Learn how to talk about means of transportation
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Brandon: Hey there! I’m Brandon and welcome back to VietnamesePod101.com. This is lower beginner Season 1, Lesson 8 - Talking Transport in Vietnam. |
| Huyen: Xin chào! I’m Huyen. |
| Brandon: In this lesson you will learn about different means of transportation. The conversation takes place at a speaker’s house and is between Tim and Huy. |
| Huyen: They are friends, so they will be using informal Vietnamese. |
| Brandon: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Tim: Đi từ Hà Nội đến thành phố Hồ Chí Minh bằng cách nào? |
| Huy: Có thể đi máy bay hoặc đi tàu. |
| Tim: Đi tàu chắc là lâu hơn nhỉ? |
| Huy: Ừ, đi tàu mất khoảng 32 tiếng, nhưng cậu có thể ngắm cảnh trên đường. |
| Tim: Nghe hay đấy. Vậy chúng ta đi tàu đi. |
| Huy: Ok. |
| Brandon: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Tim: Đi từ Hà Nội đến thành phố Hồ Chí Minh bằng cách nào? |
| Huy: Có thể đi máy bay hoặc đi tàu. |
| Tim: Đi tàu chắc là lâu hơn nhỉ? |
| Huy: Ừ, đi tàu mất khoảng 32 tiếng, nhưng cậu có thể ngắm cảnh trên đường. |
| Tim: Nghe hay đấy. Vậy chúng ta đi tàu đi. |
| Huy: Ok. |
| Brandon: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Tim: Đi từ Hà Nội đến thành phố Hồ Chí Minh bằng cách nào? |
| Brandon: How do we go from Ha Noi to Ho Chi Minh city? |
| Huy: Có thể đi máy bay hoặc đi tàu. |
| Brandon: We can go by plane or train. |
| Tim: Đi tàu chắc là lâu hơn nhỉ? |
| Brandon: It must be slower by train, right? |
| Huy: Ừ, đi tàu mất khoảng 32 tiếng, nhưng cậu có thể ngắm cảnh trên đường. |
| Brandon: Right. It takes about 32 hours by train, but you can see the sights on the way. |
| Tim: Nghe hay đấy. Vậy chúng ta đi tàu đi. |
| Brandon: Sounds fun. Let’s go by train. |
| Huy: Ok. |
| Brandon: Ok. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Huyen: Brandon, do you know what the most popular means of transportation in Vietnam is? |
| Brandon: It’s motorbikes, isn’t it? |
| Huyen: That’s right. In daily life in Vietnam, motorbikes are the main mode of transportation. There are about 21 million motorbikes in use, which is equal to 4 people per motorbike on average. |
| Brandon: Wow, that’s a lot. Seems like every family has at least one motorbike! |
| Huyen: Exactly. Some families have more motorbikes than people. |
| Brandon: What about public transportation? What’s the most popular? |
| Huyen: It’s not very popular because it’s not convenient. Buses are the only public transportation available to travel within a city. There’s no subway or train for short distances. Trains are only for travelling from one city or province to another. But the overnight train is an interesting experience. |
| Brandon: What about taxis? Are they expensive? |
| Huyen: Not really. One kilometer costs around 50 cents. |
| Brandon: What about airplanes? Are there airports in big cities? |
| Huyen: Yes, some big cities with famous tourist destinations have an airport, so it is also a quick and convenient way to travel among regions in Vietnam. |
| Brandon Those are some good tips, listeners. Okay, now let’s move on to the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Brandon: The first word we shall see is: |
| Huyen: từ...đến... [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: from...to... |
| Huyen: từ...đến... [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: từ...đến... [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Huyen: bằng [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: by |
| Huyen: bằng [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: bằng [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Huyen: máy bay [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: airplane |
| Huyen: máy bay [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: máy bay [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Huyen: tàu [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: train |
| Huyen: tàu [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: tàu [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Huyen: chắc là [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: must, may (guessing) |
| Huyen: chắc là [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: chắc là [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Huyen: lâu [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: slow |
| Huyen: lâu [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: lâu [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Huyen: có thể [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: can, may |
| Huyen: có thể [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: có thể [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Huyen: ngắm [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: to see, view, look |
| Huyen: ngắm [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: ngắm [natural native speed] |
| And Last: |
| Huyen: cảnh [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: sight, scenery |
| Huyen: cảnh [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Huyen: cảnh [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. The first word is: |
| Huyen: chắc là |
| Brandon: Which means “must be.” You use it to make a guess about an action or a state. You can put it at the beginning of a sentence or right after the subject of a sentence. |
| Huyen: Chắc là cô ấy đang ngủ or Cô ấy chắc là đang ngủ. |
| Brandon: She must be sleeping. |
| Huyen: Chắc là cậu mệt lắm nhỉ? or Cậu chắc là mệt lắm nhỉ? |
| Brandon: You must be very tired, right? |
| Huyen: Chắc là buổi tiệc sẽ bị hoãn vì trời mưa or Buổi tiệc chắc là sẽ bị hoãn vì trời mưa. |
| Brandon: The party must be postponed due to the rain. |
| Huyen: The second word is- lâu |
| Brandon: Which means “long” or “slow”. It functions both as an adjective and adverb. Let’s hear some examples. |
| Huyen: Tôi đợi cô ấy lâu rồi. |
| Brandon: I have been waiting for her for a long time. |
| Huyen: Đi bộ về nhà lâu quá. |
| Brandon: Walking home is so slow. |
| Huyen: Sao cậu làm gì cũng lâu thế? |
| Brandon: Why do you do everything so slowly? |
| Huyen: Finally, we have: có thể |
| Brandon: “can” or “be possible”. This can be an adjective or an adverb. It can be put at the beginning of a sentence to show possibility or right after the subject of a sentence to show ability. |
| Huyen: Tôi có thể chơi guitar. |
| Brandon: I can play guitar. |
| Huyen: Có thể cô ấy sắp nghỉ việc. |
| Brandon: She might quit her job soon. |
| Huyen: “có thể” can also be used to ask for permission, as in: “Tôi có thể ngồi ở đây được không?” |
| Brandon: May I or Can I sit here? |
| Huyen: Anh có thể cho tôi đi nhờ được không? |
| Brandon: Can you give me a lift? Ok, now let’s move on to the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
| Brandon: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about means of transportation. |
| Huyen: Đi từ Hà Nội đến thành phố Hồ Chí Minh bằng cách nào? |
| Brandon: "How do we go from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh city?" |
| Huyen: The key phrase is “bằng cách nào?” which means “how, or, by what way?” |
| Brandon: To ask how to go somewhere, start with a subject, which is optional if the subject is the speaker, then add... |
| Huyen: Đi or đến which means “to go”, or, “to get to”, followed by the place and finally add “bằng cách nào”? |
| Brandon: For example: |
| Huyen: Cậu đã đi Hà Nội bằng cách nào? |
| Brandon: “How did you go to Hanoi?” |
| Huyen: Đến bưu điện bằng cách nào? |
| Brandon: “How can I go to the post office?” To answer this question, start with a subject and then add: |
| Huyen: Đi or đến, then the place, followed by “bằng” which means “by” and finally the noun showing the means of transportation. |
| Brandon: Let’s learn some vocabulary about transportation in Vietnamese. |
| Huyen: xe máy |
| Brandon: motorbike |
| Huyen: xe đạp |
| Brandon: bicycle |
| Huyen: ô tô |
| Brandon: car |
| Huyen: tàu hỏa |
| Brandon: train |
| Huyen: tàu thủy |
| Brandon: ship |
| Huyen: máy bay |
| Brandon: airplane |
| Huyen: đi bộ |
| Brandon: to walk, or, to go on foot. |
| Huyen: Please note that, if you or someone walks to a place, you will have to start with the subject, then add “đi bộ” followed by “đi” or “đến” meaning “to” and finally the noun indicating the place. |
| Brandon: Let’s hear some examples. |
| Huyen: Tôi đi Hà Nội bằng tàu hỏa. |
| Brandon: I go to Hanoi by train. |
| Huyen: Anh ấy đi bộ đi làm. |
| Brandon: He walks to work. |
| Huyen: Tôi đã đến nhà cô ấy bằng tắc xi. |
| Brandon: I went to her house by taxi. |
| Huyen: Cô ấy đi du lịch bằng tàu thủy. |
| Brandon: She travels by ship. |
| Huyen: You can replace “bằng cách nào?” with “bằng phương tiện gì?” which means “by what means?” or simply “bằng gì” meaning “by what” to ask how to go somewhere. |
| Brandon: For example: |
| Huyen: Cậu đã đi Hà Nội bằng phương tiện gì? Or Cậu đã đi Hà Nội bằng gì? |
| Brandon: How did you go to Hanoi? |
Outro |
| Huyen: Well, we’ve covered the main structures and vocabulary to talk about means of transportation in Vietnamese. |
| Brandon: Please refer to the lesson notes for more information. And that’s all for this lesson. Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you again next time |
| Huyen: Tạm biệt. |
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