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.

Useful Websites

Flag

https://www.countryflags.com/vietnam-flag-image/

Language

duolingo.com

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Vietnamese_phrasebook

https://yourvietnamese.com/learn-vietnamese/vietnamese-grammar-in-short-lessons/

Tourism

wikivoyage Vietnam

 lastminute.com

tripadvisor.com

booking.com

Please follow me and share links to your favourite posts.

Vietnamese Spring rolls from kosher Korner Kitchen At Canons Corner - containing duck and rice vermicelli! No shellfish!

 Late afternoon we needed food for supper and a friend who lives nearby recommended this restaurant. At first sight the decor seemed to me a bit spartan, like a Japanese place, but the warmth of the Jewish staff brightened up my mood, and I reflected that in Covid-19 times a wipe clean environment rather than carpets, curtains and tablecloths is probably better for hygiene and health and safety.

At first I found the menu and strange names confusing. But I opted for Duck in a green wrap spring roll, and chicken kebabs. We had a refreshing and different meal.

The leftovers a day later were still delicious and different. I liked the shredded cucumber. It reminded me of  one of my family's favourite dishes, Chinese Peking duck, also duck, with shredded duck and shredded spring onion in a pancake wrapper. I have been to Vietnam and could not remember nor enthuse about Vietnamese food but after this experience I am converted.

I have a couple of friends who insist on eating either kosher or vegetarian or pescarian food so this would suit them. 

Korner Kitchen Delivers

They deliver locally. They said they will deliver as far as Hatch End if your order is over thirty pounds, which we thought was achievable and reasonable.

Korner Kitchen

4 Canons Corner, Stanmore,  Middlesex HA8 8AE

Tel 020 7018 6950

Useful Websites

www.kornerkitchen.co.uk

https://healthynibblesandbits.com/fresh-vietnamese-spring-rolls-with-video/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%E1%BB%8Fi_cu%E1%BB%91n

https://therekosher.com/kosher/korner-kitchen-glatt-meatparev/

Vietnamese alphabet marks - diacritics

I had given up on understanding the little marks when I noticed them on the bag I was wearing, above and below the letter e on the word Vietnam. If I can show my bag to a Vietnamese speaker and hear them pronounce the name of their own country and get them to correct my pronunciation, I should know at least one of the six marks or sounds.

I looked at the following website for a reminder.
https://vietnamesetypography.com/tone-marks/

Three of the six sounds are easy.
1 Blank is obviously blank.
2 I speak French, so the acute or upwards slash is easy.
3 The downward slash is easy too. think of the French word for school pupil, eleve.  The first e rises in tone, The second comes down. The third is unpronounced in this case or neutral.

The challenges of speaking Vietnamese and understanding them when they speak English

Vietnam flag.

Problem
First, where can you learn a few words? I was disappointed not to find a list of common words and phrases on the VietJet plane from Singapore's Changi airport to Hanoi. They missed an opportunity.

 I looked at Wikipedia (too complicated).

I tried Duolingo which is useful on easy languages such as Italian and Spanish. But Duolingo starts teaching words you rarely need such as bat and horse.

The Hanoi book cafes have books in Vietnamese, no English. Great for local students and schoolchildren. Not for tourists.

The bookshops and souvenir shops don't seem to offer phrase books.

Solutions

After a week in Hanoi we had dinner at Gourmet Corner restaurant. I picked up the house magazine of the hotel group. On the back inside page was what I had been looking for - a list of handy phrases.

The first thing I needed to learn was the greeting.  I needed a way of remembering it. Sin chow, sound like sin and a chow dog. So I imagined seeing a chow dog which was doing something naughty and shaking my head and smiling and saying to it, not 'naughty doggie' but 'sin chow'.

That is how you pronounce it. Go into Google translate and type in hello in the English and in the other box after you type in Vietnamese it gives the correctly written version, xian (like the Chinese Xian is Shan or She-ann). The sound chow is written Chao and has a downward accent on the a. I reckon if I learn only one word a day, at least I can speak half a dozen words at the end of a week.

When you make even the most basic attempt at learning to read signs, you need to understand the writing.

I stood waiting for a hotel lift and read two emergency exit in fire signs in Vietnamese. I was hoping to see a repeated word such as 'please' or 'don't' but could not spot any.

I noticed that some of the letters have underlines as well as signs above. Some of the letters have not one but two dotty signs above.

However, I did pick up one interesting and vital piece of information. In emergency for the fire brigade you dial 114. I noticed that in the longer vertical notice. Then on the other horizontal sign
I spotted the number in the middle of the old-fashioned phone symbol.


On closer inspection I see a repeated word which without accents is chua chay.

In google translate I went forwards and backwards until I found for
fire
fighting
fire fighting

ngọn lửa trận đánh chữa cháy


More Information From
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Joseph's_Cathedral,_Hanoi
Travel information
For hotels
booking.com
Comparison site:
https://www.clicktripz.com/rates/search/index
For airlines
travelok.com
vietjetAir.com (Comprehensive list of budget airlines in Wikivoyage.)
For transport
https://www.grab.com/vn/en/

Language
Duolingo.com 
(Remember to click on the sound symbol to hear how words are pronounced.) 

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

Please share links to your favourite posts. I have several more on Hanoi, Halong Bay and Vietnam.

Absolute beginner guide to Vietnam

Problem
Where to start?

Answer
The country is in three sections, north, middle and south.

North and Hanoi
In the North is the capital, Hanoi.

South and Saigon
In the South is the alliterative Saigon. The city of Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh city after the hugely popular leader who fought to gain independence from the French.

Vietnamese names start with the surname, like Chinese names. So Ho is a common surname. As in Chinese, the personal or given names reflect good qualities. Chi means will. Minh means bright.

Language
The language is similar to Chinese, with some French and English vocabulary. Fortunately it is written in what looks like the Roman / Latin alphabet which we use in English. However, they add a few accents above, or below, (called diacritics) to help you with intonation and pronunciation. Like the French accents, your voice rises or falls or falls and rises again.

Months
The months of the year are simply the numbers one to twelve with the word month added.  So, if you learn the numbers one to twelve, you will also recognize the months of the year.

Photo in public domain from Wikipedia.

Ho Chi Minh
The major character to know is Ho Chi Minh. His mausoleum and adjacent museum are in Hanoi, featured on the two hop on hop off bus tours (red and blue) and maps of the city (from your hotel or a tour agency shop). Also see his statue in Ho Chi Minh city, named after him, other Communist countries and several other cities of the world.

Ho Chi Minh lived all over the world and changed his name several times. If you find the account of his life on Wikipedia too long and complicated, try simple wiki.

Hanoi and Halong Bay
From Hanoi a major day trip is to Halong Bay, which I recommend.

Start Learning the Language
Wikipedia gives an overview of the Vietnamese language.

Viet Nam (Add the pointed hat symbol, called the circumflex in French, above the e to show you that you pronounce the e.) 
Mo to, for motor  auto or car - the hats are added above both letters o show the oh pronounciation.

You can also learn Vietnamese on Duolingo. The pronunciation used is that or the north, Hanoi, according to the comments from people living in the USA and elsewhere who are learning Vietnamese to talk to their family in Vietnam.

Places To Visit
1 Hanoi - the capital, in the north. Many boutique hotels in the old quarter.
2 Side trips to Halong Bay.
3 Central region includes the coast and Crazy House, a museum cum hotel with only ten rooms and walls at all angles, like Gaudi's buildings in Barcelona.
4 Saigon, also called Ho Chi Minh city, in the south.
5 Major attraction is the Vietcong's Cu Chi tunnels.

Useful Websites
Travel Tips
For reviews
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho_Chi_Minh_City#Museums_and_art_galleries
https://www.tripadvisor.com.sg/ShowUserReviews-g293925-d4542125-r195747380-A_O_Show_Lune_Production-Ho_Chi_Minh_City.html
For hotels
booking.com
Comparison site:
https://www.clicktripz.com/rates/search/index
For airlines
travelok.com
vietJetair.com (Comprehensive list of budget airlines in Wikivoyage.)
For transport
https://www.grab.com/vn/en/

Language
Duolingo.com 
(Remember to click on the sound symbol to hear how words are pronounced.) 

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.
Please share links to your favourite posts. I have several more on Hanoi, Halong Bay and Vietnam.

National holidays - what's open and shut and why? A Singapore story.

Problem
I once took a holiday to a foreign city for a long weekend, hoping to visit a museum and a restaurant on my last day. Unfortunately, they both closed on Monday.

Singapore
In Singapore, on Tuesday 29th May 2018, I tried contacting people in Toastmasters. Nobody was answering. Why?

From the emails and chats with others I know that in the UK Monday was a bank holiday. America had Thanksgiving. Singapore has Vesak Day on Tuesday.

But surely there must be places which are open? What about other religions, such as church groups?

Answer
Finally, somebody texted me the answer. In Singapore, most Toastmasters clubs meet in Community Clubs. Two of the busiest are Braddell Heights Community Club near Serangoon MRT (train station) which has four clubs, Braddell Heights 1, Braddell Heights II, Braddell Heights Advanced, and Mandarin.

Cairnhill Community Club, almost adjacent to Newton MRT, has about eight clubs, a Mandarin speaking club, a bilingual Malay and English club, a French club, and several English speaking clubs including Cairnhill, Star Millenium Advanced, Filcom for the Filipinos keen to improve their English, and the Vietnamese club and IPA, the Indonesian Professional Association. I have been to the French Club, Francophone, and English speaking clubs.

You would think that like restaurants, Community Clubs would choose to open on National Holidays. Apparently not. Offices and public buildings are closed.

Community centres, although they have outdoor sports areas and open-sided indoor sports areas, are run by offices. Presumably, they also need cleaners to check the toilets every hour. So with those holding the keys to the room also on holiday with their families, the meeting rooms are locked and the clubs cannot meet.

Thanks to the person who enlightened me.

The moral is, don't wait until the holiday and try ringing around because you might get answerphones , recorded information, instructions to ring back after the holidays and phones not answered. When you see a holiday coming up, check in advance what will be open.

visitsingapore.com
singaporeair.com (Singapore Airlines)
https://www.ishopchangi.com
http://www.changiairport.com/en/shop-and-dine.html
http://www.goodwoodparkhotel.com/durian-fiesta-2018-,promotions_viewItem_1341-en.html

visittheusa.com

visitbritain.com

Author, Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Learning Vietnamese - Torture and Terrific Moments

Flag of Vietnam

Problem
How do you learn Vietnamese?

Answer
From friends or from Duolingo online. Let's start with real live people. If you think of learning Vietnamese it's probably because you are with some Vietnamese people. Not necessarily in Vietnam. Nor planning a holiday in Vietnam. You might go to a Vietnamese restaurant. You have probably met lots of Vietnamese people before but never wanted to learn their language or thought of asking them. Now the idea is in your/my head that you might learn a few words. If nothing else, you will find out why they make certain mistakes in English. So start by asking somebody who is Vietnamese to teach you a few words.

Story
I was at a Vietnamese Toastmasters Club in Singapore. I had arrived slightly before time and they always start late. They say it's because it's Saturday morning. I wonder. Anyway, being early, eventually I thought: Why am I sitting here wasting time? I can ask the Vietnamese girl sitting next to me to teach me a few simple words: hello and goodbye; one, two, three; and please and thank you; and yes and no.

I asked, "Are any words the same in Vietnamese and English, such as hotel and restaurant?" No.
Hotel is Khách san. (I am not sure of the pronunciation but I am thinking of hotel hotel sanity kHacH SAN.)
Restaurant is nhã hãng. (No hunger. Hang in there for meal to be served. NHa HANG.)
Train is tau how. (T for train. How does it go? Tau how)

Tips
TWO WORDS WHICH ARE THE SAME IN VIETNAMESE AND ENGLISH!

Then I asked my new friend for translations of several common words and we found two.

TAXI. TOILET / WC.

I had an enjoyable time at the Vietnamese club. The meeting was quite small. My friend explained that the Vietnamese had returned to Vietnam over Chinese New Year, not just because the Chinese companies in Singapore give workers time off, nor because once you have travelled to far, and spent the fare money, you might as well stay longer. The reason is that in Vietnam 'Chinese New Year' is a ten day holiday.

Emboldened by my first steps in learning Vietnamese, I thought I would look for Vietnamese on Duolingo. It had been available for a while but I had never previously had the urge to learn it. I thought, I shall look at the first page and learn the pronunciation and a bit of grammar. You have to scroll down the screen of the first page to find the grammar tips.

Learning Vietnamese on Duolingo
If you want to torture any adult or child, don't put them in detention or house arrest, make them learn Vietnamese. On Duolingo.

Most of the languages I've tried on Duolingo have been wonderful. But either the people doing the Vietnamese course are very strange - or the language is very strange.

The first half dozen five minute lessons include such nonsense sentences as: I am she. I rarely bother to go onto the forums which involve endless discussions, usually about the words of the language I don't speak. But this is just too puzzling. I am gratified to learn that the English speakers are as puzzled or indignant as I am. The Vietnamese speakers are arguing that the purpose is not to teach you sentences you can use but the rules of grammar. ERG! I have never before felt justified in using an entire line of exclamation marks. Is there any other way to express a scream? Will this do it - NO!

The chicken ate the fish. The mug and the fish. We then have a picture of a small girl and two small figures and have to guess which one is child. I tick the one which turns out to be girl.

Equally frustrating is the picture of bees. I see what looks like raindrops or a green field. I supposed the one of blobs must be bees and click on that. No. It must be something like raindrops. The other picture bears no resemblance to bees whatsoever. I'm completely distracted from the word for bee and have not learned it.

The sentences are making no sense. The words an and the do not appear but register as (not translated). OK.

Unfortunately it is a waste of time learning the words because I cannot hear them and probably imagine them wrongly and have not yet learned to understand the symbols.

Typing in the accents is a challenge. I am onto to the third set of exercise before my finger pauses long enough on a vowel for the vowels with accents to pop up. I then realise that my computer font programme has not only the French and German accents but most if not all of the Vietnamese ones.

I am now so cross that I have given up bothering to type in the accents or even some of the words. I don't know the answer, so I simply type in one letter of the alphabet and click on 'check' to bring up the correct answer.

To my amazement, when I get to the end of the exercise, although I do not get all the answers right, not even most of them, I have grasped one or two new words.

The moral is, even if you hat the language and 'can't do it', simply by ploughing through, eventually, some of the words will stick and the little mysteries and puzzles will be resolved.

COFFEE TIME -
The biggest revelation, the ah ha or Eureka moment, is the Vietnamese word for coffee. Two syllables. Like ca-fee. Click. A two syllable word is divided up into one syllable word. That's why I am getting three syllables for a simple word which is one syllable or two in English. Opposite of German, where two words are run together (like kindergarten which was originally child garden). Instead Vietnamese divides the words up.

and I have a third word I recognise with no effort. Total three.

TAXI. COFFEE. TOILET. TAXI.
Those four words are enough to provide an afternoon's outing in Vietnam. I can ask for a taxi to a coffee bar. Ask for a coffee. Ask for a toilet. Ask for a taxi home.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
See my other posts on Blogger.com and join me and like me and follow me on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter.

Wine label, Workplace and Language Flashcards - Read or Make Your Own

I am studying for level one of the WSET (Wine and Spirit Education Trust) exam and I've been creating a set of slides in Keynote (apple equivalent of Powerpoint or Mosaic) about wine and wine label/menu languages in French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. I find learning from pages of vocabulary is tedious, whilst reading a wine bottle or chocolate label or clothes label is more interesting because you have a purpose and the word has an importance, telling you about quality, or safety.

The terms on wine labels make it easy to remember, but they are not quite same as the word in everyday language. It's easy to remember that vinho verde means literally green wine, but in context of wine this could mean white wine or young wine. Casa means house, but in the context of wine it could mean wine from a single vineyard, not blended wine.

I'd filled in a few Portuguese terms but needed more so I googled Portuguese wine terms. Up pops a site which has flashcards of Portuguese wine terms. The same page has links to other languages, (everything except French), Spanish, and Italian.

http://www.cram.com/flashcards/wine-portugal-glossary-of-label-terms-1889822

I then went back to the home page looking for French and German, the home page labelled Flashcards. Up pop pages of languages, everything you could think of, right the way from Afrikaans and Arabic down to Urdu, Vietnamese, Welsh, Yiddish and Yoruba.

If you don't see what you want, you can create your own in any language, from a book, the internet, from signs you pass when travelling, or for example sitting on a bus or plane, talking to somebody from a foreign country or reading a menu in a restaurant.
cram.com is create and share online flashcards
http://www.cram.com/language

You can make flashcards for your phone to revise on the bus, and make flashcards for any subject, not just languages, but any subject you are studying, for exams, for holidays and travel, or a glossary of terms used at work, for example, computers, law enforcement, medicine, the military.

You could also print them off and use them for a Xmas quiz on Xmas and New Year greetings in foreign languages for a Xmas dinner or Xmas party.

http://www.cram.com/flashcards/create