Product Description

The most enjoyable and rewarding way to get to know a place is by meeting the local people. Vietnamese is a vibrant language and even a little knowledge will help visitors gain an understanding of Vietnamese culture as well as make many friends along the way!

• all the essential day-to-day words and phrases, plus vocabulary for making conversation, understanding festivals and local dates, and sightseeing
• comprehensive pronunciation and grammar chapters
• cultural tips
• thumb tabs and index for fast reference

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1136109 in Books
• Published on: 2000-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 284 pages

Language Notes
Text: English, Vietnamese

Customer Reviews

An Appropriate Title
As an individual who has spent about 2 years learning Vietnamese I believe this to be a very good book. The comments of the previous two reviewers should be dismissed (as one did not read the book and the other is already fluent). As long as you understand the setup and reasoning for the layout of a phrasebook this book will not dissappoint anyone. Unlike a dictionary where words are alphabetically listed, this book has similar items arranged (i.e. foods, health, animals). If you went to Vietnam and needed a book to take with you this is the only one I would recommend. It will allow you to survive; and, if you had trouble pronouncing words you could also point to the phrase you were trying to say (this of course would only work if the other individual was literate). If you are planning on learning the language at all (other than for a brief trip) then I'd strongly recommend getting other books (Elementary Vietnamese is good, but Colloquial Vietnamese is awful).

Decent phrasebook, but missing a couple of things...
I don't speak Vietnamese to rate the translations and phrasing used in this pocket-sized guide, but I have used a number of Lonely Planet phrasebooks for languages that I do know more about. This guide follows the format of those other guides, broken down into sections by situation, with a 2-way dictionary at the back and a pronounciation guide at the beginning of the book.

Two notable omissions. There is not a section on "love and dating" as there is in every other LP Phrasebook I've used.

Also, unlike the Russian phrasebook, which contains the english phrase, a phonetic pronounciation, and then the actual spelling, this book does not contain a phonetic spelling. For a language likely to be as difficult as Vietnamese for native English speakers and considering that such speakers are the book's target audience, phonetic spellings (indicating inflection as well) would help a lot.

Still, a decent phrasebook as LP ones tend to be.

Excellent Phrase Book
An nice, small companion for those needing a quick reference. Its dimensions ensure that that the book will fit neatly into a pocket or pack, and frequently needed phrases are easy to locate. This reference guide also includes a Vietnamese-English / English-Vietnamese dictionary, though the selections are rather slim. A little more information on pronounciation would be ideal, but as this book is geared more for the traveller, the basics are well addressed.

Phrases are collected according to what you think you'll need to ask - so you'll find a section with phrases and words for ordering food, for going to a doctor, and for talking to locals. As a tool to help you learn some vocabulary, there are small crossword puzzles...which are more of a nice afterthought than something really useful.

Definitely not exhaustive by any stretch of the imganation, but well worth the money if you need a quick reference guide.