1 Greeting and Getting

Acquainted

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES In this chapter, you will learn to spell your names in Vietnamese, greet, and introduce your-

self and others to Vietnamese people, and asking their nationality.

Functions you will learn to do: Spell names in Vietnamese

Use common terms of address and reference

Greet, ask and tell names

Ask and state nationalities

Confirm information given

Tools you will use:

Vocabulary for:

Vietnamese alphabet and tones

Terms of address and reference

Names of countries

Grammar and usage:

questions with nào, gì

tag question with phải không

preposition của

2 Chapter 1

Vocabulary and Oral Activities

1. Spelling Vietnamese names Vietnamese Alphabet

The Vietnamese alphabet has 29 letters. It includes 7 letters that are not part of the English

alphabet: ă, â, đ, ê, ô, ơ, ư. It excludes 3 letters: f, w, z. Repeat the letters after your

instructor and/or listen to the audio file and repeat after each letter.

a đ k ơ u

ă e l p ư

â ê m q v

b g n r x

c h o s y

d i ô t

Thực hành 1a

1) You are at an optometrist office for an eye exam today.

Can you read aloud the letters below in Vietnamese?

Ê E P Ô

H V O L

S X Ư V P T

I Ơ A K R Q Â Ă

2) You are talking to the customer service of your cell phone company. Before helping you with

your account, she needs to have your full name. Spell your name in Vietnamese to her. (First,

write your family name and given name to facilitate this exercise).

Tone marks

Since Vietnamese is a tonal language, one word may be pronounced in six different tones

with six different meanings. Its spelling also differs from English. It includes a tone mark that

may be placed above or under a vowel to indicate the tone of that word. One tone is flat and

does not have any tone mark on or under the word. The other five tone marks are:

Let’s Speak Vietnamese 3

1) Dấu sắc - High-rising tone mark:

This tone mark is signified by the acute accent placed above the vowel called dấu sắc in

Vietnamese. The word má is spelled as: “m, a, [dấu] sắc”

2) Dấu huyền - Low-falling tone mark:

This tone mark is signified by the grave accent above the vowel called dấu huyền in

Vietnamese. The word bì is spelled as: “b, i, [dấu] huyền”

3) Dấu hỏi - Low-falling rising tone mark:

This tone mark is signified by an accent that looks like the top half of a question mark

called dấu hỏi. The word lả is spelled as: “l, a, [dấu] hỏi”

4) Dấu ngã - High-rising broken tone:

This tone mark is signified by the tilde above the vowel called dấu ngã .

The word mã is spelled as: “m, a, [dấu] ngã”

5) Dấu nặng - Low-falling broken tone:

This tone mark is signified by a dot placed under the vowel called dấu nặng.

The word tạ is spelled as: “t, a, [dấu] nặng”

*Refer to Appendix 2 – Pronunciation Guide and Drills, page 292 for more information on vowels,

consonants, and tones.

Thực hành 1b

You want to write to your Vietnamese pen friend about the places you will visit in Vietnam this

summer. You are keen to write the names of those places correctly.

They are: Tây Ninh, Sài Gòn, Cần Thơ, Huế, Hà Nội, and Hạ Long. Using the Vietnamese

alphabet and appropriate tone marks, you check the spelling of those names with another Vietnamese

friend to be certain.

2. Greeting, asking, and telling names

Terms of address/reference

When talking to a Vietnamese, you need to use a term of address to address that person and a term of

reference to refer to yourself. Therefore, “you” and “I” in English can be anh, chị, em, etc. The

terms of address vary according to the age, the gender, and the status of the person you are talking to.

4 Chapter 1

Terms

of address

used to address Meanings in

social situations

Term of reference

to call oneself

ông an older male (formal) or

someone is as old as one’s

grandfather

Mr. / Sir

tôi

cháu (when talking to

one’s grandfather)

bà an older male (formal) or

someone is as old as one’s

grandmother

Mrs. / Madam tôi

cháu (when talking to

one’s grandmother)

cô a female teacher or

a young and unmarried female

female teacher;

Miss em

tôi

thầy a male teacher male teacher em

anh a young man or a male peer male acquaintance tôi or em

chị a young woman or a female

peer

female acquaintance tôi or em

em a male or female younger

than yourself; a young child;

a student

younger male or

younger female

acquaintance

anh (male);

chị (female)

cô / thầy

bạn male or female peer male or female friend mình*(intimate “I”)

Hội thoại 1 Read Notes 1, 2, pages 9-10

1a. Lan and Peter meet for the first time. Peter is 25 years old and Lan is 20 years old.

Chào means to greet. By extension, it is

‘good morning, good afternoon, good night,

and goodbye’. Vietnamese do not say chào

alone without using a term of address. -Generally Vietnamese people have three

names in this order: family name, middle name

(tên đệm) and given name, e.g. Nguyễn Quang

Thái. They use their given name and not their

family name to introduce themselves.

-Chào anh! Xin lỗi anh, tên anh là gì?

--Tên tôi là Lan

-Chào cô! Tên tôi là Peter.

--Còn cô, tên cô là gì?

Let’s Speak Vietnamese 5

1b. In the classroom, a teacher asks a student his name.

Cô Mary Họ tên [của] em là gì?

Tuấn *Thưa cô, họ tên em là Trần Anh Tuấn (ạ).*

Thưa and ạ are particles to

express politeness and respect.

Thưa is used at the beginning of a

response and ạ at the end (ạ is

optional).

When visiting people’s home, Vietnamese greet the older people first by bowing their head.

When greeting, Vietnamese men shake hands with men, not with women. To show respect,

men shake with both hands. When shaking hands is not possible, Vietnamese bow their head

slightly. Younger people (male and female) greet older people (male and female) by bowing

their head before saying “Chào___”. Children greet parents, grand-parents, and their elders by

crossing the their arms in front of them and say “Chào ông ạ___” or “ Chào bà ạ”

Thực hành 2:

Review terms of address/reference on page 2 FIRST.

1) Greet your teacher using cô or thầy and greet other classmates using anh or chị or bạn.

2) Tell the classmate next to you your given name, then family name. Next ask his/hers.

3) Work in pairs. How would you address the following people?

Next, act out the exchanges of greeting and self-introducing with these people.

a. a younger female classmate d. a woman in her seventies

b. a 12-year-old girl e. a man in his sixties

c. a man in his forties f. a classmate in his twenties

3. Introducing others

đây là here is (informal introduction)

xin to request; to beg

giới thiệu to introduce

tôi xin giới thiệu let me introduce (formal intro.)

rất vui được gặp very pleased to meet

với with; to

và and

anh chị you (plural)

6 Chapter 1

Hội thoại 2

2a. At a school gathering, Hoà introduces Mai to Karen.

Thực hành 2

1) Introduce a classmate to your teacher

informally.

2) In group of three, practicing introducing each

other informally and spell out your own

name in Vietnamese.

2b. Thọ comes to join the group. Karen introduces him to Hoà and Mai.

Cô Karen Anh Thọ, tôi xin giới thiệu với anh.

Đây là anh Hoà và đây là chị Mai.

Anh Thọ Rất vui được gặp anh chị.

Hoà và Mai Chào anh.

Thực hành 3b

1) Now, in groups of three, take turns and practice introducing one or two people formally.

2) Introduce Phương, your new Vietnamese boss, to your friend formally.

3) Later on, your friend asks you how your boss’ full name is written.

You spell out “Trần Mai Phương”

Trước lạ, sau quen

First strangers, later friends

---Chào chị. -Cô Karen, đây là chị Mai.

--Chào chị

Karen.

Let’s Speak Vietnamese 7

4. Introducing yourself and asking the country of origin

người person

nước country

nào? which?

Mỹ United States, America

người Mỹ American

gốc; người Mỹ gốc Việt origin; Vietnamese American

Hội thoại 3 Read Notes 3, 4, pages 10-11

Hoà introduces himself to Karen at a Vietnamese gathering.

Anh Hoà Tên tôi là Hoà. Còn cô, tên cô là gì?

Cô Karen Tên tôi là Karen.

Anh Hoà Xin lỗi cô, cô là người nước nào?

Cô Karen Tôi là người Mỹ. Còn anh?

Anh Hoà Tôi là người Mỹ gốc Việt.

Vietnamese people do not use

any title when giving their names.

For example, Miss Lan would say:

Tôi là Lan. (I am Lan.) NOT

Tôi là cô Lan. (I am Miss Lan.)

*Từ vựng chủ đề : List of countries, nationalities, and languages

COUNTRY - NƯỚC NATIONALITY

QUỐC TỊCH

LANGUAGE

NGÔN NGỮ

Australia (nước) Úc người Úc tiếng Anh

Canada (nước) Ca na đa người Ca na đa tiếng Anh và tiếng Pháp

Cambodia (nước) Cam-pu-chia người Cam-pu-chia tiếng Khơ Me

China (nước) Trung Quốc người Trung Quốc tiếng Trung Quốc

England (nước) Anh người Anh tiếng Anh

France (nước) Pháp người Pháp tiếng Pháp

Germany (nước) Đức người Đức tiếng Đức

Indonesia (nước) In-đô-nê-xia người In-đô-nê-xia tiếng In-đô-nê-xia

Italy (nước) Ý người Ý tiếngÝ

Japan (nước) Nhật (Bản) người Nhật (Bản) tiếng Nhật (Bản)

Korea (nước) Hàn Quốc người Hàn Quốc tiếng Hàn Quốc

Laos (nước) Lào người Lào tiếng Lào

Malaysia (nước) Ma-lai-xia người Ma-lai-xia tiếng Ma-lai-xia

Thailand (nước) Thái Lan người Thái (Lan) tiếng Thái (Lan)

United States (nước) Mỹ người Mỹ tiếng Anh

Vietnam (nước) Việt Nam người Việt (Nam) tiếng Việt (Nam)

8 Chapter 1

Thực hành 4: Work in pairs.

1) Ask each other the nationality of the people listed below.

a. anh Khoa - Vietnam d. anh Charlie - England g. cô Sasimol - Thailand

b. ông Harris - America e. bà Lopez - Mexico h. chị Azizah - Malaysia

c. chị Suzanne - France f. anh Imran - Indonesia i. thầy Jones - Australia

2) Now, introduce yourself and ask each other’s nationality.

5. Asking whether an information is correct

statement, phải không? statement, isn’t it?

Vâng (polite) / Phải Yes

Không, No,

không phải là not to be

Hội thoại 4 Read Notes 5, 6, page 12

4a. After the introduction, Mai asks Karen:

Vietnamese women do not change their family name

after marriage. Official documents still bear the signature

of their maiden names. In social situations, however, they

are typically addressed by their husband’s first name. For

example if the husband’s full name is Nguyễn Minh Quân,

the wife will be socially referred as bà Quân.

4b. Now, Karen is looking for a woman named Thu. She walks toward a woman and asks:

Cô Karen Xin lỗi bà. Bà là bà Thu, phải không ạ?

Bà Lan Không, tôi không phải là Thu.

Tôi là Lan.

-Chị là người Mỹ, phải không? _--Vâng. Tôi là người Mỹ.

Let’s Speak Vietnamese 9

Thực hành 5: Work in pairs.

1) With the cues given below, practice asking questions to confirm the names and nationalities.

Model: A: -Anh Khoa là người Việt, phải không?

B: -Vâng, anh Khoa là người Việt.

a. anh Khoa - Việt d. anh Charlie - Anh g. g. cô Sasimol - Thái

b. ông Harris - Mỹ e. bà Lopez - Mê-hi-cô h. h. chị Azizah - Ma-lai-xia

c. chị Suzanne - Pháp f. anh Imran - Inđônêxia i. thầy Jones - Úc

2) Next, give a different nationality to the people above in order to practice responses in the negative

form.

Model: A: -Anh Charlie là người Pháp, phải không?

B: -Không, anh Charlie không phải là người Pháp.

Grammar and Practice Exercises 1. Greetings in Vietnamese

The greeting in dialogue 1a (p. 3) is commonly used when Vietnamese and foreigners meet for

the first time. This style of greeting is introduced first because it sounds more natural to students.

[I] greet Person = You Polite Particle

Chào bà ạ.

thầy/cô ạ.

Chào anh/chị.

em.

Lời chào cao hơn mâm cỗ

A word of greeting is much more appreciated than an invitation to a feast

10 Chapter 1

Bài tập 1

How would you greet the following people? When appropriate use the polite form

a a young woman __________ e. a 30-year-old man ___________

b. your female classmate __________ f. a female peer ___________

c. your female teacher __________ g. your female teacher ___________

d. an older male classmate __________ h. a 65-year-old man ___________

2. Indicating possession with của

To indicate possession, the preposition của (belonging to, of) is placed after the noun:

Họ của tôi My family name (Lit.: The family name of mine)

Note that the use of của is not necessary when asking or telling given names.

3. Asking and telling names

There are two ways of asking and telling names:

a. Xin lỗi [anh], tên anh là gì? Excuse me, what is your name?

Tên tôi là Hoà. My name is Hoà.

b. Xin lỗi [anh], anh tên [là] gì? Excuse me, what is your name?

Tôi tên [là] Hoà. My name is Hoà.

*In (b) the possessors anh and tôi come first. The emphasis is on the person you are speaking to.

Là is optional in this pattern structure.

Bài tập 3

1) How would you say if you want to know the …

a. given name of a male teenager

b. given name of a child

c. family name of a 55-year-old woman

d. family name of a 25-year-old man

e. given name of a 18-year-old girl

f. given name of a 70-year-old woman

g. family name of your male teacher

h. family name of your female teacher

2) Now, write down the answers for the items above.

Let’s Speak Vietnamese 11

3) Write a dialogue for the following situation. Use the English cues as a guide.

Hải (27-year-old male) and Minh (22-year-old male) meet for the first time.

Hải greets Minh: H: Chào anh.

Minh returns the greeting. M: __________________________________

Hải introduces himself and asks: H: __________________________________

for Minh’s name. Minh replies: M: __________________________________

4. Asking questions with the question word nào

To ask which as in which country, the question word nào is placed after the noun.

nước nào? which country? (Lit.: country which?)

người nước nào? which nationality?

Lit: person of country which? a person of which country?

To state the nationality, người is placed before the name of the country.

Mỹ người Mỹ Trung Quốc người Trung Quốc

Tôi là người Việt. I am Vietnamese. (Lit.: I am a Vietnamese person.)

Bài tập 4

1) Complete the following sentences:

a. John Lennon là người __________.

b. Ông Armani là người __________.

c. Bà Suzuki là người __________.

d. Hugh Jackman là người _________.

e. Ông Bảo Ninh là người __________.

f. Coco Chanel là người ___________.

2) Write a dialogue for the following situation. Use the cues as a guide.

Hà (20-year-old female) and Mary (22-year-old female) meet each other for the first time.

Hà greets Mary. H: Chào chị.

Mary returns the greeting. M: ______________________________

Hà says her name and nationality. H: ______________________________

Next, she asks for Mary’s name ______________________________

and nationality. ______________________________

Mary answers. M: ______________________________

12 Chapter 1

5. Confirming with question tag phải không?

The question tag phải không is placed at the end of a statement to confirm that statement.

Statement, are you not?

Tên anh là Hùng, phải không? Your name is Hùng, isn’t it?

Chị là người Việt, phải không? You are Vietnamese, aren’t you?

Answers

Vâng. Tên tôi là Hùng. Yes. My name is Hùng.

Không. Tôi không phải là người Việt. No, I am not Vietnamese.

Bài tập 5

1) How would you ask when you want to confirm if:

a. Chang is Chinese. d. a female classmate’s family name is Nguyễn.

b. Meg is American. e. your male teacher’s family name is Trần.

c. Mai-Linh is Vietnamese. f. a male classmate’s given name is Tadashi.

2) What would you say when someone thought that:

a. your given name is Shannon c. your family name is Smith

b. you are from England d. your teacher of Vietnamese is from China

6. Terms of address – When to use it

To confirm a person’s name (as in dialogue 4b), you may use the term of address in front of that

person’s name. But in the reply, the term of reference should not be used.

-Chị là chị Thi, phải không? You are Thi, aren’t you?

-Không. Tôi không phải là Thi. No. I am not Thi.

Let’s Speak Vietnamese 13

Communicative Activities

1. Tập nói 1

Walk around the classroom to find out the given names and family names of as many classmates

as you can. You will introduce some of them to the whole class later.

2. Tập nói 2: Work in pairs.

Act out the following exchanges. Be sure to use the appropriate terms of address and polite

forms.

1) You met by chance your new Vietnamese instructor, thầy Văn, before class. You greet each

other. Next he asks your given name and family name.

2) It is the second day of the Vietnamese class. You sit next to a student to whom you have not

been introduced. Say hello and exchange names.

3) You are attending an international student conference in Sài Gòn, Việt Nam. You ask several

attendees their name and where they come from.

3. Tập nói 3: Role play

*Review the list of terms of address on page 2 FIRST.

In groups of three, pretend you are a teacher, a parent, and a student. Introduce one another

formally.

Useful terms of address: bố - dad; mẹ - mom; con – pronoun to refer to oneself when talking to

parents.

Writing and Reading Activities

1. Greeting and getting acquainted – Chào hỏi và làm quen

Match the questions and the responses from columns A & B

A B

1) ___ Xin lỗi anh, anh tên gì? a Thưa, tôi là người Nhật.

2) ___ Chị là người Việt, phải không? b. Chào bà! Chào ông!

3) ___ Đây là bà Mai và đây là ông Toàn c. Không. Tôi là người Thái.

4) ___ Còn chị là người nước nào? d. Tên tôi là Thu.

14 Chapter 1

2. Introduction – Giới thiệu

How would you say in Vietnamese in the following situations?

1) You want to know someone’s name. ___ a. Anh là người nước nào?

2) You want to say you also come from the same country. ___ b. Tên ông là gì?

3) You want to introduce someone informally. ___ c. Tên anh là Hoà, phải không?

4) You want to know where someone comes from. ___ d Tôi cũng là người Thái.

5) You want a confirmation yes or no to your question. ___ e. Đây là cô Ly.

3. Follow the cues and write a dialogue for this situation: (Do not translate the cues!)

Hưng is supposed to meet Mrs. Lan for the first time at the airport.

Seeing a woman who is looking for someone, he approaches her.

Hưng asks politely if she is Mrs Lan. H: Xin lỗi___, ______________

The woman says she is not. W1: ______________________

In the meantime, another woman comes to

Hưng and asks if he is Hưng.

W2: ______________________

______________________

Hưng says yes and asks the woman her name. H: ______________________

The woman says she is Lan. W2: ______________________

Listening Activities 1. Vietnamese given names – Tên Việt

Listen and practice saying the following Vietnamese given names out loud.

Nam Hoà Huy Hoa Minh Hằng Dung

Phong Phương Lan Vân Thi Liên Xuân

Hà Cúc Giang Hồng Yến Thanh Vũ

Let’s Speak Vietnamese 15

2. Listening and identifying Vietnamese given names – Nghe tên Việt

Listen to people introducing themselves and each other, then number the first names you hear

from 1-10.

____ Lan ____ Hương ____ Hải ____ Tân ____ Thanh

____ Lam ____ Hường ____ Hai ____ Lâm ____ Khanh

____ Nam ____ Phương ____ Hà ____ Xuân ____ Giang

____ Tam ____ Phượng ____ Hảo ____ Hân ____ Cảnh

3. Vietnamese family names – Họ Việt

Listen and practice saying the following Vietnamese family names out loud.

Lê Nguyễn Phạm Trần Vũ

Đặng Lý Hoàng Ngô Đỗ

Bùi Phan Hồ Võ Đinh

Châu Vương Trương Trịnh Lương

4. Listening and identifying Vietnamese family names – Nghe họ Việt

Listen carefully then number the family names you hear from 1 – 8.

__ Nguyễn __ Phạm __ Lê __ Trần __ Vũ

__ Lý __ Hoàng __ Đặng __ Ngô __ Đỗ

__ Phan __ Hồ __ Bùi __ Võ __ Đinh

__ Vương __ Trương __ Châu __ Trịnh __ Lương

5. Self-introduction – Tự giới thiệu

You will hear delegates at an international conference in Hà Nội greeting and talking to each

other. Listen to find out where they come from. Check the appropriate box for each person.

Name Thailand USA England China VN France Japan Indonesia

Nicole

Lee

Sunee

Mayumi

Budi

Kristina

Eric

Misa

16 Chapter 1

6. Giới thiệu - Introduction

Listen to the conversation. Write Đ (đúng) if the statement is true and S (sai) if it is false.

Peter meets Nam in front of a Vietnamese class.

a. ___ This is the first time they met. c. ___ Peter is not American. He is English.

b. ___ Nam is from Vietnam d. ___ This is a formal conversation.

Summary of Vocabulary and Patterns

Nouns & Pronouns Question Words/Phrases

anh male acquaintance gì? what?

chị female acquaintance là gì? is what?

anh chị you (plural) statement + phải không? statement +aren’t you?

bà Mrs.; grand mother nào? which?

bạn friend nước nào? which country?

cô Miss; female teacher người nước nào? from which country?

cháu niece/nephew/grandchildren người Mỹ gốc Việt Vietnamese-American

em younger acquaintance Miscellaneous

gốc origin còn and, as for

họ family name của of

mình I (intimate) cũng also

người person không / không phải no

nước country và and

ông Mr.’ grand father vâng / phải Yes

tên given name với to; with

tên đệm middle name Phrases & Patterns

thầy male teacher đây là this is, here is

tôi I không phải là … not to be …

Verbs Rất vui được gặp… Very pleased to meet…

chào to greet Xin giới thiệu… May I introduce…

gặp to meet Particles

xin to request …. ạ polite response particle

giới thiệu to introduce thưa .... polite response particle

xin lỗi to excuse; apologize

*List of countries, nationalities, and languages is on page 7.