Survival Vietnamese Cheat Sheet

INTRO

Hello and congratulations to taking the first step towards learning Vietnamese!
You’re already ahead of 99% of the foreigners that are living in Vietnam!

Learning Vietnamese isn’t easy. But, neither is English!

Before we get to the vocabulary, I want to help you out by pointing out three tips that
will save you a lot of time, stress, and discouragement in your language-learning journey.
First off, because so few people speak Vietnamese as a 2nd language, it’s hard for a
Vietnamese person to understand an accent that isn’t like a native speaker.
They’ve never spoken to anyone (you) who speaks with so many mistakes (sorry, but
you’re gonna make mistakes).
Don’t let that discourage you, though.

Vietnamese people aren’t use to it.

As English speakers, we are use to different accents and slang.

Personally, I have a really hard time understanding strong Scottish accents, AND
THAT’S MY OWN LANGUAGE!
So…….yeah. If your Vietnamese is not understood the first, second, third, fourth, or even
fifth, time.
Don’t worry.

It’s not you.

Tip number two, the tones are really hard.

Unfortunately, I don’t cover the tones in this cheat sheet (I’m currently working on a
separate product).

Be patient, your pronunciation is worse than you think.

We may think we are saying the same word, but by changing your tone, you completely
change the word.
For example, for a Vietnamese person studying English, “peanuts” and “penis” sound the
same.

Same same, but different!

If you’re sitting at a bar and you ask for a bowl of penis (instead of peanuts), IT’S A BIG
DEAL.
Same goes messing up the tones.
We may think it’s the same, but to a native Vietnamese speaker, it’s the difference
between peanuts and penis.
Same goes for the English words, “live, leave, and leaf”.

To a Vietnamese person learning English, they all sound the same.

So, just be patient.

(Insert Asian winky face)

Lastly, context is important. Vietnamese daily life and culture is probably a lot different
than yours, and language plays a big role in that.
Here are some examples that will help you:

-Vietnamese people never say, “good morning, good afternoon, good evening, or even
good night”. Actually, the exact translation for “goodnight” is “have you delicious
sleep”.

-Vietnamese has no universal word for “you” and for “me”. So, there are dozens of ways
to say “thank you” depending on the context and to whom you are saying it to.

-Vietnamese people flap their hands to say “no” or “I don’t understand”.

-Vietnamese doesn’t really have a word for “yes”. And, if they are nodding their head up
and down, that doesn’t necessarily mean “yes” or “I understand” either!
Think of it more as, “I am acknowledging the fact that you are talking”.
The point I want to make is, even though you may be pronouncing the word perfectly,
sometimes people won’t understand you because it doesn’t make sense in context.

People may not get it right away. But, stay persistent! Remember, it’s not you.
Here’s a perfect example.
At my 23rd birthday in Vietnam, my shy Vietnamese friend (who spoke very little
English) came up to me and whispered in my ear.
“Metty butt day!” I heard.
What the phở?!
I looked at her with a blank face; I was so confused.
Suddenly, she got super shy and she was afraid to speak.
“No, no, say again,” I yelled.
“Melly Bert day?” she repeated.
I was still confused. And she was so embarrassed.
I laughed as I finally realized what she was trying to say.
“Merry birthday!”
It was clear what she was trying to communicate, but since she had a small error in her
pronunciation, I wasn’t able to understand what she was trying to say.

Take away: a minor error in context + a minor error in pronunciation = VERY

hard to understand.
Before we get stated, are some phrases you don’t need in Vietnamese that are commonly
used in English:
Good morning/afternoon/evening
How’s it going?
How are you feeling?
What’s up?
Please
Nice to meet you
Ghosts aren’t real (well you can say this but no one will believe you)

Keep in mind this is “Survival Vietnamese”, not advanced Vietnamese. Some of the
concepts and phrases are a little complicated and I don’t want to scare you away, so
I kept it simple.

The point of this is to help you with your day-to-day life, provoke a few smiles, and
make friends.

I’ve done my best to add (in parentheses) the English spelling for how it’s
pronounced, but this is very difficult to do since there are many sounds that don’t
exist in the English language.

If you want to make sure you your pronunciation is correct, then I suggest buying
the Survival Vietnamese Video Course.

It’s got over 80 videos with a native Vietnamese speaker, bonus vocabulary, and
more!

All right, enough blibber blabber, let’s get started!

The Basics

Xin chào (seen chow): hello

*This is very formal. If you want to be more appropriate, just say chào
(appropriate pronoun). The pronouns are hard to grasp (we’ll get to that later), so for
simplicity, just start with this.
tạm biệt: (tahm beeit): goodbye
khoẻ không: (koo-ay kouwm); How are you
*This is more commonly spoken when you haven’t seen someone in a long time.
A better greeting is
dạo này thé nào (yao nye tay now): How’ve you been recently?
cám ơn rất nhiều: [gam uhn ruht nhew] Thank you very much
xin lỗi: (seen loy): I’m sorry
không biết (kouwm bee-it): [I] Don’t know
ở đ₫âu: (uh dow): Where?
khi nào (key now): When?
gặp bạn sau (gahp sow): Meet you again
ngủ ngon (ngoo ngawn) Goodnight
cái này: (kai nai) this one
không: (kouwm) No
dạ không: (yah kouwn): No (more polite)
đ₫úng rồi: (doom roy) Yes/correct/alright
không hiểu: (cawm hey-oo): (I) don’t understand
nóng quá : (nom wa): it’s really hot
mệt quá: (met wa): [I’m] so tired
không có chi: (cawm sow dow) you are welcome
Pronouns for I and You

This is one of the most challenging parts in Vietnamese. There are dozens of words for
“I” and “You” depending on who you are talking to. If you are talking to someone
younger than you, then you address them as “em” (younger sister/brother”), and you
address yourself as “chị/anh” (older sister/brother).

The easiest way to do this is imagine everyone is your family member and when you talk
to them, you have to state who is who. So, in English it would sound like, “Hey uncle
Phil, nephew likes uncle’s shirt” (instead of ‘I like your shirt’).

I’m not going to lie, this is really tough.

Short cut:
You can get away with always referring to yourself as “Tôi” (for both me & I), and
instead of saying you, say “bạn” if they are older and “em” if they are younger. This isn’t
correct Vietnamese, but people will understand you.

tôi: (toy) Me, I, (VERY FORMAL)

bạn: (ban): You (literally means friend)
em: (em): You (literally means younger brother & younger sister
Common Questions:

đ₫i đ₫âu: (dee dow) where [are you] going?

bạn ở đ₫âu: (ban uh dao): Where are you?
bạn bao nhiêu tuổi?: (bow nhew tu-oi): How old are you [how many years]?
*This is a very common question to ask, since people address each other using different
pronouns depending on their age. It’s not at all offensive to ask, especially if you ask
someone younger than you.

ăn cơm chưa: (an gum chuh-aw): Have you eaten [rice] yet?
*This is another very popular question. At first, it may seem weird that everyone is
asking you if you have eaten yet. But, if you think about it, your hunger level is usually a
good way to get a feel for your current state of being.

có không? (kaw kouwm): [do you] have [it] or no?

đ₫ược không?: (dook kouwm): Is it okay? [asking permission]
bạn là nước nào?: (nook now): what country [are you from]?
nước Mỹ: (nook mee): America
nước Anh (nook an): England
nước Úc (nook owp): Australia
nước Pháp (nook fap): France
nước Đức (nook Duk): Germany

At a Café

một ly cà phê đ₫en/sữa: (mot lee kah fey den/suh-uh) one cup of coffee black/with milk
trà đ₫á: (cha da): ice tea
nước suối: (nook soo-ii) fresh water
đ₫á: (dah) ice
nóng: (noum) hot
không đ₫ường: (kouwm duh-oohng) no sugar
*In Vietnam (the South specifically), sugar is added to smoothies, teas, coffees, yogurt,
and almost everything. I even made a song about it.

có wifi không?: (caw wifi kouwm): Is there wifi?/Do you have wifi?
password wifi là gì? (wifi la yee): What’s the wifi?
nhà vệ sinh ở đ₫âu: (nha veh seen uh dow): Where’s the bathroom
*If you REALLY want to make people laugh, you can ask for the nhà đ₫ái [it literally
means potty house].

At A Restaurant:

tôi muốn cái này: (toy moo-uhn kai nai): I want this
cho tôi cái này và cái này: (chah toy kai nai va kai nai) give me this and this [while
pointing]
*This is not impolite to say, “give me” as it may be in English.

cơm: rice
bún: (boon): ricen oodles
tôi không ăn cơm/thịt đ₫ược : (toy kawm ahn gum dook) I don’t/can’t eat rice/meat
*If you’re like me, eating rice and noodles for every meal may cause you to gain weight.
So, instead of asking for no rice, say you aren’t able to eat rice. Otherwise, nobody will
understand you (and they will think you are crazy). It’s like going to a pizza place and
saying you want a pizza but with no cheese and no crust.

rau: (row) vegetables

thịt: (tuht) meat
ngon lắm: (ngon lahm) : very delicious!
một chút: (mot choop) a little
nhiều: (nhew) a lot, many
cay: (kai) spicy
*if you ask for a little spicy, “một chút cay”, you’ll often find that they will still give you
a lot of spice. It’s not worth the argument. For simplicity, just pretend that it’s all or
nothing. So, ask for not spicy “không cay” if you don’t like spicy food.

một, hai ba, dô!: (mot, hi, ba, Yo!) 1,2,3, cheers!
thêm một bia/chai nữa: (mot tem bee-uh/chai nuh uh): one more beer/bottle
*Vietnamese people love this and will say “yo” and cheers every 30 seconds while they
are drinking. It’s pretty fun but just be careful not to get too drunk too fast!
In Vietnamese culture, if your glass is empty, it means you want to drink more (I learned
this the hard way). So, if you don’t want to drink any more, leave your glass about half
way to imply that you are full.
Paying/Buying

tính tiền: (teeing teein): bill

bao nhiêu tiền: (bow nhew tee-in) how much money
bớt đ₫i: (buht Dee!) decrease the price
mắc quá: (mak wa) too expensive
chục (chowp): 10,000 VND [ba chụp=30,000vnd]
ngàn: (ngang) thousand

Numbers
một: (mot) 1
hai: (hi) 2
*This is easy to remember, because Vietnamese people often flash the peace sign as a
way to greet each other, because they’re sticking up two fingers and saying “hi!”

ba: (bah) 3
bốn: (bon) 4
năm: (nahm) 5
sáu: (sow) 6
bảy: (buy) 7
tám: (tahm) 8
chín: (cheen) 9
mười: (muh-ee) 10
Phrases that will crack people up:

trời ơi: (choy oy) on my god

hên xui: (hen sooee) not sure
*This literally means “lucky unlucky”. Perfect example of this is if you eat at a restaurant
and they ask you to come back the next day (which they will because they will love you
for speaking Vietnamese), you can say “hên xui”, and they will laugh!

tiếng việt khó muốn chết luôn (tee-ing vee-it kah moon chet loon): Vietnamese is so hard
I want to die
cứ từ từ: (kuh, tuh tuhj): just slow down
*This is great to use if people are speaking Vietnamese to you and you have no idea what
they are saying.

càng ngày càng tốt: (kang ngay kang tohp): better each day
chưa thử chưa biết: (chuh-ah tuh chuh-ah bee-it): never try never know
nói đ₫ược tiếng việt không? (noy dook tee-ing vee-it, kawm): Can you speak Vietnamese?
*Try this on any Vietnamese person and they laugh instantly, or they get really confused
(probably because they don’t understand you)

Tôi biết tiếng việt chút chút: (toy bee-it tee-ing vee-it choop choop): I known a little
Vietnamese
không tốt vì quá tốt: (kawm tohp vee wa tohp) SO GOOD [that it’s bad. literally, not
good because it’s so good]
*other examples: không đ₫ẹp vì qúa đ₫ẹp, không ngon vì qúa ngon

ăn thịt chó ở đ₫âu? (an dook thut chaw uh dow) Where can [I] eat dog meat?
rất là vui: (juht la voo-ee) Very fun/funny
tôi là người nước ngoài: (toy la nguh-I nooc ngo-why) I am a foreigner
việt nam đ₫ẹp lắm: (viet nam dep lahm) Vietnam is very pretty
biết chết liền: (bee-it chet lee-in): If I know, I die
Talking to Girls

em đ₫ẹp lắm: (em dep lahm) you are pretty

em tên là gì: (em ten la yee): what is your name
em ơi: (em oy) excuse me, hello!
muốn gặp không?: (moon gap kawm): wanna meet [up]?
em có muốn đ₫i chơi không: (dee chuhee kouwm) Do you wanna play [hang out]?
ôm/hôn anh đ₫i: (ohm an dee) give me a hug/kiss
số của em là gì: (sote coo-uh em la yee) what’s your number
có người yêu chưa? (kaw nguh-ey ew chooh uh) Do you have a lover yet?
Anh yêu em: (an ew em) I love you
tình yêu ơi: (tin ew oy): hey, babe
em đ₫ẹp muốn chết luôn: (em dehp moo-uhn chet loo-uhn) You’re so pretty I wanna die
In a Taxi

phải: (fah-ee) right

trai: (chay) left
đ₫ùng lại: (duhng lie) stop
ở đ₫ây: (uh die) here
không xa đ₫âu: (kawm sah dow): [it’s] not far
biết đ₫ịa chỉ không? (beeit de-uh chee kouwm): Do you know the address?
*You’ll notice that addresses across the street aren’t always in numerical order.
Sometimes the odd side of the street may be 100 numbers off the other (even) side of the
street. So, if you are looking for the address, make sure you look at the even or odd side
of the street for a reference point.
Survival Phrases

cái này/đ₫ó là cái gì?: (kai nai/daw la kai yee): What is this/that?
nói chậm đ₫ược không? (noy chahm dook kawm): [can you] Speak slower?
viết thế nào: (vee-it tey now) How do you write [it]?
*Vietnam has one of the highest literacy rates in the world!

nói đ₫ược tiếng anh không? (noy dook tee-ing an kawm): [do you] Speak English?
nói thế nào: (noy tey now) how do you say [it]
Tôi có nói đ₫úng không? (toy akw noy doom kawm): Am I saying it right?
chưa có: (chuh-uh kaw): Don’t have yet
*Is very common to be asked if you have a wife/husband/family, instead of, “no”, the
correct response is “not yet”.

nói tôi biết: (noy toy bee-it): Let me know [say so I know]
học tiếng việt vui qúa! (hop tee-ing viet voo-ey wah): Studying Vietnamese is so fun!

So, there you have it!

Have any questions about vocabulary or pronunciation? Please feel free to reach out to
my at JeremymGinsburg@gmail.com

If you want to more, I’ve made a video course for you!

It includes:
-­‐Over 80 videos
-­‐Native Vietnamese pronunciation
-­‐Bonus vocabulary
-­‐Additional insights and context
-­‐30 day refund of 100%
-­‐You can buy it HERE.

Vietnam is a beautiful country, and the more you can speak the language, the better you
are treated, the less trouble you will encounter, and the more fun opportunities you will
have!