VSTEP Vocabulary by Topic: The 8 Most Common Topics
Quick answer: VSTEP papers revolve around a fairly stable set of topics: education, work, environment, technology, health, travel, family and culture. Learning vocabulary by topic, each word with its collocations and an example sentence of your own, helps you listen and read faster and gives you ready-made ideas for Writing and Speaking.
8 common topics and core vocabulary
| Topic | Words and phrases to know |
|---|---|
| Education | curriculum, tuition fee, enrol, online course, academic performance, lifelong learning |
| Work | apply for a job, work-life balance, remote work, promotion, colleague, job satisfaction |
| Environment | pollution, recycle, renewable energy, climate change, reduce waste, public transport |
| Technology | social media, artificial intelligence, screen time, online privacy, digital skills |
| Health | balanced diet, regular exercise, mental health, stress, healthcare system |
| Travel | destination, accommodation, book in advance, local culture, tourist attraction |
| Family | generation gap, household chores, raise children, extended family, spend quality time |
| Culture | tradition, festival, preserve heritage, cultural exchange, globalisation |
Learn phrases, not single words
Writing and Speaking examiners judge how you use words, not how many rare words you know. "Reduce waste", "raise awareness" and "have a negative impact on" sound far more natural than a rare word in the wrong context. When you meet a new word in Listening or Reading, copy the whole phrase around it.
How to make words stick
- One topic a day: 10–15 phrases, plus 2–3 sentences about yourself.
- Review on a schedule: look again after 1 day, 3 days and 1 week. That is spaced repetition.
- Use them straight away: write 80 words or speak for 1 minute on the topic.
- Learn from tests: after each Listening or Reading task, mark unknown words in the transcript or passage.
In the VSTEP Practice app, transcripts and passages have a Vietnamese translation when you're stuck, and missed questions go into your review schedule so you meet new words again just before you'd forget them.
See also: 30-day VSTEP study plan.