Track B
Beginner Vietnamese lessons
Practical Vietnamese for greetings, everyday needs and the foundations of real conversation.
Course section
Unit 1
Xin chào! — Saying hello naturally
Learn how Vietnamese greetings really work: xin chào, relationship words from anh/chị/em to ông/bà/bác, and why the person you are greeting changes the sentence.
Bạn tên là gì? — Asking and giving names
Ask someone’s name, introduce yourself, and understand why Vietnamese often replaces tôi/bạn with relationship words in real conversation.
Tôi là người... — Saying where you are from
Use người + country to talk about nationality, while learning when Vietnamese speakers may prefer quê, đến từ or sống ở instead.
Tôi đến từ... — Hometown, origin and where you live
Learn đến từ, quê ở, sống ở and đang ở so you can describe origin, hometown and current location without treating them as the same thing.
Anh, chị, cô, chú, em — Vietnamese forms of address
A practical guide to Vietnamese forms of address — from anh/chị/em and ông/bà to mình, cậu/tớ and the socially powerful tao/mày.
Dạ, vâng and không
Understand dạ, vâng and không as real Vietnamese social language — not just three dictionary equivalents for yes and no.
Cảm ơn and xin lỗi
Learn cảm ơn and xin lỗi in natural situations, including how Vietnamese speakers add relationship words and soften everyday exchanges.
Bạn khỏe không? — Asking how someone is
Learn Bạn khỏe không? and several natural answers, then see why Vietnamese social greetings often ask about food, work or movement instead.
Rất vui được gặp... — Ending a first meeting naturally
Learn nice-to-meet-you, goodbye and see-you-again expressions, while understanding which ones sound formal, neutral or natural in everyday Vietnamese.
Một cuộc gặp lần đầu — Your first complete conversation
Bring Unit 1 together in one longer first-meeting conversation: greeting, names, origin, address terms, polite responses, wellbeing and saying goodbye.
Course section
Unit 2
Đây là..., kia là... — Pointing out people and things
Use đây, kia and là to identify people and things, while learning when Vietnamese can leave là out in other sentence types.
Có và không có — Saying what exists
Use có and không có to say that something exists or does not exist, with everyday examples from places, food and objects.
Tôi có... — Talking about what you have
Use có for possession, and compare having something with saying that something exists in a place.
Tôi không... — Basic negation in Vietnamese
Use không before verbs and adjectives to make basic negative sentences without treating Vietnamese negation like English auxiliary verbs.
Có... không? — Asking yes/no questions
Build one of the most useful Vietnamese question frames: có...không?, and learn why natural answers often repeat the verb or key idea.
Ai? Cái gì? Ở đâu? — Basic question words
Ask who, what and where without rearranging the whole Vietnamese sentence the way English often does.
Tại sao? Vì... — Asking and giving reasons
Ask why with tại sao and answer with vì, while learning that everyday Vietnamese often uses shorter reason patterns.
Như thế nào? — Asking “how” and “what is it like?”
Use như thế nào and thế nào to ask about condition, opinion, method and description without forcing one English “how” pattern onto Vietnamese.
Cũng, rất, hơi, quá — Changing the strength of a sentence
Use four extremely common words to soften, strengthen or connect descriptions in natural Vietnamese.
Câu ngắn nhưng đủ nghĩa — Why Vietnamese often leaves words out
Understand why real Vietnamese can be much shorter than textbook sentences when the topic and relationship are already clear.
Course section
Unit 3
Vietnamese numbers from 0 to 100
Build Vietnamese numbers from 0 to 100, including the important changes mốt, tư and lăm used in everyday prices, ages and quantities.
Hàng trăm, nghìn, triệu — Reading larger numbers
Move beyond 100 and learn the number patterns needed for prices, population, addresses and everyday amounts in Vietnam.
Bao nhiêu tuổi? — Talking about age
Ask and state age while learning why age matters to Vietnamese address terms and why social context matters before asking.
Mấy giờ rồi? — Telling time
Ask Mấy giờ rồi?, tell simple clock times, use rưỡi and kém, and understand everyday Vietnamese time expressions.
Sáng, trưa, chiều, tối — Parts of the day
Learn the Vietnamese day in real-life blocks: morning, noon, afternoon and evening, and combine them naturally with clock time.
Hôm nay là thứ mấy? — Days of the week
Learn the Vietnamese weekday system, why Monday starts with thứ hai, and how to ask about schedules.
Ngày, tháng, năm — Reading dates
Read Vietnamese calendar dates in day–month–year order and combine them with weekdays and everyday scheduling.
Hôm qua, hôm nay, ngày mai — Time through context
Use yesterday, today and tomorrow as the first step toward understanding how Vietnamese often expresses time through context rather than verb tense changes.
Đã, đang, sẽ — A first look at time and aspect
Understand đã, đang and sẽ as useful time/aspect signals without turning them into a rigid Vietnamese copy of English past, present continuous and future tenses.
Rồi và chưa — Has it happened yet?
Use rồi and chưa to talk about completion, change and “not yet”, including one of the most common Vietnamese everyday question patterns.
Course section
Unit 4
Gia đình tôi — Family words in real Vietnamese
Learn core family words while recognizing regional forms such as bố/ba/cha and mẹ/má, and see how family terms connect directly to Vietnamese address.
Đây là mẹ tôi — Introducing family members
Introduce relatives with đây là..., use của for possession when useful, and learn why Vietnamese often prefers relationship information over a bare name.
Nhà tôi có năm người — Counting people in a family
Combine có, numbers and người to describe household size, while beginning to notice Vietnamese counting words without overloading the lesson with classifier theory.
Anh ấy, chị ấy, cô ấy... — Talking about another person
Learn how Vietnamese refers to third persons through relationship words plus ấy, and why this is not a simple he/she pronoun system.
Người này cao, người kia thấp — Describing people
Describe height, age and simple personality traits while learning that Vietnamese adjectives usually work without là.
Làm nghề gì? — Talking about occupations
Ask what someone does for a living, name common occupations and distinguish profession from the immediate action someone is doing.
Học ở đâu? Làm ở đâu? — Study and work locations
Ask where someone studies or works, distinguish institution, place and field, and reuse ở đâu in a practical social context.
Một gia đình Việt Nam — Reading and culture bridge
Read a short story about one Vietnamese family and use it to connect family terms, address, work, place and cultural context without treating one household as all of Vietnam.
Course section
Unit 5
Tôi muốn... — Asking for food and drinks
Use muốn naturally for food and drinks, then learn the more useful restaurant patterns cho..., gọi món and forms of address.
Tôi thích / tôi không thích — Likes, dislikes and softer opinions
Say what you like and dislike, then learn softer Vietnamese ways to express preference without turning every opinion into a hard yes/no statement.
Tôi cần... — Needs, requirements and “no need”
Use cần for things and actions that are needed, distinguish it from muốn, and learn the very common expressions không cần and cần gì.
Tôi biết / tôi không biết — Knowing people, facts and how to do things
Use biết for knowledge and familiarity, say không biết naturally, and prepare for the next lesson by separating biết from hiểu.
Tôi hiểu / tôi chưa hiểu — Understanding and “not yet”
Use hiểu for understanding, contrast it with biết, and learn why chưa hiểu is often more useful for a learner than a flat không hiểu.
Có thể... không? — Ability, possibility and polite requests
Use có thể for possibility and ability, then see how có thể...không? becomes a useful request pattern without treating every English “can” the same way.
Muốn, cần, thích khác nhau thế nào? — Choosing the right viewpoint
Consolidate Unit 5 by choosing between muốn, cần and thích according to desire, necessity and preference instead of translating one English sentence at a time.
Course section
Unit 6
Ăn gì? Uống gì? — Choosing food and drink
Ask and answer the everyday questions ăn gì and uống gì, combine them with muốn and thích, and learn how context makes Vietnamese food talk compact.
Gọi món ở quán — Ordering naturally
Order food and drinks with cho..., gọi..., lấy..., and polite address terms instead of relying on a single translated “I would like...” formula.
Một phở bò, một cà phê sữa đá — Counting orders
Order quantities of dishes and drinks, learn common food measure/classifier words, and understand why real menus sometimes omit them.
Cay, ngọt, mặn, chua — Talking about taste
Describe basic tastes, control strength with hơi/rất/quá, and learn that food judgments and tolerance are often expressed through context rather than absolute labels.
Ngon quá! — Reacting to food naturally
Say that food is delicious and learn how quá, lắm, thật and other small words change the feeling of a reaction rather than acting as simple synonyms.
Cho tôi / cho anh / cho em... — Requests through relationship
Understand the extremely common cho + self-reference pattern in shops and restaurants, and see how changing tôi/anh/em changes the social relationship rather than the requested item.
Tính tiền — Paying at a restaurant or café
Ask for the bill, understand totals and common payment words, and handle cash, transfer and card questions without assuming every business accepts every method.
Một bữa ăn Việt Nam — Reading and culture bridge
Read one family meal scene and connect shared dishes, cơm, canh, nước chấm, mời, address terms and modern family variation without treating one meal as universal.
Course section
Unit 7
Cái này bao nhiêu tiền? — Asking the price
Ask prices with bao nhiêu tiền, understand shortened market answers, and learn how Vietnamese đồng amounts are commonly spoken in daily life.
Nghìn, ngàn, triệu và tiền Việt — Using Vietnamese money
Apply large numbers to real Vietnamese prices: đồng, nghìn/ngàn, triệu, shortened price speech and common written forms without repeating the full number lesson.
Đắt, rẻ, vừa — Talking about price and value
Describe prices as expensive, cheap or reasonable, soften judgments with hơi/không...lắm, and distinguish rẻ from the negative expression rẻ tiền.
Cái này / cái kia / cái nào — Choosing among things
Use này, kia and nào to point to and choose items, while learning why cái can stand for an object in context but is not a universal word for every noun.
Tôi lấy cái này — Deciding to buy
Use lấy and mua when choosing an item, learn natural forms such as cho em lấy cái này, and see why “take” is not the whole meaning of lấy.
Có màu khác không? — Colors and other options
Ask whether another color is available, name common colors, and learn the flexible Vietnamese color system including xanh lá, xanh dương and contextual omission.
To hơn, nhỏ hơn — Comparing size
Use adjective + hơn to ask for bigger or smaller items, distinguish to/lớn and nhỏ, and add practical clothing words such as rộng, chật, dài and ngắn.
Đi chợ — Shopping integration and culture
Follow one realistic market interaction from greeting and price to quantity, bargaining and purchase, while distinguishing traditional-market practices from fixed-price retail.
Course section
Unit 8
... ở đâu? — Asking where something is
Use ở đâu to ask where people, places and objects are, with everyday examples for restrooms, stations, addresses and meeting someone.
Đi thẳng, rẽ trái, rẽ phải
Understand đi thẳng, rẽ trái, rẽ phải and common location words, then follow a short real-world Vietnamese direction exchange.
Gần, xa, trước, sau, bên cạnh — Locating things relative to each other
Go beyond basic left/right directions and describe whether a place is near, far, in front, behind or beside another landmark.
Số nhà và địa chỉ — Reading and giving an address
Read common Vietnamese house numbers and address components, including slash-style numbers, while distinguishing a formal address from the shorter address people use in conversation.
Đường, hẻm/ngõ, ngã tư — The vocabulary of real streets
Navigate streets, alleys and intersections with regional vocabulary such as hẻm, ngõ, ngách and kiệt, while learning that local naming systems are not perfectly uniform.
Tôi sống ở... — Talking about where you live now
Use sống ở and ở to talk about current residence while keeping hometown, origin, birthplace, temporary location and formal address as separate ideas.
Đi bằng gì? — Talking about means of transport
Ask how someone travels and answer naturally with đi bộ, đi xe máy, đi ô tô, đi xe buýt, taxi or ride-hailing without turning this lesson into a full transport survival guide.
Bao lâu? Bao xa? — Duration and distance are different questions
Separate duration from distance, ask mất bao lâu and bao xa, give approximate minutes/hours/meters/kilometers, and connect estimates to transport and traffic.
Hỏi đường trong đời sống thật — Putting Unit 8 together
Integrate asking where, directions, landmarks, addresses, alleys, transport, duration and distance in one realistic fictional route-finding situation.
Course section
Unit 9
Tôi thức dậy lúc... — Talking about when your day starts
Use thức dậy, dậy and lúc with clock time and parts of the day, while keeping “wake up” separate from “get out of bed” and avoiding an English-style tense formula.
Tôi đi làm / đi học — Work and study as daily activities
Use đi làm and đi học naturally, connect them to place, time and transport, and distinguish the daily activity from occupation or school/workplace identity.
Ăn sáng, ăn trưa, ăn tối — Talking about daily meals
Use ăn sáng, ăn trưa and ăn tối as daily-routine expressions, connect them with time and food, and avoid assuming fixed meal times or one universal Vietnamese meal pattern.
Hôm nay tôi bận — Talking about being busy or free
Use bận and rảnh with hôm nay, sáng nay, chiều nay and tối nay, ask có bận không naturally, and understand that social answers may be softer than a bare yes/no.
Đang làm gì? — Asking what is happening now
Use đang to focus on an activity in progress, ask đang làm gì naturally, and learn when context makes đang optional instead of treating it as a compulsory present-continuous marker.
Làm xong rồi — Saying something is finished
Use xong for finishing an activity and rồi for the reached/completed state, compare làm xong, xong rồi and làm xong rồi, and answer completion questions naturally.
Chưa ăn / chưa đi / chưa làm — “Not yet” in daily life
Use chưa before everyday activities to show that an expected or relevant point has not been reached yet, contrast chưa with không, and answer ...chưa? questions compactly.
Một ngày bình thường — Reading a daily routine in context
Read one fictional ordinary day and integrate waking, work, meals, availability, đang, xong rồi and chưa without presenting the schedule as a universal Vietnamese lifestyle.
Course section
Unit 10
Ơi — Calling someone naturally
Learn how ơi follows a name or relationship term to call someone, get their attention or answer a call, and why it is not simply an English equivalent of “hey”.
Nhé, nha — Softening and inviting agreement
Use nhé and nha in suggestions, reminders, arrangements and friendly requests, notice regional and interpersonal variation, and avoid reducing them to a single English word.
Ạ — Showing respect and social positioning
Use ạ in respectful replies, statements and questions, connect it to Vietnamese address relationships, and understand why it is not simply a standalone word meaning “polite”.
À, hả, vậy à? — Reacting and checking in conversation
Recognize à, hả and vậy à as conversational reaction/checking particles, distinguish neutral reaction from surprise or confirmation by context and intonation, and avoid one-word translation rules.
Thôi — Enough, just, stopping and narrowing a choice
Learn several common Beginner uses of thôi: stopping an action, choosing only one thing, saying that something is enough, and softening a decision without assuming one fixed translation.
Giúp tôi / giúp em với — Asking someone for help
Use giúp + person and sentence-final với in ordinary requests for help, choose the self-reference that fits the relationship, and avoid treating với here as the normal preposition “with”.
Cho hỏi... — Opening a question politely and naturally
Use cho hỏi as a conventional way to open a question, combine it with ơi, address terms and ạ, and understand why its meaning cannot be derived by translating cho and hỏi separately.
Mời... — Inviting, offering and welcoming someone to do something
Use mời in invitations, food and social offers, notice how roles and relationships shape the sentence, and avoid reducing mời to one English verb such as “invite”.
Từ chối mà không quá thẳng — Saying no without sounding unnecessarily blunt
Learn several everyday ways to decline offers, invitations and requests softly, use reasons or alternatives when appropriate, and understand that Vietnamese politeness is not one fixed refusal formula.
Một cuộc trò chuyện tự nhiên — Putting social Vietnamese together
Follow one fictional everyday conversation that combines calling someone, particles, respect, asking for help, cho hỏi, mời and soft refusal without turning natural Vietnamese into a checklist.
Course section
Unit 11
Ở quán cà phê — A practical café visit
Use familiar Vietnamese to enter a café, order a drink, adjust simple preferences, ask about wifi or the restroom, and pay without assuming every café follows the same service model.
Ở nhà hàng — Ordering and eating at a restaurant
Handle a simple restaurant visit from table and menu to ordering, taste preferences, extra items and payment, while recognizing that family restaurants, street eateries and formal restaurants operate differently.
Ở chợ — Buying something at a traditional market
Use price, quantity, choosing and buying language in a traditional-market interaction, distinguish ordinary price discussion from bargaining, and recognize that market practices vary by goods, region and relationship.
Ở siêu thị — Finding products and checking out
Use practical Vietnamese to find a product, compare options, ask about size or availability, understand posted prices and complete a checkout in a fixed-price retail setting.
Đi taxi / xe công nghệ — Getting to the right destination
Use an address or landmark with a taxi or app-based ride, confirm the destination, handle a difficult entrance, ask about time and stop location, and distinguish vehicle travel from the digital app itself.
Đi xe buýt — Asking, boarding and getting off
Ask whether a bus goes to your destination, find the right stop, understand lên/xuống, ask where to get off and recognize that routes, fares and payment systems differ by city.
Ở khách sạn — Checking in and asking for what you need
Handle a simple hotel check-in, identify a reservation, ask about the room, wifi and breakfast, report a basic problem and check out without assuming all hotels use the same procedures.
Hỏi nhà vệ sinh — Finding the restroom when you need it
Ask where the restroom is in cafés, restaurants, shops, stations or hotels, recognize common signs such as WC/toilet, and follow short location answers without learning a new direction system.
Gọi điện thoại — Starting, handling and ending a simple phone call
Use alo appropriately on the phone, identify yourself, ask who is speaking, handle a wrong number or missed call, and end a call naturally without treating phone Vietnamese as face-to-face speech with the same visual context.
Nhắn một tin ngắn — Writing a short useful message
Write compact Vietnamese messages about location, arrival, delay and calling back, use context without deleting essential information, and prefer clear Vietnamese with tone marks over imitating opaque chat slang.
Khi không hiểu người Việt nói gì — Diagnose the communication problem
Distinguish not hearing clearly, not knowing a word and not understanding meaning, then respond honestly so the other person knows whether to repeat, explain or clarify.
Xin nói chậm lại — Asking for slower, repeated or clearer speech
Ask someone to speak more slowly or repeat naturally, distinguish slower from louder, use có thể...không? when helpful, and choose a respectful form without assuming xin is required in every request.
Tôi đang học tiếng Việt — Telling people you are a learner
Say that you are learning Vietnamese, describe your ability modestly but clearly, ask for patience or slower speech, and use learner identity as a practical communication bridge rather than an apology.
Beginner review: một ngày ở Việt Nam — Using Units 1–11 together
Follow one fictional learner through a day in Vietnam and review introductions, time, food, shopping, directions, transport, social particles, practical situations and communication-repair strategies without presenting one day as representative of the whole country.
Course section
Unit 12
Tôi không khỏe — Saying you do not feel well
Say that you do not feel well, describe a few basic symptoms naturally in Vietnamese, and ask simple questions without turning the lesson into medical diagnosis or a full grammar lesson on bị.
Tôi cần đi khám — Finding a doctor, clinic or pharmacy
Find a doctor, clinic or pharmacy, state a basic need or appointment, and ask for repetition when health-service language becomes unfamiliar.
Phải, nên, không nên — What you have to do and what is advisable
Distinguish practical obligation from advice with phải, nên and không nên, while keeping phải không?, không phải and vì... nên... separate.
Được, không được, ...được không? — Permission and practical possibility
Consolidate familiar Beginner uses of được for permission, practical possibility, acceptance and everyday ability without trying to teach every meaning of the word.
Một ngày không theo kế hoạch — Beginner final review
Bring the Beginner course together through one ordinary day that changes unexpectedly: health, directions, service interactions, a changed plan, a short message and communication repair.