Vietnam Travel Blog

Background
The Vietnamese language is heavily influenced by Chinese, Tai, and Mon Khmer elements. Many technical words are the same in Vietnamese as in Chinese, and the different types of tones are linked to the Tai family of languages. Until the 7th century, when Alexandre De Rhodes Romanized the Vietnamese language, it was written with Chinese characters.
For the beginner, the Vietnamese language can be difficult to pronounce; however, even a small amount of effort learning some Vietnamese phrases while travelling in Vietnam will open doors with locals and earn appreciation at every turn.

Pronunciation
Unlike European languages, Vietnamese words are pronounced syllable by syllable, and the last letter of
words is often silent. There are three regional dialects: the north, the centre and the south. There are six tones used in Vietnamese:

Alphabet
The letters F, J, W, and Z are the only roman letters missing from the Vietnamese script, though the sounds of
these letters are often used in speaking. Most Vietnamese letters are pronounced the same as the Roman alphabet,
allowing the visitor to read with ease road and store signs. The Vietnamese alphabet had two letter Ds: D is pro-
nounced as a Y in the south, a Z in the north, and SH in the centre; and Đ is pronounced across the country just
like the Roman D.

Grammar
Vietnamese grammar is not complicated like English and French, with plurals of words omitted, and future
and past tenses conjugated simply by adding a modifier in front of the verb. Colloquial Vietnamese omit even
more words when speaking to each other. For example, the sentence “I am going to the market” becomes simply
“Di cho”, “go market”.

Greetings & Pleasantries
The choice of pronoun is important when speaking Vietnamese, depending on whom you are speaking to.
There is no commonly used word for you, or I; instead, greetings like brother, sister, aunt, uncle and grandmother
are used to greet people, because in the highly structured society of the Vietnamese, people are most often never
on the same social standing.
For example, when greeting:

# Used when greeting someone younger
* Used when greeting someone about the same age
Hello: Xin Chao (sin chow)
Personal pronouns are matched with this basic greeting; so when greeting an elderly woman, the correct
phrase is, Xin Chao Ba; and when greeting a young man, it is correct to say, Xin Chao Chu.

Typically, Vietnamese do not say thank you for everything as in the West, a thankful smile or nod is far more important that what they believe to be hollow words.

Because ‘Xin Chao’ simply means ‘greetings,’ there is no official word for goodbye in Vietnamese, who prefer to use the phrases Hen Gap Lai (hen gahp lie) (see you again) or Tam Biet (tam beet) (bye bye) instead.

Numbers
Upon learning the numbers one to ten, forming numbers up to 00 are easily done; twenty, is simply 2 - 0; fifty five, is simply 5 - 10 - 5. With the exchange rate of Vietnamese currency in the thousands against major world currencies, learning the words for thousands and millions are useful, too.

Questions

Directions
Vietnamese use the phrase ‘o dau’ to ask directions, preceded by the place they are looking for.
For example:

Accommodation

Food

Health

Shopping

Emergencies