Chúc mừng Giáng Sinh (Merry Christmas)
How do you say “Christmas” in Vietnamese? The word ‘Christmas’ in Vietnamese is either Giáng Sinh or in some contexts the French influenced Nô en or Noel. Is Christmas celebrated in Vietnam? To put it…
How to celebrate your progress – the Can-do List
Sometimes when learning a language we struggle with motivation. It seems like a never-ending uphill climb. You’re so focused on where you’re going and how you’re progressing (or where you’re failing), that you forget how…
It’s ok to forget words when learning a foreign language
Picture the scene. You’re in Vietnam, sitting down to eat with a friend and having a conversation in Vietnamese. It’s going well, your understanding is high and you’ve asked lots of questions. It’s a great…
An unusual use for google translate: as a spellchecker
Google translate has advantages and disadvantages. For a computer I think it does an alright job, especially for European languages, but it’s no substitute for a human and should be used in moderation. A problem…
How to address your Vietnamese teacher (and yourself)
Today is Teacher’s Day in Vietnam. A day in which students show appreciation for their teachers with flowers or presents. A big thank you to all the teachers out there! Vietnamese has many personal pronouns…
Why choosing between Northern and Southern Vietnamese is important
While I’ve already put together a guide about whether you should choose to learn Northern or Southern Vietnamese, I didn’t explain why it’s important. Firstly there are pronunciation differences. But as long as you have…
How do I choose materials suitable for my level?
A new type of post on the blog, I’ll periodically be featuring short posts with little golden nuggets of knowledge or advice about language learning. Thảo ơi, how do I choose reading and listening materials…
What I’m doing to maintain my Vietnamese
As you may have guessed from the fact I left Vietnam a while ago combined with last week’s post, I’m currently brushing up on my French after seven(!) years of neglect. What does this mean…
The French influence
For 67 years, Vietnam was part of French Indochina. You can still see pockets of French influence from grand old buildings in the cities to the presence of Catholicism, right down to the fluffy baguettes…
The story behind street names in Vietnam
The streets in every town and city in Vietnam all seem to have the same names: Hùng Vương, Lẽ Duẩn, Lý Tự Trọng, Nguyễn Trãi, Nguyễn Huệ, Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai… The reason being that their names are taken from…