Speaking
Practice

A time I borrowed something useful was when I borrowed my brother's laptop for two days. My own computer suddenly stopped working while I was in the middle of an urgent university assignment.

The assignment had to be submitted online, and I still needed to edit several pages and prepare a short presentation. I first tried restarting my laptop and checking the charger, but nothing worked. Since repair shops were already closed, I asked my brother whether I could use his computer.

He agreed immediately and helped me transfer my files from cloud storage. I installed only the programs I needed and made sure not to change his settings. That evening, I worked for several hours, edited the document and saved a backup copy. The next morning, I finished the presentation and submitted everything before the deadline. My brother also lent a hand by checking one slide because he noticed a small formatting problem that I had missed.

The laptop was extremely useful because without it I might have missed the deadline. I returned it as soon as my own computer was repaired and was very grateful. The experience reminded me that borrowing something is not just convenient; it also depends on trust and responsibility.

A time I met someone who later became a good friend was during my first week at university. His name is Nam, and we met while waiting outside a classroom for an introductory lecture.

My first impression was that he seemed friendly and confident. I was checking the room number because I thought I might be in the wrong place, and he asked whether I was also looking for the same class. We started talking and discovered that we were studying the same course.

We hit it off quite quickly because we had similar interests in football, films and technology. After the lecture, we had coffee with a few other students, and over the next few weeks we worked on several class tasks together. As we got to know each other, I realised that we also shared a similar sense of humour. We started meeting outside university as well, and even after our schedules became different, we stayed in touch regularly.

I think we became good friends because the friendship developed naturally. We enjoyed the same things, but more importantly, we could rely on each other when study became stressful. What began as a short conversation outside a classroom gradually turned into a close friendship.

A time I helped someone was when a classmate was struggling with an important presentation. It happened last semester, about three days before we had to present in front of our lecturer and classmates.

She had collected enough information, but she was having trouble organising it into a clear structure. She was also nervous about speaking in English. I had already finished most of my own work, so I offered support and asked her to show me the draft.

First, we broke the task down into three simple sections: the problem, the main findings and the conclusion. I helped her remove repeated information and shorten some long sentences on the slides. Then she practised speaking while I listened and gave feedback on pace and pronunciation. We repeated the introduction several times until she could say it without reading. On presentation day, she still looked nervous, but she spoke clearly and completed everything within the time limit.

She told me afterwards that she felt relieved and much more confident. I was happy to help because the support was quite simple but clearly useful. It also reminded me that sometimes people do not need someone to do the work for them; they just need help organising it.

Someone who influenced me when I was a child was my primary-school librarian, Mrs Lan. She was not a family member, but I saw her almost every week for several years and she had a very positive influence on me.

She was patient, quiet and genuinely interested in children. Instead of simply telling us to be silent, she tried to make the library a place where we wanted to spend time. She remembered what kinds of books different students liked and often suggested something new.

I used to choose only comic books because they were easy and colourful. One day, she gave me a short adventure story and said I could return it if I did not enjoy it. I finished it in two days and went back for another one. Over time, she encouraged my curiosity by introducing me to science books, biographies and simple history stories. She also made us responsible for returning books on time and taking care of them.

She influenced me mainly by helping me build a reading habit without forcing me. That habit later made schoolwork easier and shaped my attitude toward learning. I still think good teachers and librarians can influence children through small, repeated actions rather than dramatic advice.

A time I had a problem and someone helped me was after an evening class last year. I had missed the last bus home and suddenly realised that my phone battery was almost empty.

The class had finished later than usual because our teacher was answering questions. When I reached the bus stop, I saw that the final bus had already left. It was raining lightly, and I was not sure whether I could easily find another way home from that area.

I called a close friend before my phone switched off and explained what had happened. Luckily, he lived only about fifteen minutes away. He came to my rescue and offered to pick me up on his motorbike. While I was waiting, I stayed under the roof of a convenience store. He arrived about twenty minutes later with an extra raincoat and drove me home. It was not a dramatic emergency, but at that moment the help made a big difference because I was tired, wet and worried about getting home safely.

I felt extremely grateful and also a little embarrassed because he had to change his plans for me. I thanked him several times and later bought him coffee. The experience reminded me how valuable reliable friends can be when something unexpected happens.