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A2 ElementaryEducationAsiaHistory

Chu Văn An: He Told the King the Truth… Then Walked Away From the Palace

A Vietnamese Teachers' Day special. Long ago, Chu Văn An taught the king's son at the royal school in Thăng Long (today's Hanoi). When the king's officials became bad, he asked the king to punish seven powerful men. The king did not agree, so he quit and went to live on a mountain. Learn five A2 words and how to use ask someone to.

18 November 2026· 8 words · 9 questions

Coming 18 November 2026, 7:00 am New York time

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Transcript

Tap a time to jump to that moment. Highlighted words have a meaning: tap them. Words in bold show today's grammar.

Step 3

Words from the story

Say the word, guess its meaning, then flip the card. Keep the ones you know, and practise the rest again.

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words learned
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Grammar in the story

ask + someone + to + verb

We use it for: to say what one person wants another person to do (a request)

  • He asked the king to punish seven men.
  • The king asked him to teach his son.
  • Another king asked him to come back.

From the story

  • He asked the king to punish seven men.
  • My mum asked me to clean my room.

Find it in the story 5 times

Your turn

  1. He asked the king   punish seven men.

  2. The king asked   to teach his son.

  3. She asked her friend   her with her homework.

Step 4

Story Challenge

9 quick rounds: choose, fill the gap, build the sentence and match the words. Answer in a row to build a streak and earn bonus points.

  • 9 questions
  • About 4 minutes

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Take it further

Note: Vietnamese Teachers’ Day (20 November) was not started because of Chu Văn An. The day became official in 1982 and honours all teachers. We made this lesson to celebrate Teachers’ Day with the story of one of Vietnam’s most famous teachers.

Before you watch: Who was your favourite teacher? Why do you remember him or her?

After you watch: Write three sentences with ask + someone + to. For example: My teacher asked me to read aloud. I asked my brother to help me. My mum asked us to come home early.

Think about it: Chu Văn An told the king the truth, and he lost his job. Is it always right to tell the truth to someone powerful? What would you do?

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