Travel with Angela Lansbury: After Visiting Vietnam, First steps in learning Vietnamese, with the help of Duolingo

Why Visit Vietnam?

I rated my trip to Ha Long Bay is one of my top two world sites, with a close runner up in the temples of Cambodia.

Ha Long Bay.

The same peak are on the coast, but the ones reflected on water are the most stunning. Especially if you overnight on a boat with a bedroom with a balcony for drinks at dusk and pre-breakfast on the balcony.

The Vietnamese flag has a distinctive five-point, yellow star on a red background.

We went shopping in the market for Vietnamese style long dresses with slit sides and co-ordinating trousers (Americans say pants).

Schoolgirls in traditional dress. From Wikipedia.

I was heavier then than I am now, and black hid more of my curves/

Angela Lansbury in Vietnamese style dress, bought in the city of Hanoi in Vietnam. Photo by Trevor Sharot. Copyright.

Vietnamese Language

We were on a boat with an English speaking guide and did not get much chance to use or learn Vietnamese.

I made up for it this week by starting Vietnamese. This was an accident. Serendipity - something found fortunately by chance. (Sounds like the word serene.)

I had added Vietnamese to my Duolingo list. My priorities are the easy languages, easy for me because they are romance languages, with the same alphabet as English, next are Greek, Hebrew and Russian, which have a few letters in common with English and a few letters in common with each other,Spanish, finally the harder languages, Chinese, Japanese, Hindi and Urdu,Korean, Vietnamese and Thai.

Then I met a neighbour who is from Thailand and says her husband does not speak one word of Thai. Afterwards, I went onto my list of languages in Duolingo, found what I was looking for, and clicked on it to open the first lesson.

After learning five words, I realized my mistake. I had learned five words of Vietnamese, not Thai!

I discovered this when I said to my husband, 'I have learned a word in Vietnamese.

An an is Ann eats.

It's ga for chicken. My memory aid is go chicken go. Go - ga. Chickens are ga ga. Ga is chicken.'

But ...ga (nha ga add the accent, in Google translate to copy it )

nhà ga

is train station, like the French gare, as in Gare du Nord, French for station of the north, in Paris.

My husband replied, 'Yes, it's the same word in Thai. You hear it a lot because they eat a lot of chicken.'

Thailand is north of Malaysia which is north of Singapore. Singapore used to be part of Malaya.

So I now know the word for chicken, ga, which is handy in restaurants and food courts. Even if you don't like the cheaper food courts or have meals booked, you find food courts in Malaysia and other countries as you drive north from Singapore along main roads and stop for a break, or eat at railway stations.

Now I have started Vietnamese and it is not as hard as I expected. Korean, supposed to be easy, was my biggest challenge, along with Arabic and Urdu, with their fancy, curly, but unfamiliar writing.

The Vietnamese in Duolingo is written in what looks like the British alphabet with lots of accents. But, for my first lesson, I have ignored the accents and just listened to the pronunciation which you easily find by clicking with your mouse over the little loudspeaker button.

Duolingo offers you a recap of the words you have learned under Review Lesson.

Grammar tips

Adjectives follow nouns

Vocabulary may be slightly different in north and South Vietnam.

On Duolingo, check the forums, called DISCUSS, even if you got the answer right, to learn tips.

Word Revision

Vietnamese - English

an - eat(s)

cà phê - coffee

ga - chicken

nhà ga - train station

English - Vietnamese

chicken - ga

coffee - cà phê

eat(s) - an

train station - nhà ga

From Wiki phrasebook

north

bắc (...)

south

nam (...)

east

đông (...)

west

tây (...)

Colors[edit]

When describing the color of an object etc., use the word below. When referring to the color itself, use màu or mầu followed by the word below.

black: đen (Dan)
white: trắng (chahng?!)
gray: xám (sahm?)
red: đỏ (daw... aw?)
blue: xanh nước (sahyng neu-uhk?)
yellow: vàng (vahng...)
green: xanh (lá cây) (sahyng lah? kay)
orange: cam (kahm)
purple: tím (just as it is written, tim but long 'i' )
brown: nâu (know)
My name is ______ .: Tôi tên là ______ . (Thoye theyn la _____ .)
Please.: Làm ơn. (lam uhhn)
Thank you.: Cảm ơn. (gam uhhn)
You're welcome.: Không sao đâu. (kohng sao doh)
Yes.: Vâng (affirmative). (vuhng); Dạ (affirmative, respectful) (ya'a) ; Đúng (correct) (duhn)
No.: Không. (kohng)
Hello. (informal): Chào. (jow)
Hello. (formal): Xin chào. (seen jow)
Hello. (on the phone): A-lô. (AH-loh)
How are you? (Are you healthy?): Khỏe không? (kweah kohng?)
Fine, thank you. (I am healthy, thank you.): Tôi khoẻ, cảm ơn. (thoy kweah, gam uhhn)
What is your name? (formal, to a man (forties or older, depending on the sensitivity of the person you address)): Ông tên là gì? (ohng theyn la yi)
What is your name? (formal, to a woman (forties or older, depending on the sensitivity of the person you address)): Bà tên là gì? (ba theyn la yi)
What is your name? (informal, to a male who is not quite middle-aged AND/OR is not significantly older than you): Anh tên là gì? (ayng theyn la yi) Anh is an umbrella term for any older male figure. Its literal meaning is "older brother".
What is your name? (informal and also flattering, to a female who is not quite middle-aged AND not significantly older than you): Cô tên là gì? (goh theyn la yi) There is a distinction between this and the last phrase, because in Vietnamese culture, one generally assumes that a woman, regardless of whether she looks middle-aged or not, is either not yet married, or does not yet have children, or is younger than she looks. Using "Cô" instead of "Bà" implies that you are giving her the benefit of your lack of knowledge about her. Thus, if she feels the need, she will (as a result of your flattery and politeness) correct you to use the mature "Bà" or the gender-disregarding term for an adult who is anywhere in their late thirties to fifties, "Bac" which is equivalent to "Sir" or "Madam". Some men and women prefer to be addressed as the polite and age-ambiguous "Bac" indefinitely, until they feel it is appropriate to be addressed in more mature terms.

Typing tips for translations

When copying a word from a website, after inserting check text size. In blogger .com where you create your blogs, look for the letter T in two sizes across the top menu bar. Keep every text thing normal size. You could also change the font.

I used to type everything in both the English to a foreign language and then the foreign language to English. Then I tried copying it once, using the translation in the second list, and typing in the other language. Today I discovered an even quicker way. copy the word and translation from the first list. Paste it twice. Then delete the parts you don't need. You might want to insert a hyphen between the English and the other language.

Thailand

I think of Thailand as a fan from the top of Malaysia, like a left hand. Vietnam is to the east, like a right arm

Vietnam is separated from Thailand by Laos. Vietnam in on the sea to the East.