In this lesson Le^ Mi and Peter talk about a trip to Nha Trang, it is Mi's home town.
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| LM: Peter. Anh dda~ ddi Nha Trang bao gio+` chu+a ? | Peter. Anh dah dee Nha Trang boud yer tya ? | Peter! Have you ever visited Nha Trang ? |
| PM: O^` anh chu+a co' di.p ddi Nha Trang, nghe no'i bie^?n Nha Trang dde.p la('m! | Oh, anh tya core zip dde Nha Trang, nghe noy bien Nha Trang dep lam | Oh I haven't had a chance to visit Nha Trang, I heard the beach there is very beautiful. |
| LM: Ddu'ng va^.y ddo'. Ba~i bie^?n que^ em dde.p nha^'t Vie^.t Nam ddo'. | Doong vay doh. Bai bien que em depp nyat Viet Nam doh | That's true. The beach of my home town is the most beautiful one in Vietnam. |
| PM: Va^.y que^ Mi o+? Nha Trang a` ? | Vay que Mi er Nha Trang ah ? | So you are from Nha Trang ? |
| LM: Da. pha?i.. Ky` nghi? na`y em se~ ve^` tha(m nha`. Anh co' muo^'n ddi cho+i luo^n kho^ng ? | Ya fight... Kee nghi nay em se veh tham nya. Anh core mu-on dee choy
lu-on khong ?
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Yeah, I'll be going home this spring break. Would you like to join me ? |
| PM: Va^.y thi` hay qua'. Ta se~ ddi ba(`ng gi` ? | Vay tee hay wa. Tah se dee bang yee ? | That's wonderful! How do we go ? |
| LM: Ta co' the^? ddi xe lu+?a hay xe bus. Nhu+ng em thi'ch ddi xe lu+?a ho+n. | Tah core teh dee xe lua hay xe bus. Nyung em theec dee xe lua horn. | We can take train or bus. But I'd prefer going by train |
| PM: Ddu+o+`ng ddi tu+` Sa`i go`n ra Nha Trang bao xa ? | Doo-ong dee too Saigon rah Nha Trang bow xah ? | How far is the way from Saigon to Nha Trang? |
| LM: Tu+` sa'u gio+` chie^`u to+'i na(m gio+` sa'ng ho^m sau. Ta`u cha.y cha^.m va` tu+o+ng ddo^'i thoa?i ma'i. | Too sow yer chee-eo toy nam yer sang home sow. Tow chay cham vah too-ong doy thoo-ay my. | From 6pm until 5am next day. The train is slow and quite comfortable. |
| PM: Nha` em o? ca'ch ga xe lu+?a bao xa ? | Nya em er cake gare xer lua bow xah ? | How far is your house from the railway station ? |
| LM: Da. ga^`n la('m , nha` em o+? ddu+o+`ng do.c theo bo+` bie^?n. Em chi? ddi xi'ch lo^ 10 phu't la` ve^` dde^'n nha` | Ya gaan lam, nya em er doo-ong zoc theo ber bien. Em chee dee xich-lo moo-oy foot lah veh den nya. | Very close, my house is on the road along the beach. It takes me 10 minutes by xich-lo ride to be home. |
| PM: Ta se~ ddi la(.n bie^?n chu+'? | Tah seh dee lan bien choo ? | We'll go scuba diving ? |
| LM: Di~ nhie^n ro^`i. Em se~ da^~n anh ra dda?o xem san ho^ . | Zee nyen roy! Em seh zan anh rah dow xem saan hoo . | Sure! I'll show you an island where you can watch sea creatures. |
| anh (o^ng, ba` , co^) dda~ di Nha Trang bao gio+` chu+a ? | have you ever visited Nha Trang ? |
| to^i chu+ co' di.p ddi Nha Trang | I have not had a chance to visit Nha Trang . |
| bie^?n, bie^?n Ddo^ng | sea. Eastern sea |
| ba~i bie^?n | beach |
| bo+` bie^?n | sea shore, sea coast |
| dde.p nha^'t | the most beautiful |
| dde.p ho+n | more beautiful |
| dde.p la('m | very beautiful |
| que^ | home land, home town, home village |
| ky` nghi? | vacation, holidays |
| nga`y nghi? | holiday |
| ve^` tha(m nha` | coming home for a visit |
| ve^` nha` | come home |
| ddi cho+i | going somewhere for leisure |
| hay qua' | Cool! Wonderful! |
| ddi ba(`ng gi` | how to go ? |
| xe lu+?a, ta`u ho?a | train |
| xe bus, xe kha'ch | bus |
| xe ho+i | car |
| xe taxi | taxi |
| xe honda, xe ma'y | motocycle |
| xe dda.p | bicycle |
| xe xich-lo | xich-lo |
| ma'y bay | airplane |
| ta`u, thuye^`n | ship, boat |
| ddu+o+`ng ddi bao xa ? | how far is the way ? |
| ga^`n | near |
| xa | far |
| cha^.m | slow |
| nhanh | fast |
| tre^~ | late, delayed |
| ddu'ng gio+` | on time |
| ga xe lu+?a | train station (from French word: la gare ) |
| be^'n xe | bus station |
| sa^n bay | airport |
| nha` | home, house, sometime spouse |
| ddu+o+`ng, pho^' | street, road, way |
| ddu+o+`ng lie^n ti?nh | main road |
| quo^'c lo^. | national road |
| xa lo^. | highway |
| la(.n | scuba diving |
| bo+i | swim |
| em se~ da^~n anh | I will guide you |
| dda?o | island |
| san ho^ | ??? |
| ddi | go |
| dde^'n, ve^` | come |
This is a question eqivalent to the phrase "Have you ever visited .... ?"" in English. As mentioned in the Grammar section, tenses are expressed by articles dda~ (past) or se~ (future). When the past tense is clearly understood by context, the dda~ article can be dropped altogether.
Examples: Anh dda~ ddo.c ba'o ho^m nay chu+a ?
Have you read today newspaper ?
O^ng dda~ dde^'n Vie^.t Nam bao gio+` chu+a ?
Have you ever come to Vietnam ?2. To^i chu+a co' di.p ddi ....
This is a negative response for the above question. You could guess the positive answer is "To^i dda~ co' di. ddi ... " . Let's try some examples in the past tense.
Examples: To^i chu+a go'i xong ddo^` dda.c.
I have not finished packing my luggage.
To^i dda~ co' di.p ga(.p o^ng Ba.
I have had the chance to meet Mr. Ba
O^ng dda~ ti`m tha^'y ve' xe chu+a ?
Have you found your bus ticket ?
3. Ba~i bie^?n que^ em dde.p nha^'t Vie^.t Nam
In Vietnamese the two forms of comparion are "ho+n" (more) and "nha^'t" (most) . You create a phrase by adding these words behind the adjective or adverb you want to compare.
Examples: Sai gon la` than`nh pho^' lo+'n nha^'t Vie^.t Nam.
Sai gon is the largest city in Viet nam
Vi.nh Ha. Long la` mo^.t trong nhu+~ng tha('ng ca?nh no^?i tie^'ng nha^'t.
Ha Long Bay is one of the most famous sight-seeing destinations.
Ddi xe lu+?a tai. thi` cha^.m hon+ nhu+ng thu' vi ho+n
Going by train is slower by more interesting.
Tho+`i tie^'t ta.i Sai gon no'ng ho+n Ha` no^.i
The weather in Saigon is more tropical than Hanoi.
4. Em thi'ch ddi xe lu+?a ho+n
This is a way to express your preference. Its English equivalence is "I prefer ... " or "I'd rather ..." . The formula is "To^i thi'ch ...... ho+n ". In a similar way you can create a phrase to say "I like ... best", just replace the word ho+n with nha^'t
Examples: To^i thi'ch ddi bo^. ho+n
I prefer to walk.
To^i thi'ch ddo^` a(n Vie^.t ho+n ddo^` a(n Ta`u.
I like Vietnamese food more than Chinese food.
To^i thi'ch la(.n bie^?n nha^'t.
I like scuba diving best.
5. Ta se~ ddi la(.n bie^?n chu+' ?
This question is also a proposal i the meaning "Let's go scuba diving,
ok ?". It is created by substituting the word kho^ng which normally
would be at the end of such question by the proposing article chu+'
The personal pronoun Ta here refers to both the
speaking person (Peter) and the listening person (Mi).
Examples: Ta ddi xem phim chu+' ?
Let's go to movie, okie ?
2. There are two types of train: the express train and the local train. The express train serve long distance destinations. If you go, buy a sleeper ticket because it's more convenient and the trains are normally very crowded. You mighy not want to travel by local trains at all. They serve shorter routes where passenger can stand, seat, lay down or do what ever they want. Peasant load this type of trains with chickens, pigs, fruits, vegetables to go to the market. But it could be fun chating in Vietnamese with them :-)
3. There are few places in such as Mekong Delta where you can use boat for a sight-seeing tour or to explore the floating villages. Other areas are Hue for travelling along the Perfume River, Hanoi for going around the West Lake and Ha Long Bay, whose name means Bay of the Descending Dragon. This is one of the most beautiful bays in the world.
4. For travelling from Saigon to Hue or Hanoi, airplane is probably
the most convenient way. There's nothing to mention about the airports
because you'll probably find some one speaking English at the counters.
