Dear các bạn,

Thanks, Thai Ha, again for the very good translation of yesterday’s challenge. I have planned not to have an English challenge for Saturday, but chị Kiêm Yến seems to want to keep it going. So I have it here, in case you would like some work over the weekend.

Thai Ha’s translation is very good. Not much to fix. But here are some minor points:

“A widely anticipated speech” should be translated as “một bài phát biểu nhiều người đang chờ đợi.”

“yet issued a firm, evenhanded call to the Jewish state and Palestinians alike” should be translated as “tuy nhiên vẫn kêu gọi, cứng rắn và công bằng, cả nước Do Thái lẫn người Palestine …”

“a Cold War in which Muslim-majority countries were often treated as proxies without regard to their own aspirations” should be translated as “Chiến tranh Lạnh trong đó các quốc gia có đa số dân là Hồi giáo thường bị dùng như những con chốt trong khi nguyện vọng của họ không hề được quan tâm.”

Thanks again, Thai Ha.
.

TODAY’S CHALLENGE

This a CNN news piece about Palin’s criticism of Obama’s policy. She talked in a conversational tone. So there are many typical conversational words here for you to get yourselves familiar with.

Palin blasts Obama administration: Government wants to “control the people”

(CNN) – Alaska governor Sarah Palin let loose Wednesday on the Obama administration for enacting fiscal policies that “fly in the face of principles” and “defy Economics 101.”

In a speech introducing Michael Reagan — the son of former President Ronald Reagan — to an audience in Anchorage, Palin warned that the government is planning to “bail out debt ridden states” so it can “get in there and control the people.”

“Since when can you get out of huge national debt by creating trillions of dollars of new debt?” Palin asked. “It all really is so backwards and skewed as to sound like absolute nonsense when some of this economic policy is explained.”

“We need to be aware of the creation of a fearful population, and fearful lawmakers, being led to believe that big government is the answer, to bail out the private sector, because then government gets to get in there and control it,” she said. “And mark my words, this is going to be next, I fear, bail out next debt-ridden states. Then government gets to get in there and control the people.”

“Some in Washington would approach our economic woes in ways that absolutely defy Economics 101, and they fly in the face of principles, providing opportunity for industrious Americans to succeed or to fail on their own accord,” she said. “Those principles it makes you wonder what the heck some in Washington are trying to accomplish here.”

Though the bulk of her remarks focused on government encroachment into the private sector, and praise for former President Reagan’s views on limited government, the former vice presidential candidate briefly touched on national security. She told the crowd that “the terrorists are still dead set against us” and that her son Track is still deployed in Iraq.

“It is war over there, so it will not be war over here,” she said. “And it had better still be our mission that we win, they lose.”

Vocabulary notes:

“Economics 101” is the name of the lowest economics class in university.

“What the heck” is a nice swearing term (chửi thề). Originally, it is “What the hell.” What the hell did you give me in this box? (Anh cho em cái quái quỷ gì trong hộp này?). People say “what the hell” is a bad swearing term, so they change the sound to “what the heck.”

That’s it. Have fun, everyone. Have a great great great weekend. 🙂

Hoành

Hi everyone,

Let’s continue the discussion on our future plan. Since no one seems to contradict me on my last message, I think we can come to some compromise for the time being, to see how it goes.

I think we can just make one page called “Discussion In English” and put the Daily English Challenge as a section of that page. In that way, we still have the challenge and talk about English a bit each day, but we can be sure that the “challenge” will have the overall effect of the “English only” method we use in the “discussion” page. And we can make the challenge at the entry and intermediate levels. Advanced people don’t need it.

But I need someone to help me handle that section. Any volunteer? If there is no volunteer, I will ask chị Huệ if we can invite some English teacher(s) who is/are willing to help.

Thanks a million in advance.

YESTERDAY’S CHALLENGE

Thank you very much, Thai Ha, for answering. That is a good translation, nothing to fix.

I need to go over Psalm 23 again to emphasize some important writing techniques. This Psalm was written almost 3 thousand years ago, but it is still the standard for today’s writing. That is why it is so famous.

Let’s look at it again:

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he restores my soul.

He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

1. Simple words. There is no complex word in this poem. The entire poem has only one 3-syllable word “righteousness” and, even that, this is a very well-known word–everyone is familiar with it.

2. Concrete words and ideas.

* the Lord is my shepherd. (Not, the Lord is my creator).

* I shall not be in want. (Not, I shall not be poor).

* He makes me lie down in green pastures. (Not, he gives me good rest).

* He leads me besides quiet waters. (Not, he gives my security and peace).

* He restores my soul (“My soul” happens to be an abstract word, but the sentence tries to make it concrete by using the word “restores”, like restoring a broken house).

* He guides me in paths of righteousness (Again, “righteousness” happens to be an abstract word, but the word “paths” helps make it concrete.

* Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death (Not, even though I am in trouble).

* I will fear no evil. (This clause is intentionally left abstract, to weaken the sense of “evil”).

* For you are with me. (Not, for you always care about me).

* Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. (Not, you give me protection and give me peace).

* You prepare a table before me, in the presence of my enemy. (Not, you give me courage and calmness when I am under attack).

* You anoint my head with oil. (Not, you make me your chosen one).

* My cup overflows. (Not, you give me more than I need).

* Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life. (“Goodness” and “love” are abstract words made concrete by the term “follow”).

* And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (Not, I will dwell in heaven forever).

3. Short, simple, clear sentences. Ex: The lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

4. Present tense. Ex: Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

5. Indicative mood, active voice. Ex: He makes me lie down in green pastures.

5. Using images and pictures. We can see that the entire poem is all images and pictures.

These are standards of writing, brothers and sisters. Keep these in mind. Kalil Gibran took these standards to the utmost, by concreting every single abstract idea.

TODAY’S CHALLENGE

OK, here is today’s challenge, everyone.

Please translate the following news article into Vietnamese.

Obama Reaches Out to Muslim World
By MARK S. SMITH

CAIRO (June 4) — Quoting from the Quran for emphasis, President Barack Obama called for a “new beginning between the United States and Muslims” Thursday and said together, they could confront violent extremism across the globe and advance the timeless search for peace in the Middle East.

“This cycle of suspicion and discord must end,” Obama said in a widely anticipated speech in one of the world’s largest Muslim countries, an address designed to reframe relations after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

The White House said Obama’s speech contained no new policy proposals on the Middle East. He said American ties with Israel are unbreakable, yet issued a firm, evenhanded call to the Jewish state and Palestinians alike to live up to their international obligations.
In a gesture to the Islamic world, Obama conceded at the beginning of his remarks that tension “has been fed by colonialism that denied rights and opportunities to many Muslims, and a Cold War in which Muslim-majority countries were often treated as proxies without regard to their own aspirations.”

Have fun. Thank you, everyone.

Have a great day!

Hoành

Hi Everyone,

Thanks chị Yến, Truong and Kitty for the notes. The idea of breaking the daily challenge into smaller parts for different groups and doing two pages each day–one for discussion on national affairs and one for English challenge–is good.

But here is my thinking:

I am thinking that we need to go into the “English only” mode. In the discussions (in English) we may be able to achieve the English training naturally, simply by discussing things. That is the best way to learn English. You learn “live” English, which is absorbed naturally, just by living it. And EVERYONE can be involved in the discussions.

The daily challenge has some obstacles to “live” English–relying too much on translation, “dictionary English”, and Vietnamese as the bridge, which keeps the mind stuck on Vietnamese grammatical logic. And it seems I have not been able to break out of this operating mode and move into the English-only mode. I am thinking that this may become a detriment rather than help.

In addition, we can’t create more activities without additional help. Do we have one or two English teachers willing to work with me on the Daily English Challenge?

TODAY’S CHALLENGE

OK, while we are discussing on this, let’s continue our daily challenge until we have come to a final conclusion.

Below is a very famous poem called Psalm 23, a Psalm of David. It is from the Bible. I have explained earlier why I keep giving you Bible excerpts.

David was a farmer boy and he played music. I think he played the little harp. He killed the giant Goliath in a battle and later became the greatest king of Israel. He wrote a lot of songs and they are the Psalms in the Bible.

The Psalms contain very beautiful English. They are simple and picturesque, and have very high emotional impact. Psalms are among the most beautiful poems in human literature. Abraham Lincoln learned beautiful language for his famous speeches from the Psalms. His mother used the Bible to teach him English. I read the Psalms to learn the power of beautiful simple English. Many friends have asked me: “How to learn to write English beautifully?” and I have answered: “Read the Psalms, even if you are not Christian.” I used to read many books just to learn English. I used to rank Kalil Gibran top on my list, until I studied the Psalms–I dropped Kalil Gibran.

Psalm 23 is the most famous Psalm. If you watch movies, when soldiers are under heavy enemy pressure, they may read Psalm 23.

Here it is. Please translate Psalm 23 below into English.

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

Have a wonderful day.

Hoanh

Hi everyone,

2 billion people in the world are learning English, and the country with the highest number of English students is China. In the following video Jay Walker talks about the “English Mania” worldwide, especially in China.

According to Walker, English is the language of problem solving and opportunity.
.

I would like to turn this Daily English Challenge into a page of English discussion on the issues of the nation. But it should be different from VNBIZ, which is an existing English forum on national issues.

* The discussions should have only positive tone on dotchuoinon. We want everything to be positive here. It means, we discuss issues to solve issues, not to attack anyone or any agency.

* We want the language to be simple, so that students can participate.

* We want participants to understand very clearly that we all are doing this to figure out and test various communication methods that may be applicable in revolutionizing our English teaching methodology.

I am very confident that after a while we will come up with so many different methods and teaching aids. Trust me.

Please tell me what you think.

Great day, brothers and sisters.

Hoanh

Hi everyone,

Here are my temporary conclusions, after more than a month of searching and experimenting, about our English issues:

1. There is a wide gap between reading comprehension and writing skills.
2. This is a wide gap between translating English into Vietnamese and translating from Vietnamese into English.
3. Even people with very high level of writing–translators for newspapers- are stuck with “translated English” and sound awkward.
4. There is considerable difficulty in writing English directly, without the help of a Vietnamese article for translation purposes.
5. There is a weakness in familiarity with everyday English.
6. I also suspect a weakness in multiple choice testing.

I think the main reason is that Vietnamese language has been playing a major role in English teaching. I think Vietnamese language should play NO role in English hours. Everyone should stay with only one language in the English hour–English language.

In English hours, students should be taught to speak, listen, read and write English, without the interference of Vietnamese language.

In other words, we need the “total submersion” method in English education.

And I think we can do that easily, simply by switching methodology. The current teachers can do that. Immediately. Without the need for bureaucracy, plans, calculations, approvals, etc. We just need a group of dedicated teachers.

I would like to hear more from English teachers on these points. And eventually we should have a group of teachers with the same thinking, to explore ways to revolutionize English teaching. Let’s focus on our creative power.

And we need to think about more methods for students to use English in everyday life, more than just a couple of hours a week in the classroom.

We need to think about English as a major component of the national development strategy. As a nation, we need to master English as the main business language, at the same level as Vietnamese business language. The world is a very large reservoir of knowledge, and English is the conduit into that reservoir. We cannot afford to be weak.

Let’s keep all these points in mind as we explore our ways together.

TODAY’S CHALLENGE

I am thinking about eventually turning these challenges into discussions, so that we can simply “talk” in English, about issues of our lives, our cities and our nation. But I am not sure how to go about it yet. Still thinking. If you have any suggestion, please shoot.

In the meantime, here is our challenge for today:

Chị Kiêm Yến posted this quote by Demosthenes on May 29: “Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises.”

Please explain it to him.

Have a great time.

Hoanh

Hi everyone,

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and is now refreshed and full of energy.

No one has a response for the weekend. I did expect that. Actually I was thinking of not doing the challenge for Saturday, but I didn’t want to change without some announcement in advance. I realize that people don’t want to do English challenges on weekends.

So here is the announcement: From now on, we will not have English challenge on Saturday.

And now, here are three challenges for today. Please pick any challenge you like, or all of them if you like to do them all.

1. What do you think are the three most critical issues in Vietnam’s higher education (colleges & universities)?

2. What do you think are the three most critical issues in Vietnam’s high-school education?

3. This challenge is specifically for students: How do you feel about your school and your teachers? (Please note: We are talking about “teachers” in plural, not any particular teacher).

OK, I hope that would give enough choices for everyone. Let’s get the ball rolling, guys and gals.

Have a great day!

Hoanh

Hi Everyone,

Thank chi Kiêm Yến for the good response. Your writing starts to sound very natural. By “natural” I mean sounding like a native English speaker and not having the “translation” sound of a foreigner.

That’s got me thinking. Maybe it is not too hard to get rid of the “translation language” that we see often on many English-edition of Vietnamese language newspaper. Maybe people are trying too hard to “translate,” instead of simply “writing” their the idea down in English.

Anyway, here is chi Yến’s writing with some editing to smooth it out.

You ask me a very difficult question, brother Hoành! It takes me so much time to find out “who is the boss in my home?”.

I even can not define “the boss”. What does “boss” mean? A person has a powerful position in my home? Or a person that other person must obey? I’ve never imagined there is a boss in my family!

When I was a child, sometimes I saw my father acting like a boss. Everyone in my big family listened to his orders, including my mother. He worked and got money to provide for the family. Therefore, although my mother exhaustedly took care of a large household, she always obeyed him.

I suppose that the woman of today is not the same . Since she gets married and has a family, she makes every effort to build her own one. She inherits the traditional moral standard from mother and, concurrently, participates in the social activities. She has a high responsibility for all things she is involved in. She does chores, cleaning house, preparing meals, washing clothes, feeding children. She reads book, sings songs, and helps children do their homework. She not only takes care her child, but also takes care her husband! She pays attention to his career- creating good conditions for him to work, caring about his look, managing his time. That’s the reason you think woman runs everything and everyone in her home, do you?

How about man? I think he changes so much. His role as “king” is eliminated, because in his home, he has to do chores with his wife. When a married couple go home after working all day, there is no reason why only the woman should be in the kitchen, right? When the woman shows her love, she absolutely wants to receive similar things from her husband. And I think, it’s nicest if both husband and wife share everything, including hobbies such as seeing a film, traveling, listening to music…

Consequently, I will not determine who is the boss in my home. Do you agree with me?

.

* “All” usually is not as strong in impact as “every”. Use “every” instead of “all” whenever you can. Ex: “I love every student of mine” has stronger emotional impact than “I love all my students.” Why? Because “every” points to each individual, while “all” points to a group.
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CHALLENGE FOR THE WEEKEND

Please translate Tiếng Thu of Lưu Trọng Lư into English.

Tiếng thu

Em không nghe mùa thu
Lá thu rơi xào xạc
Con nai vàng ngơ ngác
Đạp trên lá vàng khô

Here is some hints when translating poetry.

1. Jot down the translation in crude English, just to get the meaning down correctly.

2. Play with words–new words, new order of words, now sound, new rhythm.

3. Reduce the number of words to an absolute minimum. (A good poem shouldn’t have any extra word).

All right, have fun. Have a great weekend, everyone.

Hoanh

Hi everyone,

Thank you, jEa and chị Kiêm Yến, for being my heroines.

I have below the edited version of jEa’s translation of Solomon’s Song of Songs and the edited version of chị Yến’s translation. In the editing work, I have done two thíngs: correcting few mistakes and, the main thing, refining the writing to make it sound smoother and more natural.

jEa, you are very creative with language. You have the potential to become a good novelist, if you keep working at it. I am sure that many people have said you write very well.

Just please remember that, when doing translation, we cannot be too creative. We need to stay faithful to “the author’s expression” as much as we can. We should be as creative as possible, within the limit of “the author’s expression.”

Here is jEa’s edited version

(Nam)

Em đã đánh cắp trái tim anh, hỡi cô em, cô dâu của anh;
Em đã đánh cắp trái tim anh
Chỉ với ánh mắt liếc,
Chỉ với viên ngọc trên chuỗi hạt .

Tình yêu của em dễ chịu làm sao, hỡi cô em, cô dâu của anh!
Tình yêu của em dễ chịu hơn cả rượu vang,
Và mùi nước hoa của em dễ chịu hơn bất kì gia vị nào!

Hỡi cô dâu của anh, môi em nhỏ giọt ngọt ngào như tổ ong nhỏ mật,
sữa và mật ong dưới lưỡi của em.
Mùi hương quần áo em như mùi hương của Li-băng

Em là khu vườn đóng kín, hỡi cô em, cô dâu của anh;
Em là giòng suối khép kín, là ngọn núi chưa mở.
Em là suối phun nước giữa vườn,
Suối nguồn nước chảy
Chảy xuống từ Li-băng.

(Nữ)

Gió bắc, hãy thức dậy,
Và gió nam, hãy đến đây!
Thổi qua vườn của em,
Để mùi hương của mảnh vườn lan toả
Hãy để người tình của em vào vườn của chàng
Và thưởng thức những trái cây ngon nhất .

(Nam)

Anh đã bước vào vườn của anh, hỡi cô em, cô dâu của anh;
Anh đã lấy nhựa trầm hương với gia vị của anh.
Anh đã ăn tổ ong và mật ong ;
Anh đã uống rượu và sữa.

(Nữ)

Em ngủ nhưng trái tim vẫn thức
Nghe kìa! Người tình của em đang gõ cửa:

“Hãy mở cửa cho anh, hỡi cô em, người yêu dấu,
Chim bồ câu của anh, người hoàn mĩ của anh.
Đầu anh ướt đẫm sương,
Tóc anh ướt đẫm sương khuya.”

Em đã cởi áo choàng-
Có nên mặc lại không ?
Em đã rửa chân
Có nên làm dơ chân lần nữa ?

Người tình của em đưa tay qua ô then cửa;
Tim em bắt đầu đập mạnh.

Em đứng dậy mở cửa cho người tình,
và đôi tay em nhỏ giọt trầm hương,
ngón tay em đầy nhựa đang chảy,
dính đầy trên nắm cửa.

.

• Read these two clauses again. “Blow on my garden, that its fragrance may spread abroad.” There is a word omitted—“so”. Blow on my garden, so that its fragrance may spread. The word “so” is often omitted in poetry.

• When the author writes “You are a garden”, don’t add “như là” in the translation to weaken the sentence. Simply translate: “Em là mảnh vườn”, not “em như là mảnh vườn.”

* Choice fruit = trái cây ngon nhất, choice meat = thịt ngon nhất.

• The present-day war-torn country of Lebanon, in the Biblical time, was a great country of giant cedar trees, spices, and beautiful clothing.

.

Now, chi Kiêm Yến’s writing.

All natural phenomena don’t have their own meanings. Our thoughts impose meanings on them. The rain is only the rain. If we feel it’s sad, it’s sad; if we feel it’s glad, it’s glad. Sunshine is only sunshine; if we suppose it’s brilliant, it’s brilliant; if we suppose it’s dazzling, it’s dazzling.

All the feelings- happiness, sadness, angrer, hate, love, fondness- are our responses to the outside. If your husband comes home late, it’s right if you complain. It’s also right if you’re glad, as he has overcome the traffic jam to come home. Late is late! This is neither a happy thing nor a sad thing, neither good nor bad. Gladness or sadness is our reactions to the event “coming home late”.

A half glass–it’s correct if we say it is half full; it’s also correct if we say it is half empty. It’s right either way. All things depend on our choice. Do we choose positive thinking, being strong and life loving? Or do we choose to be a complainer, or a loser?

.

• Generally, we say: the rain, the heat, the coldness, the coolness, the snow, the sun, the moon, the earth, the sky, the leaves, the trees, etc. (with “the”).

But we say: Life, death, sunshine, sickness, God… (without “the”)

Why? Well, I can explain it, but it may create more confusion. Won’t help. Just read and write often, until these things soak in naturally.

• “All feelings—happiness, sadness…” We should use a noun, not an adjective, to explain a noun. Use “happiness” (not, “happy”) to explain “feeling”.

If you use adjectives to explain a noun, is it wrong? Well, probably, we can say it is OK. Just not superb writing. It depends on what level of writing we are talking about.
.

TODAY’S CHALLENGE.

So, what do you think about this? Who is the boss in your family? Why is that?

OK, guys, have fun. And have a great day!

Hoanh

Hi everyone,

Thank you, chị Yến and chị Kitty, for being my heroines. You both are very good. Your writings are very smooth.

Especially chị Yến, I think you have proven that my theory is correct. There is a marked difference between this piece of writing and the English translation you did the last time (of chị Oanh’s article). That difference may come from 2 things:

1. My approach of asking you guys not to translate, but just to write the way you are comfortable with, and

2. Yen has the ability to learn at Appollo speed.

But I tend to rule out the number two. Yen has been good since a long time ago. We just need to find out the right approach to bring out that talent.

And that is what I’ve been telling you guys, but few have taken my words seriously. I know that you guys are good and can write English beautifully. Just do it and you will be surprised with what you can do.

But we, you and I together, have a more important goal in mind: To find out the most effective way to improve our national English-teaching methodology. (Need I remind you guys that our national level of English fluency is low, compared with other countries? And I have stressed this point for a long time, directly with anh Trần Hồng Quân many times, when he was the minister of education, and with all kinds of folks in Hanoi. And I am still talking today).

What we are doing is slowly experimenting the “total submersion” method: Having the students totally submerged in English—reading, writing, talking, listening and, most importantly, thinking in English. One hour of this method will have the equivalent effect of 10 hours of other methods.

Let’s keep this goal in mind, as we feel our way around, trying to figure out where is the strength , where is the weakness, what works, and what doesn’t.

OK, I will have Yen’s and Kitty’s writings below. I have dome some minor changes to each piece, here and there, just to smooth them out and make them sound more natural. There aren’t many errors to really correct. Just refining.

Chị Kiêm Yến’s writing:

Positive thinking.

The first time I visited Đọt chuối non, its slogan made a strong impression on me! It’s “Positive thinking everyday”!

I participated in a short course of positive thinking two years ago. Then I’ve read a few articles about it. Now, I recognize that I don’t totally understand positive thinking yet. So, what is positive thinking? How can ưe distinguish it from other kind of thinking? And, most importantly, why do we need it?

I suppose “thinking” means thoughts producing from a special area of brain. In other words, it’s the result of brain activities. After reading more and more articles in Đọt chuối non, I recognize that it’s really different from what I imagined before.

In fact, “thinking” has a wider sense. It means a living attitude, a vision of life and living. So, “positive thinking” is equivalent to “positive living” or “ positive attitude”.

“Positive” is not “negative”. It means:

1. While looking a thing, a person, or an action, we always find out its good, beautiful, nice side.

2. If we see something bad, we have abilities to change it into goodness, and

3. We always act to make things better.

For example: (1) Our fiend is a dynamic and friendly colleague, (2) but she only knows working and working. It’s good if we choose her as our team leader, and (3) we introduce Đọt chuối non to her, little by little, she will enjoy her life more.

The characters of positive thinking are:

1. To concentrate vision and thinking on the good side of things. If seeing something bad, we have to find out the good in the bad to concentrate thinking on.

2. To use goodness as a motivation for living and working, towards the final goal of making life better. Life means s our own life, and the lives of others in the world we’re living. In other words, goodness is a motivation to live and, concurrently, is an ultimate goal of living.

We can summarize positive thinking as loving ourselves, loving others, and loving this life! We always pick up the best in all things. It helps us enjoy life in the best way! And, that’s the reason we need positive thinking!

.

Chị Kitty’s writing:

What is positive thinking? What is the difference between positive thinking and other kinds of thinking? Why should we think positively?

We could immediately relate the word “Thinking” to an image of brain activities. Actually, “thinking” has a broader meaning. It is an attitude to life or a view about life. Positive thinking is positive living and positive attitude.

“Positive” means…non-negative, as below:

– We always see the nice side of any thing or any event around us,
– If we see some bad points, we would have ability to change them into good points, and
– We always act to make thing better.

For example, (1) My dear friend A. is very dynamic and kind, (2) she is just a litte too thrifty; but if she becomes our treasurer, she would do the job very well; and (3) if she continues to do charity works, gradually she would no longer be so thrifty with the poor.

Positive thinking have these characteristics:

(1) Concentrating thought and view on good elements of any thing/event. If you see some bad thing, try to find out some good elements in it to concentrate your mind on.
And

(2) Using goodness as the motivation for our life, our work, and making our life more wonderful. Life in this case means your own life, and your world where you are living in. In other words, the goodness is our motive, as well as the most important aim in our life.

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Note: “Nice” is an overused overabused word. Don’t use it in writing, except in informal writing.
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TODAY’S CHALLENGE

Today we have 2 challenges, to give more people more choices to work on.

1. Rewrite the following text in English. Rewrite it anyway you want. No translation is necessary.
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Tất cả những hiện tượng bên ngoài, đều không có ý nghĩa gì tự chúng cả; các ý nghĩa đều từ tư duy của ta mà sinh ra. Mưa chỉ là mưa; nếu ta cho là mưa buồn thì mưa buồn, nếu ta cho là mưa vui thì mưa vui. Nắng chỉ là nắng; nếu ta cho là nắng đẹp thì nắng đẹp, nếu ta cho là nắng chói thì nắng chói.

Tất cả các tình cảm–vui, buồn, giận, ghét, yêu, thích–chỉ là phản ứng của ta đối với sự việc bên ngoài. Nếu chàng trễ hẹn mà ta cau có phàn nàn thì cũng phải, hoặc ta cười vui vì kẹt xe thế mà chàng cũng đến cho bằng được thì cũng phải. Trễ hẹn chỉ là trễ hẹn. Đó chẳng phải là chuyện vui hay buồn, tốt hay xấu. Vui buồn chỉ là phản ứng của ta đối với việc trễ hẹn thôi.

Nửa ly nước, nếu nói là đầy nửa ly thì cũng đúng, mà cạn nửa ly thì cũng đúng. Đằng nào cũng đúng. Tất cả chỉ tùy thuộc vào sự lựa chọn của chúng ta thôi. Ta muốn tư duy tích cực, yêu đời, mạnh mẽ? Hay là muốn làm kẻ phàn nàn, người thua cuộc?

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2. Translate the following piece into Vietnamese.

This piece contains excerpts from “Song of Songs”, which is a sensual and sexy poem 🙂 that King Solomon wrote for his lover, himself, and their love. It is from the Bible. I have it here to surprise you guys, if you have been thinking that the Bible is such a dry and boring book 🙂 This is within my purpose of familiarizing you guys with the most fundamental book of the western civilization, for your (future) diplomacy/PR works with Westerners.

Lover (man, Solomon)

You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride;
you have stolen my heart
with one glance of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace.

How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride!
How much more pleasing is your love than wine,
and the fragrance of your perfume than any spice!

Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride;
milk and honey are under your tongue.
The fragrance of your garments is like that of Lebanon.

You are a garden locked up, my sister, my bride;
you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain.

You are a garden fountain,
a well of flowing water
streaming down from Lebanon.

Beloved (woman)

Awake, north wind,
and come, south wind!
Blow on my garden,
that its fragrance may spread abroad.
Let my lover come into his garden
and taste its choice fruits.

Lover (Solomon)

I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride;
I have gathered my myrrh with my spice.
I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey;
I have drunk my wine and my milk.

Beloved (woman)

I slept but my heart was awake.
Listen! My lover is knocking:
“Open to me, my sister, my darling,
my dove, my flawless one.
My head is drenched with dew,
my hair with the dampness of the night.”

I have taken off my robe—
must I put it on again?
I have washed my feet—
must I soil them again?

My lover thrust his hand through the latch-opening;
my heart began to pound for him.

I arose to open for my lover,
and my hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers with flowing myrrh,
on the handles of the lock.

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OK, guys. Have fun.

Have a great day!

Hoanh

Hi everyone,

Thanks, chị Kiêm Yến and chi Kitty, for your work. Nothing to correct. I have here the original English version and chị Kiêm Yến’s version (with some words taken out), so that everyone may be familiar with the terminology in both languages.

English version

II. Causes of suffering: Craving causes suffering.

III. Extinction of Suffering: Because craving is the cause of suffering, to stop suffering we need “to stop, to denounce, to leave, to cut away craving.”

IV. The Path to Extinction of Suffering: This path has eight lanes and is called The Noble Eightfold Path.

1. Right view: The understanding of the Four Noble Truths, non-permanence, non-self, and nirvana.

2. Right thought: Thoughts about stopping craving, about no anger and no violence, about no harmful activities.

3. Right speech: No lying, no divisive speech, no abusive speech, no idle chatters.

4. Right action: No killing, no stealing, no wrongful sexual conduct.

5. Right livelihood: No engaging in trade or profession that, either directly or indirectly, results in harm to other living beings.

6. Right effort: Try to prevent wrongful thoughts and actions from arising; if they have already arisen, try to stop them. Try to bring up good thoughts and actions; if they have already come, try to continue them.

7. Right mindfulness: Observing our body, our feelings, our thoughts and dharmas (all things, all teachings) to conquer all cravings and distress.

8. Right concentration: This is about the practice of meditation.

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Chị Kiêm Yến’s version (with the first 2 lines added)

Tứ diệu đế (bốn chân lý huyền diệu)

I. Khổ đế: Đời có khổ

II. Tập đế (Nguồn gốc đau khổ ): tham lam gây khổ.

III. Diệt đế (Sự chấm dứt khổ): vì tham lam là nguồn gốc đau khổ; chúng ta cần “ngưng, từ bỏ, lìa xa và cắt đứt tham lam” để ngừng đau khổ.

IV. Đạo đế (Con đường đưa đến việc chấm dứt khổ):

Đạo đế gồm 8 nhánh đường và được gọi là Bát Chánh Đạo.

1. Chánh kiến (nhìn đúng): thông hiểu về Tứ Diệu Đế, vô thường (không vĩnh hằng), vô ngã (không có cái tôi) và an lạc.

2. Chánh tư duy (suy nghĩ đúng): suy nghĩ về việc ngừng tham lam, không giận dữ và bạo động, không hãm hại người khác.

3. Chánh ngữ (nói lời đúng): không nói dối, không gây bất đồng, không lăng mạ, không nói xấu.

4. Chánh nghiệp (hành động đúng): không giết người, không trộm cắp, không tà dâm.

5. Chánh mạng (nghề đúng): không kinh doanh hoặc làm những nghề gây tổn hại đến sinh mạng của người khác, dù trực tiếp hay gián tiếp.

6. Chánh tinh tấn (nỗ lực đúng): cố gắng ngăn chặn khởi sinh suy nghĩ hay hành động sai lầm, nếu chúng đã khởi sinh rồi thì cố gắng chặn chúng lại. Cố gắng nuôi dưỡng suy nghĩ hay hành động tốt, nếu đã có chúng rồi thì cố gắng tiếp tục phát huy chúng.

7. Chánh niệm (quán sát đúng): Quán chiếu (quan sát) thân xác, cảm xúc, suy nghĩ và các Pháp (mọi điều, mọi thuyết) để chế ngự tham lam và phiền não.

8. Chánh định (tập trung đúng): là thực hành thiền định.

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OK, for Kitty. The first path “Right View”. This is obviously the most important one, because if you have the wrong view (wrong vision) you will go to wrong places.

Right view here means to have a correct understanding of:

* The Four Noble Truths (Tứ diệu đế).

* “Impermanene” or “Non-permanence” (vô thường; không vĩnh cửu): Everything in life, everything in the universe (including us), is non-permanent, because they are born, grow and change, and disappear constantly. Nothing stays the same for long.

* “Non-self” (vô ngã) means our own self is non-permanent too. We are here only temporarily.

* “Nirvana” (Niết bàn) means the absolute tranquility of the mind, when you are in absolute peace and happiness. (Yến uses the term “an lạc”, which is very good).

Once we understand non-permanence and non-self, and live in accordance with that understanding (in The Noble Eight Fold Path–Bát chánh đạo), we will reach Nirvana, meaning, we will have inner peace and happiness.

The three concepts —non-permanence, non-self, Nirvana—are three “certifying” marks of Buddhist teachings (tam pháp ấn). If a teaching misses one of these three marks, it is not a Buddhist teaching.

To read more, please visit my writing A Brief Exposition on The Heart Sutra.
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TODAY’S CHALLENGE

Below is some text in my article “Tư duy tích cực là gì ?”. Please REWRITE it in English.

Please note, “rewrite” means you just get the idea from the original writing, and rewrite it the way you want. You DON’T have to translate. (If you call it translation, then this is FREE translation. Write what you want.)

I just want you to feel comfortable writing whatever you want to write in English. I will NOT compare your writing with my original Vietnamese writing. My writing is here only to give you some idea on what to write.

Here it goes.
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Tư duy tích cực là gì? Tư duy tích cực khác với một vài loại tư duy khác như thế nào? Tại sao ta lại cần tư duy tích cực?

“Tư duy” thường có nghĩa là suy nghĩ, và nói đến suy nghĩ là ta thường có ấn tượng rằng đó là một hoạt động của não bộ một lúc nào đó. Thực ra, từ “tư duy” ở đây rông rãi hơn, và có nghĩa là một thái độ sống, một cái nhìn về cuộc đời và sự sống, tương tự như tư duy trong cụm từ “thay đổi tư duy.” Tư duy tích cực chính là “sống tích cực” hay “thái độ tích cực.”

“Tích cực” có nghĩa là … không tiêu cực , là

(1) khi nhìn mọi sự, mọi vật, mọi vấn đề ta luôn luôn thấy cái hay, cái đẹp, cái tốt;

(2) nếu thấy cái xấu ta có khả năng biến cái xấu thành cái tốt; và

(3) luôn luôn hướng đến hành động để làm mọi sự tốt hơn.

Ví dụ: (1) Bạn A. của mình thật năng động và có lòng tốt với mọi người, (2) chỉ hơi keo kiệt một tí, nhưng như vậy thì, nếu bạn làm thủ quỹ cho nhóm mình, chắc chắn là quỹ chẳng bao giờ thiếu hụt, và (3) cứ làm từ thiện hoài thì chắc chắn là bạn sẽ từ từ biết cách “phung phí” tiền cho người nghèo khổ.

Đặc điểm của tư duy tích cực là

(1) tập trung cái nhìn và tư tưởng vào cái tốt, nếu thấy cái xấu cũng phải tìm cho ra cái tốt trong cái xấu để tập trung tư tưởng vào đó, và

(2) dùng cái tốt như là động lực thúc đẩy mình sống và làm việc, đi đến mục đích cuối cùng là làm cho cuộc đời tốt đẹp hơn. Cuộc đời đây là cuộc đời của chính mình, và là cuộc đời của thế giới mình sống. Tức là, cái tốt vừa là động lực thúc đẩy mình sống, vừa là mục tiêu tối hậu của cuộc sống.

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All right. Have fun, everyone.

Have a great day!

Hoanh