Writing on Verbling community

There is a very good option on the site verbling.com which is called Practice Groups. People come to this online tool for joining to Google Hangouts conversations. It is a great possibility to speak with people who come to this site exactly for speaking practice in many languages including English too. And it is free.

During today's conversation, I created a document on Google Docs and shared for editing it with others. Happily, participants of this online event made a contribution to this activity. Here are very short descriptions about home locations of two participants (just drafts):

Córdoba, Andalusia (Spain)

Written by José Antonio Rojas

This is the Roman bridge, one of the biggest icons from Cordova. Here, we can see the Guadalquivir river crossing the bridge and in the background the Mosque-Cathedral. It sounds a little bit strange the mixture of Muslim and Roman constructions. It is the result of the both influences. The visitors of these great buildings get surprised immediately.

Istanbul (Turkey)

Written by Elif

This is Sultanahmet Mosque. It was built in 1609. It was built by Sultan the I Ahmed. This picture was taken in the center of Istanbul from the Bosphorus. It’s located in Sultan Ahmed square. And it's so close to Sofia Museum. 

Air View of Istanbul, Haliç

It has sticks which are called minarets. Mosque usually has four minarets. They are colored in white color.

A tram is not so common transport in Istanbul. It is more the symbol of Istiklal street. Istiklal means to have freedom or independence.

Maiden’s Tower: It was a prison.

Conclusion:

Even these notes look as drafts, I think we achieved the purpose of this event. We worked together, we used the modern tools for online communication. The idea of organizing events for practice writing and speaking is interesting and should be continued.

Talking about Vietnam

This class was booked by me on the site italki.com

The teacher Gregory comes from England. He has been teaching for 8 months in Cambodia, China, and Vietnam. Gregory currently lives in a small town called Trang bom which is in Dong Nai province. This is a very green area with a good transport system. It takes 1-2 hours to reach Ho Chi Minh city from this place.

"Is Vietnam interesting country for tourists?", asked I the teacher."No", he answered. "It is a WONDERFUL country!"

This is a list of sightseeings which we discussed during the class.

Hoi An is noted as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Old Town Hội An, the city's historic district, is recognized as an exceptionally well-preserved example of a Southeast Asian trading port. Tourists admire looking to the colorful buildings in french style. There is a prominent "Japanese Bridge," dating to the 16th-17th century in the Old Town.Japanese bridge, Hoi An

Sapa is a great place for hiking around the mountains. Sa Pa is a town in the Hoàng Liên Son Mountains. A popular trekking base, it overlooks the terraced rice fields of the Muong Hoa Valley, which is climbable via a steep, multi day guided walk.The example of advertising "SAPA 2 days 3 nights Trekking by train"

Hạ Long Bay is known for its emerald waters and thousands of towering limestone islands topped by rainforests. Visitors hire the junk boats and sea kayaks for expeditions through the islands. The region is popular for scuba diving and rock climbing.Halong bay

Ho Chi Minh City (commonly known as Saigon) is a city famous for the pivotal role it played in the Vietnam War. It's also known for its French colonial landmarks, including Notre-Dame Cathedral, made entirely of materials imported from France. The great overground subway will connect Ho Chi Minh city with suburbs.

The city Dien bien phu is best known for the events which occurred there during the First Indochina War.

Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, is known for its centuries-old architecture and a rich culture with Southeast Asian, Chinese and French influences. At its heart is the chaotic Old Quarter, where the narrow streets are roughly arranged by trade. There are many little temples and many other sightseeings in Hanoi.

Hue city is a city in central Vietnam that was the seat of Nguyen Dynasty emperors and the national capital from 1802 to 1945. A major attraction is its vast, 19th-century Citadel, surrounded by a moat and thick stone walls.

Hue Imperial City (The Citadel)

I asked Gregory about his everyday life in Trang bom. The teacher said that he has a great opportunity of living in the place which relatively remote from the tourist's tracks, where the street food more widespread than restaurants. He mentioned a few traditional Vietnamese dishes. Pho is a noodle soup consisting of broth, rice noodles, a few herbs, and meat. Mi quang is a noodle dish. Bun bo is a popular soup containing rice vermicelli and beef. Compared to pho, the noodles are thicker and more cylindrical.



Hoi an street food

Vietnamese people are very friendly. Being native English speaker makes the person even more welcomed because everybody likes to test their English with them. When Gregory is in public place the locals often come and ask just to speak in English. There are 40-45% of people who can speak English.

As the main basic food. Gregory mentioned rice and Pho fish. The fish is delicious, a portion of fish costs only one or two US dollars. For my question about if it is difficult to change western cousin to Asian, Gregory answered honestly that sometimes he would prefer a hamburger.

During his spare time, Gregory hired a motorbike for Danang hai van pass. It is 19 kilometers of roadway in mountains. It could be dangerous. In average 28 people die on the roads every day because there are 10 million motorbikes in Vietnam and drivers often break the rules of driving.

Which places could be recommended for tourists who go to Vietnam mostly for beach's vacation? Here are two options:

Da Nang is a coastal city known for its sandy beaches and history as a French colonial port. Nha Trang is a coastal resort city known for its beaches, diving sites and offshore islands. Its main beach is a long, curving stretch along Tran Phu Street backed by a promenade, hotels, and seafood restaurants. The beach in Nha trang


PS:
On the 6th January 2017, we had an interesting conversation on verbling.com with Hùng, who is from Vietnam. Hùng lives in Nha Trang city which is located on the South of Vietnam on the coast of the Indian ocean.

This is a general view to Nha Trang city. We can see here the beach and cityscape. The number of tourists less than average probably because this photo was captured in the evening. We can see a lot of buildings under construction in the background. The tower in the middle of the picture is used for entertainment of tourists.

Vietnam’s first sea-crossing cable car system.

One boat uses for 8 people for delivering tourists to the mountains. One ticket costs 30$. It takes 10 minutes for crossing from the city to Vinpearl island. Nha Trang’s answer to Disneyland, the island resort of Vinpearl Land has fun-fair rides, an impressive water park, arcade games and plenty of other attractions to keep the kiddies amused. You approach the amusement park via a 3km cable car ride over the ocean.

Being Foreigner in China

The teacher, who is the citizen of the US, told me about his experiences of living in China. He lived in Harbin which is located as he said ... on the head of the chicken. Everyone knows that Italy is shaped like a boot. And if we looked at the Chinese map precisely. China's borders make it shaped similar a chicken, there is even an island on the south of the mainland which could be an egg.

That city called Harbin, it's literally right in the middle between Vladivostok, Khabarovsk and Blagoveshynsk and Ulan Batur

As he said, living in China can have completely different experiences depending on if you are living independently, or if there's Chinese people living with you, or your boss is Chinese, or your landlord is Chinese, or if you live in a building with only foreigners. Local expect to live their own life.

In his opinion, since 2006 the life has changed rapidly. New President, revision of economic politics made life in China different compared to how it was before. Chinese feel as they are above foreigners. Even sometimes they looked arrogant.

The teacher mentioned Fucjian, the closest province to Taiwan. It's known for good food and interesting people that are very different from a lot of other Chinese.

Nevertheless, he never recommends living in China. I kept in mind his opinion but the trip to China stays in my list of planning deals.

Talking about Grenada

Teacher Sophie, who lives in Grenada, told me about her country during the class on engoo.com

Grenada is a country and the island which is located in the Caribbean region close to South America.

Sophie started the description from River Tubing, waterfalls, and lakes.

Grand Etang Lake is a crater lake in an extinct volcano on the high of 550 m above sea level. It is able to discover distinct eco-zones because of the park's varied elevation. Guided tours are available. A self-guided hike around the azure colored lake along a trail goes past waterfalls and through the jungle. Mount Qua Qua can be seen across the lake.

Grand Etang Lake is represented on the base of the Coat of arms of Grenada.


As Sophie said, inhabitants of Grenada protect the untouched nature, extinction animals as the mona monkeys.

The mona monkey is an Old World monkey lives in western Africa between Ghana and Cameroon. The mona monkey can also be found on the island of Grenada as it was transported to the island aboard slave ships headed to the New World during the 18th century. The mona monkey carries food in cheek pouches. (Wikipedia)

One of the attractions for the tourist is magnificence arriving leather buck turtles to the ocean cost.

Sulfur is a naturally occurring mineral and soaking in sulfur springs water - though it has an unpleasant smell of rancid eggs – can be traced back to ancient Egyptian and Roman times. Sulfur springs are located in Grenada. They allow people to succumb to the relaxing sulfur springs soak.

The Molinere Underwater Sculpture Park is a collection of ecological underwater contemporary art located in the Caribbean sea off the west coast of Grenada.


Grenada was under the rule of French, Spanish, British. The country declared as an official language English. French or Spanish languages are mandatory for the first two years of studying in high school. People use English for everyday communication sometimes with the local dialect.

People on Grenada are very friendly, peaceful which helps to create a relaxing atmosphere for the tourists. There are two new cruise liners every day during winter season mostly from Europe. The time from June to September is less suitable for tourists than other time because it is a hurricane season.


View to the capital city of Grenada - Saint Georges

Talking about Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Considering my request the class was dedicated to the city in South Africa, Port Elizabeth. Teacher Tebzar, who is from that city, told me about that part of the world.

The population of Port Elizabeth is 1.5 million people. And there are lots of tourists during the tourists seasons.

The tourists are attracted by the very affordable prices. The most popular option is B&B.

A bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B) offer overnight accommodation and breakfast. Bed and breakfast are also used to describe the level of catering included in a hotel's room prices, as opposed to room only, half-board or full-board.

Summerstrand is a beach suburb of Port Elizabeth. Staying there the tourists can takeƒ excursions to the safari. It needs only 50 minutes to reach the world on wild nature.

Being in Amakhala Game Reserve we can enjoy spectacular views and diverse landscape looking for the wildlife including the Big 5, black wildebeest, cheetah, giraffe, and zebra.

Here is the link to the Youtube video about this place:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-vpf1PR0-Y

The high season for tourist starts from the 1st December and ends on the 15th January. Many people plan their vacation for this time. Today’s temperature in Port Elizabeth is near 30 degrees in celsius (we had this class on the 1st January). The teacher recommended choosing another time to the trip for the purposes of saving money.

The winter for south Africa is the time from June to August. The lowest temperature in winter season could be 4 degrees but usual day’s temperature for the beginning of August 17 degrees.

The tourists come to Port Elizabeth from England, Germany, Netherlands. Tebzar said that Russians are rare guests in his city.

For the question about the public transport, Tebzar answered that bus service is reliable only from 8 am to 8 pm. He mentioned the notorious minivans as a possible transport but the word “notorious” has here a negative connotation (not regular, not reliable). Hiring the car for 100$ for a month is the better option.

As a final question, I asked Tebzar what could be the three top best destinations for tourists in south Africa. This question partly confused him because south Africa is so diverse country and the answer depends on what you want to see (modern civilization, wild nature, beaches, etc). Only after thinking he named his top list: Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth.

Talking about Hungary

Today’s topic was about Hungary. The teacher Krisztian who is from Hungarian city Szeged told me about his country.

It is a very interesting fact that Hungarian moved a long time ago from Siberia to Eastern Europe. This is why the Hungarian language is so different from languages of neighbors countries. As a guide on Youtube video said, Turul is the mythical bird of the Hungarians who migrated out of the plains of Central Asia. In 896, the bird dropped his sword in the place of modern Budapest.

His opinion that Budapest includes the most interesting sightseeings for tourist. Being on the short of The Danube River the tourist can see a lot of different architectural styles.



Here are the top list of tourist attractions:
The Hungarian Parliament Building lies on the bank of the Danube. It is currently the largest building in Hungary and still the tallest building in Budapest

The current building of Matthias Church was constructed in the florid late Gothic style in the second half of the 14th century.

Fisherman's Bastion is a terrace in neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque style situated on the Buda bank of the Danube, on the Castle hill in Budapest, around Matthias Church.

St. Stephen's Basilica is named in honor of Stephen, the first King of Hungary (c 975–1038), the whose supposed right hand is housed in the reliquary.

The City Park is a public park close to the center of Budapest and the Széchenyi Medicinal Bath in Budapest is the largest medicinal bath in Europe.

About traditional food:



Goulash is a soup or stew of meat and vegetables, seasoned with paprika and other spices.

Pörkölt is a meat stew which originates from Hungary but is eaten throughout Central Europe and the Balkans.

I heard lots of good responses from people who visited Hungary. Many people compare it with Paris arguing which city is better. Luckily, now we have the opportunity to know about the place which we are going to visit not only through media but communicating with locals. And this online school engoo.com is a convenient platform for exploring the world.

The Thing Which Unites Russians

The New Year is coming. And this a time for watching the movie Irony of fate. The New Year itself is associated with this movie, it is one thing which unites people on former Soviet Union space.

The plot is simple. One bachelor after party with friends in banja (like the sauna) randomly flew from Moscow to Leningrad (now it is Sant-Petersburg) and appeared in the apartment with the same address as in Moscow. This is a home for the young woman who is unmarried and she planned to meet New Year with her potential groom. After the series of the funny episodes, they became falling in love. 

This movie presents the usual New Year's concerns like preparing the salads, the thoughts about the New Year's resolutions combined with beautiful Russian winter, Christmas tree, and love. It seems that TV's entertainment is merging with reality. The magnificent songs, great expectations add this scenery.  

The actors are not just playing, they are living of life of their heroes. There are lots of phrases from this movie which became almost proverbs for Russian people.

Even if I know the plot in details, I consist of turning the TV to a channel where this movie translates and then I started to realize that New Year is coming ...