Describe one of your best friends You should say:
When and how you became friends? What kind of person he/she is?
What you usually do when you are together?
And explain why he or she is one of your best friends

Sample Answer:

Well, I have a friend named Son who is studying at Hanoi Medical University. He used to be my classmate during the secondary and high school time and he is now one of my best friends that I want to talk to you about. I still remember that the first time I met him was in the school yard when we were both in Class 9 and he was a new student who came from another school in the neighbor district and was introduced to my class by my teacher.

We then became good friends during the final year of secondary school but only the time in our high school and university has tightened our relationship. At that time, after passing the entrance exam into one of the finest high schools in the middle of Vietnam, we left our home province and moved to live together in the dormitory of the high school in Hue City. We completed high school and interestingly we both chose Hanoi for college time, so altogether we have nearly 10 years of friendship.

We not only have studied together for a long time but also have numerous common hobbies. We are both Liverpool football fans and really keen on football, so I usually hang out with him watching English football and support Liverpool FC in a cafe every weekend. That was a really exciting time. Also, he’s studying medical while my major is pharmacy so we have many overlapping subjects during the initial years of college. As his roommate, I usually consult him about medical knowledge to apply to my study. In turn, I can help him in pharmaceutical chemistry and other relevant subjects. We are really perfect partners, both in football and in studying.

He has many characteristics that make me consider him my best friend. The first thing, as I have mentioned, I and he have spent a long time studying together. We know each other very well and have experienced many ups and downs not only in study but also in life. Besides, I really admire him for his diligence and responsibility. He often told me that genius comes from one percent of intelligence and ninety-nine percent of perspiration. His spirit inspires me and whenever I encounter a trouble, he will be the first one I turn to for help. So all in all, those are the reasons why he is always one of my best friends.

Follow-up questions:

1. Why childhood is important for us?
   It is an indisputable fact that childhood is the best period in our life. Children are carefree, play all the time and have no concerns. In addition, childish memories are really important and many times determine children’s life and personality. It’s true that there are many cases when people with an extremely unpleasant childhood tend to be mentally disturbed not only when they reach adulthood but also later in their life. So I would jump to the conclusion that it’s imperative that a child is raised in a caring, loving and supportive environment in order to maximize their future well-being and become emotionally- secure adults.
2. What changes have you gone through from your childhood?
   It’s obvious that all of us have undergone changes through the transition from childhood to adulthood. First of all, external appearance has completely changed, as my body has developed and I have grown taller. In addition, I would say that I am able to maintain my composure when difficulties come up and I am more mature than the time when I was little. Furthermore, I am tolerant to diversity and I have learnt to respect other people’s preferences, opinions and attitudes. Lastly, my educational level isn’t the same as it was in my early years, as I have graduated from university and specialized in a particular field.
3. What are the differences between childhood friends and college friends? That’s a really interesting and substantial question. Friends during childhood are just some children who we spent time with and share some common interests. They are more like our playmates than soulmates. On the contrary, college friends are some important people with whom we share a really strong bonding and become close to. Furthermore, most of the time friends from higher educational institutions are like siblings and long- time relationships are built, as they are based on true feeling such as trust, compassion, love and so on. For example, my best friend from university is like a brother to me and also my best man and in this way, we have sealed our relationship while I do not have any childhood friends whom I still communicate.
4. What do you think makes someone a good friend to a whole family?
   It seems to me that the main element in order for someone to be considered a friend to all members of a family is having common values and interests. If these two characteristics are absent or not compatible, it’s really difficult for someone to be accepted as a family friend or to hang out with.Moreover, if parents see that someone has a good personality and some basic virtues that support the notion of friendship, it is likely that they will like and accept this person to their family. In my opinion, family friends play an important role as there are many cases when parents consort with some people they consider friends, and many times it is likely that their kids also interact with those people.
5. Do you think we meet different kinds of friends at different stages of our lives? In what ways are these types of friend different?
   I totally agree with that statement as I believe we have different expectations and requirements for our friends in different stages of our life. When children are in primary schools, they just have one or two friends and this is because at that stage they are not capable of assessing and appreciate the importance of friendship. In the early stages of our life, we require friends who would love to play with us, do things that we like to do. So, these relationships are slack and nothing is invested as far as feelings are concerned. However, we start understanding the significance of this bond in the high school as we make some friends who have similar interests and can help us in studies. Friends during puberty, on the other hand, are in many cases the most important in someone’s life and often these relationships are really strong and based on solid foundation. At that period of life, people’s’ relationships are true and substantial as real feelings such as love, affection, support and trust are dominant. When we start our career, we will have many friends who are basically colleagues. In the old age, people usually have friends who are more like family members.So, I would say that friends in the very early ages are just some playmates who kids hang out and spend some time with and the teen to adult stages include very important and worthy people that are much more than friends.
6. How easy is it to make friends with people from a different age group? It’s a controversial issue as some would say it is quite easy to make friends from different age groups while others would deny it.In my opinion, the most important characteristics in making friends are communication and common views. In this way, people are able to talk about different things, make meaningful conversations and swap ideas. If these elements don’t exist, even among the people of same age group, then it’s really difficult for someone to make friends. I would say that usually, people find it easier to have friends of same age groups, but if effective communication and common views work smoothly between two persons of different age groups, they can become good friends. For example, a friend of mine who is around my age has a close friend of 60. When I found about that I was surprised, but when I saw that they have so much in common and they have great times together, I totally endorsed it. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t have friends who are much older than I am but I have younger friends and common interests make us a really tight group.