Learn how to talk about your ethnicity in Vietnamese using the verb meaning "to be"
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 |
| Jason: Hi everyone, Jason here, and welcome back to VietnamesePod101.com. This is Basic Bootcamp Lesson 2 - Talking Nationality in Vietnamese. This is the second in a five-part series that will help you ease your way into VIetnamese. |
| Giang: Xin chào, tôi là Giang. I’m Giang. |
| Giang: In this lesson, you will learn how to introduce yourself and tell people where you are from. |
| Jason: That is essential while traveling to Vietnam, because that will be the first question people will probably want to ask you. Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Jason: Giang, Vietnam has really become a popular tourist destination. Recently, the country has attracted an increasing number of foreign tourists. |
| Giang: That’s right. That’s because more people are curious about the diverse natural and cultural attractions in Vietnam. |
| Jason: The hospitality and friendliness of Vietnamese people also make a visit to Vietnam more rewarding. |
| Giang: Right, Vietnamese people are really excited to make friends with non-Vietnamese. |
| Jason: If you come to Vietnam, you’ll be surprised to see an old man speak a few English words and try to help you out if you’re in need. |
| Giang: Right. |
| Jason: I guess we won’t want to miss the opportunity to learn about a beautiful country and get to know more about those nice people, right? |
| Giang: Definitely. Learning Vietnamese is the first step to understanding the Vietnamese country and people. |
| Jason: Okay, so why don’t we start by looking at the words we used in the conversation, so that all our learners will be able to share where they are from. |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Jason: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. We already learned the greeting Xin chào in the previous lesson. |
| Giang: And the Tôi tên là .... |
| Jason: Right, it means “My name is …” Now before you say your nationality, you need one phrase. It is extremely important and you will use it all the time |
| Giang: Tôi là |
| Jason: That’s right. The phrase means “I am” in English. It’s pretty straight forward. One time, slowly. |
| Giang: Tôi là |
| Jason: So in the dialogue, we heard the speaker say this and then the word... |
| Giang: Người Việt Nam |
| Jason: Which would translate as “I am Vietnamese.” |
| Giang: That’s right. |
| Jason: So altogether that’s... |
| Giang: Tôi là người Việt Nam. |
| Jason: Listeners, listen and repeat |
| Giang: Tôi là người Việt Nam. [pause] |
| Jason: So what was the other nationality we heard in the dialogue? |
| Giang: Người Anh |
| Jason: And that means “British”. So the whole sentence “I’m British” would be... |
| Giang: Tôi là người Anh. Notice the words Tôi là didn’t change. Just the word for an English person. In this case, người Anh |
| Jason: Sounds easy! Let’s move on to the Grammar section |
| Giang: Good idea! |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Jason: In this lesson, we’re going to learn more about how to talk about nationality in Vietnamese. |
| Giang: That’s right. We’ve learned how to say “I am Vietnamese” or “I am British”. |
| Jason: Yes, the main phrase here is [“Tôi là”], which means “I am”. It’s followed by a noun, and can be used to introduce your name, your nationality and your occupation. |
| Giang: For example... |
| Jason: I’m David. |
| Giang: Tôi là David. |
| Jason: I’m Italian. |
| Giang: Tôi là người Ý. |
| Jason: I’m a teacher. |
| Giang: Tôi là giáo viên. |
| Jason: But let’s concentrate on Nationalities now. When it comes to nationality, you start with [“người”] which means “people”, and then the name of your country in Vietnamese. |
| Giang: For example... |
| Jason: Vietnamese |
| Giang: Người Việt Nam |
| Jason: American |
| Giang: Người Mỹ. |
| Jason: So the first word never changes, what we have to learn is the country names in Vietnamese. Let’s look at what several countries are called in Vietnamese |
| Giang: Okay, let’s start - Mỹ |
| Jason: America |
| Giang: Anh |
| Jason: England |
| Giang: Nhật |
| Jason: Japan |
| Giang: Trung Quốc |
| Jason: China |
| Giang: Pháp |
| Jason: France |
| Giang: Ý |
| Jason: Italy |
| Giang: Nga |
| Jason: Russia. |
| Jason: Okay, let’s recap. Listeners, how do you say, “I’m Vietnamese”? |
| Giang: {Pause} Tôi là người Việt Nam. |
| Jason: And what about if you’re British? |
| Giang: {Pause} Tôi là người Anh. |
| Jason: Great. Now, listeners, try to make some simple sentences with your own nationality. |
| Giang: Have some fun! |
| Jason: You’ll find more of them in the lesson notes that accompany this lesson. |
| Giang: We hope everybody isn’t too tired after this boot camp! |
| Jason: Just keep practicing and you’ll have these down pat in no time. |
Outro |
| Jason: That’s it for this lesson. |
| Giang: Thanks for listening. Tạm biệt. |
| Jason: See you! |
Comments
HideHi everyone!
What's your nationality?
Hi Brian,
Thank you for studying Vietnamese.
The sentence is perfect with the grammar, spelling.
Hope that you will enjoy our lessons.
Cheers,
Chi
Team VietnamesePod101.com
Xin chào
Tôi tên là Brian.
Tôi là người Việt Nam.
Currently learning Vietnamese again because I forgot how to read Vietnamese but I can speak it😄
Xin chào Ralf,
Thank you for posting. We hope you are enjoying our lessons. Let us know if you have any questions. 😉
Kind regards,
Levente
Team VietnamesePod101.com
Xin chào!
Tôi tên là Ralf. Tôi là người Đuc.
Glad to have found this place and learning the first steps in Vietnamese.
Hi Tod,
Thanks for your comment and glad to have you here! To say “I’m Vietnamese and American” or “I’m Vietnamese American” in Vietnamese you could say: "Tôi là người Mỹ gốc Việt" which literally means "I'm American with Vietnamese origin/ root". Hope this helps and let us know if you have any further questions!
Sincerely,
Khanh
Team VietnamesePod101.com
Not sure how to edit/delete comments.
I had a typo. I meant “ “Tôi là người Việt Nam và người Mỹ”?
Xin chào!
Tôi tên là Tod.
I was born and raised in the U.S, and I am half Vietnamese and half American. I never got to learn Vietnamese and I’m glad I found this website. How would I go about saying “I’m Vietnamese and American” or “I’m Vietnamese American”?
Would it be “Tôi là người Việt Nam vì người Mỹ”?
i Ali,
Well done and thanks for posting! Small corrections:
Xin chào!
Tôi tên là Ali.
Tôi là người Ai Cập.
Keep up the good work!
Cheers,
Khanh
Team VietnamesePod101.com
Xin chào.
Toi ten la Ali
Toi la nguoi Ai Câp
Xin chào @Masa,
@Anthony Vitale,
@Teacher May ở Đà Lạt,
Thank you for your comments and we're glad to have you here. Let us know if you have any questions!
Cheers,
Khanh
Team VietnamesePod101.com
Xin chào. Tôi tên là May. Tôi là người Philippines.
Xin cháo
Tôi lá ngủ ơi Mỹ
Rất vui được gặp bạn
Xin châo, tôi tên là Masa. Tôi là người Nhật. Rất vui được gặp bạn!?
Chào anh Holger,
Tôi tên là Khanh, đồng nghiệp của Huyền. Rất vui được gặp anh. Nếu anh có bất kỳ câu hỏi nào, hãy cho chúng tôi biết nhé! Chúng tôi rất sẵn lòng được hỗ trợ anh!
Hi Holger,
This is Khanh- Huyen's teammate. Nice to meet you! If you have any questions, please let us know. We are happy to assist!
Thank you!
Khanh.
Team VietnamesePod101.com
Tôi là Holger.
Tôi là người Đức.
Rất vui được gặp bạn, Huyền.
Cảm ơn em nhieu lam.
Xin chào chị Laura!
Tôi tên là Huyền. Tôi là người Việt Nam.
Rất vui được làm quen với chị!
Can you tranlate it ?
Your sentence is grammatically perfect but it seems like your Vietnamese font has problem. The "hat" in "Tôi" should be above the letter "o". Please let us know if you have any question or need any support.
Best,
Huyền.
Team VietnamesePod101.com
Xin chào! Toî tên là Laura. Toî là người mỹ. Rất vui được gặp bạn!
Hi Mark,
Love to hear that from you. About the Alphabet flashcard, we will work on that. Thank you for you feedback and suggestion. We really appreciate that.
Cảm ơn anh rất nhiều.
Huyền
Team VietnamesePod101.com
I've just discovered your flashcard features! I love how you've got keyboard support for it. Missing that would be a real deal breaker...
Do you have a flashcard set for learning the Vietnamese alphabet and phonics?
Chào Kirsten,
It is totally fine to say, "Tôi là người Scotland."
"Tôi là + name" (I am + name) and "Tôi tên là + name" (My name is + name) are the same in meaning and formality. They are just two other ways to introduce your name. It is like in English, when you say "I am Kirsten" or "My name is Kirsten."
Have a nice day,
Giang
Team VietnamesePod101.com