Dialogue

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Vocabulary

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tên name
Tạm biệt Goodbye, Bye
vui funny
tôi I, me
xin chào hello
là to be
gặp to meet
Rất vui được gặp bạn. Nice to meet you.
Tôi cũng vậy. Me too.
Hẹn gặp lại. See you again.
bạn you - person with the same age with the 1st speaker

Lesson Notes

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Grammar

The Focus of this Lesson is Self-introductions in Vietnamese
Xin chào, tôi tên là An.
Rất vui được gặp bạn.
"Hello. My name is An."
"Nice to meet you."


Xin chào" means "hello" or "hi." It is used as a greeting when you meet another person. It can be used to greet anyone, at any time of day and in both formal and informal situations. When someone says xin chào to you, simply reply with the same greeting. Xin chào.

After saying hello, introduce your name by saying tôi tên là +  your name.

Tôi means "I." Tên means "name" and là is the verb "to be." It can be literally translated as "I am named" but it is usual way Vietnamese people introduce their name.

Then say Rất vui được gặp bạn. - "Nice to meet you." When someone says to you Rất vui được gặp bạn, simply reply with Tôi cũng vậy, which means "Me too."

For example:

  1. Xin chào, tôi tên là Jenny. Rất vui được gặp bạn.
    "Hello, my name is Jenny. Nice to meet you."


Examples from this dialogue:

An: Xin chào, tôi tên là An.
Mary: Xin chào, tôi tên là Mary.
An: Rất vui được gặp bạn.
Mary: Tôi cũng vậy.

An: "Hello, my name is An."
Mary: "Hello, my name is Mary."
An: "Nice to meet you."
Mary: "Me too."

Sample Sentences

  1. Xin chào, tôi tên là Lan. Rất vui được gặp bạn.
    "Hello, my name is Lan. Nice to meet you."

Cultural Insights

Vietnamese Names


A Vietnamese name usually consists of three parts: the family name comes first, then the middle name and the first name comes at the end. Vietnamese people often use first names to introduce themselves or address each other in both formal and informal situations. It's easy to see that in the dialogue, the first person introduces her name as An, which is her first name. Even though it is the first time they've met, it's common to use first names. To make it more formal, a pronoun or a title will be put first, followed by the full name. For example, Anh Nguyễn Văn Nam (Mr Nguyen Van Nam) or Giám đốc Nguyễn Văn Nam (Director Nguyen Van Nam). Depending on that person's gender, age, the pronoun will be different. Vietnamese people don't use family names to address each other like in Western culture.

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Lesson Transcript

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INTRODUCTION
Becky: Hi everyone! I’m Becky. Welcome to VietnamesePod101.com This is the Absolute Beginner Series, Season 1, Lesson 1- Introducing Yourself in Vietnamese.
Huyen: Xin chào! I’m Huyen.
Becky: In this lesson, you will learn basic greetings and self-introduction in Vietnamese. The conversation takes place at a cafeteria and is between two students, An and Mary.
Huyen: They’re meeting each other for the first time, so they’ll be using formal Vietnamese.
Becky: Let’s listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
An: Xin chào, tôi tên là An.
Mary: Xin chào, tôi tên là Mary.
An: Rất vui được gặp bạn.
Mary: Tôi cũng vậy.
An: Tạm biệt
Mary: Tạm biệt. Hẹn gặp lại.
An: Hello. My name is An.
Mary: Hello. My name is Mary.
An: Nice to meet you.
Mary: Me too.
An: Goodbye.
Mary: Goodbye. See you again.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Becky: Let’s give our listeners some ideas about Vietnamese names.
Huyen: Sure. A Vietnamese name usually consists of three parts- The family name comes first, then the middle name, and the first name comes at the end.
Becky: Wow, it’s so different from English.
Huyen: Right. Vietnamese people often use first names to introduce themselves, or address each other in both formal and informal situations.
Becky: Yes, in the dialogue the first person introduces herself as “An”, which is her first name, isn’t it?
Huyen: That’s right, even though it’s their first time meeting. It’s common to use first names.
Becky: I see. So, how can we make it more formal? Would we use a pronoun or a title of some sort before the name?
Huyen: Exactly! For example, a man named Nguyễn Văn Nam can be or Anh Nguyễn Văn Nam…
Becky: ...which means “Mr.”...
Huyen: or Giám đốc Nguyễn Văn Nam...
Becky: ...which means “Director”. Please remember that depending on the person's gender and age, the pronoun will be different. Vietnamese people don’t use family names to address each other like in Western culture. Okay, now let’s move on to the vocab.
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Becky: Let’s take a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is
Huyen: Tôi.
Becky: This means “I” or “me”, and it’s a first person pronoun which can be used in both formal and informal situations. But this is just the general equivalent of “I or me”. Depending on gender, age and relationship, this equivalent also varies in different situations.
Huyen: Right, and we’ll gradually learn those situations throughout this series. The next word is bạn.
Becky: This is the general pronoun referring to the person directly talking with you at the moment of speaking.
In other words, “bạn” is the general equivalent of “you”. Again, this will vary depending on gender, age, and relationship.
Huyen: And finally we have Rất vui được gặp bạn.
Becky: “Nice to meet you.”
Huyen: Rất vui means..
Becky: ...“Very happy”,
Huyen: And được gặp bạn means...
Becky: “To meet you” or “to be able to meet you”. So, the whole sentence literally means “I’m very happy to meet you” and can be understood as “Nice to meet you” in English.There’s another way to say “Nice to meet you,” isn’t there?
Huyen: Yes, we can also say Rất vui được làm quen với bạn.
Becky: And this literally means “I’m happy to get acquainted with you”. It’s commonly used when meeting someone for the first time in Vietnam. Cool. Okay, now onto the grammar.
GRAMMAR POINT
Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn about self-introductions in Vietnamese.
Huyen: In the conversation, An says Xin chào, tôi tên là An. Rất vui được gặp bạn. That’s basically how you introduce yourself in Vietnamese.
Becky: Let’s break down these two sentences: First we have...
Huyen: Xin chào
Becky: ...which means “hello” or “hi”. It’s used as a greeting when you meet someone. It can be used to greet anyone at anytime of day and in both formal and informal situations.
Huyen: When someone says xin chào to you, simply reply with the same greeting. xin chào!
Becky: Then introduce your name by saying....
Huyen: tôi tên là and your name. Tôi means “I”, Tên means “name”, and là is the verb “to be”.
Becky: It can be literally translated as “I am named” but it’s the way Vietnamese people usually introduce themselves. And the last sentence is....
Huyen: Rất vui được gặp bạn.
Becky: “Nice to meet you”.
Huyen: You can reply with Tôi cũng vậy...
Becky: ...which means “Me too”. This can also be used in other situations when you agree with someone’s opinion. Let’s listen to some more examples.
Huyen: Xin chào, tôi tên là Jenny. Rất vui được gặp bạn.
Becky: “Hello, my name is Jenny. Nice to meet you.”
Huyen: Xin chào, tôi tên là Lan. Rất vui được gặp bạn.
Becky: “Hello, my name is Lan. Nice to meet you.” Now listeners, it’s your turn to try. Please say the Vietnamese for “Hello”.
Huyen: [pause] Xin chào.
Becky: “My name is…” and then say your name!
Huyen: [pause] Tôi tên là...
Becky: And finally, the phrase for “Nice to meet you.”
Huyen: [pause] Rất vui được gặp bạn.
Becky: How did you do? Please try it one more time, putting it all together.
Huyen: [pause] Xin chào, tôi tên là.... Rất vui được gặp bạn.
Becky: Great job!!

Outro
Huyen: That’s all about self-introduction in Vietnamese. It’s not very difficult, right? I’m sure you can easily introduce yourself when meeting a Vietnamese person now.
Becky: Please check the lesson notes for more examples and information.
Huyen: We hope that you enjoyed this lesson. Thank you and we’ll see you again in the next lesson.
Becky: Tạm biệt!
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