Anh Pham &Tanner Phan

CLBR 091
KSUB Oral First Language Lesson - Final Draft
10/28/2011
Vietnamese Lesson for Foreigners
Anh: Xin chao cac blZln hlllc sinh Seattle University.
Tanner: That means Good Morning Students of Seattle University.
Tanner: Thanks to Ms. Hepfer, we were given 10 minutes on the radio to speak to
you about the Vietnamese culture, our favorite holiday as well as the Vietnamese
language compared to English.
Anh: But hold on Tanner, we'll need to introduce ourselves first. My name is Anh
Pham. I'm an international student from Hanoi, Vietnam. I came to the U.S about 2
years ago.
Tanner: And my name is Tanner Phan. Ten years ago, I came to America from
Saigon, Vietnam, to live with my mother.
Tanner: So Anh, how long have you been speaking English?
Anh: About 12 years, I started in the first grade.
Tanner: Oh! So it was it an extra class that your parents forced you to take?
Anh: No, it was a mandatory class for my school.
Tanner: So what were some of the difficulties you faced when you first learn
English?
Anh: Hmmmm, I would say grammar was the most difficult then comes
memorization of words because I was not using English on a daily basis.
Tanner: I understand what you mean Anh. When I first learned English I continued
running in trouble with using past tense. In Vietnamese, we don't have to change the
form of verbs to a past tense to notify that the action was already done. For instance,
if you wanted to say iiI ate" how you say this in Vietnamese Anh?
Anh: IiTai da an," where "da" indicates that you have already eaten.
Tanner: So if you wanted to say something that you did, you would have to put the
word lida" before the verb but is that the only word?
Anh: No, that's not the only word. There're more terms such as "da" or "da"
Tanner: I had a really hard time adapting to the order of my name. In Vietnamese,
my name would be Phan Tanner; last name is followed by first name.
Anh: Yeah well I think it's more than that; the structure of sentences is different as
well. In Vietnamese, adjectives come after the nouns whereas in English the
adjective goes in front of the nouns. For example, in American English you would
say "it's the red car," but in Vietnamese you would say "chiElc xe dl'll." In direct
translation, it means, "it's the car red."
Tanner: Wow, that sounds really awkward to me "it's the car red." Now, I have more
appreciation for elderly people learning English. My grandmother, who is now in
her mid 60s, lived in Hanoi most of her life. She came to America 13 years ago and
still has trouble with English.
Anh: It's understandable; research shows that the best time to learn a second
language is about 11-13 years age.
Anh: Tanner, why do you seem so excited? What are you smiling about?
Tanner: I am, definitely. I just remember Vietnamese New Year also known as TlZIt
is coming up. TlZIt is different from the New Year in the US and many other countries
because it occurs at the end of January or at the beginning of February. This is a time
for Vietnamese people to visit their families, relatives, and friends, and as some of
you might know, it's also a time when we give lucky money to children and our
elders.
Anh: In the Vietnamese culture people don't just say Happy New Year but they
would also wish happiness, success and wealth for the New Year.
Tanner: Wow really? I learn something new from you everyday Anh. So how you
would you say that in Vietnamese?
Anh: "Chuc mlZlng nam mlZli" which means "Happy New Year" and followed by "An
khang thlZlnh vlZllZlng" to wish people a happy, successful and wealthy year.
Tanner: Very nice! To digress, I would like to tell you that Vietnam is categorized as
high power distance, what mean by that is that as a younger citizen, you must.
always show respect to people who seem older than yourself regardless if you know
the person or not.
Anh: I agree, when I was younger my family would always correct the way I speak
to older people. For example: when my grandfather asked me if I wanted some rice,
in English, a simple "yes" would be acceptable, but "yes, please" would be more
polite. But in Vietnamese, if I was to answer "co" only which means yes, it would be a
very disrespectful response to older people and not acceptable. Instead, I would say
"dlZl co."
Tanner: Let's talk about the food, Anh. Our country has a lot of delicious traditional
meals. My favorite is "phoe".
Anh: Wait, "phoe?" You mean the Vietnamese noodle soup? It's actually pronounced
"phlZl." And thank you, Tanner, you just showed us a common mistake foreigners
make. They always call it "phoe" instead of "phlZl."
Tanner: Yeah, I guess since I have lived in the States for a while, I've gotten used to
the way people call it here.
Anh: Alright, that's a good excuse. In addition to what we have discussed, I cannot
help but say that Vietnamese people are very hospitable. We love and welcome
people from all over the world. Coming to Vietnam, you will see that our country is
very special and cultural.
Tanner: You are absolutely right! Therefore, today, Anh and I would like to teach
you some helpful phrases that you can use when you visit Vietnam. To say "Hello" in
Vietnamese in a very polite and respectful way, it's "Xin chao." To say "Thank you,"
it's "Cam IZIn."
Anh: Oh, you know what, our 10 minutes have just gone by. Tanner and I would like
thank all of you for listening to our lesson on the Vietnamese culture, our favorite
holiday as weJI the Vietnamese language compared to English.
Tanner: Chao tlZlm bmt va hilln gl1lp lilli.
Anh: Farewell.
Past Tense
English Vietnamese Structure
I ate Toi aa an I aa eat
I ran Toi aa chilly I aa run
I sang Toi vlZla hat I vlZla sing
Adjectives/Nouns
English Vietnamese Structure
The red car ChilZlc xe alZl The car red
The pretty girl Co gai xinh The girl pretty
The pink house Nha mau hlZlng The house pink
Respect
English Vietnamese Respectful/Disrespectful
Yes C6 Disrespectful
Yes, please DIZI c6 Respectful
No Khong Disrespectful
No, thanks DI1l kh6ng Respectful
Common Phrases
English Vietnamese
Hello Xin chao
How are you? B[7]n co kh[7]e kh6ng?
Welcome Chao m[7]ng
Thank you Cam [7]n
Goodbye T[7]m bi[7]t