Learn how to bargain when you're shopping at a market
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: Hi everyone, and welcome back to VietnamesePod101.com. This is Beginner Season 1 Lesson 10 - Getting a Bargain in Vietnam. Becky here. |
| Huyen: Xin Chào. I'm Huyen. |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to express your opinions in Vietnamese. The conversation takes place at an electronics store. |
| Huyen: It's between Bình and Long. |
| Becky: The speakers are strangers, so they’ll be using formal Vietnamese. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Bình: Ti vi này bao nhiêu tiền anh nhỉ? |
| Long: 10 (mười) triệu chị ạ. |
| Bình: Sao ở đây đắt thế nhỉ? Bên MediaMart cũng loại này chỉ có 9 (chín) triệu rưỡi. Có bớt chút không anh? |
| Long: Chúng tôi bán đúng giá, nhưng đang có chương trình khuyến mại rút thăm may mắn. Nếu chị trúng thưởng sẽ được giảm 20% (hai mươi phần trăm) cho mỗi đơn hàng trên 5 (năm) triệu. |
| Bình: Hay quá. Rút thăm ở đâu ạ? |
| Long: Chị xuống quầy dưới tầng 1 nhé. |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Bình: Ti vi này bao nhiêu tiền anh nhỉ? |
| Long: 10 (mười) triệu chị ạ. |
| Bình: Sao ở đây đắt thế nhỉ? Bên MediaMart cũng loại này chỉ có 9 (chín) triệu rưỡi. Có bớt chút không anh? |
| Long: Chúng tôi bán đúng giá, nhưng đang có chương trình khuyến mại rút thăm may mắn. Nếu chị trúng thưởng sẽ được giảm 20% (hai mươi phần trăm) cho mỗi đơn hàng trên 5 (năm) triệu. |
| Bình: Hay quá. Rút thăm ở đâu ạ? |
| Long: Chị xuống quầy dưới tầng 1 nhé. |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Bình: How much does this TV cost? |
| Long: 10 million, madame. |
| Bình: How can it be so expensive here? The same TV at MediaMart costs only 9.5 million. Would you consider lowering the price a little? |
| Long: We sell at the labelled price. But we are running a promotional program in which you can join a lottery. If you win, you can get 20% off for any order above 5 million. |
| Bình: Great. Where can I join the lottery? |
| Long: Please go to the counter on the first floor. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: I think bargaining is common in Vietnam, especially when shopping in outdoor markets, street shops, and stands. |
| Huyen: That’s right. Especially if you are a foreigner, you’ll be asked to pay more than the original price. So don’t hesitate to negotiate! |
| Becky: I usually ask to cut the price in half and see the reaction. Do you think that will work? |
| Huyen: I think so. Usually, they double the original price. But note that some sellers may get angry if you suggest a price that is too low. |
| Becky: What should I do in that case? |
| Huyen: Just go to another store. In most cases you’ll be able to find the same item in a nearby store. |
| Becky: That’s a good tip. Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Becky: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Huyen: ti vi [natural native speed] |
| Becky: television |
| Huyen: ti vi[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: ti vi [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Huyen: bao nhiêu tiền [natural native speed] |
| Becky: how much |
| Huyen: bao nhiêu tiền[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: bao nhiêu tiền [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Huyen: đắt [natural native speed] |
| Becky: expensive |
| Huyen: đắt[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: đắt [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Huyen: bớt [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to reduce, to lower |
| Huyen: bớt[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: bớt [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Huyen: bán đúng giá [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to sell at the labelled price |
| Huyen: bán đúng giá[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: bán đúng giá [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Huyen: chương trình khuyến mại [natural native speed] |
| Becky: promotional program |
| Huyen: chương trình khuyến mại[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: chương trình khuyến mại [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Huyen: rút thăm [natural native speed] |
| Becky: lottery |
| Huyen: rút thăm[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: rút thăm [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Huyen: trúng thưởng [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to win a lottery |
| Huyen: trúng thưởng[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: trúng thưởng [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Huyen: giảm [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to reduce, to lower |
| Huyen: giảm[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: giảm [natural native speed] |
| Becky: And last.. |
| Huyen: phần trăm [natural native speed] |
| Becky: percent |
| Huyen: phần trăm[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: phần trăm [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let's have a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Huyen: bán đúng giá |
| Becky: meaning "to sell at the labeled price." I think our listeners will hear this phrase from sellers. |
| Huyen: That’s right. They’ll say bán đúng giá to emphasize that you cannot bargain at the store. It’s not common, but you can find some stores selling items at a fixed price. |
| Becky: So if someone says this phrase it means “Don’t bargain here,” right? |
| Huyen: Exactly. |
| Becky: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Huyen: giảm |
| Becky: meaning "to reduce.” |
| Huyen: giảm has several meanings, such as “to lose weight,” but when talking about the price, you can use it to mean “to lower the price.” |
| Becky: And there’s another word that can mean “to lower the price.” |
| Huyen: That’s right. It’s bớt. In general it can be used with invisible things, for example, “stress” or “tiredness,” and also with “price.” |
| Becky: I see. So we can use one of these to say “to lower the price,” right? |
| Huyen: That’s right. For example, you can say either giảm giá or bớt giá to mean “to lower the price.” |
| Becky: Good to know. Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
| Becky: In this lesson you’ll learn how to express your opinions. |
| Huyen: We’ll focus on this sentence pattern- sao, adjective, thế nhỉ. |
| Becky: Using this pattern, you can say something like “how can it be so expensive” or “how can it be so good?” |
| Huyen: In the dialogue, Bình used this pattern and said Sao ở đây đắt thế nhỉ? |
| Becky: “How can it be so expensive here?” |
| Huyen: Here we have the word Sao meaning “how,” then we have ở đây, the noun for “here,” and đắt meaning “expensive.” |
| Becky: So this literally means “how here expensive” or in Vietnamese, |
| Huyen: Sao ở đây đắt. Then you can add thế nhỉ. Thế means “so” “such” or “like that” and nhỉ is the particle to ask for confirmation by the other speaker. |
| Becky: So once again, “How can it be so expensive here?” |
| Huyen: Sao ở đây đắt thế nhỉ? Sao meaning “how,” ở đây đắt, meaning “here, expensive,” and thế nhỉ “like that.” |
| Becky: Using the same pattern, you can express an exclamation, and sometimes show your emotional reaction to say how good or bad something is. That means we can also use this pattern and express something positive, right? |
| Huyen: Yes. You just need to replace ở đây đắt or “here, expensive” with another adjective. |
| Becky: For example, how can we say.. “How can it be so cheap?” |
| Huyen: You can say.. Sao rẻ thế nhỉ? rẻ is the adjective meaning “cheap” so you can say.. Sao rẻ thế nhỉ? to mean “how can it be so cheap?” |
| Becky: What if I want to talk about someone who is very good or good at something and say “How could she be so good?” |
| Huyen: Let’s describe a specific situation because this expression is used and understood correctly in context. |
| Becky: Okay, then let’s say.. I have a friend whose name is Lan, and she has passed the exam to get into the University of Architecture.” |
| Huyen: Okay. In that case, you can say.. Lan vừa đỗ đại học kiến trúc. |
| Becky: “Lan has just passed the exam into the University of Architecture.” |
| Huyen: And as a reply, you can say Sao giỏi thế nhỉ? Giỏi is the adjective meaning “good” and the expression Sao giỏi thế nhỉ? means “how could she be so good?” |
Outro |
| Becky: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Huyen: Cảm ơn các bạn. |
Comments
Hide