Vocabulary

1. Complete the sentences with the words/ phrases from the box.

costumes              activities                   ethnic                 diverse

unique                   communal                cultural               groups

• 1. At the Museum of Ethnology, you can see many ways of life of different _______ cultural groups ________ in our country.
• 2. In each village of the Bahnar there is a  _______ communal ________ house, where public _______ activities ________ are held.
• 3. Young women of each ethnic group in Viet Nam have their own characteristics and _______ costumes ________, making the beauty of the 54 ethnic groups more  _______ diverse ________ and attractive.
• 4. Many special schools have been built to improve the education standards of  _______ ethnic ________ people.
• 5. Although ethnic groups have their own  _______ unique ________ culture, they have established good relations and cooperation with each other.

2. Use the correct form of the words in brackets to finish the sentences.

• 1. Everywhere in our country we can find elements of the (culture)  _______ cultural ________ values of different ethnic groups.
• 2. The peoples of Viet Nam are diverse but very (peace) _______ peaceful ________.
• 3. The Muong in Hoa Binh are well-known for the (rich) ______ richness _________ of their folk literature and traditional songs.
• 4. The exhibition in the museum shows the (diverse)  _______ diversity ________ of different cultural groups
• 5. The Raglai people have a (tradition)  ________ traditional _______ musical instrument made of bamboo called the chapi.

3. Make questions for the underlined parts in the passage.

Most of the ethnic minority peoples in the Central Highlands live in stilt houses. These houses are built on columns and beams. They have two or four roofs, and some have decorations on the peaks and the sides. The entrance is on the side.
The communal house is usually the largest, tallest and most elaborate building in the village. It is used for village meetings, receiving guests, or as a place of worship, and village festivities. Single men can sleep in this house.

• 1. What are these houses built on?
• 2. Where is the entrance?
• 3. Which house is the largest, tallest and most elaborate building in the village?
• 4. What is it used for?
• 5. Who can sleep in this house?

4. Each sentence has an error. Find and correct it.

• 1. They travel to a nearest town to go shopping.
• 2. Some ethnic minority children of this region are studying at the boarding school in a city.
• 3. Although they speak different languages, an ethnic groups in this region live near to one another.
• 4. In the past, some ethnic groups lived the semi-nomadic life.
• 5. All an ethnic peoples of Viet Nam have equality in every field.

key

•  the -> a 
•  the -> a 
•  the -> an 
•  a -> the 
•  the -> an 

5. Fill each gap with a, an, or the to complete the passage.

If you are in Ha Noi and you want to have (1) ___ an ___ overview of the ethnic groups of Viet Nam, you should visit the Museum of Ethnology. It is situated in Nguyen Van Huyen Street, Cau Giay District. The Museum is (2) ___ a ___ valuable centre for the exhibition and preservation of the cultural heritage of (3) ___ the ___ 54 ethnic groups in the whole country. There are thousands of objects and photographs representing ways of life and creative activities of these peoples. Moreover, typical houses have been taken from their original sites and rebuilt in (4) ___ the ___ museum gardens. These house model (5) ___ the ___ traditional architecture of ethnic minorities. The museum also has a lot of information about all (6) ___ the ___ different ethnic peoples in Viet Nam.

Communication

6. GAME: 

CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE CHALLENGE
Work in pairs. See how much you can remember about the cultural groups of Viet Nam. Take turns to ask each other questions about the topic. The person asking can look at the book. The first person to get five correct answers is the winner.
Example:

• A:  Are you ready?
• B:  Yes.
• A:  What is the population of the largest ethnic group?
• B:  About 74 million. It’s the Viet or Kinh.
• A:  Very good! Your turn.
• B:  OK. What is the population of the smallest group?
• A:  I think it`s about 400 people. It’s the Odu group.
• B:  Exactly!