[DreamingAzure]

Are any of ya'll planning on learning Vietnamese?

My sister & I are getting ready to start teaching ourselves. We KNOW we will probably never be fluent and they will probably get get enjoyment out of my Texan accented Vietnamese, but we want to give it a good shot! LOL

Did you know in Vietnamese there are vowel sounds that don't exist in English?? lol As my sister reminded me...I HAD the option to adopt from a SPANISH speaking country! LOL

[ChrisO]

I got Vietnamese language CDs from the library, and I put one on if Im out for a walk, or in the car.

I dont know if I'll ever be able to carry on a full conversation, but I'd like to be able to speak a little when we travel. So for right now thats my goal.

[sunshine269]

It's a long term goal, not sure if I'll every acomplish it. Still can't learn Spanish

Jen

[DreamingAzure]

LOL Jen, I understand.

My spanish is VERY bad LOL in my very early years I had hispanic babysitters and my parents worked in the hispanic community. I learned the basics as a very young child...it has been a stuggle ever since to pick up the rest of it! LOL I actually FLUNKED out of college spanish LOL I'm hoping that since vietnamese is TOTALLY unlike anything I've tried before I'll have better luck with it! LOL

Unfortunately we have a good 18-24 months before we will be able to start the process, by then we are hoping to at least be understandable and be able to ask where the bathroom is and how to get to the embassy lol

[troixanh]

Many people thought that the Vietnamese alphabet is like Japanese or Russian. Fortunately, it's not, so for many of us it would be easier to learn. Compared to English, it doesn't have the letters F, J, W, and Z but it has a letter that is similar to letter D and has accent marks for vowels. I believe Vietnamese grammar is easy to learn but pronunciation may be difficult due to the accent marks and/or tones.

[sci doc]

It's admirable for y'all to try to learn Vietnamese, but do be careful! My husband and I are in the VERY early stages of adoption, but we have travelled to Vietnam twice already for a few weeks each to train Vietnamese physicians.

Vietnamese is a tonal language, which means that the tone (whether the inflection goes up, down or stays flat) changes the meaning of the word. In 'English we use tone to imply emotion and sometimes grammar, like in a question. If you try to say Vietnamese words but you use the natural inflection of English, you have NO IDEA what you are actually saying. The adults will be so honored at your willingness to try, so I don't mean to discourage you, but your child may be mystified, and even scared.

I would encourage you to learn simple polite phrases and work diligently on their pronunciation. I can say thank you, doctor (as it identifies me) and count to three, as well as a few foods. I had please, hospital, pharmacy and nurse while I was there, but it left. I you find a Viet Qieu (Vietnamese living abroad) to help you, that would be better.

As an aside, there is a Texan from Arlington who has opened a great barbecue place in HoChiMinh City (HCMC) called Texas Barbecue, i think. If you end up in the south while you are there, it will give you a nice feel of home.

[DreamingAzure]

Cool LOL I'm a quisi Vegetarian...but every once in a while I enjoy a good piece of BBQ brisket! LOL Nice to know I can indulge in VN!! LOL

We bought the "Sing & Learn" book & cd. It's meant to help children learn VNese, but I think it is a good start for us. I'm trying to listen to it in the car when I can. Our Library can't get anyone to loan them the Language CDs so I guess we are going to have to buy them...still trying to decide how much I am willing to fork over for them!?!?!?!

[Feyfollow]

Hi,


Don't forget too that the North and the South have TOTALLY different dialects. I have friends from Vietnam that would listen to my language tapes, and they told me that they can pick out 1-2 words per sentence.

The best language tapes I have found are the Rosetta Stone ones. Spend the extra for the deluxe, as it includes a microphone that you can speak into. It wil correct you when your tone is incorrect. Well, actually I guess it's a good program if your agency works in the North, as that is the dialect it is based on. Ours works with an orphange in the Northern part, so it worked well for us. Good luck.

[troixanh]

There's an interesting article about Vietnamese language (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese_language)
It discusses dialects and sounds with regard to vowels, tones, and consonants.