Vietnamese female football team wins a gold medal at the 32nd Southeast Asian Games (Photo: VOV)

A: The Vietnamese team won an impressive 136 gold medals to stay atop the medal table at SEA Games 32. 

B: Before the start of SEA Games 32, Vietnam had set a target of wining between 90 and 120 gold medals and finishing in the top 3. 

A: This is more than the expected achievement of the Vietnamese team at the SEA Games where many records were broken.

B: Among many impressive achievements of the Vietnamese Sports Delegation at SEA Games 32, the victory of the Vietnamese women’s football team was highly praised by domestic and foreign media. They become the first team to win the gold medal for the fourth time in a row.

A: One of the big Vietnamese winners at SEA Games 32, runner Nguyen Thi Oanh, our golden girl of Vietnamese athletics, has captured great attention from fans and media.

B: Runner Nguyen Thi Oanh has become the first Vietnamese track and field athlete to win an extraordinary 4 individual gold medals at one SEA Games. Oanh managed to win 2 gold medals for two races which astonishingly were tightly scheduled being set only 20 minutes apart at SEA Games 32. 

A: With her recent achievement, Oanh has won an impressive 12 gold medals in her career and has been dubbed “the golden girl of Vietnamese athletics”. 

B: Nguyen Thi Oanh, 28, is the best middle-distance runner in Southeast Asia. At SEA Games 32, Oanh was entered in four events: 1,500m, 3,000m with obstacles, 5,000m, and 10,000m and left onlookers awestruck as she went on to win gold medals for all the four events.

Nguyen Thi Oanh, 28, is the best middle-distance runner in Southeast Asia (Photo: VOV)

A: One of her challenges at the Games was an unforeseen change of schedule. She had to run the 1,500m 20 minutes before running the 3,000m obstacle race. She accepted the bad news without blinking an eye and proved herself by doing what she does best, she cruised her way to earn 3 more gold medals, making SEA Games history. 

“The coaches and I were very worried about the unexpected change of schedule, but we tried to find the most suitable tactics and I did my best to finish,”Oanh said.

Runner Nguyen Thi Oanh

“I had mixed emotions and was exhausted. I felt happy and grateful for the support of the spectators, and the Vietnamese sports delegation, who encouraged me to finish the two difficult races in a very short time,” Oanh said.

A: Later, Oanh won her fourth gold medal in the women's 10,000m event with a time of 35min 11.53sec. 

B: Hats off and a big round of applause for Oanh, the golden girl of Vietnamese athletes. Once again, thank you all, our dear listeners, for your much appreciated congratulations and support for our home grown Vietnamese athletes.

A: This week, VOV received more than 320 letters, emails, and phone calls from listeners of 35 countries and territories.  

B: Commenting on our news about an international seminar on President Ho Chi Minh’s activities in Italy, Mario Muñoz Mendoza of Bolivia, wrote: “President Ho Chi Minh is the leader of the struggle against colonialism and imperialism and the builder of the right to self-determination and prosperity of nations. We would like to congratulate historic leader Ho Chi Minh.”

A: Juan Diez of Spain wrote: “President Ho Chi Minh’s revolutionary career needs to be correctly evaluated. During his career, he travelled around the world and acquired the best of the world and the most advanced of great ideologists, philosophists, and theorists and applied them in reality leading his people to the struggle for national liberation and win victory for the socialism revoluition.”

B: Thank you all for sharing with us your impression on Vietnam and our beloved President Ho Chi Minh.

A: Many listeners, including Amphay of Laos told us that they want to learn more about popular street food in Vietnam, which has been recommended by many tourism publications and websites. 

Sweet potato cake

B: On today show, we’d like to introduce to you crispy fried corn cakes, sweet potato cakes, and banana cakes, 3 of the most popular Vietnamese desserts.

A: You can find these cakes on almost any street corner in Hanoi. They’re easy to make at home but are often sold at street stalls. 

B: The recipes for the three cakes are almost the same. But the ingredient quality is important. The bananas should be well ripened to give the cake a mellover flavor than fresh bananas. 

Corn cake

A: You should choose sweet potatoes with an orange or dark yellow skin. White sweet potatoes are not as sweet. Yellow corn is best for cakes. Remove the corn kernels by hand to make sure they’re juicy and flavorful when you bite into the cake. 

B: After assembling all the ingredients, you just need to slice the sweet potatoes and bananas and mix them with water and flour to make a dough. Wheat flour is used for all three cakes. Some people add eggs to create a bright yellow color, but it gives the cakes a fishy smell. Artificial color is not recommended because it may harm people’s health. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes before frying.

Crispy fried corn cakes, sweet potato cakes, and banana cakes are 3 of the most popular Vietnamese desserts

A: The cooking oil should fill the pan to the brim, for the best cake quality. The temperature should not be too high or too low. If it’s too high, it may burn the cakes. If it’s too low, the cakes won’t be crispy enough. After 2 to 3 minutes of frying, the cakes should be served hot to maximize their crispness. A tip for perfecting the dish is to add a little lemon juice to the frying pan to make the cakes even crisper and give them a deep brown color.

B: Try this simple recipe at home and compare your results with the tasty cakes you can find on streets of Vietnam. 

A: Thank you all for your interest in VOV and for sending us your feedback. 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. You’re invited to visit us online at vovworld.vn, where you can hear both live and recorded programs.

B: Check out our VOV Media App, available on both the IOS and Android platform, to hear our broadcasts. We look forward to your feedback on the mobile version of vovworld.vn. Once again, thank you all for listening. Goodbye!