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Vietnamese Study Materials | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| JohnPaul Diglot Newbie United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5711 days ago 28 posts - 63 votes  Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish | Message 1 of 13 07 December 2010 at 5:40am | IP Logged | ||
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Hello, I am a long time lurker here on the forum, and first wanted to thank Michel and the members for all of their contributions. This site has been such a shot of motivation for me to recommence my study of French. It has made me genuinely believe that those who say that learning a language is harder for adults never really tried in the first place. This site helps contribute to a new wave in language learning that I can't wait to see where it leads in my lifetime.
Now down to business! I am making this post as story, plea for advice, and review of materials. Since January I have been traveling to Saigon from San Francisco very frequently and will be continuing to do so until May of next year. Everytime I go I stay with my girlfriend who works on contract for a school. She and I are both Anglo Americans. Her work does not require her to speak any Vietnamese and her social circle is entirely expatriate. Before I left for my first trip I made it through a some of the Pimsleur Vietnamese. On arrival I attempted to use what I had learned. The good news was I was understood, the bad news was that the Vietnamese I was taught was not appropriate for most situations. For example, the way Pimsleur teaches you to address a woman in a formal situation is simply wrong. Instead of being formal it was rude. I was essentially say "Hello Old Lady" or "Hello Old Man." This really disappointed me because for so long Pimsleur had really delivered for me in French and Spanish. I have abandoned the Pimsleur for now. Maybe it will be better at some other point. On my second trip I went to the best foreign language bookshops in Saigon to look for material, their selection was great if you wanted to learn practicaly any language but Vietnamese. The best materials available are not that great and a lot of what's for sale is a poorly reproduced illegal copy. None of what's available is a good self study program. My only hope right now is that whenever I eventually receive my copy of Assimil Vietnamien that I will be able to muddle through it. That's right, I wrote the French word there. Assimil seems to be the only self study course available of any real value. The source is however in French, that will not be impossible for me as I have studied french for a very long time, but I know I will need more than just the Assimil to really study this. For right now, I am fed up with almost a year going by and me not having much to show for all my travel there. I know the city map like the back of my hand, but can't do much more than order iced tea, coffee, and beer. My tailor speaks perfect English, my favorite restaurants aside from the local cuisine are French so that's no problem. But when dealing in the markets, taxis, and nearly everywhere outside the tourist areas and am at a complete loss. I need to find a good supplement to the Assimil. I have looked at the FSI stuff and while I am more interested in learning a southern accent, the FSI material bores you to the level of not caring anymore. Furthermore, my understanding is the FSI course is very dated. I am open to any suggestions. Thanks and all the best, John Paul 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Gateway Newbie Australia Joined 5448 days ago 13 posts - 15 votes | Message 2 of 13 07 December 2010 at 11:54am | IP Logged | ||
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Hi John
I am doing the "teach yourself" course in Vietnamese. I am supplementing this with Pimsluer as well. So far its slow going and I too really wish ASSIMIL would do an English/Vietnamese course. But they don't so just stick with the Pimsleur and Teach Yourself until something better comes along. That's the trouble with Vietnamese,,,,, the lack of or sometimes just the availablility of alot of good course materials. Please keep us updated on your progress. Paul Edited by newyorkeric on 07 December 2010 at 12:57pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| jimbo Tetraglot Senior Member Canada Joined 6295 days ago 469 posts - 642 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin, Korean, French Studies: Japanese, Latin | Message 3 of 13 07 December 2010 at 1:52pm | IP Logged | ||
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There is some stuff in French that seems OK.
I picked up "le vietnamien tout de suite!" a few years ago. ISBN 2-266-14818-4 a few years ago. Now I just need to find the time to work through it. (It is sold as a book on its own or with CDs.) Need to finish some other projects first... (OK, my theory is that learning Cantonese will help me with Vietnamese.) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| kmart Senior Member Australia Joined 6125 days ago 194 posts - 400 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian | Message 4 of 13 07 December 2010 at 11:25pm | IP Logged | ||
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I have used a book and audio CD called "Vietnamese for Beginners" by Jake Catlett. I haven't done a lot of study with it, but I've found it very clear with regards to grammar explanations and the audio CD easy to understand (much clearer pronunciation than Pimsleur I felt).
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Chris Heptaglot Senior Member Japan Joined 7122 days ago 287 posts - 452 votes Speaks: English*, Russian, Indonesian, French, Malay, Japanese, Spanish Studies: Dutch, Korean, Mongolian | Message 5 of 13 08 December 2010 at 2:46pm | IP Logged | ||
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Cortina does a Vietnamese course, but I don't know what it's like.
And there is an FSI one that you can download free. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| spinpdx Newbie United States Joined 5827 days ago 5 posts - 6 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Japanese, Vietnamese | Message 6 of 13 18 December 2010 at 6:59pm | IP Logged | ||
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I second kmart's suggestion of "Vietnamese for beginners" by Jake Catlett. The focus of this program (book + audio CDs) is southern dialect. The book & CDs (sold separately) are available through his website Paiboon Publishing or through amazon. I found them in my local library as well, so you might try that.
Another program I recently acquired that focuses on southern dialect vietnamese is Tran Dung Ngoc's "Vietnamese for Busy People." I have only been able to find this on amazon. The author teaches Vietnamese at a CA community college. There are two levels to this course, so it takes you farther than VFB does. Both of these programs are up to date and use language that is contemporary, including various forms of address (more/less formal). 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| JohnPaul Diglot Newbie United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5711 days ago 28 posts - 63 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish | Message 7 of 13 19 December 2010 at 3:08pm | IP Logged | ||
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I wanted to thank everyone for all of their highly informative replies. I am looking into some of these.
I recently looked at the Mango website and see they have a Vietnamese course as well. I am hesitant to spend 150 dollars on a course that only received halfway favorable reviews on this forum during the time the site was giving the entire course away for free. Its hard to judge a course by the first lesson only. I wish they would let you see the entire first chapter or two. I looked at the Cortina website and while the package looks impressive, the cost does as well. The Cortina method has been reviewed favorably on this forum for other languages, and Dr. Arguelles also seemed approving of it. Albeit, the course he reviewed on his YouTube series, like most others, appeared to be of a 1970s vintage. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Chris Heptaglot Senior Member Japan Joined 7122 days ago 287 posts - 452 votes Speaks: English*, Russian, Indonesian, French, Malay, Japanese, Spanish Studies: Dutch, Korean, Mongolian | Message 8 of 13 13 February 2011 at 3:40pm | IP Logged | ||
Psst! That's not 'his' website, it's Benjawan Poomsan Becker's, author of a number of quality resources for learning Thai. I think the Vietnamese book is of similar format to 'Thai For Beginners', which is very good, so you're in goo dhands. One more resource I have just discovered, although I am not learning Vietnamese (yet). That resource is 'Elementary Vietnamese' from Tuttle and there is a follow-up volume. I have the Korean version of this course and it is very good, so on that basis, the Vietnamese course may be worth a look. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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