Category: Learning

Tips, techniques… anything about learning Vietnamese

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Learning

How to improve your Vietnamese spelling

It’s fairly easy to learn how to read Vietnamese words aloud. It’s a bit trickier spelling them due to letters which can sound similar like a and ă, or are essentially the same like gi- and d-.

However you can improve your Vietnamese spelling with practice.

Tip #1: Write more

Because I learnt a lot of my basic Vietnamese by talking to friends, my spelling used to be awful.

My spelling used to suck
My spelling sucked until I started to practice writing

By getting your writing corrected and learning how to spell the words you got wrong, you can drastically improve your spelling.

Sometimes you’ll be able to remember these corrections right away. Sometimes you’ll have to practice spelling the words until you can consistently get them right.

Tip #2: Use Memrise or Anki with an input box

You can review vocabulary and test your spelling with a flashcard system like Memrise.com. You could also do this in Anki by creating a text input field and adding a third card to practise typing it.

Learn how to spell the words you get wrong

If you’ve done some writing and made a list of the words you got wrong, add them to a flashcard program so that you keep reviewing their spelling over time.

Use memrise to test your spelling
Words I’ve misspelt recently

Do this often and you’ll learn to spell common words correctly.

Learn to spell words correctly before you need them

Even now, there are a lot of Vietnamese words that I can say but can’t spell or can’t remember the tones for.

A good way to learn spell to familiar words like this is to download a deck in Anki or select a Memrise course with vocabulary you’ve already studied.

memrise-review
I’ve learnt about buildings but can I spell them all? Let’s see.

Practice the vocabulary through the Memrise system.

If you can spell the word correctly – great!

If you get it wrong, take note of the correct spelling and continue revising it in Memrise.

memrise-test
Is it ngoại thành or ngoài? Looks like I need to review this.

By reviewing words before you need them, you’ll improve your spelling and cut down on the number of words you have to look up in the dictionary.

Over to you: Do you struggle with Vietnamese spelling? How do you practice?

Categories
Learning

How an afternoon in a park taught me to pronounce ng-

Readers have been asking me questions about Vietnamese pronunciation. It’s an important part of learning Vietnamese but I didn’t know where to start. Then last week I read this short article explaining how to get over your big language issues.

It all became clear how to break down the big topic of Vietnamese pronunciation for you.

The short answer? Get specific. Then tackle each of your issues one at a time.

How I learnt to pronounce ng- words

Today I’m going to tell you how I learnt to pronounce ng and how you can do it too.

some Vietnamese ng words

I started learning Vietnamese just a few days before I arrived in Vietnam. In some ways this was great because I was surrounded by native speakers from the beginning. If I didn’t pronounce something correctly, I’d be met with a blank look.

Even so, after one month there was one consonant sound that was still troubling me… ng-

I wanted to be able to say ngon (delicious) but my attempts to say the ng- sound were really hit and miss.

It all changed in an afternoon

One afternoon I was in a park in Saigon and chatting in English to some university students. During the conversation, I mentioned that I was learning Vietnamese. They encouraged me to say something so I said “Tôi là người Anh” (I’m English).

As you may have guessed, I didn’t pronounce người right. One student decided to teach me to say it.

She modelled the sound for me, showing me how her mouth was positioned as she simply said ng. After she did this a few times, she encouraged me to try.

Me:  ng
Her: Yes!
Me:  n
Her: No.
Me:  n
Her: No.
Me:  ng
Her: Yes!

This went on for a couple of minutes.

Little by little I started getting more yes’s than no’s. I also started hearing the difference myself and being able to tell when I was saying it correctly and when I wasn’t.

I kept practising for the rest of the week. One day it just clicked and since then I’ve had no trouble pronouncing ng. I’ve even taught other people to say it correctly.

How you can learn to pronounce ng- too

Start by listening to the sound ng, paying attention to how it should be formed in your mouth and how it should sound.

This video by Stuart Jay Raj explains it really well as even though only a few examples are Vietnamese, the Thai and Indonesian examples have a similar ng sound.

By the end of the video you should be able to say ng correctly, though you may still sometimes get it wrong like I used to. Keep on practising Vietnamese words beginning with ng- like ngon, người and the most common Vietnamese surname – Nguyen.

Here are some great examples for Vietnamese. If possible, ask a native speaker if you’re pronouncing it correctly.

Although this article is about ng, you can use the same technique with any sound, tone or word you are struggling with.

Over to you: What sounds do you find hard to say? What do you do to practice them?

Categories
Learning

12 topics to kickstart your Vietnamese writing

Choosing writing topics can be difficult Do you feel like you should write in Vietnamese, but you don’t really know what to write about?

Choosing the right topic enables you to practice your Vietnamese in a low-pressure setting. Writing gives you time to think about what you want to say, to build on what you’ve been learning and to try out new things.

But sometimes it can be hard to choose what to write about. If you pick the wrong topic for your interests or your level, it can frustrate you, kill your motivation and even cause you to give up and avoid writing.

Similarly, different styles of writing are suited to different levels. If you’re a beginner trying to write an essay or letter of complaint, you’re going to have a hard time.

It can be tricky to know what to write about. Here are 12 ideas to get you started.

  1. Make up a conversation

    This is a great one for beginners. It can be hard trying to write when you don’t have much language to work with, so go with what you know and write a fictitious dialogue between two friends or colleagues.

    Intermediate learners can also use this to practice different types of writing because you can vary how formal it is by changing characters. This can be a good way to check if you’re using slang or polite words like thưa in the right way.

  2. Keep a diary

    Write about your daily routine or recount something unique or different about your day. If you’re struggling at first, commit to just writing one sentence each day. It will get easier over time.

  3. Describe a trip or event

    Write about an interesting event like a dinner party or wedding you attended or describe a holiday or day trip you’ve been on.

  4. Practice vocabulary

    Think of sentences or stories based on new vocabulary you’ve come across.

    Eg. If you learn the word ‘leo’ (climb), you could write a few sentences about any mountains you’ve climbed, climbing trees when you were a kid, or why you’d never do either of those things.

  5. Write about a hobby

    Describe when and why you got started with one of your hobbies (or why you’re learning Vietnamese) and how often you practice it.

  6. Describe a familiar place

    Write about a place you know well – like where you grew up or went to university. As well as describing it physically, say what you like about it.

  7. Write about a local event

    Explain about a festival or annual event in your town, why it started and what usually happens.

  8. Comparisons

    Make a comparison between something in your country and that in Vietnam. Eg. differences in climate, eating habits, transport…

  9. Story summaries

    Summarise what you watch or read in your free time. Even if that film or book was in English or another language, you can still practice Vietnamese by describing the basic story, key events and why you liked (or didn’t like) it.

  10. Use the same topic as your study material

    Write your own take on a topic that you’ve seen/read about in Vietnamese.

    Eg. If you listen to someone describing their best friend, write about your own.

  11. Translate something

    Find a short article or letter that you’ve read in your native language and translate it into Vietnamese.

    This is a harder task than writing something directly in Vietnamese, but on the other hand you don’t have to think about what to say.

  12. Ask questions

    Ask questions in Vietnamese about the language or culture.

    If you wrote a sentence while chatting that you didn’t think was natural, rewrite it, ask questions and find out a better way to say it.

    Or you could ask about something you’ve read or pose a cultural question like if people really chew betel nuts.

    Post your questions on a peer-correction site like Lang-8 or iTalki*, wait for answers from native speakers and make it a discussion by responding to them.

Top Tip: Keep a list of writing topics

Instead of trying to think of a topic every time you’re in the mood to write, keep a list of things you want to write about.

As you go about your daily life, look out for potential topics and jot them down. That way, when you want to write you can simply look at your list and go with one of those ideas.

Over to you: Do you struggle to think of things to write about? Did this list of topics inspire you, if so… What’s your next piece of writing going to be about?

Photo credit: ralaenin

Categories
Learning

Writing in a foreign language… Actually there are different kinds of writing.

write When you think about writing in a foreign language, what springs to mind? Writing essays for class? Writing a short text about a trip you went on or a fun evening you had with friends?

Those are great topics for practising your Vietnamese but to write about them, you usually have to sit down with the sole aim of writing. You have to be focused, think carefully about what you’re saying and how you’re saying it. So sometimes you never even get started.

Beyond essays and diaries

Of course writing texts like that can be extremely beneficial, however these ‘essays’ are not the only forms of writing.

Do you ever send SMS messages to your friends in Vietnamese? Or chat with them on facebook? Or message back and forth with a potential language partner on iTalki*?

All of these are also writing practice, even if you don’t think of them as practice… It’s just chatting to your friends, right?

fb-chat
Chatting is writing practice. Yay!

Common types of writing

Bearing this in mind, it’s probably much easier than you first thought to get regular practice writing in a foreign language.

Here’s a taste of the different kinds of writing there are.

Formal

  • Writing opinion essays
  • Making an enquiry (eg. to a language school)
  • Sending work emails
  • Writing reports

Informal

  • Writing a diary or telling a story about a trip or film you’ve seen
  • Writing an email to an exchange partner or chatting with them on Facebook/Skype
  • Replying to comments on Lang-8
  • Writing blog articles or how-to’s

Very informal

  • Replying to an email from a close friend
  • Writing a status update on facebook
  • Commenting on a friend’s facebook status
  • Sending a SMS to a friend

Chances are, even if you think you don’t like writing in a foreign language, you actually do one or more of these on a regular basis.

Develop your skills

Each different style of writing requires a different tone, level of formality and often different vocabulary.

No matter what language you do it in, writing a cover letter when applying for a job is totally different to messaging a friend.

So mix it up.

  • If you only write about your day or a holiday, have a go at comparing the food or weather in Vietnam to that in your country.
  • If you usually just send messages to friends, try to write the occasional longer essay or story.

By varying your practice, you’ll develop the ability to use Vietnamese in a wide variety of situations.

If you’re not sure what to write about, check out these 12 topics to kickstart your Vietnamese writing.

Over to you: Have you realised you do more writing in a foreign language than you first thought? What styles of writing do you practice most often?

Categories
Learning

How to celebrate your progress – the Can-do List

Sometimes it's good to look back!


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 far you’ve already come.

Something that you once struggled with is now second nature. Because it’s second nature you don’t think about it as a skill or step you’ve mastered. Sometimes it takes an outsider to point it out.

For example last month I was killing time on a flight by writing a diary of the morning, in Vietnamese. A very normal thing for me to do. My friend peeked at what I was writing and told me my level of Vietnamese must be good if I could write freely and easily like that.

There I was cursing myself over the words I couldn’t remember the tones for, completely missing that fact that I can write spontaneously in Vietnamese. I hadn’t thought about it like that. I was looking up the mountain without noticing how far I’d travelled up the slope already.

Sometimes it's good to look back!
Sometimes, when learning Vietnamese, it’s good to look back!

So, inspired by this I decided to make a list of all the things I can do in Vietnamese. A list I can look back on when I’m struggling with motivation and can’t see what progress I’m making. A reminder of how far I’ve come and a little ego boost.

Make your own can-do list

Now it’s your turn to make a list of all the things you can do in Vietnamese. Forget about the top of the mountain for now and just focus on what you are able to do.

Some ideas for your can-do list

Grab a notepad and start with writing ‘I can’, then make a list of everything you can think of – from the little things to the bigger ones.

I’ll give you ten examples from my list to get your inspiration flowing.

Elementary

  • Give directions to a xe ôm or taxi driver.
  • Name foods at the market.
  • Haggle in the market.
  • Read a menu.
  • Write about my day in Vietnamese.

Intermediate

  • Pick out a few words or phrases when watching a TV programme.
  • Read some comics or short stories.
  • Write a short essay on a familiar topic.
  • Pass a driving theory test.
  • Change my accent at will (primarily from the standard southern accent with v’s as v’s to an accent with v’s as y’s).

Remember to think about each of the four skills – speaking, listening, reading and writing.

Over to you: What’s your #1 Can-Do that you’re most proud of? How awesome do you feel reflecting on this?

Photo credit: misbass and H