Learn how to ask for and give definitions and additional information
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome back to VietnamesePod101.com. This is Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 2 - Negotiating a Taxi Fare in Vietnamese. Eric here. |
| Hoang Anh: Chào. I'm Hoang Anh. |
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask for and give definitions and additional information in Vietnamese. The conversation takes place at the airport. |
| Hoang Anh: It's between Nam and a taxi driver. |
| Eric: The speakers are strangers, so they’ll speak both formal and informal Vietnamese. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Nam: Tắc xi! |
| Người lái xe taxi: Chào anh, anh về đâu ạ? |
| Nam: Cho tôi về địa chỉ này. |
| Người lái xe taxi: Vâng. Anh đi theo giá trên đồng hồ hay giá cố định ạ? |
| Nam: Tôi không hiểu lắm. Giá cố định là sao? Anh nói rõ hơn được không? |
| Người lái xe taxi: Giá cố định là trả theo số tiền định sẵn, không quan tâm đến giá hiện trên đồng hồ. |
| Nam: Vậy từ đây về địa chỉ của tôi giá trọn gói là bao nhiêu? |
| Người lái xe taxi: Từ đây về nội thành Hà Nội đều là ba trăm năm mươi nghìn ạ (350, 000 VND) |
| Nam: Cứ cho tôi trả theo đồng hồ đi. |
| Người lái xe taxi: Vâng, vậy mời anh lên xe ạ. |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Nam: Taxi! |
| Taxi driver: Hello sir, where do you want to go? |
| Nam: Take me to this address. |
| Taxi driver: Ok. Would you like to pay the fare according to the taxi meter or pay a fixed rate? |
| Nam: I don't really understand. What do you mean by "fixed rate"? Could you be more specific? |
| Taxi driver: "Fixed rate" means to pay a predetermined amount regardless of how much is shown on the taximeter. |
| Nam: So, how much is the fixed rate from here to my place? |
| Taxi driver: From here to Hanoi city center costs 350,000 VND in total, sir. |
| Nam: Just let me pay according to the taxi meter. |
| Taxi driver: Ok sir. Please get in. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: Hoang Anh, how can you pay for a taxi in Vietnam? |
| Hoang Anh: As we heard in the dialogue, there are normally two ways to pay the taxi fares. The first way is to pay according to the taxi meter and the second way is to pay a fixed price, which is decided on before you get in the taxi. The second way is often cheaper. |
| Eric: Is the fixed price negotiable? |
| Hoang Anh: The fixed price is not negotiable if you get in a taxi from a reliable taxi company or group. But if you don't know if your taxi can be trusted, it is better to ask them the total price in advance and negotiate for a final price before you get in. |
| Eric: Do we need to pay anything after we get out? |
| Hoang Anh: No. Make sure you don't pay any more than what you have negotiated. |
| Eric: That’s a good tip. 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: về [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to go, to return |
| Hoang Anh: về [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hoang Anh: về [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Hoang Anh: địa chỉ [natural native speed] |
| Eric: address |
| Hoang Anh: địa chỉ [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hoang Anh: địa chỉ [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Hoang Anh: giá trên đồng hồ [natural native speed] |
| Eric: fare charged according to the taxi meter |
| Hoang Anh: giá trên đồng hồ [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hoang Anh: giá trên đồng hồ [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Hoang Anh: giá cố định [natural native speed] |
| Eric: fixed price |
| Hoang Anh: giá cố định [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hoang Anh: giá cố định [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Hoang Anh: hiểu [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to understand |
| Hoang Anh: hiểu [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hoang Anh: hiểu [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Hoang Anh: số tiền [natural native speed] |
| Eric: amount of money |
| Hoang Anh: số tiền [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hoang Anh: số tiền [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Hoang Anh: định sẵn [natural native speed] |
| Eric: predetermined |
| Hoang Anh: định sẵn [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hoang Anh: định sẵn [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Hoang Anh: nội thành [natural native speed] |
| Eric: city center |
| Hoang Anh: nội thành [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hoang Anh: nội thành [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Hoang Anh: trả [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to pay |
| Hoang Anh: trả [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hoang Anh: trả [natural native speed] |
| Eric: And last.. |
| Hoang Anh: vậy [natural native speed] |
| Eric: so, well |
| Hoang Anh: vậy [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hoang Anh: vậy [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Eric: Let's have a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Hoang Anh: về |
| Eric: which means “to go,” or “to return.” |
| Hoang Anh: về originally meant “to come back,” or “to return.” In most cases về is used to mean “go home, return home.” In the dialogue the taxi driver uses the verb về instead of đi, which means “to go.” |
| Eric: This is because the taxi driver is assuming that the passenger is going home from the airport. |
| Hoang Anh: The whole phrase for “to go home” or “to return home” is về nhà, but in most cases the word nhà, which means “home” is removed and only về is used. |
| Eric: When you take a taxi in Vietnam, especially in the north, you are very likely to be asked... |
| Hoang Anh: Anh về đâu? or Chị về đâu? instead of Anh đi đâu? or Chị đi đâu? |
| Eric: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Hoang Anh: Sure. For example, you can say.. Cho tôi về 23 Phố Huế. |
| Eric: ..which means “Take me to 23 Pho Hue.” Pho Hue is a street name in Hanoi. Okay, what's the next word? |
| Hoang Anh: vậy |
| Eric: which means “so, well.” |
| Hoang Anh: The exact translation of vậy is “so, therefore.” |
| Eric: You can use it at the beginning of a sentence as a conjunction, like “well,” or “so” in English, to confirm what has been said by the other person, or to come to a conclusion about what you are going to do. |
| Hoang Anh: It’s interchangeable with vậy, and you can also use vậy thì, thế or thế thì. They all have the same meaning of “so, therefore.” |
| Eric: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Hoang Anh: Sure. For example, if A asks Bao nhiêu tiền một cái bánh mì? and B answers 10 ngàn. |
| Eric: Here A asks “How much is a loaf of bread?” and B answers “10 thousand dong.” |
| Hoang Anh: Then A says Vậy cho tôi mua 3 cái, or vậy thì cho tôi mua 3 cái. |
| Eric: A says “Well, I'll take 3 loaves.” Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask for and give definitions and additional information in Vietnamese. To ask for a definition or clarification in Vietnamese you can use the phrase... |
| Hoang Anh: là sao |
| Eric: ...which literally means “is what.” |
| Hoang Anh: là sao means the same thing as là gì, but là sao is not only used to ask for a definition, but also has the nuance of the speaker’s feelings. |
| Eric: What kind of feelings? |
| Hoang Anh: Surprise or annoyance. The grammar structure is...noun or noun phrase plus là sao, or a clause plus là sao. |
| Eric: The whole question can be translated as “What does this or that mean?” or “What do you mean by “this or that”? |
| Hoang Anh: For example...Làm ngoài giờ là sao? |
| Eric: which means “What do you mean by ‘work overtime’?” In this case the speaker is either surprised or annoyed. |
| Hoang Anh: Another example is...Anh nói vậy là sao? |
| Eric: “What do you mean by saying that?” In this sentence the speaker's feelings are also annoyance or surprise. |
| Hoang Anh: Listeners, if you want to make your sentences a little bit softer, you can use the phrase nghĩa là sao, where nghĩa means “meaning.” For example..Giá cố định nghĩa là sao? |
| Eric: “What does “fixed rate” mean?” or “What do you mean by “fixed rate”?” |
| Hoang Anh: Làm ngoài giờ nghĩa là sao? |
| Eric: “What do you mean by “work overtime”?” Ok! Our next grammar point is asking for more information. |
| Hoang Anh: In this case you can use the following phrase...Anh có thể nói rõ hơn được không? |
| Eric: which means “Could you please be more specific?” |
| Hoang Anh: Anh means “you” and this pronoun can be changed into another second person pronoun depending on who you are talking to. Có thể means “can,” or “could,” nói rõ hơn means “say it more clearly,” and được không means “is it fine, is it ok?” Anh có thể nói rõ hơn được không? |
| Eric: Which is “Could you please be more specific?” |
| Hoang Anh: For example...if A says..Cuộc họp ngày mai sẽ bị hoãn lại nhé. B answers..Tại sao? Chị có thể nói rõ hơn được không? |
| Eric: Here A says “The meeting tomorrow will be postponed” and B answers “Why? Could you be more specific?” |
| Hoang Anh: The last grammar point for this lesson is the sentence ending particle đi, which means “to go.” |
| Eric: When it’s placed at the end of a statement, after a verb or verb phrase, it turns the statement into a request or suggestion, or implies that the speaker wants to urge the other person to do something. |
| Hoang Anh: If đi is removed, the sentence is still fine and will be understood. But when đi is added, the speaker wants to urge the other person to do what he said. |
| Eric: Can you give us an example? |
| Hoang Anh: For example..Mai đi xem phim đi. |
| Eric: “Let’s go to the cinema tomorrow.” Here we have a suggestion. |
| Hoang Anh: Hãy làm như tôi nói đi |
| Eric: “Do as I said.” Here we have an order. |
| Hoang Anh: Để cho tôi yên đi. |
| Eric: “Leave it alone.” In this sentence we have request. |
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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