Learn how to use argumentative transition words and phrases
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome back to VietnamesePod101.com. This is Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 23 - Let’s Agree to Disagree in Vietnam. Eric here. |
| Hoang Anh: Chào. I'm Hoang Anh. |
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to express opposition and contradiction. The conversation takes place in a workshop about education. |
| Hoang Anh: It's between Tâm and Nam. |
| Eric: The speakers are strangers, so they will use formal Vietnamese. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Tâm: Việc có nên cho trẻ con học đọc và viết trước khi vào lớp một đang là vấn đề gây tranh cãi. |
| Nam: Tôi không đồng tình. Theo tôi trẻ con phải được vui chơi một cách tự nhiên. Bị bắt học sớm quá không tốt.. |
| Minh: Cũng không hẳn là như thế. Tôi thấy học trước có cả điểm lợi và điểm bất lợi. |
| Minh: Điểm lợi là cho trẻ làm quen và có hứng thú với việc học. Nhiều bé cũng thích học chứ không phải bị ép. |
| Minh: Nhưng điểm bất lợi là khi đi học chính thức, trẻ sẽ dễ chán khi phải học lại những điều đã biết. |
| Tâm: Và kết quả là trẻ sẽ mất tập trung và không còn hứng thú với việc đi học. |
| Nam: Như vậy, nói một cách khác là việc học trước chỉ nên áp dụng nếu trẻ thật sự thích học mà thôi. |
| Minh: Đúng vậy. Theo các chuyên gia giáo dục thì việc ép học có ảnh hưởng xấu tới tâm lí của trẻ. |
| Minh: Điều này sẽ khiến trẻ phản ứng tiêu cực với việc học. |
| Tâm: Nói tóm lại là nên để cho trẻ phát triển tự nhiên và làm những gì chúng thích. |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Tâm: Having children learn how to read and write before entering the first grade is a matter of debate. |
| Nam: I disagree. I think children should be able to play and have fun in a natural way. Being forced to learn so early is not good. |
| Minh: It is not necessarily so. I think learning in advance has both advantages and disadvantages. |
| Minh: The advantage is to familiarize them with learning and arouse their interest in learning. Many kids also like to learn, rather than being forced to learn. |
| Minh: But the disadvantage is when they officially enter school, they will get bored easily when having to learn again what they already know. |
| Tâm: As a result, they will lose concentration and have no interest in going to school. |
| Nam: Therefore, in other words, learning in advance should only be applied if children really like to learn. |
| Minh: Right. According to educational experts, being forced to learn causes a bad effect on children mentally. |
| Minh: This will make them react negatively to learning. |
| Tâm: In summary, we should let children grow naturally and do what they like. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: Hoang Anh, in Vietnam, do children have to study before going to elementary school? |
| Hoang Anh: It’s definitely becoming more common now. As you know, Vietnamese people place great importance on educational achievements and degrees. Many people think that studying well is the only key to success. Therefore, from an early age, children in Vietnam are highly encouraged or even forced to study by their parents, even before they actually go to elementary schools. |
| Eric: Hm...I guess it is not uncommon for kindergartens to teach kids in advance what should be taught at grade 1. |
| Hoang Anh: Right, However, many parents think that without learning in advance, their kids will not be able to follow other classmates when they enter elementary schools. This is a very controversial topic in education these days in Vietnam. |
| Eric: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Hoang Anh: gây tranh cãi [natural native speed] |
| Eric: controversial |
| Hoang Anh: gây tranh cãi[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hoang Anh: gây tranh cãi [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Hoang Anh: đồng tình [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to agree |
| Hoang Anh: đồng tình[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hoang Anh: đồng tình [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Hoang Anh: bắt, ép [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to force |
| Hoang Anh: bắt, ép [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hoang Anh: bắt, ép [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Hoang Anh: làm quen [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to familiarize oneself with, to get acquainted with |
| Hoang Anh: làm quen[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hoang Anh: làm quen [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Hoang Anh: mất tập trung [natural native speed] |
| Eric: lose concentration |
| Hoang Anh: mất tập trung[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hoang Anh: mất tập trung [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Hoang Anh: mà thôi [natural native speed] |
| Eric: only |
| Hoang Anh: mà thôi[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hoang Anh: mà thôi [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Hoang Anh: chuyên gia [natural native speed] |
| Eric: expert |
| Hoang Anh: chuyên gia [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hoang Anh: chuyên gia [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Hoang Anh: tâm lí [natural native speed] |
| Eric: mentality, psychology, mind |
| Hoang Anh: tâm lí[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hoang Anh: tâm lí [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Hoang Anh: phản ứng [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to react |
| Hoang Anh: phản ứng[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hoang Anh: phản ứng [natural native speed] |
| Eric: And last.. |
| Hoang Anh: tiêu cực [natural native speed] |
| Eric: negative |
| Hoang Anh: tiêu cực[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hoang Anh: tiêu cực [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Eric: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Hoang Anh: gây tranh cãi |
| Eric: which means “controversial” |
| Hoang Anh: gây means “to cause” and tranh cãi means “to argue, to dispute” |
| Eric: So, it literally means “to cause a dispute”. You can use it to talk about something controversial. It is very commonly used in the news. |
| Hoang Anh: You can often hear it in such phrases as...gây nhầm lẫn |
| Eric: “confusing” |
| Hoang Anh: gây nghi ngờ |
| Eric: “doubtful” |
| Hoang Anh: gây hiểu nhầm |
| Eric: “misunderstood”, literally “to cause misunderstanding” Hoang Anh, can you give us an example using this word? |
| Hoang Anh: Sure. For example, you can say.. Hoa hậu Philippines đã có một chiến thắng gây tranh cãi tại hoa hậu hoàn vũ 2015. |
| Eric: ..which means “Miss Philippines had a controversial victory at Miss Universe 2015.” Okay, what are the next words? |
| Hoang Anh: bắt and ép |
| Eric: which mean “to force” |
| Hoang Anh: bắt means “to make” and ép means “to force”. Both are verbs. |
| Eric: You can use these verbs to refer to an action of making someone do something they don't want to. |
| Hoang Anh: The main structure is: Subject + bắt or ép + person + verb phrase. |
| Eric: ...which means “Someone makes someone else do something” |
| Hoang Anh: These two verbs are also commonly used in passive voice: bị bắt “to be made” and bị ép “to be forced” |
| Eric: Can you give us an example? |
| Hoang Anh: For example, you can say.. Tôi bị ép phải xin lỗi trong khi tôi không làm gì sai. |
| Eric: .. which means “I was forced to say sorry even though I did not do anything wrong.” Okay, what's the last word? |
| Hoang Anh: làm quen |
| Eric: which means “to familiarize oneself with, to get acquainted with” |
| Hoang Anh: làm means “to make” and quen means “to be familiar”. |
| Eric: So, it literally means “make familiar”. |
| Hoang Anh: làm quen is followed by the preposition với, meaning “with,” and then a noun or noun phrase. |
| Eric: When it’s followed by a noun of person or a pronoun, it means “to get acquainted with someone”. When it’s followed by a thing, it means “to familiarize oneself with something.” Hoang Anh, can you give us an example using this word? |
| Hoang Anh: For example... Tôi đã chủ động làm quen với anh ấy. |
| Eric: ...which means “I took the initiative to get acquainted with him.” |
| Hoang Anh: Another example is...Tôi đang làm quen với thời tiết lạnh giá ở đây. |
| Eric: “I'm familiarizing myself with the cold weather here.” Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to express opposition and contradiction. And our first phrase is... |
| Hoang Anh: Tôi không đồng tình. |
| Eric: ..which means “I don't agree” or “I disagree”. |
| Hoang Anh: Tôi means “I”. |
| Eric: You can replace it with another first-person pronoun, depending on the relationship between you and another speaker. |
| Hoang Anh: không means “not” and đồng tình means “agree”. Tôi không đồng tình. |
| Eric: You can use this phrase to show your disagreement with or opposition to what is said previously. Hoang Anh, can you give us some examples? |
| Hoang Anh: Imagine A says: Tôi nghĩ ebook không tốt bằng sách giấy |
| Eric: Meaning “I think ebooks are not as good as printed books.” |
| Hoang Anh: Then, B answers...Tôi không đồng tình. Ebook nhỏ gọn và tiện lợi hơn sách giấy. |
| Eric: “I don’t agree. Ebooks are more compact and convenient than printed books.” Ok! What's the next phrase? |
| Hoang Anh: Cũng không hẳn là như thế or Cũng không hẳn là như vậy. |
| Eric: “It is not necessarily so” |
| Hoang Anh: Cũng means “also”, không hẳn means “not exactly”, là means “to be” and như thế or như vậy means “so, such, like that”. Cũng không hẳn là như thế or Cũng không hẳn là như vậy. |
| Eric: This phrase literally means “It is also not exactly like that.” You can use it when you do not completely agree or disagree with what is said previously. You think that what the other person has said is partly true, but you have other thoughts or opinions. |
| Hoang Anh: Cũng không hẳn là như thế or Cũng không hẳn là như vậy is followed by another sentence showing your own opinion. |
| Eric: Sample sentences, please! |
| Hoang Anh: For example...A says...Tôi nghĩ là phải đi nước ngoài mới có thể học giỏi ngoại ngữ được. B answers...Cũng không hẳn là như vậy. Có rất nhiều người vẫn giỏi ngoại ngữ dù chỉ học ở trong nước. |
| Eric: It means...A says “I think one should go abroad in order to be good at foreign languages. B answers: It is not necessarily so. There are many people who study in their countries but are still very good at foreign languages.” Ok, I think it’s clear! What's the third phrase? ' |
| Hoang Anh: It is Điểm lợi và điểm bất lợi. |
| Eric: ..which means “Advantages and disadvantages” |
| Hoang Anh: Điểm lợi means “advantage” or literally “beneficial point”, and điểm bất lợi” means “disadvantage” or “unbeneficial point”. You can use it in the expression Có cả điểm lợi và điểm bất lợi |
| Eric: This means “Have both advantages and disadvantages”. Listeners, please use this phrase after a noun to show that the matter mentioned in that noun has both advantages and disadvantages. For example... |
| Hoang Anh: Du học nước ngoài có cả điểm lợi và điểm bất lợi. |
| Eric: “Studying abroad has both advantages and disadvantages.” |
| Hoang Anh: You can also use the following expression Điểm lợi là …. Nhưng điểm bất lợi là … |
| Eric: “The advantage is …. But the disadvantage is …” |
| Hoang Anh: Điểm lợi là is followed by a clause showing the advantage of something. Nhưng means “but” and is used as a conjunction. And điểm bất lợi là is followed by a clause showing the disadvantage of something. |
| Eric: You can use this structure to show the contradiction in the subject of discussion. |
| Hoang Anh: For example...Điểm lợi là bạn sẽ có cơ hội mở mang đầu óc, trở nên tự lập và trưởng thành hơn. Nhưng điểm bất lợi là du học khá tốn kém nếu bạn không có học bổng. |
| Eric: “The advantages are you will have the opportunities to broaden your mind, to become more independent and mature. But the disadvantage is studying abroad is quite costly unless you have a scholarship.” Listeners, please be sure to check the lesson notes for more grammar points! |
Outro |
| Eric: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Hoang Anh: Tạm biệt. |
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