Vietnamese lesson 2: Consonants

09/19/11 • 15 min

There are 17 consonants in total in the Vietnamese alphabet. They are B, C, D, Đ, G, H, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, S, T, V, X For Southerners, we pronounce X and S the same way as xờ. So as to tell them apart when it comes to writing, we use xờ xe for X and xờ sẻ for S. Children are taught to use Bờ for B and Bê for P. From now on, I’ll use B bê for B and B phở for P. Some common phrases: XIN CHAO: hello LAM ƠN/ VUI LONG: please XIN LÔI: sorry/ excuse me CAM ƠN: thank you XIN CHIA BUÔN: condolences CHUC MƯNG SINH NHÂT: happy birthday CHUC MƯNG NĂM MƠI: happy new year TUÂN SAU GĂP LAI: see you next week As for how to say these phrases, come and listen to me on the next episodes.

Previous Episode

LESSON 1: Vietnamese Vowels

There are 29 letters in the Vietnamese alphabet. They are A, Ă, Â, B, C, D, Đ, E, Ê, G, H, I K, L, M ,N, O, Ô, Ơ, P, Q, R, S, T, V, U, Ư, X, Y. - A (1) and its variations- Ă (2), Â (3) The order you hear should be 1, 3, 3, 2, 3, 1, 1, 2. Key to the dictation task: Ă, Â, A, Â, A, Ă - E (1) and Ê (2) The order you hear should be 1, 1, 1, 2 Key to the dictation exercise: Ê, Ê, E, Ê - O (1) and its variations Ô (2), Ơ (3) The order you hear should be 1, 2, 3, 2, 2, 1, 3, 1 Key to the dictation exercise: O, Ô, O, Ơ, Ô, Ô - U (1) and Ư (2) The order you hear should be 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 1 Key to the dictation exercise: U, Ư, Ư, U - Y and I Y: i dài I: i ngắn - The final dictation task should be in this order: E,O, A, U, Ă, Ô, Ư, Ơ, Y, Â, Ê, I.

Next Episode

Vietnamese Lesson 3: Combinations of Consonants- Accents

Notes: ngh and gh are pronounced like ng and g respectively. They along with K can only go with i, e, ê and their combinations. K can also go with Y. All accents are placed above a vowel except dấu nặng. It is placed below a vowel. Examples of placing an accent: Sài Gòn, người Việt Nam, đường Exercise: Place the accent in the parentheses in the preceding word. Xin chao (dấu huyền) Cam (dấu sắc) ơn Vui long (dấu huyền)/ lam (dấu huyền) ơn Xin lôi (dấu ngã) Xin chia buôn (dấu huyền) Chuc (dấu sắc) mưng (dấu huyền) năm mơi (dấu sắc) Chuc (dấu sắc) mưng (dấu huyền) sinh nhât (dấu nặng) Tuân (dấu huyền) sau găp (dấu nặng) lai (dấu nặng)