Wednesday 24 September 2014

Mặt v. Trái

Oh wow. I wasn't prepared for this.

mặt = right and trái = left.

Ok. That's the easy bit done.

Now get this.

In Vietnamese, when you are trying to explain where something is, you explain it from the perspective of the object you are explaining.

I don't... I don't even....

Example:

Nhà ga ở bên tay mặt khách-sạn.

Literally:

Railway station is located side hand right hotel.

Sweet, you think. The station is to the right of the hotel.

You couldn't be more wrong.

The answer is - the station is to the left of the hotel.

How could this be, I hear you ask?

Well, when describing positions in Vietnamese, you explain where things are positioned from the viewpoint of the object you are using as a reference point. So, in this example, the railway station is on the hotel's right-hand side, so therefore your left-hand side because you are looking at the hotel.

It's like looking in a mirror.

How incredibly abstract is that concept? Does this make the Vietnamese super existential beings if they're always thinking like this?

Another couple of things I've picked up. Ông, bà and cô which are used depending on who you are talking to are also used for Mr, Mrs and Miss. That makes things easier. So Ông Phương is Mr Phương, Bà Phương is Mrs Phương and Cô Phương is Miss Phương. That makes things a bit easier.

I'm finding that the language itself is becoming easier to speak, and slightly ever more natural. Only slightly mind you. It's not the grammar that's a worry, apart from very strange directional concepts like that above (to our Western eyes at least). Even the writing is reading is becoming ok only after a couple of weeks.

It's the comprehension.


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