SIMON & SCHUSTER’S PIMSLEUR ® vietnamese reading booklet Travelers should always check with their nation's State Department for current advisories on local conditions before traveling abroad. Graphic Design: Maia Kennedy © and ‰ Recorded Program 2004 Simon & Schuster, Inc. © Reading Booklet 2004 Simon & Schuster, Inc. Pimsleur® is an imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. Mfg. in USA. All rights reserved. acknowledgments Vietnamese Voices English-Speaking Instructor . . . . . . . . Ray Brown Vietnamese-Speaking Instructor . . . . . . Khuong Vu Female Vietnamese Speaker . . . . . . . . . . . Lien Le Male Vietnamese Speaker . . . . . Dr. Binh Nhu Ngo Course Writers Dr. Binh Nhu Ngo Christopher J. Gainty Editors Elizabeth Horber Dr. Ulrike S. Rettig Beverly D. Heinle Executive Producer Beverly D. Heinle Producer & Director Sarah H. McInnis Recording Engineers Peter S. Turpin Kelly Saux Simon & Schuster Studios, Concord, MA iii table of contents Reading Lessons 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The 2. Vietnamese Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Words for “You” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. Vietnamese Writing System . . . . . . . . . . . . The The 4. Vietnamese Alphabet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5. 1 3 4 5 7 9 6. Lesson One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Lesson Two . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 7. Lesson Three . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 8. Lesson Four . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Lesson Five . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 9. Lesson Six . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 10. Lesson Seven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 11. Lesson Eight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Lesson Nine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 12. Lesson Ten. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 13. Lesson Eleven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 14. Lesson Twelve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Lesson Thirteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 15. Lesson Fourteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 16. Lesson Fifteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Lesson Sixteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 17. Lesson Seventeen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 18. Lesson Eighteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 19. Lesson Nineteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Lesson Twenty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 20. iv vietnamese Introduction Reading has been defined as the decoding of graphic material which represents the phonemic patterns of the spoken lanaguage, or to put it another way, reading consists of coming back to speech through the graphic symbols. In short, meaning is contained in the sounds of the spoken language. As the written form of any language does no more than represent these sounds visually, speaking a language is the necessary first step to reading and understanding anything written in the language. The Vietnamese alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet, and many letters seem to be exactly the same as their English counterparts. However, the Vietnamese alphabet represents sounds unique to Vietnamese, and the sound of each letter may differ significantly from what appears to be the same letter in English. Vietnamese letters have symbols attached to them which display a wide range of information, from the correct pitch and tonal motion to the length and quality of the vowels. There are twenty Vietnamese reading lessons. They can all be found at the end of the program. You may choose to do the readings along with the lesson units, after every other unit or so, or you may want to wait vietnamese Introduction (continued) and do them all together, after completing the rest of the course. Feel free to repeat the reading lessons as often as needed for practice with the Vietnamese alphabet and its sounds. 2 vietnamese The Vietnamese Language Vietnamese is spoken by some 80 million people in Vietnam and approximately two million Vietnamese overseas. Vietnam is also home to 60 or so smaller ethnic groups who speak indigenous languages. Some Vietnamese speak Russian and / or English, and some older Vietnamese speak French. However, the majority of social, political, and cultural communication in Vietnam is conducted in Vietnamese. The Vietnamese language has three main dialects: northern, central, and southern. The differences between the dialects lie in both the vocabulary and the phonetic system. However, Vietnamese everywhere understand each other despite these differences. This Vietnamese course introduces the contemporary Hanoi (“northern”) dialect, the widely-accepted “standard” Vietnamese. The Hanoi dialect is the one most often used in news broadcasts on national Vietnamese radio and television and in Vietnamese books, newspapers, and magazines. 3 vietnamese Words for “You” The Vietnamese language uses several words for “you,” depending on the gender and age of the person being addressed. In this course, we learn four different words: anh - refers to a man younger than 50, bø - refers to a woman over 50, ch - refers to a woman younger than 50, ‰ng - refers to a man over 50. Other words exist to refer to the very young or very old, but these four will enable you to interact with others effectively in most situations. 4 vietnamese The Vietnamese Writing System The writing system currently in use in Vietnam is based on the Latin alphabet. The Vietnamese alphabet began as a Romanization of Vietnamese by 17th-century missionaries, but since some Vietnamese sounds have no equivalent in the Latin alphabet, additional letters were created by adding “diacritical marks,” usually to the vowels, to indicate the differences. Before the present writing system, there were two previous Vietnamese writing systems, both of which used ideograms based on Chinese characters. Neither of these is used in contemporary Vietnam. The French governor general issued a decree to use the Romanized alphabet exclusively in 1910. When Vietnam became independent in 1945, Ho Chi Minh’s government continued the policy of using the Romanized alphabet exclusively. You will find the Vietnamese alphabet starting on page 7, along with a guide to the sounds represented by each letter. Note that some Vietnamese letters have more than one sound, depending on their position in the word or combination with other letters. Whenever possible, English equivalents are given. However, keep in mind that these equivalents 5 vietnamese The Vietnamese Writing System (continued) are just approximations. You should use this list for reference only, as all the information you need to complete the readings is contained at the end of the program. Please refer to the audio of the Readings to hear the authentic sounds. 6 vietnamese The Vietnamese Alphabet Letter Sound a the “a” in “father” √ the “u” in “hut” … like √, except that the sound is longer b (as in English) c somewhere between a “k” and a hard “g” d the “z” in “zebra” { a cross between an English “t” and “d” e like the “eah” in “yeah” ‘ g the “œ” in resumé, or “ay” in “play” when followed by “i” sounds like “z”; otherwise rolling “r” or “rh” h (as in English) i the “i” in “sing” k like the Vietnamese “c” l (as in English) m (as in English) n (as in English) o like the word “awe” 7 vietnamese The Vietnamese Alphabet (continued) Letter Sound ‰ the “o” in “go” Í the English “schwa” sound, like the “a” in “alone” p (as in English) q (as in English) r like the English “z” s (as in English) t like the “t” in “tin” u the “oo” in “boot” ı like the "i" in "live" and "pin" v (as in English) x the “ss” in “address” y “ee” when at the beginning of the word Combinations ao au the “ow” sound in the word “gown” like the Vietnamese “ao” …u like “oh” ay like “eye” like “ch” as in “chair” when at the beginning of a word; like “k” when at the end of the word like the “h” in “hum,” but more guttural ch kh 8 vietnamese The Vietnamese Alphabet (continued) Combinations (continued) ng ngh nh oa oai ph qu th tr uai uay like the “ng” in “sing” like the Vietnamese “ng” (the “h” is silent in this combination) like the Vietnamese “ng” when at the end of a word; like the “ni” in “onion” when at the beginning of a word like the “wa” in “water” like "why" as in the English word “phone” somewhere between the “qu” in “quack” and the “gu” in “Guatemala” like the English “t” like the “ch” in “chair” like "why" like “way” Tones Vietnamese is a “tonal language,” where changes in the pitch level of a word signal a change in meaning. Vietnamese has six different tones, all of which, except for the mid-level tone, are denoted by diacritic marks. These are shown in the chart on the next page, shown with the letter “a.” 9 vietnamese Tones (continued) English NameMark (shown with “a”) High-rising æ Starts slightly higher than mid-level and rises sharply Low-falling ø Starts slightly lower than mid-level, and trails downward toward the bottom of the vocal range Mid-level a <none> Starts at the mid-point of the speaker’s vocal range, and remains stable and constant during the pronunciation of the syllable Low-falling-rising ¿ Starts slightly lower than mid-level, drops abruptly, and is then followed by a sweeping rise at the end of the syllable High-rising broken ¡ Starts as high as the High-rising tone, breaks, then rises and stops abruptly Low-falling broken ¬ Starts as low as the Low-falling tone and then drops off very sharply 10 vietnamese Tones (continued) When a letter includes both an accent and a tonal marker, the tonal marker appears above the accent mark, except for the Low-falling broken tone which appears as a dot below the letter. To illustrate, the six tones are shown below with the letter “√.” ƒ ≈ √ ∆ 11 « » vietnamese Lesson One 1. ba 2. bø 3. lø 4. to 5. c‰ 6. t‰i 7. c‡n 8. C‡n bø? 9. ‰ng 10. ‰ng bø 11. anh 12. anh lø 13. kh‰ng 14. Ín 15. v…ng 16. {i 17. chøo 18. Chøo bø. 19. ba bia 20. Chøo bø, t‰i {i. 12 vietnamese Lesson Two 1. con 2. C‡n ‰ng? 3. c 4. c / c‡n 5. khæ 6. lƒm 7. khæ lƒm 8. cæm Ín 9. Cæm Ín anh. 10. thønh ph 11. thÏi gian 12. ti’ng 13. ti’ng Anh 14. t‰i ni 15. t‰i ni ti’ng Anh. 16. muÂn 17. uÂng 18. T‰i kh‰ng muÂn uÂng. 19. vÎi bø 20. b≈ng ti’ng Anh 13 vietnamese Lesson Three 1. t‰i c 2. anh c 3. nhi‘u 4. Bao nhi‘u? 5. Anh c bao nhi‘u? 6. ph¿i 7. hi◊u 8. T‰i hi◊u. 9. Bø kh‰ng hi◊u. 10. Bø kh‰ng hi◊u ti’ng Anh. 11. ¢ng c hi◊u kh‰ng? 12. Kh‰ng. T‰i kh‰ng hi◊u. 13. khæ lƒm 14. T‰i hi◊u kh‰ng khæ lƒm. 15. kho— 16. ¢ng c kho— kh‰ng? 17. T‰i kho— lƒm. 18. T‰i kho— lƒm, cæm Ín ‰ng. 19. Kh‰ng kho— lƒm. 20. ¢ng kh‰ng hi◊u. 14 vietnamese Lesson Four 1. ti’ng 2. b≈ng ti’ng Anh 3. nga 4. ngıÏi 5. b¿y 6. b¿y ngıÏi 7. M˛ 8. ngıÏi M˛ 9. T‰i lø ngıÏi M˛. 10. bø kh‰ng ph¿i lø 11. Bø kh‰ng ph¿i lø ngıÏi M˛. 12. {…y 13. Ì {…y 14. Ì {`y 15. ngh›a 16. ti÷n 17. Trøng Ti÷n 18. ph Trøng Ti÷n 19. Ph Trøng Ti÷n kh‰ng ph¿i Ì {…y. 20. Ngh›a lø g¤? 15 vietnamese Lesson Five 1. h·i 2. cho 3. anh cho h·i 4. anh c ph¿i lø 5. Anh c ph¿i lø ngıÏi M˛ kh‰ng? 6. Ì {…u 7. l…u 8. Bao l…u? 9. ∕t 10. mÈt 11. ViŸt 12. ngıÏi ViŸt 13. T‰i hi◊u ti’ng ViŸt. 14. Ch lø ngıÏi ViŸt. 15. T‰i kh‰ng ph¿i lø ngıÏi ViŸt. 16. mÈt ∕t 17. T‰i hi◊u mÈt ∕t ti’ng ViŸt. 18. ngh› 19. b¬n 20. NgıÏi b¬n Ì M˛. 16 vietnamese Lesson Six 1. sao 2. xa 3. xa lƒm 4. lËi 5. xin 6. Xin lËi ch. 7. bi’t 8. T‰i bi’t ti’ng ViŸt. 9. T‰i ni mÈt ∕t. 10. [¬o 11. Hıng 12. TrÀn 13. ph TrÀn Hıng [¬o 14. Ph TrÀn Hıng [¬o Ì {…u? 15. bæo M˛ 16. bæo ViŸt 17. mÌ c¯a 18. c¯a høng 19. Cæc c¯a høng c mÌ c¯a kh‰ng? 20. T‰i kh‰ng bi’t. 17 vietnamese Lesson Seven 1. hay 2. hai 3. hay / hai 4. hai hay ba? 5. mıÍi 6. tı 7. hai mıÍi tı 8. hay hai mıÍi mÂt? 9. T‰i c mÈt ∕t. 10. sau { 11. sæu mıÍi mÂt 12. sæu mıÍi ch∕n 13. mıÏi sæu 14. mıÏi sæu / sæu mıÍi 15. ngøy 16. ngøy mai 17. ngh¤n 18. hiŸu √n 19. HiŸu √n Ì {…u? 20. T‰i kh‰ng hi◊u. 18 vietnamese Lesson Eight 1. mai 2. tÂi mai 3. tÂi nay 4. T‰i muÂn Ì l¬i. 5. T‰i muÂn Ì l¬i {`y. 6. m`y ngøy 7. hai ngøy 8. T¬i sao? 9. cæi 10. g¤ 11. cæi g¤ { 12. t‰i muÂn mua 13. T‰i muÂn {i mua cæi g¤ {. 14. Anh muÂn {i mua g¤? 15. giÏ 16. Bao giÏ? 17. m`y 18. Vøo lc m`y giÏ? 19. bÂn giÏ hay n√m giÏ 20. B…y giÏ n√m giÏ. 19 vietnamese Lesson Nine 1. Ì {≈ng kia 2. Ai Ì {≈ng kia? 3. VÔ t‰i Ì {≈ng kia. 4. chÊng ch 5. sæng h‰m qua 6. ‰ng `y 7. ¢ng `y {i Søi G‡n. 8. b≈ng mæy bay 9. Ch muÂn {i mua g¤? 10. muÈn 11. muÈn hÍn 12. ch muÂn / muÈn hÍn 13. muÈn quæ 14. rÊi 15. B…y giÏ m`y giÏ rÊi? 16. B…y giÏ b¿y giÏ. 17. t∕ n˘a 18. chıa 19. T‰i chıa muÂn mua g¤. 20. T∕ n˘a t‰i muÂn uÂng. 20 vietnamese Lesson Ten 1. Vøo lc m`y giÏ? 2. Vøo lc bÂn giÏ. 3. Ch {ıÔc m`y chæu? 4. Chng t‰i chıa {ıÔc chæu nøo. 5. rıÔu 6. rıÔu vang 7. cÂc 8. hai cÂc rıÔu vang 9. th’ 10. th∕ch 11. Ch c th∕ch rıÔu vang kh‰ng? 12. T‰i cÛng th’. 13. Hø NÈi 14. Minh 15. HÊ Ch∕ Minh 16. H¿i Y’n 17. hiŸu √n H¿i Y’n 18. {¡ 19. Anh ch {¡ {i chıa? 20. T‰i chıa mua g¤. 21 vietnamese Lesson Eleven 1. chË 2. Ì chË t‰i 3. ch cho h·i 4. mıÏi sæu 5. sæu mıÍi 6. T‰i Ì {…y m`y ngøy rÊi. 7. khæch s¬n 8. Hoøn Ki’m 9. T‰i Ì khæch s¬n Hoøn Ki’m. 10. Hoø B¤nh 11. T‰i ph¿i {i. 12. T‰i ph¿i {i {’n khæch s¬n Hoø B¤nh. 13. {ıÏng nøo? 14. T‰i ph¿i {i {ıÏng nøo? 15. Anh ph¿i {i {ıÏng kia. 16. Vøo lc m`y giÏ? 17. Vøo lc mıÏi mÈt giÏ. 18. Giæ bao nhi‘u? 19. [i Hø NÈi b≈ng mæy bay --- 20. m`t bao l…u? 22 vietnamese Lesson Twelve 1. ViŸt Nam 2. {Êng 3. ti÷n {Êng 4. Ch c ti÷n {Êng ViŸt Nam kh‰ng? 5. {‰-la M˛ 6. nhi÷u ti÷n 7. mÈt ∕t ti÷n 8. T‰i c mÈt ∕t ti÷n. 9. cho t‰i 10. cho t‰i / chË t‰i 11. T‰i c th◊ cho ch --- 12. ba tr√m ngh¤n {Êng. 13. C {ıÔc kh‰ng? 14. tr¿ 15. T‰i ph¿i tr¿ bao nhi‘u? 16. ng…n høng 17. {Ái 18. Ch cÀn {Ái bao nhi‘u? 19. nhi‘u / nhi÷u 20. Kh‰ng nhi÷u lƒm. 23 vietnamese Lesson Thirteen 1. ¢ng {¡ √n chıa? 2. B…y giÏ muÈn rÊi. 3. chıa muÈn 4. sÎm 5. c‡n sÎm 6. chuyŸn 7. T‰i muÂn ni chuyŸn. 8. T‰i muÂn ni chuyŸn vÎi ch. 9. ch `y 10. Ch `y cÛng Ì ViŸt Nam. 11. {nh 12. B…y giÏ ch `y {nh √n sæng. 13. √n trıa 14. T‰i chıa √n. 15. √n trıa / chıa √n 16. nhø høng 17. Nhø høng H¿i Y’n Ì {…u? 18. Kh‰ng xa. 19. gÀn lƒm 20. Ch ni g¤? 24 vietnamese Lesson Fourteen 1. th√m 2. T‰i {nh {i th√m --- 3. ngıÏi b¬n. 4. T‰i {nh {i th√m ngıÏi b¬n. 5. Ngøy mai t‰i {nh {i. 6. bæo ti’ng ViŸt 7. Nh…n D…n 8. {„c 9. bæo Hø NÈi MÎi 10. bæo h‰m nay 11. T‰i c th◊ {„c bæo ti’ng ViŸt. 12. mua bæo 13. Bæo h‰m nay mua Ì {…u? 14. quÀy 15. quÀy bæo 16. QuÀy bæo gÀn lƒm. 17. m`y tÏ bæo 18. M`y tÏ bæo nøy giæ bao nhi‘u? 19. r— 20. Bæo ti’ng ViŸt r— lƒm. 25 vietnamese Lesson Fifteen 1. r`t {”p 2. TrÏi h‰m nay r`t {”p. 3. r`t ngon 4. Mn nøy r`t ngon. 5. r`t cay 6. ph 7. phÌ 8. phÌ b‡ 9. phÌ gø 10. n√m 11. Nam 12. n√m / nam 13. {»c s¿n 14. C nhø høng {»c s¿n --- 15. nøo gÀn {…y kh‰ng? 16. Nhø høng {»c s¿n --- 17. ngay gÀn {…y. 18. H‰m qua t‰i mua --- 19. rıÔu vang Phæp. 20. Nhø høng c rıÔu vang Phæp. 26 vietnamese Lesson Sixteen 1. trø 2. Chøo ch. 3. MÏi ch uÂng trø. 4. Xin mÏi vøo. 5. r`t vui 6. løm quen 7. R`t vui {ıÔc løm quen vÎi ‰ng. 8. Anh {ıÔc m`y chæu? 9. Chng t‰i {ıÔc hai chæu. 10. chng t‰i 11. chÊng t‰i 12. chng / chÊng 13. chæu gæi 14. chæu trai 15. Cæc chæu lÎn rÊi. 16. løm viŸc 17. Cæc chæu løm viŸc Ì M˛. 18. Chng t‰i th√m --- 19. m`y ngıÏi b¬n --- 20. Ì ViŸt Nam. 27 vietnamese Lesson Seventeen 1. bÂn giÏ 2. B…y giÏ bÂn giÏ rÊi. 3. Gia {¤nh chng t‰i --- 4. c bÂn ngıÏi. 5. B…y giÏ m`y giÏ rÊi? 6. mæy bay 7. m`y / mæy 8. Chng t‰i {i Hø NÈi. 9. b≈ng mæy bay. 10. M`t hai ti’ng. 11. s…n bay 12. quÂc 13. quÂc t’ NÈi Bøi 14. T…n SÍn Nh`t 15. vœ mæy bay 16. S…n bay c xa kh‰ng? 17. s…n / xa 18. ra s…n bay 19. T˜ khæch s¬n ra s…n bay {i th’ nøo? 20. [i b≈ng tƒc-xi. 28 vietnamese Lesson Eighteen 1. du lch 2. {i du lch 3. vnh H¬ Long 4. {i tham quan vnh H¬ Long 5. dch vÙ du lch 6. s‰ng HÊng 7. {i tøu tr‘n s‰ng HÊng 8. {ıÏng 9. T‰i ph¿i {i {ıÏng nøo? 10. {i th∆ng 11. r“ ph¿i 12. r“ træi 13. xe ‰ t‰ 14. bu˚t 15. xe bu˚t 16. xe mæy 17. xe ‰m 18. xe {¬p 19. x∕ch-l‰ 20. T‰i ph¿i tr¿ bao nhi‘u ti÷n? 29 vietnamese Lesson Nineteen 1. {iŸn tho¬i 2. g„i {iŸn tho¬i 3. cˆu 4. c`p cˆu 5. g„i {iŸn cho c`p cˆu 6. bŸnh viŸn 7. bæc s› 8. Âm 9. T‰i b Âm. 10. {i khæm bŸnh 11. {au bÙng 12. cm 13. c¿m l¬nh 14. uÂng thuÂc 15. nhø vŸ sinh 16. Nhø vŸ sinh Ì {…u? 17. ´ gÀn {…y. 18. Ì r`t xa 19. løm Ín g„i 20. Anh løm Ín g„i tƒc-xi cho t‰i. 30 vietnamese Lesson Twenty 1. c¯a høng 2. mÌ c¯a 3. {ng c¯a 4. C¯a høng {ng c¯a. 5. T¬i sao? 6. si‘u th 7. Ch muÂn {i chÔ hay {i si‘u th? 8. T‰i muÂn {i mua {Ê. 9. hoa qu¿ 10. Chng t‰i {i vÎi nhau. 11. T‰i {nh {i løm viŸc mÈt m¤nh. 12. T‰i bŒn quæ! 13. Ì l¬i {…y m`y tuÀn 14. {i du lch nhi÷u nÍi 15. Chng t‰i {i th√m V√n Mi’u. 16. c l“ tuÀn sau 17. Chng t‰i {i Hu’ vø Nha Trang. 18. Chng t‰i c‡n muÂn {i [ø L¬t n˘a. 19. [`t nıÎc ViŸt Nam {”p lƒm. 20. Chng t‰i r`t th∕ch ViŸt Nam. 31 For more information, call 1-800-831-5497 or visit us at www.Pimsleur.com