Life & English

Once upon a time, there was a Kingdom. The king there only had one leg and one eye, but he was very intelligent and kind. In his kingdom, people were happy.

One day the king was walking through the palace hallway and saw the portraits of his ancestors. He thought that one day his children will walk in the same hallway and remember all the ancestors through these portraits. But, the king did not have his portrait. Due to his physical disabilities, he wasn’t sure how his painting would turn out. So he invited many famous painters and announced that he wanted them to paint his portraits. The rewards would be based on how the paintings turn out. The most beautiful portrait would be placed in the palace.

All of the painters began to think that the king only had one leg and one eye. How could his picture be made beautiful? So one by one, they politely declined to make a painting of the king. But suddenly one painter raised his hand and said that he could make a very beautiful portrait of the king. The king became happy and the painter started drawing the portrait, then he filled the drawing with paints. Finally, after taking a long time, he said that the portrait was ready. Other painters were curious and nervous thinking. But when the painter presented the portrait, all people were surprised.

The painter made a portrait in which the king was sitting on the horse, on the one-leg side, holding his bow and aiming the arrow with his one eye closed. The king was very pleased to see that the painter has made a beautiful portrait by cleverly hiding the king’s disabilities. The King gave him a great reward.

P/s: We should always think positive of others and ignore their deficiencies. We should learn to focus on the good things instead of trying to hide weaknesses. If we think and approach positively even in a negative situation, then we will be able to solve our problems more efficiently.

(Collected & edited by QM)

Ảnh: 

In today’s world, an University or College degree is often the key to success. More people are enrolling in online degree programs instead of attending traditional colleges and universities, and you can find these programs with an online search. Thanks to today’s technology, online courses have become incredibly common. You can take an online course at a wide range of colleges, universities, and even vocational schools. Students can enroll in online courses in combination with traditional on-campus classes or as part of an online-only program.

To join online courses, you’ll just need a computer and internet access. These courses are incredibly flexible. As long as you can get online, you can study from anywhere. You can learn in your local library, favorite coffee shop, or right at home. And when you take online college courses, you’ll essentially join a virtual classroom. You’ll have access to online discussion boards where you can communicate with your classmates, see posted assignments, and can join in on lectures and group sessions via video chat.

Online degree programs vary in length. Each college or university determines how many credits or courses students need to complete in order to earn their degrees. The length of an online degree program also depends on which type of degree you’re earning. You can earn an associate’s, bachelor’s, or graduate degree online, and each will take anywhere from a few months to a number of years, depending on your education history, the program you choose, and the school.

One of the biggest benefits of choosing an online degree program is the cost. As the cost of tuition at traditional colleges and universities rises every year, it’s becoming increasingly expensive to attend a school and earn a degree. But online degree programs aren’t seeing this same problem. Because students don’t need to live on campus, use campus resources, or face expenses like commuting costs or even on-campus fees, the overall cost of an online degree can be cheaper. Online degree programs allow you to save money, help you save hundreds to thousands of dollars on your commute, room and board, textbooks, and other common college expenses.

Online courses are rising. They are expected to continue increasing in popularity.

QM

Ảnh: 

In the US, the year-end holiday’s season begins in late October with Halloween. It is a time for people to remember their loved ones who have died, to visit the graves or to pray in the churches.

Going along with this spiritual holiday is the custom of “Trick or Treat”, children dressed up as goblins, witches, dwarves… then walked together to knock on the neighbors’ doors asking for candy. To ensure the safety for children, their parents also came along. The elderly grandparents put tables and chairs in the middle of the gate to see anyone passing by and called in to share the candy, not waiting to knock on the door. So “Trick or Treat” is fun occasion for children and adults, the families have the opportunity to interact with each other.

Just on time to eat all the candy “Trick or Treat” is to Thanksgiving, the most important holiday in the US. This is a family gathering; everyone working away from home is trying to return home. Thanksgiving is always the last Thursday of November and the next day is Black Friday for everyone’s shopping. Black Friday is the day when stores sell off as a way gratitude to customers. Now Black Friday is no longer crowded with buyers just sitting at home ordering online, goods will be delivered to home on the next Monday, called Cyber Monday. In fact, Cyber Monday lasts all week; online ordering is cheaper than buying at the stores. If customers do not like goods then they can return them easy.

The Christmas tree in a supermarket.

The Christmas trees are usually made up on Thanksgiving Day at shops and families, creating a warm reunited atmosphere. The first of the four Advent candles is officially lit by churches on the first Sunday of December, signaling the coming of Christmas. At nights, there are sparkling decorative lights on the streets. The holiday season is long so everyone does not need hurry. Only some car wash places are crowded on the last day of the year because many people want to clean to welcome the New Year. The price of car washing is still $3 like every day and automatic washing so the car keeps lining up to go through the car wash room.

On the first day of the New Year, big stores still sell normally. Walmart stores sell 24/24. Large supermarket with children’s play areas are often crowded because many families come to play, eat, shop… On the second day of the New Year, many people return to their works. Then time goes fast, soon to Valentine’s Day on February 14, then to Easter; the next is outdoor festivals of summer and autumn, then the year-end holiday season of the next year…

Relaxed and gentle, the holidays and festivals in the US are opportunities for everyone to rest and share with each other joy of life.

Quy Minh

Ảnh: 

When we arrived at Healthyums restaurant, a young girl was standing at the counter and a young boy, one of her three young brothers, was serving food. Their father was cooking in the kitchen. The young girl and the young boy were very nice and polite.

The menu had limited choices but their dishes were mostly organic and healthy. The menu included breakfast, lunch and dinner. Dishes were served to guests on wooden trays. The wooden trays were plain, simple and clean, without painted colors or carvings. The desserts were delicious and fresh. Guests could eat in the restaurant or take out including a nice selection of bakery items, dried fruits and artisan grains. In the restaurant, the red brick walls were decorated by small frameless paintings which were painted by the children. All of the decorations in this restaurant were very simple, clean of a rustic style. Adjoining the restaurant was a small store. Although the store was not large, it seemed to have a fascinating variety of books, clothes, tools, cards, knick-knack, etc... They were many lovely souvenirs with good prices. The upper floor of this store was the family living quarters.

After the guests were served their dishes, from the kitchen, a man wearing an apron went to greet and talk with guests. He was the boss of the restaurant, the chef in the kitchen, the father of the young girl and the young boy who were serving us dishes in the restaurant. He was the Pop of this business.

16 photos of their family

The service, the nice smiles and the fun of talking here made feeling that guests were returning to their homeland and eating in an old familiar restaurant. This feeling has not been seen in a long time for me even when I returned to Hanoi, the city where I was born and grew up. After lunch, the warmth and fun of the restaurant kept me to stay longer. I remembered books about Americans, community and family cultures in the US. They wrote that if someone wants to learn traditional American values then he or she should go to the Midwest, the heartland of the US and visit American Mom-and-Pop businesses. Here I was sitting in one in Zion, Illinois; and I was feeling the traditional values of an American family. It was great feeling.

Cuisine is not just dishes or recipes. It is also decoration of the dishes and the restaurant. It is also the welcoming, kindness by the owner and staffs. It makes guests want to come back when they just leave. I will come back to this restaurant and store to enjoy their food or buy some souvenirs.

Quy Minh

Ảnh: 

Mom-and-Pop businesses have minimal employees, usually have only a small business volume and typically are not franchised, with only a single location. Mom-and-Pop restaurants, stores and other services are popular in the United States…

In cities and suburbs, we could see many Mom-and-Pop restaurants of Mexican, Chinese, Vietnamese and others. The first generation of immigrants usually was not fluent in English, so they often opened small restaurants, small stores or shops with simple services. They operated these small businesses to earn a living for their families, and to support their children go to school. Immigrant children often became fluent in English and could receive a good education. So the second generation often preferred professions like doctors, attorneys, engineers, teachers and other good jobs with higher paying. Very few second generation people wanted to continue in their parents’ small business. Mostly, they only continued to work with their parents if they could not get better jobs. Doctor, attorney, engineer, teacher and college educated careers in the professions were the American dream of both generations, the first and the second. However, when these Mom-and-Pop businesses needed more employees, owners would hire from among their relatives or countrymen. Most of them were not fluent in English and a source of cheap labor. In these restaurants, the owners and staffs often conversed in their native language, speaking English if guests were of different languages.

Inside of a Mom-and-Pop restaurant

I’ve lived in the US for several years but haven’t seen Mom-and-Pop restaurants run by white or black Americans. I thought that most white or black Americans born in the US and had good education opportunities. English is their native language. They have many good opportunities to get good jobs in large companies or government offices. Then one day, a friend told me about an American Mom-and-Pop restaurant. It is a business of a family with 14 children! They have a restaurant and an adjoining variety store. I was surprised by the number 14, a very large family! So my friend took me to this restaurant. It was truly very special. The name of the restaurant is Healthyums. The photos of the entire family, all 16 members were hanging on the wall of the restaurant. They were 16 photos of parents and 14 children; 16 bright, nice and cute faces.

(Please continue to see the Part 2 of this story)

Quy Minh

Ảnh: 

Anchorage is the largest city and the most populous city in Alaska. Alaska’s area is larger than 1.7 million km2, but the winters are very hard, so the population of Alaska is just over 700 thousand. About 400 thousand people are living in Anchorage and the surrounding areas. It means more than half of Alaska residents are living within the Anchorage metropolitan area. The Anchorage metropolitan area is an area consisting of the Municipality of Anchorage and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough in the south central region of Alaska.

Although Anchorage is the largest city of Alaska, this city looks like a provincial town with simple houses. Alaskan people love nature life. An Alaska taxi driver said that he came from Cambodia and was living 24 years in the US; he was married with a native woman in Alaska and they had 3 children. Their kids preferred natural living and they could hunt very well. Another taxi driver who came from India complained about the high prices of the cost living in Anchorage. That was right. When I visited a grocery store nearby a gas station in Anchorage, I saw the prices in that store were twice as expensive as the prices in the same grocery store in Chicago. Transportation costs were the big reasons. The journey from Chicago to Anchorage was almost 7 hours flying. A special point of Anchorage was a cemetery in downtown. It was a historical part of the city. Sheraton hotel was located on the opposite side of this cemetery. Anchorage city was founded in 1914. More than a hundred years ago, it was a small village. Today, the cemetery was decorated as a park to preserve history of the city in development. The Anchorage Museum, a building with very modern architecture was located near this cemetery.

Anchorage downtown

I visited the Anchorage Museum in a summer morning. In front of the museum were a large yard and a flower garden. Many small pianos were placed in front of the museum, everyone were visiting the museum could play music on the pianos. Although in mid-July, the weather was still a bit cold. At the beginning of the morning, the museum opened but it was very little visitors. I walked slowly and looked at the ancient Alaska costumes hung in glass cabinets of the museum. A lot of costumes reminded me about the costumes of the northern tribes in the series of the movie “Game of Throne”. Perhaps directors and costume designers of “Game of Throne” visited this museum and inspired the design from these ancient costumes. At noon, the number of visitors coming to the museum increased. When I finished my tour and left the museum, I saw a lot of children coming to practice piano outside the museum door. The air seemed more cheerful than the early morning.

Anchorage Museum

Walking around the downtown, I saw many glass and steel bridges connecting buildings. The bridges were talking visitors that here winters were very cold and many snows, snow covered roads. People could walk and move between buildings in these bridges without snow, without worry about cold. Although it was very cold in winters, this cold has given Alaska a plentiful source of income from salmon and fresh seafood. Anchorage airport has a special an order counter to transfer seafood. Many passengers also brought large plastic containers of seafood on their flights. So the baggage handling procedure was quite compared to regular flights in other cities. Anchorage airport also has a large space to introduce visitors to places to visit and relax. Seafood and tourism are the major sources of income for Alaska today. It seems that the rich natural resources in Alaska underground are still sleeping as the property that the Alaska people have for posterity in future.

Quy Minh

Ảnh: 

Trường Chu Văn An trở thành ngôi trường công lập đầu tiên của Việt Nam chính thức được công nhận nằm trong hệ thống trường Cambridge.

Trong khuôn khổ buổi tổng kết kết quả triển khai thí điểm đào tạo Chương trình Song bằng tại Hà Nội ngày 24/10, đại diện các cơ quan, thành phố và lãnh đạo 7 trường trung học cơ sở (THCS) công lập tham gia triển khai thí điểm Chương trình Song bằng.

Theo đó, trường Chu Văn An trở thành ngôi trường công lập đầu tiên của Việt Nam chính thức được công nhận nằm trong hệ thống trường Cambridge. Đây là một cột mốc giáo dục quan trọng tại thủ đô Việt Nam - đánh dấu việc đưa chương trình giảng dạy quốc tế nổi tiếng vào thí điểm tại một số trường công lập chọn lọc.

Dự án thí điểm này do Ủy Ban Nhân Dân (UBND) TP. Hà Nội và Sở Giáo dục và Đào tạo Hà Nội (GD&ĐT) khởi xướng. Theo đó, những học sinh có thành tích học tập tốt sẽ có cơ hội tham dự song song chương trình đào tạo quốc gia (được giảng dạy bằng tiếng Việt) và chương trình của Cambridge International (được giảng dạy bằng tiếng Anh).

Chủ tịch UBND TP Hà Nội, TS. Nguyễn Đức Chung là người khởi xướng chương trình Cambridge International trong dự án thí điểm này, mang lại những thay đổi tích cực trong giáo dục công lập tại thủ đô, và đây cũng chính là một mô hình giảng dạy chương trình song ngữ điển hình để các địa phương khác trong cả nước có thể áp dụng.

Trường THPT Chu Văn An là trường công lập đầu tiên tham gia dự án thí điểm này, giảng dạy chương trình AS & A Level của Cambridge International với các môn Toán, Hóa học, Vật lý và Kinh tế kể từ đầu tháng 8/2017.

Trong chương trình AS & A Level của Cambridge International, học sinh sẽ học chương trình Cambridge A Level trong vòng một năm sau khi đã hoàn thành chương trình Cambridge AS Level. Trong kỳ thi của Cambridge International vào tháng 6/2019, các học sinh tham gia dự án thí điểm này tại trường THPT Chu Văn An đã đạt được những kết quả xuất sắc cho chương trình Cambridge AS Level.

Những kết quả này đã chứng minh khả năng học tập xuất sắc của học sinh trong chương trình. Quan trọng hơn, các em có khả năng chuyển tải thành công những kiến ​​thức đã học bằng tiếng Việt vào các môn học bằng tiếng Anh ở cấp độ cao hơn của Cambridge.

Thông qua chương trình Cambridge International, học sinh cũng đạt được các kỹ năng thực tế có giá trị trong lĩnh vực Khoa học và phát triển tư duy cũng như khả năng làm việc ở cấp độ cao hơn, cần thiết để thành công trong môi trường làm việc và kinh doanh cạnh tranh của thế kỷ 21 trên chính quê hương đang phát triển nhanh chóng của mình.

Nhóm học sinh đầu tiên sẽ tham gia kỳ thi lấy chứng chỉ A-level đầu tiên của Đề án đào tạo chương trình song bằng cấp THPT được thực hiện cho khối 12 trường THPT Chu Văn An vào năm học 2019-2020, dự kiến tổ chức vào tháng 11/2019

Ông Melvyn Lim, Giám đốc Quốc gia của Cambridge International tại Việt Nam, Myanmar, Campuchia và Lào đã trao tặng biển hiệu trường Cambridge cho bà Lê Mai Anh, Hiệu trưởng trường THPT Chu Văn An). Biển hiệu trường Cambridge chỉ được trao tặng cho các trường đã được đăng ký chính thức với Cambridge International.

Bên cạnh đó, nhằm đảm bảo duy trì các tiêu chuẩn giáo dục chất lượng, Cambridge International cũng sẽ kiểm tra định kỳ các trường Cambridge ở một số hạng mục quan trọng như chất lượng lãnh đạo nhà trường, phương pháp giảng dạy và học tập trong lớp học, cũng như điều kiện cơ sở vật chất của trường.

 Phát biểu tại buổi lễ, Chủ tịch UBND TP Hà Nội Nguyễn Đức Chung nhấn mạnh: “Sau 3 năm thực hiện mô hình thí điểm, đến nay cho thấy đào tạo song bằng tại các trường phổ thông công lập ở Hà Nội cho thấy sự phù hợp của chương trình trong giai đoạn đẩy mạnh hợp tác quốc tế về giáo dục, đáp ứng nhu cầu học tập của học sinh Thủ đô và có thể xem xét để triển khai mở rộng chương trình này trong thời gian tới.”

Thành công của dự án thí điểm tại trường THPT Chu Văn An không chỉ mang tính cổ vũ mà còn khẳng định với các cơ quan nhà nước, phụ huynh và học sinh Việt Nam về lộ trình cải thiện và hiện đại hóa hệ thống giáo dục địa phương thông qua việc tích hợp các môn học Cambridge chọn lọc với chương trình giảng dạy Việt Nam.

Năm 2018, dự án thí điểm đã được mở rộng với việc giảng dạy tại 7 trường công lập khác, bao gồm cả trường THPT chuyên Hà Nội – Amsterdam, mở ra cho học sinh cơ hội học tập chương trình Toán và Khoa học cấp độ Cambridge Lower Secondary (THCS), và từ đó chuyển tiếp lên chương trình Cambridge IGCSE (Chứng chỉ Giáo Dục Trung Học Tổng quát Quốc Tế).

Cambridge International cũng kết hợp chặt chẽ với Sở GD&ĐT Hà Nội nhằm chuẩn bị cho các trường đủ điều kiện đăng ký với Cambridge International. Sau khi đăng ký, các trường công lập Việt Nam sẽ được tham gia vào cộng đồng toàn cầu với hơn 10.000 trường học tại hơn 160 quốc gia đang giảng dạy các chương trình và bằng cấp của Cambridge cho học sinh từ 5 đến 19 tuổi.

Ông Lim chia sẻ thêm: “Phương pháp giáo dục của Cambridge International rất phù hợp với điều kiện dạy và học đa dạng, mang nhiều thách thức tại Việt Nam. Phương pháp đồng nhất giữa chương trình giảng dạy, phương pháp đánh giá và phương pháp dạy và học của Cambridge International đảm bảo rằng học sinh sẽ được học với chất lượng và tiêu chuẩn cao nhất.

Học sinh Việt Nam theo đuổi chương trình Cambridge sẽ được trang bị sẵn sàng để đón đầu những cơ hội và thách thức trong kỷ nguyên Công nghiệp 4.0.”

Các chương trình của Cambridge International được công nhận bởi hơn 1.400 trường đại học trên toàn thế giới - bao gồm hơn 600 trường đại học ở Mỹ (trong đó có cả các trường Ivy League) và tất cả các trường đại học tại Vương quốc Anh. 

Nếu đạt kết quả tốt trong trương trình Cambridge A Level, sinh viên có thể sẽ được giảm tín chỉ ở một số trường đại học nước ngoài danh tiếng, giúp họ hoàn thành chương trình đại học trong thời gian ngắn hơn so với các sinh viên không có chứng chỉ Cambridge A Level. Chứng chỉ Cambridge A Level cũng đã được chấp nhận bởi 13 trường đại học tại Việt Nam.

Minh Anh

Ảnh: 

Alaska is a special state of the United States. On the map, Alaska is very large state and completely geographically separated from the rest of the US. Alaska is located on northern Canada and near the far east of the Russian Federation.

The history of the US and Canada notes that about 12 to 14 thousand years ago, Asian people crossed the Bering Strait to explore the land of Alaska and North America now. Asian people discovered and lived in Americas from more ten thousands of years ago earlier than the moment Europeans stepped their feet in Americas.

Before 1867, Alaska was a large area of Russia. Russia had established a presence in North America during the first half of the seventeenth century, but few Russians ever settled in Alaska. In the aftermath of the Crimean War, Russian Emperor Alexander II of Russia began exploring the possibility of selling Alaska, which would be difficult to defend from Britain and other countries in any future war.

The snow moutains are the border between Alaska and Canada

The United States purchased Alaska from the Russian Empire in 1867, for 7.2 million U.S. dollars at approximately two cents per acre ($4.74/km2), in a deal known as “Seward's Folly”. Following the end of the American Civil War, U.S. Secretary of State William Seward entered into negotiations with Russian minister Eduard de Stoeckl for the purchase of Alaska. Seward and Stoeckl agreed to a treaty on March 30, 1867. The purchase added 586,412 square miles (1,518,800 km2) of new territory to the United States for the cost of $7.2 million. Reactions to the purchase in the United States were mostly positive, as many believed possession of Alaska would serve as a base to expand American trade in Asia. Some opponents labeled the purchase as "Seward's Folly", or "Seward's Icebox", as they contended that the United States had acquired useless land. Alaska was formally transferred to the United States on October 18, 1867, through a treaty ratified by the United States Senate and signed by President Andrew Johnson. Despite purchase of Alaska was ridiculed as "Seward's Folly” and a slow start in U.S. settlement, the discovery of gold in 1898 brought a rapid influx of people to the territory, and Alaska, rich in natural resources, has contributed to American prosperity ever since. The area went through several administrative changes before becoming organized as a territory on May 11, 1912. It was admitted as the 49th state of the U.S. on January 3, 1959.

The inside of Alaska Native Heritage Center

Now, Alaska is a U.S. state in the northwest extremity of the United States West Coast, just across the Bering Strait from Asia. The Canadian province of British Columbia and territory of Yukon border the state to the east and southeast. Its most extreme western part is Attu Island, and it has a maritime border with Russia (Chukotka Autonomous Okrug) to the west across the Bering Strait. To the north are the Chukchi and Beaufort seas—southern parts of the Arctic Ocean. The Pacific Ocean lies to the south and southwest. Alaska is the largest U.S. state by area and the seventh largest subnational division in the world. However it is the 3rd least populous of the 50 United States. Alaska population was estimated at 738,432 by the United States Census Bureau in 2015. Alaska's economy is developing by the fishing, natural gas, and oil industries, resources which it has in abundance. United States armed forces bases and tourism are also a significant part of the economy.

Quy Minh

Ảnh: 

For someone want to understand about history of America, it can be a omission if do not study heritage of Alaska native people.

History of America recognized that the first inhabitants of Americans came from North Asia from 12-14 thousand years ago. They used boats to cross the Bering, the Strait was located between Asia and America, then stepped on the land of Alaska today. From there they continued to move south to lands of Canada and the United States now. Fishing was one of their main traditional livelihoods. The boats were their main means of transportation and earning living. For that reason, handmade simple boats are displayed in many important places in the indoor space and outdoor in Alaska Native Heritage Center today.

Alaska Native Heritage Center

Alaska Native Heritage Center is located in a dense forest. The entry way is a zigzag road between very many old high trees. While running, the taxi suddenly stopped. I looked through the taxi window, so taxi driver stopped to give way to a little bear. It seemed that the little bear was waiting for the sound of a car then rushed to the road. He (or she maybe) was sitting in the middle of the road and staring at the people in our car. It was very funny scene. Maybe the bear wanted to affirm that this was his/her homeland and to invite people visiting! While stopping and waiting for the bear to leave, the taxi driver told me that he had met bigger bears on this road. He added that he was married to an indigenous woman and his children were very good at hunting. “They can hunt everything” – as he told about children. It must be their mother’s genes. After the little bear left, our taxi continued running to the main building of Alaska Native Heritage Center.

A boat in Alaska Native Heritage Center

“Never Forget Who You Are” was the slogan written and mentioned in this center. In the main building of the center, Alaska native artists often performed traditional games and local music on a stage. They performed regularly throughout the day, even if there were only couple viewers. Performers continued performers. The bustling sounds of games and songs created lively warmth, attracted visitors to see more. Many heritage of ancient Alaska native people were displaying in the main building. I saw many models of ancient boats. These boats were made from wood. Some of small boat models were placed in glass cabinets. Many large boats were hung on the ceiling or placed on the floor. Behind the buiding was a lake. Around the lake were houses, they were built in the style of old houses of native people. That was the easiest way to imagine the old life of Alaska native people. The middle of the floor of the houses were places of fire and kitchen. They made me immediately thought about the houses of ethnic people in north and central highlands of Vietnam. Large houses were decorated by colorful pillars with carved human faces and statues. Drawings and carvings were very similar to the statue of old tombs in the central highlands of Vietnam.

It could be possible that from 12-14 thousand years ago, our ancient ancestors had found many ways to discover and explore nature to live and to develop. Some tribes of our ancient ancestor crossed Bering to Alaska and America. Several tribes of our ancient ancestor crossed the mountains of North Asia then went to the south, they found the warm Southeast Asia region, including Vietnam. Probably, it could be true. Why not?

Quy Minh

Ảnh: 

ESL means English Second Language. In the US, I studied English in an ESL class at the Public Library. Our ESL class was very interesting.

After several months studying with Hispanic friends who came from Latin American countries, I knew that several hundred years ago Spain was truly the world's most powerful empire of maritime navigation. The most of southern America, still known as Latin America, was Spanish colony, and Spanish language was their official language. Some US territories like Puerto Rico still use Spanish as their primary language.

I read more and knew more that the colonies of Britan were not much in the 18th century. After the Declaration of Independence, July 4 - 1776, the US developed. Americans bought more colonial lands from Holland, Spain, Portugal, France… Also, Americans bought Alaska area from the Russians in 1867. Alaska became a state of the US. This state was the neighbor area of Canada and separated the rest of the United States. Texas, in particular, was a large Mexican state then it separated itself from Mexico and becames a US voluntarily state.

Hispanic dishes

Our ESL class usually hold potlucks. Students of ESL class brought some dishes they cooked themselves. Dishes of Hispanic friends were Hispanic cuisine. Their meals were little spicy and large serving. It seemed that Hispanic cuisine was a mix of Spanish and native. Spanish cuisine and Hispanic cuisine were different to simple styles of cuisine in Northern Europe such as Sweden, Holland, or finical cuisine of France and Italy… Some of Hispanic friends’ dishes were very delicious. I asked and knew that some students of our ESL class were chefs or owners of Mexican restaurants.

Today in the United States, many Hispanic Americans are making their career by opening restaurants. Their food became popular meals for Americans and many people living in the US.

Quy Minh

Ảnh: