Thank you very much for that very warm welcome.

Professor Luan, the President of Hanoi University -

it’s a great pleasure for me to come to meet with you today. I first attended a graduation of Hanoi
University with the Latrobe University – bachelor of business and master of business administration
several weeks ago at Ho Chi Minh City Museum. At that time I said to Professor Luan that I was very
keen to come to meet him and his team and many of you here at the university itself. So I’m very
grateful that I have a chance to do so today and to learn a bit more about the university and some of the
ambitious plans for further extending the university’s cooperation, including with Australia, and I was
very happy to hear that Professor Luan and members of his team are intending to visit Australia again.

Vietnam is a country of now 87 million people growing strongly in population terms towards 100 million
by 2020, 2025, and we want to see this economy grow very strongly as well. It’s now an economy of
around 100 billion USD, but to fulfill the potentials, Vietnam needs to grow more and more strongly to
300-400 billion dollars over the next 20 to 30 years to realize the dreams of its people, many of you, and
to become the strong contributor to regional and global peace and stability that we want to see.

To do that we need to continue very strongly to work, to help and collaborate in building your human
resources, your education system and the quality of skills and the capacities of young Vietnamese
people because it’s you who will be the future of this country, who will contribute to its strong economic
growth. It is your work, your contribution to Vietnam’s economic development through your various
careers, either in business or in government or in professions, whatever you end up doing. It’s your
activities that will make this economy strong and vital and effective.

Thank you very much for that very warm welcome. Professor Luan, the President of Hanoi University -
it’s a great pleasure for me to come to meet with you today. I first attended a graduation of Hanoi
University with the Latrobe University – bachelor of business and master of business administration
several weeks ago at Ho Chi Minh City museum. At that time I said to Professor Luan that I was very
keen to come to meet him and his team and many of you here at the university itself. So I’m very
grateful that I have a chance to do so today and to learn a bit more about the university and some of the
ambitious plans for further extending the university’s cooperation, including with Australia, and I was
very happy to hear that Professor Luan and members of his team are intending to visit Australia again.

Vietnam is a country of now 87 million people growing strongly in population terms towards 100 million
by 2020, 2025, and we want to see this economy grow very strongly as well. It’s now an economy of
around 100 billion USD, but to fulfill the potentials, Vietnam needs to grow more and more strongly to
300-400 billion dollars over the next 20 to 30 years to realize the dreams of its people, many of you, and
to become the strong contributor to regional and global peace and stability that we want to see.
To do that we need to continue very strongly to work, to help and collaborate in building your human
resources, your education system and the quality of skills and the capacities of young Vietnamese
people because it’s you who will be the future of this country, who will contribute to its strong economic
growth. It is your work, your contribution to Vietnam’s economic development through your various
careers, either in business or in government or in professions, whatever you end up doing. It’s your
activities that will make this economy strong and vital and effective.

“Australia’s international development assistance / aims to assist Vietnam to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals / and become an industrialized country by 2020. Australia Awards Scholarships / are
a key component of Australia’s assistance to Vietnam.

Australia Awards Scholarships / are fully paid scholarships / and 140 scholarships are available to
Vietnamese / for post-graduate studies (master's and PhD) / at Australian universities in 2015.

Men and women,/ especially ethnic minorities,/ from provincial and rural areas / who meet eligibility
and selection criteria / are strongly encouraged to apply. Disadvantaged applicants / – persons with
disability and persons from poor areas / – are given special consideration.

Since 1974,/ over 4,000 Vietnamese students have studied at Australian tertiary institutions / through
Australian Government scholarship…”

Vietnam and Australia share numerous similarities as well as various notable differences, including:
people, religion, flora and fauna. It can be said that the people in the two countries are very
approachable, receptive and friendly. Christianity is adhered to by the majority of people in both
countries. In addition, there are many different kinds of animals in these two countries. Vietnam is
known for elephants, monkeys, and turtles; whilst Australia is famous for its unique marsupials like:
kangaroos, wallabies, koalas and many others.

On the other hand, the geography, population, and languages are significantly different. Vietnam is
located in South East Asia, and has a total land area of about 331, 688 square kilometers (sq km);
however, Australia which is larger than Vietnam, stretches 7,7 million square kilometers (sq km). The
population of Vietnam is over thirty seven times more than Australia’s population. In 2011, Vietnam’s
population stands at approximately 837, 375, 000, but Australia has only 22, 591,642. Most people in
Vietnam speak only Vietnamese whereas Australia is one of most multicultural and diverse countries in
the world where different languages are spoken such as: English,
In general, Vietnam and Australia have more similarities than differences. Despite Australia’s vast wide
open spaces, its population is smaller than Vietnam’s. In contrast, Vietnam although long and narrow, is
very populous.

1. What is connected speech?

To make speech flow smoothly, the way we pronounce the end and beginning of some words can
change depending on the sounds at the beginning and end of those words. These changes are described
as features of connected speech.

Example: This is my house.

In this sentence, the ending sound of ‘this’ is connected with the beginning sound of ‘is’ to make it
sound smoother.

2. Sounds link

Consonant to vowel linking - when the first word ends with a consonant sound and the second word
begins with a vowel sound.

Example: give up, leave after

Vowel to vowel linking - when certain vowels come next to each other an extra sound a very small /y/ or
/w/ or /r/ is added between the words to make the link smooth.

Example: very-y-old, so-w-old, idea-r-of

In standard British English (RP) the letter 'r' after a vowel sound at the end of word is often not
pronounced. However, when the following word begins with a vowel the /r/ sound is pronounced to
make a smooth link.

Example: far away, four apples