Learn how to introduce yourself
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Xin chào! I’m Becky. Welcome back to VietnamesePod101.com This is the Absolute Beginner series, Season 1, Lesson 2 - Asking Someone’s Name in Vietnamese |
| Huyen: Xin chào! I’m Huyen. |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask “What’s your name?” in different situations. The conversation is between Lan, Mary, and Nam. You’re going to listen to the dialogue in three different situations; one informal, one formal with a woman, and the other with a man. |
| Huyen: They are strangers and meet each other for the first time. Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| :(When asking in general) |
| Lan: Bạn tên là gì? |
| Mary: Tôi tên là Mary. |
| :(When asking a slightly older woman, or a young woman in formal situations) |
| Mary: Chị tên là gì? |
| Lan: Tôi tên là Lan. |
| :(When asking a slightly older man, or a young man in formal situations.) |
| Lan: Anh tên là gì? |
| Nam: Tôi tên là Nam. |
| :(When asking in general) |
| Lan: What's your name? |
| Mary: My name is Mary. |
| :(When asking a slightly older woman, or a young woman in formal situations) |
| Mary: What's your name? |
| Lan: My name is Lan |
| :(When asking a slightly older man, or a young man in formal situations.) |
| Lan: What's your name? |
| Nam: My name is Nam. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: Let’s talk about Vietnamese pronouns. The Vietnamese language has a complicated system of pronouns. |
| Huyen: Yeah, it depends a lot on gender, age, and the intimacy of the relationship |
| Becky: For example, there are different pronouns which mean “I”, and you have to change the word for “I” depending on who you are talking to. There are also different pronouns meaning “you”, and we’ll learn them all one by one throughout this series. |
| Huyen: Yes, it’s going to be very interesting. |
| Becky: Right, But for now, as beginners, we still don’t know which pronouns are appropriate, so it’s better to be safe and politely ask the other person how you should address him or her when you first meet. |
| Huyen: And you know what, Vietnamese people are very interested in talking with foreigners. They’ll definitely tell you how to use pronouns correctly. |
| Becky: That’s true. Okay, now let’s move on to the vocab. |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let’s take a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Huyten The first word is Anh. |
| Becky: This is one of the most common pronouns in Vietnamese. It’s second person singular, which means “you”. The word itself means “older brother”, but when it is used as a pronoun, it refers to a slightly older man or a young man you meet in formal situation. |
| Huyen: That’s right. In this case, anh is more polite than bạn. |
| Becky: What’s the next word, Huyen? |
| Huyen: Chị. |
| Becky: Again, this pronoun also means “you” and is commonly used. The word itself means “older sister”, but when it’s used as a pronoun, it refers to a slightly older woman or a young woman you meet in formal situation. Okay, now onto the grammar. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask “What’s your name?” in Vietnamese. |
| Huyen: In general, the question is Bạn tên là gì? |
| Becky: The literal translation of this question is “You name is what?” and it can also be translated as “What are you named?” Let’s break this down: |
| Huyen: First is the pronoun bạn... |
| Becky: ...which means “you”. |
| Huyen: Then we have tên... |
| Becky: ...which means “name”. |
| Huyen: Then the verb là… |
| Becky: ...which is “to be”. And finally the question word |
| Huyen: gì which means “what”. |
| Becky: To answer this question, say... |
| Huyen: Tôi tên là. |
| Becky: And then you say your name. We learned this in the first lesson. We’ve just learned the general translation of “What’s your name?” Let’s see how it changes in different situations. |
| Huyen: Well, Bạn tên là gì? can be used in most situations. But the pronoun bạn usually refers to a person around your age. |
| Becky: So, when talking with someone older than you or someone in formal situations as in business, this pronoun is not appropriate. |
| Huyen: In such cases, replace bạn with anh when the other person is a young man and replace “bạn” with “chị” when the other person is a young woman. |
| Becky: The rest of the question remains unchanged. The answer to the new questions stays the same too, which is... |
| Huyen: Tôi tên là and your name. |
| Becky: Let’s hear some examples. |
| Huyen: Bạn tên là gì? Tôi tên là An. |
| Becky: “What’s your name?” “My name is An.” |
| Huyen: Anh tên là gì? Tôi tên là Nam. |
| Becky: “What’s your name?” “My name is Nam.” “You” in this case is a young man, in formal situations. |
| Huyen: Chị tên là gì? Tôi tên là Mary. |
| Becky: “What’s your name?” “My name is Mary.” “You” in this case is a young woman, in formal situations. |
Outro |
|---|
| Becky: That’s all for this lesson. Now you can practice asking Vietnamese people’s names! |
| Huyen: We hope you have enjoyed this lesson. |
| Becky: Don’t forget to check the lesson notes to reinforces what you you’ve learned in this lesson. |
| Huyen: See you in our next lesson. Tạm biệt! |
| Becky: Thanks for listening, bye! |
Comments
Hide