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Re: learning vietnamese language
Hi there. I too have been trying to learn Vietnamese, more as a hobby I
would say than a full time serious undertaking. I always look where
ever I go for materials and have actually discovered quite a few books.
The beginning books Mark spoke about are excellent and a great way to
start. The asian language department at Cornell University also has an
intermediate Vietnamese language book called "Intermediate Spoken
Vietnamese" by Franklin Juffman and Tran Trong Hai. Another excellent
set of books by Liem Dang Nguyen might be obtained from Seton Hall.
They were published in 1971 and were in the basement during a flood so
might be a bit water stained. There are two intermediate and one
advanced readers in the set and they are great for learning the culture
as well as the language. There is another book called "Spoken
Vietnamese" by Robert Jones and Huyn Sanh Thong from Spoken Language
Services. I don't know if they are still in business but the address in
the front of the book is PO Box 783, Ithaca, New York 14850. Another
way I have found to pick up true conversational Vietnamese is through
the IRC. You can go into a Vietnamese chat room and record the
conversation and then go back later and translate.
Good luck and let me know if there is anything I can do... :)
Rob <email>
Anonymous Poster wrote:
>
> First, I am a westerner who has learned some Vietnamese
>
> Resources for a serious student
>
> Resource #1: Approximately 30 casette tape set (15 lessons) with 2 books.
> Available from the US Government Multimedia Center, 8700 Edgeworth Dr,
> Capitol Heights, MD 20743-3701. Phone 301 763 1396. It comes in 2 sets:
> Vietnamese Basic Course, lessions 1-10, about $175.00
> Lessions 11-15, about $100.00 (The prices may have gone up some)
> They take credit card orders; the number may still be 1-800-788-6282
> (They seem to change it once in a while) They are in 8am to 4pm eastern time.
> The tapes arrive by UPS about 1 week after you order. They also have many other
> languages available. These tapes exist to train US government employees,
> (for embassy and military work) and are for people serious about learning
> the language.
>
> Resource #2: I find Vietnamese people to hang out with (VN coffee shops
> are good) and bring a walk-man sized tape recorder. Some people will let
> you record them, and will even tell you what it means. Then you can listen
> over and over to the tape (and repeat what is said) to improve both your
> listening and pronunciation skills. (A good tape recorder for this will cost
> you about $125. Sony makes one with a fairly accurate built in tiny mike)
>
> How difficult is Vietnamese to learn, for a native US English speaker?
> VERY!! (By comparison with French and Mandarin-Chinese, which I've also tried)
> 1) It takes considerable effort to learn to hear and pronounce the tone-shifts.
> If you don't get the tone shifts, you will NOT be understood (at all!)
> I'd estimate several concentrated months for that. Then, you will always
> have trouble remembering the correct tone-shift for some words...
> (I think Manderin tone-shifts are about half as difficult. It also has fewer..)
>
> 2) Vietnamese seems to have a greater variety of subtly different vowel
> sounds than English. It is necessary to develop an ear (and tongue) for
> these subtelties; they are NOT used in English. I still have trouble with this.
> There is also at least one special facial resonance used with words like
> "khong", in which the cheeks must be puffed out. It takes a while to be
> able to hear the difference. (Watch carefully when Vietnamese speak
> Vietnamese) Vietnamese is much more "vowelly" than English, and much
> less consonant-dependent. (I suppose its some consolation that Vietnamese
> native speakers have the reverse trouble; English consonants, especially
> at the end of words, cause big trouble.) I'm used to the sharp distinctions
> made by the English consonants; Vietnamese words seem harder to differentiate.
> Mandarin has more English-like use of consonants.
>
> 3) Vietnamese word order (syntax) is wildly different from English.
> The alternative meanings of Vietnamese words are very different from
> the English alternative meanings of the English equivalent, which can
> cause trouble. I remember very well attempting to read a VN newspaper. I
> looked up every word in a sentence and wrote down the English meanings. My
> translation made absolutely no sense, and entertained my Vietnamese
> friends greatly. There's nothing you can do about this except practice a lot.
>
> 4) There's more. For example, just as there is a southern and northern US
> accent, there's a quite different southern and northern VN accent (including
> some completely different words) Also, d and b consonants have a rather
> different pronunciation in vietnamese than in english; it takes some effort
> to say them correctly.
>
> This is not a one month undertaking. I still remember laughing and laughing
> after the 1st time through the first vietnamese conversation on the National
> Audio-Visual tapes I mentioned above. I couldn't tell where one word ended
> and the next began. But, by being persistant, listening carefully, and being
> patient, that tape is now too easy...
>
> I have made a lot of Vietnamese friends who enjoy seeing how much
> I can say (and understand) and who help me out and are generally very
> encouraging. I really enjoy their encouragement and their company.
> They say I understand much more than before, so I keep learning. (I also
> help them with English classes, and sometimes Math, Physics, Chemistry,
> and Biology in return)
>
> Mark in Minneapolis
>
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