Tôi đi lại nhà giăy thép - I'm going to the post office. Who thought I'd be able to say that after less than two weeks?
So the Foreign Services Institute runs you through the basic dialogue, like the one I did yesterday, then really expands on it - really drills it into your head. You have to participate in the conversation like you're the other person so you have to think quickly on your feet.
The basic conversation yesterday was just a couple of lines:
Chào ông, ông mạnh giọi không?
Dạ mạnh, cám ơn ông. Còn ông?
Dạ tôi cũng mạnh. Ông đi dâu dó?
Tôi đi lại nhà ga.
Vậy thì hay lắm, Tôi cũng đi lại nhá ga.
I've got to the point now where I can transliterate all this, so, literally, word for word, this is the above conversation:
Greetings you, you healthy good? (Don't know what không is literally yet)
Indication of politeness and respect good, thank you. And you?
Indication of politeness and respect I also good. You go where there?
I go reach train station.
If it is like that it is very good. I also go reach train station.
Now properly translated:
Hello, how are you?
Good thanks. And you?
Also good. Where you are going?
Train station.
Nice. So am I.
No wonder language is such a barrier, and why it seems impossible that Google translate will ever work.
But now the course picks up the tempo a bit. All the 'ông's up there? That's just when you're talking to a man. You use bà for an older/married chick and cô for girls and young/unmarried women. So in the following exercises you replace all the ông with bà and cô.
Keep in mind, however, this course was written in 1968 and this could have very well changed.
The other thing they throw in are a few place names, not just the ol' nhà ga but:
nhà băng - bank
nhà giây thép - post office
nhà thương - hospital
tiệm ăn - restaurant
khách-sạn - hotel
bén xe dò - bus station
trừơng - school
So mix these in with the existing conversation template and you got yourself some basic Vietnamese.
Solid word count of at least 30 words now. Now just to remember all this stuff when I start jabbering to the next Vietnamese person I see.
So the Foreign Services Institute runs you through the basic dialogue, like the one I did yesterday, then really expands on it - really drills it into your head. You have to participate in the conversation like you're the other person so you have to think quickly on your feet.
The basic conversation yesterday was just a couple of lines:
Chào ông, ông mạnh giọi không?
Dạ mạnh, cám ơn ông. Còn ông?
Dạ tôi cũng mạnh. Ông đi dâu dó?
Tôi đi lại nhà ga.
Vậy thì hay lắm, Tôi cũng đi lại nhá ga.
I've got to the point now where I can transliterate all this, so, literally, word for word, this is the above conversation:
Greetings you, you healthy good? (Don't know what không is literally yet)
Indication of politeness and respect good, thank you. And you?
Indication of politeness and respect I also good. You go where there?
I go reach train station.
If it is like that it is very good. I also go reach train station.
Now properly translated:
Hello, how are you?
Good thanks. And you?
Also good. Where you are going?
Train station.
Nice. So am I.
No wonder language is such a barrier, and why it seems impossible that Google translate will ever work.
But now the course picks up the tempo a bit. All the 'ông's up there? That's just when you're talking to a man. You use bà for an older/married chick and cô for girls and young/unmarried women. So in the following exercises you replace all the ông with bà and cô.
Keep in mind, however, this course was written in 1968 and this could have very well changed.
The other thing they throw in are a few place names, not just the ol' nhà ga but:
nhà băng - bank
nhà giây thép - post office
nhà thương - hospital
tiệm ăn - restaurant
khách-sạn - hotel
bén xe dò - bus station
trừơng - school
So mix these in with the existing conversation template and you got yourself some basic Vietnamese.
Solid word count of at least 30 words now. Now just to remember all this stuff when I start jabbering to the next Vietnamese person I see.
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