[Reading level: B2 – Upper Intermediate]
In the final days of the year, when peach blossoms and kumquat trees start appearing along the streets and spring music drifts out from shop speakers, Tuan feels his heart grow heavier.
Tuan is 28, working as a freelance designer in Hanoi. A year ago, he was still a full-time employee at a media company. But after a round of staff cuts, he lost his job. Since then, he has been getting by with small, irregular projects and precarious income. As the twelfth lunar month arrives, his phone keeps lighting up with messages from the family group chat: “When are you coming home?”, “How much bonus did you get this year?”, “Are you bringing your girlfriend back?”
Tuan reads them and leaves them unanswered.
He doesn’t hate Tet. As a child, Tet meant the smell of chung cake boiling overnight, the cheerful laughter as the whole family gathered to wrap sticky rice cakes, the bright red lucky envelopes tucked under his pillow. But growing up, Tet seems to come with an endless questionnaire. How were your achievements this year? How much do you earn? When will you buy a house? When will you get married?
Every time he imagines the crowded family meal, Tuan feels his heart beat faster than usual. Not from excitement, but from anxiety. The anxiety is about questions that sound harmless but repeat themselves year after year. It is about those unintentional comparisons: “Aunt A’s son just bought a car,” “At your age, people are already settled.”
He knows no one means to hurt him. But when he is already struggling with his own life, those casual remarks feel like another stone added to his shoulders.
In Hai Phong, Ha My, 31, a bank employee, is also counting down to Tet with mixed feelings. Her job is stable, her income decent. Yet she still “fears Tet.”
She dreads the gatherings where every conversation circles back to two words: marriage. Every year, before she can even finish a piece of fried spring roll, the questions arrive: “When will we attend your wedding?”, “You’re too picky,” “Women over 30 have it harder.”
My used to laugh it off. She used to explain that she wanted to focus on personal growth for a few more years. But she eventually realized that the more she explained, the more exhausted she felt. In the end, she chose silence.
Some years, she volunteers to work during Tet to avoid going home too early. She says she is “busy with work,” but in truth, she just wants a little more space to breathe. She doesn’t dislike her family. She only fears the feeling of being measured by a single standard: whether she is married or not.
On social media, it is not difficult to come across statuses like: “I wish Tet would pass quickly,” or “I haven’t even had time to rest and I’m already worried about facing relatives.” Many young people jokingly call it “Tet anxiety.”
In reality, behind the phrase “fearing Tet” is not ingratitude toward tradition, but the pressure accumulated over an entire year. A year in which everyone feels the need to prove they are on the right track, that they are good enough, successful enough.
Tet is supposed to be a time of rest. But for many young people, it becomes a “year-end review” in front of the extended family. And if they have not achieved anything remarkable, they feel as though they have failed an important exam.
In the end, Tuan still decides to return home. On the crowded year-end bus, he looks out the window at the fields entering a new season. He tells himself: perhaps this year he has not been as successful as he hoped, but that does not mean he is a failure.
Ha My also goes home earlier than planned. On New Year’s Eve, she sits beside her mother, preparing lucky money envelopes for her nieces and nephews. Her mother gently says, “As long as you’re healthy and happy, that’s enough.”
Perhaps what young people fear is not Tet itself. They fear being judged, being compared, the feeling of not being good enough. And perhaps, for Tet to truly be Tet, what is needed most is not lavish feasts, but understanding — the recognition that each person has their own pace, their own journey.
When people are no longer placed on a scale, Tet will return to its true meaning: a warm pause to rest and begin again.
WORD BANK:
peach blossom /ˈpiːtʃ ˌblɑː.səm/ (n): hoa đào
kumquat tree /ˈkʌm.kwɑːt ˌtriː/ (n): cây quất
drift out from sth (sound) /drɪft aʊt frəm/ (v): (âm thanh) vang ra từ đâu
feel one’s heart grow heavier /fiːl wʌnz hɑːrt ɡroʊ ˈhe.vi.ɚ/ (v): thấy lòng mình nặng xuống
freelance /ˈfriː.læns/ [B2] (adj): làm tự do
a round of staff cuts /ə raʊnd əv stæf kʌts/ (n): một đợt cắt giảm nhân sự
get by /ɡet baɪ/ [B1] (v): xoay xở, sống qua ngày
irregular /ɪˈreɡ.jə.lɚ/ [B2] (adj): không đều đặn, thất thường
precarious /prɪˈker.i.əs/ [C1] (adj): bấp bênh, không ổn định
the twelfth lunar month /ðə twelfθ ˈluː.nɚ ˌmʌnθ/ (n): tháng Chạp (tháng 12 âm lịch)
bonus /ˈboʊ.nəs/ [B1] (n): tiền thưởng
cheerful laughter /ˈtʃɪr.fəl ˈlæf.tɚ/ (n): tiếng cười vui vẻ
wrap /ræp/ [B1] (v): gói
red lucky envelope /red ˈlʌk.i ˈɑːn.və.loʊp/ (n): phong bao lì xì đỏ
tuck sth in/under sth /tʌk/ [B2] (v): nhét, đặt gọn vào/trong/dưới
questionnaire /ˌkwes.tʃəˈner/ [B2] (n): bảng câu hỏi
anxiety /æŋˈzaɪ.ə.t̬i/ [B2] (n): sự lo lắng
unintentional /ˌʌn.ɪnˈten.ʃə.nəl/ [C1] (adj): vô tình, không cố ý
settle /ˈset̬.əl/ [B1] (v): ổn định (cuộc sống)
struggle with sth /ˈstrʌɡ.əl wɪð/ [B2] (v): vật lộn với điều gì
remark /rɪˈmɑːrk/ [B2] (n): lời nhận xét, lời hỏi han
decent /ˈdiː.sənt/ [B1] (adj): khá, tương đối tốt
dread /dred/ [C1] (v): sợ hãi, e ngại
fried spring roll /fraɪd sprɪŋ roʊl/ (n): nem rán
picky /ˈpɪk.i/ (adj): kén chọn
laugh it off /læf ɪt ɔːf/ (v): cười cho qua
measure /ˈmeʒ.ɚ/ [B2] (v): đo lường, đánh giá
status /ˈsteɪ.t̬əs/ [B1] (n): dòng trạng thái
ingratitude toward sth /ɪnˈɡræt̬.ə.tuːd tɔːrd/ [C1] (n): sự vô ơn đối với điều gì
accumulate /əˈkjuː.mjə.leɪt/ [C1] (v): tích lũy
be on the right track /bi ɑːn ðə raɪt træk/ (v): đi đúng hướng
be supposed to do sth /bi səˈpoʊzd tə duː/ [B1] (v): được cho là nên/phải làm gì
niece /niːs/ (n): cháu gái
nephew /ˈnef.juː/ (n): cháu trai
judge /dʒʌdʒ/ [B2] (v): phán xét
a lavish feast /ə ˈlæv.ɪʃ fiːst/ (n): bữa tiệc thịnh soạn
pace /peɪs/ [B2] (n): nhịp độ
journey /ˈdʒɝː.ni/ [B1] (n): hành trình
ỦNG HỘ READ TO LEAD!
Chào bạn! Có thể bạn chưa biết, Read to Lead là một trang giáo dục phi lợi nhuận với mục đích góp phần phát triển cộng đồng người học tiếng Anh tại Việt Nam. Chúng tôi không yêu cầu người đọc phải trả bất kỳ chi phí nào để sử dụng các sản phẩm của mình để mọi người đều có cơ hội học tập tốt hơn. Tuy nhiên, nếu bạn có thể, chúng tôi mong nhận được sự hỗ trợ tài chính từ bạn để duy trì hoạt động của trang và phát triển các sản phẩm mới.
Bạn có thể ủng hộ chúng tôi qua 1 trong 2 cách dưới đây.
– Cách 1: Chuyển tiền qua tài khoản Momo.
Số điện thoại 0947.886.865 (Chủ tài khoản: Nguyễn Tiến Trung)
Nội dung chuyển tiền: Ủng hộ Read to Lead
hoặc
– Cách 2: Chuyển tiền qua tài khoản ngân hàng.
Ngân hàng VIB chi nhánh Hải Phòng
Số tài khoản: 012704060048394 (Chủ tài khoản: Nguyễn Tiến Trung)
Nội dung chuyển tiền: Ủng hộ Read to Lead
Lớp luyện thi IELTS online
Bạn đang có nhu cầu thi chứng chỉ IELTS cho đầu vào đại học, đi du học, xin việc hay xin cư trú và đang phân vân chưa biết học ở đâu?
Nếu bạn đang tìm kiếm dịch vụ luyện thi IELTS online với giáo viên uy tín và chất lượng, cũng như học phí phải chăng, thì thầy Trung và Cô Thủy (Admin và dịch giả chính của Read to Lead) có thể là một lựa chọn phù hợp dành cho bạn.
Hãy liên hệ (nhắn tin) tới trang Facebook cá nhân của mình (https://www.facebook.com/nguyen.trung.509) để tìm hiểu về lớp học và được tư vấn cũng như được học thử nha!
