Re: Tieng Viet lovers club
 

True. But if you want to get into the whole formal speaking aspect of conversation, I guess you could include this...

to a stranger

"toi ten la nozila, ban ten la ji?"
my name is nozila, (friend) what is your name?

now that would be speaking to a total stranger.

also, perhaps you might take into consideration age differences which also uses the terms Anh and Em

"anh di hoc, em lam ji vay?"
Im going to school, what are you doing?

In the above sentence, the age of the person speaking (anh) and to whom them are speaking to (em) hasnt been gender specified. But you would think Anh is a guy and Em is a girl.

so, what would happen if I say...

"em di hoc, chi lam ji vay?"

:)

Re: Tieng Viet lovers club
 

In my opinion, anyone younger than you (same generation), u can address as EM. For children, then it would be CON, CHAU, etc...
But it would be polite if that person is a man and just few years(1-5) younger than u and u address him as ANH, i think he would feel nice to hear that.

But for lady older than you, but not too much (e.g less than 5), it would be pleasing to her ears if u still address her as EM so that it made her feel Younger and happier :) :D

Re: Tieng Viet lovers club
 

Bro, can translate your sentence? Want to check if my own translation is correct. Thanks

Re: Tieng Viet lovers club
 

Bro, you got a very strong and hard heart to say no to her. 5 years ago, my heart was very soft and I landed up with a very big hole in my pocket. Spent a small fortune on my ex gal which include top of range Mobile phone, Golf set (play 3 x only) Diamond ring etc. I don't mind buying if she treasured it, unfortunately, these things usually got sold off whenever the first opportunity come by.

I am very fortunate now that I know a Northern gal, who really know how to save and has never ask for luxury items from me.

Re: Tieng Viet lovers club
 

don't call you MASTER also cannot...

Re: Tieng Viet lovers club
 

chao == hello
ban = friend
toi = I
khong phai= am not
ong gia= old man
cam on=thank you

Re: Tieng Viet lovers club
 

Wow.... u sing praises of me so high, later i fall, will be harder, u know? :D
Aiyah, here so many ppl can speak/write/sing vietnamese better than me, its only they didnt come out to voice their views only.... (SS08, CARROT, VKILLER,etc ...... dun say so many out else invite many "enemies" :p) If they share info, same as YOU, this thread will be v useful. YOU are MASTER of KC!!!

Re: Tieng Viet lovers club
 

chao == hello
ban = friend
toi = I
khong phai= am not
ong gia= old man
cam on=thank you


jackbl is spot on

Re: Tieng Viet lovers club
 

Friend, heard u wan to go to the Northern Part of VN. Seems that that region is in the danger of "attack" by Storm Parma soon. Please pray for the safety and when u visit there, it will be back to normal.

Re: Tieng Viet lovers club
 

Yes, thats my intentions. Ive watched on a few VN channels here and there seems to be alot of bad weather killing innocent people, which is unfortunate. Im in VN in 2 weeks but wont plan where exactly to head until Im there. May fly to Hanoi if necessary, pending weather.

Are you in VN yourself, if you where are you situated?

Re: Tieng Viet lovers club
 

Interesting arrangement of verbs if i am correct in my translation :)

SMS - E cam on a hom nay dan e di choi. Neu e co noi gi sai, hay la lam phien a cho e xin loi. Hom nay e biet e noi chuyen nhieu, co gi dung buon e nhe.:-)

Viet/Eng - E cam on a hom nay dan (dẫn) e di choi (beach). Neu (if) e (I) co noi (have said) gi (anything) sai (wrong), hay là (or) làm phiền (disturbed, irritated) a cho e xin loi. Hom nay e biet e noi chuyen(talk) nhieu (alot), có gì (anything) đừng (don't be) buồn (sad) e nhe.:-)

Translation - I thank you today bring me to the beach. If I said anything wrong, or irritated you, I'm sorry. Today I know I talk alot, anyway don't be sad for me.

If I'm not wrong, "co gi" means "anything". Also, not too sure how "cho" is used in this context.

Re: Tieng Viet lovers club
 

Cam on nhieu2:)

Re: Tieng Viet lovers club
 

Generally, toi and ban is fine and gender-neutral, but kinda weird to use among friends.

BTW "ban" meaning friend, is pronounced like "but" in the north with a silent "n".

Em refers to a girl and also a guy younger than you. So in a restaurant, i might call a younger male waiter "em oi...!"

Chi is usually an elder sister.

Khong phai can also mean "incorrect" or "not right". Eg in a situation I might make a mistake while filling in a form and exclaim: "Ay da... kg phai!" (da is pronounced "za")

What I know is more northern-centric, meaning I learnt my stuff in Hanoi (a bit like Beijing Mandarin, which everyone says shld be standard). May or may not apply in Saigon. Haha... am i making things complicated?

Re: Tieng Viet lovers club
 

choi = to play, to have fun
lam phien = bother, disturb, annoy, irritate

in this context:
cho e xin loi = let me say sorry to you
co gi dung buon e nhe = anything don't be sadden by (unhappy about) me

Re: Tieng Viet lovers club
 

A more polite way for a ger to address a waitress even she is younger, can be "chi oi".

I guess u meant "older ger" too.