Describe a situation (or a time) when you helped someone You should say:
What the situation was? Who the person was?
How you helped them?
And explain how you felt after helping them
Sample Answer:
Well. I try to help people whenever I can, even if it is in a small way. I try to help my parents with work in the house, and I usually help with the cooking whenever it’s around the time the meal is being made. If I pass beggars on the street, I often give them something, though not always. Sometimes I’m not sure they are real poor people because I’ve heard there are a lot of fakes who just pretend to be poor or sick.
One time in particular, I passed an old man who was begging. It was early in the morning, and 1 was on my way to a class. Something inside me caused me to take special note of this man. I started to get some money out of my bag for him when it seemed, as if a little voice inside told me to get some food for him instead. I surprised myself at this idea so I hesitated for a moment, but I couldn’t shake the thought. So I went to the nearby market and bought him some fresh stuffed buns, about five of them and a cup of warm soy milk. Then I went back to the man and handed it to him, and said some kind words to him. I think he was very happy to have some warm food on a chilly morning.
Honestly though, I think doing this might have made me happier than it did him. I really felt good after helping him.
Follow-up questions:
- In general, why do people help others?
I think it’s the kindness that exists in most human hearts, at least a little. Many of us have needed some help ourselves from time to time, and we know what it feels like to need something. We know it feels good to have help from others when we need it, so we want to help others in the same way. Also, as I mentioned before, often it simply makes us happy to help others in some way. - Do you think it’s important to help people who need help?
Of course it’s important. We have a responsibility to do our part whether it’s in our family, our workplace, or amongst friends. None of us are like little islands with nothing or no one around us. We influence each other, and contribute to the atmosphere and environment around us, at least we should. And just as we want others to help us, we should naturally be willing to help others. - Why do you think some people like to help other people?
Maybe because it makes them feel good… being able to help someone else. It might be because they were once helped by somebody in their past and they would like to return the favor. People help other people for many different reasons, it’s almost impossible to generalize, but I think that if a person can see that another person needs help it is almost a natural instinct to offer help if the person is able to. It’s one of the foundations of many societies; those that can help – help those that can’t. - How do you feel after you have helped someone?
Usually I feel very good when I’ve helped someone. Even if the help I gave was difficult for me or an inconvenient time. Even if it was a sacrifice for me, afterwards it seems that I am happier than when I began, and sometimes I even seem to have more energy or time left for myself. It may sound funny, but sometimes it seems a little like magic how I end up with more time or more energy or more money or whatever, after I have given some away to another person. - Many people only look out for themselves and never think about helping others. What do you think of this attitude?
I think it’s sad. I know it is common, but it’s a sad statement of modern life, at least in big cities. I know not everybody is that way, but nowadays a lot of people have become very selfish. It seems that so many people are in such a rush to get rich or get better jobs or into the best schools that they hardly even notice people who need help. Maybe if people were not so absorbed in their own worlds, they would see the needs more and would do something about it. At least I hope so.
What kinds of people need help in Vietnam?
I think one of the biggest groups in our society needing help is the farmers. It would be better if the wealth and economic progress in our country was more evenly distributed.
I live in a fairly prosperous family. We’re not rich but we do have plenty, and though I’m happy for this, I feel a little guilty that others have so much less than I do. - How does the government try to help these people?
I think one of the main ways is by investing in business in a certain part of the country so that more jobs are created for the local people. Another way is by providing training, for example in farming, in ways that can increase productivity. Also the government should make sure that officials of the provinces are doing their jobs correctly. The government is trying to eliminate corruption at the local level. - Some people say that people help others in the community more now than they did in the past. Do you agree or disagree? Why?
I don’t know if that is true or not. It might be the case that there is more help available nowadays for many more people who need help, but it is not always provided by individuals in the community. Sometimes it is provided by government agencies or organizations or even charity organizations. So I guess there might be more help given but it’s not simply people in the community helping other people in the community – it’s a more structured help system than in the past. - Are there any non-government organizations in Vietnam that help people? Yes, there are. At first many of these were foreign, but that is changing now. Although there are still foreign organizations that help people, there are also more and more Vietnamese charitable organizations being set up. I just read some articles about this.
- Where do these organizations get their money from?
The foreign organizations get their money from overseas. Some of the binding is governmental, but a lot of it comes from private donations. Here in China, more individuals are getting involved in charities. It’s relatively new, but with the increased income of people, there is more of an awareness of a need to help others who are less fortunate.