Learn how to use the question word "who"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Brandon: Hey there! I’m Brandon, and welcome back to VietnamesePod101.com. This is lower beginner Season 1, Lesson 2 - Who is Doing What in Vietnam? |
| Huyen: Xin chào! I’m Huyen. |
| Brandon: In this lesson you will learn how to use the question word “who”. The conversation takes place at school and is between Lan and Hoa. |
| Huyen: They are classmates, so they will be using informal Vietnamese. |
| Brandon: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Lan: Chúng mình sẽ bắt đầu thời khóa biểu mới vào thứ hai tuần tới đấy. |
| Hoa: Có những môn gì nhỉ? |
| Lan: Có môn Anh, toán, lịch sử và tin học. |
| Hoa: Ai sẽ dạy môn anh học kỳ này nhỉ? |
| Lan: Thầy Johnson. Nghe nói thầy dạy rất hay. |
| Hoa: Thế thì tuyệt quá. |
| Brandon: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Lan: Chúng mình sẽ bắt đầu thời khóa biểu mới vào thứ hai tuần tới đấy. |
| Hoa: Có những môn gì nhỉ? |
| Lan: Có môn Anh, toán, lịch sử và tin học. |
| Hoa: Ai sẽ dạy môn anh học kỳ này nhỉ? |
| Lan: Thầy Johnson. Nghe nói thầy dạy rất hay. |
| Hoa: Thế thì tuyệt quá. |
| Brandon: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Lan: Chúng mình sẽ bắt đầu thời khóa biểu mới vào thứ hai tuần tới đấy. |
| Brandon: We are going to start with a new schedule from next Monday. |
| Hoa: Có những môn gì nhỉ? |
| Brandon: What are the subjects? |
| Lan: Có môn Anh, toán, lịch sử và tin học. |
| Brandon: There is English, math, history and IT. |
| Hoa: Ai sẽ dạy môn anh học kỳ này nhỉ? |
| Brandon: Who is going to teach English this semester, I wonder? |
| Lan: Thầy Johnson. Nghe nói thầy dạy rất hay. |
| Brandon: Mr (teacher) Johnson. I heard that he is a very good teacher. |
| Hoa: Thế thì tuyệt quá. |
| Brandon: That’s great. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Brandon: Hey Huyen, can you tell our listeners something about high school education in Vietnam? |
| Huyen: Sure. There are two semesters in a school year. The first semester is from early September to late December. The second one starts in January and ends in late May. |
| Brandon: When do they have winter and summer break? |
| Huyen: Vietnamese students don’t have a winter break, but they have a one-week holiday during the Lunar new year. This often falls in late January or early February. The summer break often starts in June and lasts until mid July, but this varies depending on the school. |
| Brandon: The official school year starts in September, but they have to return to school in mid-July. What do they do during that time? |
| Huyen: They attend summer classes, which are called “học hè”. Those classes are to review what has been learned in the last semester, and prepare for the new one. |
| Brandon: Are those classes mandatory? |
| Huyen: Yes, Vietnamese students have to study a lot, because good performance means a lot to them and to the family. |
| Brandon: I’ve heard that all school subjects are mandatory and a good student gets an average score of 8 out of 10 for all subjects. |
| Huyen Yes that’s true. |
| Brandon: Is there any reason for that? |
| Huyen: Vietnamese people think education is the best, and in fact, the only way to success. During student life, passing the university entrance exam is the dream of almost all people, so they have to try their very hardest in high school. |
| Brandon: Very interesting. Listeners, you can learn more about the school system in Vietnam in the lesson notes - be sure to check them out! Okay, now let’s move on to vocabulary. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Brandon: The first word we shall see is: |
| Huyen: bắt đầu [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: to start, to begin |
| Huyen: bắt đầu [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: bắt đầu [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Huyen: thời khóa biểu [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: schedule (for school) |
| Huyen: thời khóa biểu [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: thời khóa biểu [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Huyen: môn [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: subject |
| Huyen: môn [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: môn [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Huyen: Anh (also Anh văn/tiếng Anh) [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: English (as a subject at school) |
| Huyen: Anh (also Anh văn/tiếng Anh) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: Anh (also Anh văn/tiếng Anh) [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Huyen: toán [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: math |
| Huyen: toán [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: toán [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Huyen: lịch sử [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: history |
| Huyen: lịch sử [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: lịch sử [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Huyen: tin học [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: IT or computer science |
| Huyen: tin học [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: tin học [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Huyen: học kỳ [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: semester |
| Huyen: học kỳ [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: học kỳ [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Huyen: nghe nói [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: to hear (that) |
| Huyen: nghe nói [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: nghe nói [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Huyen: dạy [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: teach |
| Huyen: dạy [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: dạy [natural native speed] |
| And Last: |
| Huyen: hay [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: good/well |
| Huyen: hay [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: hay [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Brandon: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. In this lesson, you are going to learn three key words and phrases. The first word is: |
| Huyen: thời khóa biểu. |
| Brandon: Meaning “schedule.” This word is only used when you’re talking about the schedule at school. |
| Huyen: “Thời khóa biểu” in a Vietnamese school includes information about the date, time, and the subject. It changes at the start of a new semester. |
| Brandon: Remember that this word does not refer to a schedule in a company, train station or in any other places. |
| Brandon: The second word is: |
| Huyen: nghe nói |
| Brandon: Literally, “to hear someone say that.” |
| Huyen: “Nghe nói” is added at the beginning of a sentence to express that the information you provide is from someone else and it may or may not be true. |
| Brandon: The source of information may be known, unknown or not even exist. |
| Huyen: For example: Nghe nói hôm qua MU thua Chelsea. |
| Brandon: I heard that Manchester United was beaten by Chelsea yesterday. |
| Huyen: Next, Nghe nói cậu sắp nghỉ việc. |
| Brandon: Literally, “I heard that you would quit the job soon.” |
| Brandon: And the last word is… |
| Huyen: hay |
| Brandon: Meaning “good” or “well”. It can be used as both an adjective or adverb. |
| Huyen: If you remember, we already learned the word “tốt” and it also has the same meaning and usage. |
| Brandon: Here we will explain the difference between them. |
| Huyen: “Hay” means “interesting” or “exciting”, and often refers to something that arouses your interest, or catches your attention in a positive way. Some examples are: phim hay |
| Brandon: “a good movie,” or, “an interesting movie” |
| Huyen: sách hay |
| Brandon: “a good book,” or, “an interesting book” |
| Huyen: môn học hay |
| Brandon: “a good subject,” or, “an interesting subject” |
| Huyen: On the other hand, “tốt” is used to talk about the quality of people or things, to express how good or how effective they are. For example: công việc tốt |
| Brandon: a good job |
| Huyen: người tốt |
| Brandon: a good person |
| Huyen: bạn tốt |
| Brandon: a good friend |
| Huyen: Let’s hear some examples when they function as an adverb |
| Huyen: diễn hay |
| Brandon: “to act well”, or, “to act interestingly.” |
| Huyen: làm tốt |
| Brandon: “to work well”, or, “to work efficiently”. Okay, now onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
| Brandon: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask who is doing something, and what that is, in Vietnamese. |
| Huyen: Ai sẽ dạy môn Anh học kỳ này nhỉ? |
| Brandon: "Who is going to teach English this semester?" |
| Huyen: The question word we learn here is “Ai”, meaning “who” and it comes at the beginning of the question. |
| Brandon: Then the verb phrase which includes the adverb: |
| Huyen: “sẽ” |
| Brandon: Meaning “is going to or will” and the verb |
| Huyen: “dạy”, |
| Brandon Which means “to teach”. Next comes the object |
| Huyen: “môn Anh” |
| Brandon: Meaning “English”, then a time phrase... |
| Huyen: ...“học kỳ này” |
| Brandon: Meaning “this semester” and finally, a sentence-ending particle |
| Huyen: “nhỉ” |
| Brandon: meaning “I wonder”. |
| Brandon: Please note that the word... |
| Huyen: ...“sẽ” |
| Brandon: functions as an auxiliary verb, but it is defined as an adverb in Vietnamese. Basically, the whole structure will be: |
| Huyen: Ai, plus the verb phrase, then the object... |
| Brandon: ...followed by a time or location phrase which is optional, and finally a sentence-ending particle, which is also optional but preferred. Could you explain more about the sentence-ending particles? |
| Huyen: Sure. There are commonly used particles at the end of a sentence in Vietnamese, especially in a question. The three most commonly used particles in a question are “nhỉ”, “thế” and “vậy”. |
| Brandon: Those particles normally have no meaning when used on their own, but they are added to make the question more natural and melodic, and also to ask for a confirmation from the other speaker. |
| Huyen: Sometimes two particles are used in one question like “thế nhỉ” or“vậy nhỉ”. |
| Brandon: Let’s hear some examples: |
| Huyen: Ai đã mở cửa sổ vậy? |
| Brandon: "Who opened the window?" |
| Huyen: Ai đang nói chuyện trong phòng thế nhỉ? |
| Brandon: "Who is talking in the room?" |
| Huyen: Ai đang gõ cửa vậy? |
| Brandon: “Who is knocking on the door?” |
| Huyen: Ai sẽ nấu bữa tối nhỉ? |
| Brandon: Who is going to cook dinner? |
| Huyen: Well, that’s all for the grammar in this lesson. |
| Brandon: Who is going to write the first comment for this lesson in the comments section? |
| Huyen: We’re looking forward to your comments! |
Outro |
| Brandon: Be sure to check the lesson notes for more essential Vietnamese! Thanks for listening, bye! |
| Huyen: See you next time. Tạm biệt. |
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