![{2400[x]1600}{priority}{caption: Dinh Cậu Shrine in Phú Quốc, taken at our last trip there — a peaceful spot where locals still come to pray for safe journeys at sea. Built in the 1930s, it feels like a quiet bridge between the island and the ocean.}](/journal/250430/learning-vietnamese-lesson-9-1.jpg)

This week marked my ninth Vietnamese lesson, and it was a refreshing change of pace. While earlier lessons had focused heavily on pronunciation and vocabulary, this one zoomed out a bit to explore something just as essential to language learning: culture.

We talked about Vietnamese customs, values, and communication styles—how people greet each other, what's considered polite or impolite, and how the Vietnamese sense of community shapes everyday interactions. One thing that stood out was how important modesty and indirect communication are in Vietnamese culture. It's subtle, but you start to understand why certain phrases are said in a particular way, or why some questions are framed so gently.

Alongside the cultural insights, we revisited some of the fundamentals: how to introduce yourself, ask where someone is from, and say where you're from. It's still a work in progress, especially with pronunciation...

We rehearsed what we learned in previous lessons, for example:

- Xin chào! – Hello!
- Chào buổi sáng! – Good morning!
- Chào buổi chiều! – Good afternoon!
- Chào buổi tối! – Good evening!
- Chúc ngủ ngon! – Good night!
- Tạm biệt! – Goodbye!
- Hẹn gặp lại! – See you again!
- Bạn khỏe không? – How are you?
- Tôi khỏe, cảm ơn. – I’m fine, thank you.
- Không có gì! – You’re welcome!
- Rất vui được gặp bạn! – Nice to meet you!

It was helpful to practice these basics again, especially now that I can recognize some patterns and anticipate what's coming next in a conversation. Next week will be the tenth and final lesson for this course. I already signed up for the next course in the fall.


Learning about the culture

Learning Vietnamese - Lesson 9

Travelling with Martin

Easter in Edinburgh

![{2400[x]1600}{priority}{caption: Our family on our last trip to Vietnam. Here we are at the Starlight bridge in district 7, Ho Chi Minh city.}](/journal/250423/learning-vietnamese-lesson-8-1.jpg)

Just got back from the Edinburgh trip and went almost straight to the Vietnamese class. This week, we focused a lot on tones and some of the trickier vowel sounds. I'm still trying to wrap my head (and tongue) around the difference between ngang (the mid tone) and huyền (the low-falling tone). They sound almost the same to me, but apparently they're not even close if you're Vietnamese.

## A Few Things That Help Me (Kind Of)

Pronunciation is tough, but I've found a few things that are actually helping:

- Slow and exaggerated is better than fast and wrong. I'm learning to just embrace sounding ridiculous at first.
- Minimal pairs (like "ma" vs "mà" vs "má" etc.) are super useful, even if it's really frustrating to get them right.
- Recording myself is awkward but really helpful. It's easier to hear mistakes when I listen back.
- I also try to listen to it like music, especially the tones. It helps me think less like a language learner and more like someone learning a song.

There's a famous American singer named Kyo York who learned Vietnamese, and is now as good as fluent in the language, inspiring!

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