 02:17 pm GMT+7

Filipinos are native English speakers in an academic and professional form

The ongoing debate about Filipino teachers not being "native" oversimplifies the real issue and ignores important facts. Let's set the record straight.
READERS' VIEWS September 19, 2025 | 09:24 am GMT+7

Placing the blame on Filipino teachers for not being 'native' oversimplifies the real issue

A complaint from a VnExpress reader about Filipinos teaching "native English" lessons has sparked strong reactions, with many readers defending Filipinos as highly qualified English teachers and emphasizing that non-native accents are not a problem.
READERS' VIEWS September 18, 2025 | 05:00 pm GMT+7
 
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