What We Talk About When We Talk About the Weather

My students requested “weather talk” after the “food talk”, so here it goes.

Trời nắng	Trời nhiều mây	Trời mưa	Trời u ám
Trời đẹp	Trời xấu	Trởi gió	Trời có tuyết rơi

Khí hậu – climate

Thời tiết – weather

Mùa xuân

Mùa hè, mùa hạ

Mùa thu

Mùa đông

(1)

Hôm nay	thời tiết	như thế nào?	Hôm nay	trời	đẹp	và	nắng	lắm
Today	weather	how?		sky	nice	and	sunny

(2)

Ngày mai	(trời)	có	mưa	không?
Tomorrow			rain

 

Ngày mai	(trời)	không	mưa	nhưng	dự báo	sẽ	có	tuyết	rơi
				but	forecast	will		snow	fall

(3)

Hôm qua	nóng	quá	hy vọng	hôm nay	sẽ	mát	hơn	hôm qua
Yesterday			hope			cool	more

 

To talk about the weather, you can use

1. Trời + a weather adjective / description. Do NOT use thời tiết or khí hậu

2. The time (hôm nay, tuần trước, tháng sau, etc.) + a weather adjective / description.

Ối trời ơi! Trời ơi là trời!

Exercise: Ask and answer

The weather in America, how is it?____________________________________________

Spring’s weather in New York, how is it? ____________________________________________

Is it going to rain today? ____________________________________________

How was the weather yesterday? ____________________________________________

1. Trời đang mưa – it is raining

2. Trời sắp mưa – going to rain

3. Trời lại mưa rồi – it is raining again (complaint)

4. Trời mới mưa – it just rained

20,000 Miles Under the Sea

The caption for this photo is “Việt Nam đã có tàu ngầm rồi! Để so sánh với các nước trên thế giới!”
(Vietnam finally has submarine! To compare with other countries in the world)
The countries being compared to are
Mỹ: United States
Nga: Russia
Anh: Britain
Đức: Germany
Trung Quốc: China

Instant Holiday Greetings in Vietnamese

T’is the season to load up on holiday greetings!

1. Chúc mừng năm mới!
Happy New Year.
This is the easiest greeting.
If you remember nothing else, hold on to this one.
It works for both Jan 1 New Year and Lunar New Year (Tết), and you don’t need to know any pronouns.

2. Chúc (anh) năm mới vui vẻ!
Wish you a happy new year. Replace (anh) with the appropriate pronoun and you have your greeting.

3. Chúc (em) Giáng Sinh vui vẻ!
Merry Christmas!
4. Chúc (chị) Nô-en vui vẻ!
Merry Christmas!

Christmas is known as lễ Giáng Sinh or lễ Nô-en (from the French word Noel).
Chúc – to wish
Vui vẻ – happy

Chúc (you) Giáng Sinh / Nô-en vui vẻ!
As usual, use the appropriate Vietnamese pronoun for “you”.

Bonus:
5. Chúc mừng sinh nhật!
Happy birthday!
6. Chúc (anh) sinh nhật vui vẻ!
Wish you a happy birthday!

Note:
1. For the Lunar New Year (Tết, Tết Nguyên Đán), aside from the simple chúc mừng năm mới, there are many more elaborate Vietnamese Tết greetings here.
2. If you’re completely new and don’t know any pronouns, learn to address people properly in Vietnamese here.

Guess who? Ai đây? (1)

Since we’ve just had a lesson on how to describe people, can you read the description below and guess who this person is? Answer will be posted in the next lesson about describing people.

Người này cao tuổi, râu tóc bạc trắng, béo tròn, và thích mặc quần áo đỏ.
Người này tính tình vui vẻ, hay cười, cũng rất tốt bụng và hào phóng.
Người này sống ở Bắc Cực và nuôi rất nhiều tuần lộc.

Người	này	cao	tuổi,	râu	tóc	bạc	trắng
Person	this	high	age	beard	hair	silver	white

béo	tròn,	và	thích	mặc	quần áo	đỏ
fat	round,	and	like	wear	clothes (pant shirt)	red

Người	này	tính tình	vui vẻ,	hay	cười
Person	this	personality	cheerful,	often	laugh

cũng	rất	tốt bụng	và	hào phóng
also	very	kind-hearted	and	generous

Người này	sống	ở	Bắc Cực	và	nuôi	rất	nhiều	tuần lộc
This person	live	at	the North Pole	and	raise	very	many	reindeers

What’s in Your Wallet?

Click to play audio

That’s the tag line for a bank in the US. I’m not that curious about what everyone carries everyday, but common knowledge in Vietnam is that whatever you have on you can be mất trộm. Read below for tips against trộm cắp.

1. túi, bao any kind of bag (handbag, groceries bag, shopping bag)
2. ví wallet, purse
3. tiền money
4. thẻ tín dụng credit or debit card
5. thẻ học sinh / thẻ sinh viên high school / university student card
6. bằng lái xe driver’s license (“permit drive vehicle”)
7. chứng minh nhân dân, commonly abbreviated CMND – the Vietnamese state-issued ID card
8. hộ chiếu passport
9. thị thực visa – people just say “visa” as well
10. đồng hồ clock, watch
11. máy ảnh, máy chụp hình camera (“machine picture”)

One word of caution: if you travel in Vietnam, anything on you can be (bị) mất (trộm) (to lose, to get stolen). Ví, tiền, bằng lái xe, điện thoại di động are the most common.

Anh	bị mất	gì?	Anh	bị mất	tiền
You	get stolen	what?	I	get stolen	money

You can also bị cướp (get robbed) or bị lừa mất (get swindled and lose something).
It’s really that bad, and công an (the police) will never help you recover anything (from my personal experience).

When in Vietnam, I usually stuff just a couple of bills and bằng lái xe into a pant or shirt pocket. Putting everything in ví or túi makes it convenient to lose credit cards, cash, and driver’s license all at once.
I also make photocopy of all my IDs (passport, visa, etc) and hide them somewhere safe for the day I become yet another theft victim and have to reapply for everything.

Bonus: makeup is mỹ phẩm or đồ trang điểm.
Lipstick is son môi. Sunscreen is kem chống nắng (“cream against sunlight”). Sunglasses are kính râm.
Women skincare products are usually called kem dưỡng da (literally “cream to preserve skin”).

Last but not least, if you ride a scooter in Vietnam, mũ bảo hiểm (helmet) is a must-have. Don’t have one? Traffic police will gladly slap you with a hefty fine and the inconvenience of confiscating your ride. No kidding, traffic in Vietnam gets worse every year, but traffic laws get ridiculous even faster.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Eat a ton of turkey today!

For your amusement, the Vietnamese has this popular children’s song about chicken (close enough to the turkey). It’s been parodied so many times that I don’t even know the original lyrics any more.
It’ll give my soft-hearted friend a heart attack, so I’ll spare her today 🙂

Gà mà không gáy là con gà chiên.
Gà mà hay gáy là con gà điên.
Đi lang thang trong sân , bắt con gà , bỏ vô nồi.
Mua 2 lon Tiger , nhắm chân gà , nhắm chân gà.

Gà mà không gáy là con gà gay.
Gà mà không gáy là con gà toi.
Đi lang thang trong sân, bắt con gà, ướp tiêu hành,
Ăn xong lăn quay ra, chết tui rùi, cúm gia cầm.

The rooster that doesn’t roost is the fried one
The rooster that roost too often is the cuckoo one
Wander around the yard, catch a rooster, put into the pot
Buy 2 Tiger beers, eat chicken leg, eat chicken leg

The rooster that doesn’t roost is the troubled / gay one
The rooster that doesn’t roost is a goner
Wander around the yard, catch a rooster, marinate with pepper scallion
Finish eating and collapse, I’m done for, (I got) avian flu

Beauty, the Beast, and the Laundry List – Part 2/2

From this point on, we will venture into territory that no Vietnamese textbook ever dare touch in a 100 years: How to say bad things about people, and how to say things about bad people.
Let’s get started.

Click to play audio

The Beast

Appearance
1. Xấu – ugly
2. Xấu trai – ugly (for men)
3.Lùn, thấp – short
4. Béo, mập, tròn – fat, chubby
5. Ngu, đần – dumb, stupid, stupid-looking

Personality / Characteristics
1. Dữ – aggressive (Dữ như cọp – fierce like a tiger)
2. Xấu tính – nasty character
3. Khó tính – difficult (to get along with)
4. Kỹ tính – OCD obsessive
5. Nóng tính – hot-tempered
6. Ích kỷ – selfish
7. Keo kiệt, keo bẩn – stingy, penny pinching
8. Lười – lazy
9. Dễ giận – easily offended
10. Dễ dỗi – easily offended
11. Kiêu căng – arrogant
12. Tinh vi – know-it-all show-off
13. Đanh đá – aggressive, in your face
14. Tọc mạch – nosy
15. Chậm, chậm chạp – slow (in this day and age, slowness is considered a bad thing)
16. Đồng bóng – prissy (most likely used to describe a difficult to please gay guy)
17. Vũ phu – violent (for men; this is the wife-beater)
18. Ác, độc ác – mean, nasty, evil

People in this category include the stepmothers of Cinderella, Snow White, and Aurora.
Can you think of anyone else who has nothing but bad quality?

Beauty, the Beast, and the Laundry List – Part 1/2

This is the first part of a 2-part lesson on how to describe people.
This first lesson concentrates on pure flattery 🙂

Beauty

Appearance

1. Đẹp – beautiful
2. Đẹp trai – handsome
3. Xinh (xắn) – pretty
4. Dễ thương – cute
5. Cao – tall
6. Gầy – skinny
7. Mảnh mai / thon thả – thin, slender
Further along this lesson, you will note that I list few words under Beauty / Appearance. It’s not because Vietnamese doesn’t appreciate beauty, it’s because “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” and the beholders these days decides that beauty is “đẹp, cao, gầy.” To describe a Victoria’s Secret model, just add “số đo 3 vòng chuẩn” (perfect 3 size measurement).

Personality / Characteristics
1. Hiền – nice, mellow, docile
2. Vui vẻ / vui tính – a cheerful character
3. Dễ chịu – pleasant
4. Dễ tính – easy going
5. Cởi mở, thân thiện – open, friendly
6. Mặt mũi sáng sủa – bright looking person
7. Tốt bụng – kind, nice
8. Thích học hỏi – inquisitive (like to learn)
9. Ưa mạo hiểm – adventurous
10.Nữ tính – feminine, girly
11. Nam tính – masculine, manly
12. Thông minh – clever
13. Nhanh nhẹn – get things done fast
14. Tháo vát – resourceful
15. Quân tâm đến mọi người – caring (about everyone)
16. Sạch sẽ – clean, tidy
17. Gọn gàng – neat
18. Ngoan – obedient

Anyway, now that we have all the vocab, let’s try it on some people by describing them (hopefully without stepping on anyone’s toes in the process).
We’ll learn to talk about Shrek in the next lesson. For now, let’s test the new vocab on Fiona 🙂
In case you don’t know Fiona, for this exercise, describe someone whom you like very much.

The Scariest People On Earth

The players in this comic includes:
Mỹ American
Nhật Japanese
Nga Russia
Tàu Chinese (Tàu is the somewhat derogatory term to refer to Chinese people. Other more respectful terms are Trung Quốc or Trung Hoa)
Việt Nam
The polite, proper way to refer to the people of a country is người + country name. Example: người Mỹ, người Việt, người Nga.
In this case, người was dropped because of the casual vibe.
The pronoun that was used was thằng. Thằng is a derogatory pronoun to refer to a third person (male) when you look down on that person.
The last pronoun in this comic is nó, which means “it” or “they”.Nó in Vietnamese can be used when you talk about things, animals, or people.

The verb to know is sợ to fear
The comparison grammar is (feeling) verb / adjective + nhất — verb / adjective + most
Sợ nhất means “to fear the most”
(other example: lo nhất – worry the most, đói nhất – the hungriest)
Vì because

Let’s put it together:
Mỹ sợ thằng Nhật vì nó… Americans fear the Japanese the most because they…
Mỹ sợ thằng Nga vì nó…
Mỹ sợ thằng Tàu vì…
Nhưng Mỹ sợ Việt Nam nhất vì… But Americans fear the Vietnamese the most because they…

The next 2 verbs to know are nói to speak and làm to do.
Now here’s why Americans are fearful: note that all these expressions are common sayings.
(Nhật) nói là làm Japaneses do (exactly) what they say (immediately)
(Nga) không nói gì mà vẫn làm Russians do it without saying anything
(Tàu) làm rồi mới nói Chinese did it already then announce
And here’s why Americans fear the Vietnamese the most (nhưng Mỹ sợ Việt Nam nhất vì…)
nói một đằng làm một nẻo say they will do something but then actually do something else totally different

Question: Now that you know, do you want to have a Vietnamese on your team? 🙂

Personal Gadgets

Today let’s talk about some personal gadgets that everyone usually has.