Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome back to VietnamesePod101.com. This is Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 8 - Have You Tried Vietnamese Hotpot? Eric here.
Hoang Anh: Chào. I'm Hoang Anh.
Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to express preferences in Vietnamese and use some adverbs of quantity to request flavors. The conversation takes place on the phone.
Hoang Anh: It's between Tâm and Bình.
Eric: The speakers are strangers, so they’ll use formal Vietnamese. Okay, let's listen to the conversation.

Lesson conversation

Bình: (Pick up the phone) Xin chào, đây là nhà hàng lẩu Việt.
Tâm: Chào anh, tôi muốn đặt một bàn vào sáu (6) giờ tối nay.
Bình: Vâng, chị đặt bàn mấy người ạ?
Tâm: Bốn (4) người lớn và hai (2) trẻ con.
Bình: Chị muốn bàn tầng 1 hay tầng 2 ạ?
Tâm: Tầng 2 nhé. Bàn gần cửa sổ thì càng tốt.
Bình: Vâng. Chị chọn lẩu gì ạ?
Tâm: Một lẩu hải sản và một lẩu bò. Cho tôi nồi cỡ lớn nhé.
Bình: Vâng, chị có yêu cầu gì khác không ạ?
Tâm: À có, làm cho tôi nước lẩu không cay, ít chua, nhiều ngọt nhé.
Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation.
Bình: (Picks up the phone) Hello, this is "Viet hot pot" restaurant.
Tâm: Hi, I would like to book a table for six pm tonight.
Bình: Yes, madam. A table for how many people?
Tâm: Four adults and two children.
Bình: Would you like a table on the first or second floor?
Tâm: Second floor. I’d prefer a table near the window.
Bình: Yes. Which hotpot would you like?
Tâm: One seafood hotpot and one beef hotpot. Big-sized pots please.
Bình: Yes, do you have any other requests?
Tâm: Ah, yes. Make me a soup which is not spicy, with less sourness and more sweetness.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Eric: Hoang Anh, can you tell us more about these famous hotpots?
Hoang Anh: “Hotpot” in Vietnamese is Lẩu. It contains a pot of stock made from bone broth with ginger, lemongrass, onion, and some other spices. The pot of stock is placed and simmered at the center of a table while the raw ingredients such as vegetables, thin slices of pork or beef, chicken, or seafood will be little by little dipped in the stock, cooked and served right at the table.
Eric: I've heard that Vietnamese people often prefer it to be a little sour and spicy.
Hoang Anh: That’s right. Sa tế, or chilli paste, is a favorite seasoning ingredient for hot pot in Vietnam.
Eric: Are there different kinds of hotpots?
Hoang Anh: Yes – the most common hot pots in Vietnam include lẩu bò or “beef hot pot,” lẩu hải sản or “seafood hot pot,” lẩu gà, “chicken hot pot,” lẩu nấm, “mushroom hot pot,” and lẩu thập cẩm, “mixed hot pot.”
Eric: Which one is the most famous?
Hoang Anh: In southern Vietnam, the most popular ones are lẩu mắm or “fermented fish hot pot,” and lẩu cá kèo or “spiny goby fish hot pot.”
Eric: I see. There are so many kinds. Listeners, you should be sure to try at least one when you visit Vietnam! 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: lẩu [natural native speed]
Eric: hot pot
Hoang Anh: lẩu [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Hoang Anh: lẩu [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Hoang Anh: đặt [natural native speed]
Eric: to book, to reserve
Hoang Anh: đặt [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Hoang Anh: đặt [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Hoang Anh: người lớn [natural native speed]
Eric: adult
Hoang Anh: người lớn [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Hoang Anh: người lớn [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Hoang Anh: trẻ con [natural native speed]
Eric: child
Hoang Anh: trẻ con [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Hoang Anh: trẻ con [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Hoang Anh: cửa sổ [natural native speed]
Eric: window
Hoang Anh: cửa sổ [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Hoang Anh: cửa sổ [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Hoang Anh: hải sản [natural native speed]
Eric: seafood
Hoang Anh: hải sản [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Hoang Anh: hải sản [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Hoang Anh: nồi [natural native speed]
Eric: pan, pot
Hoang Anh: nồi [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Hoang Anh: nồi [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Hoang Anh: cỡ [natural native speed]
Eric: size
Hoang Anh: cỡ [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Hoang Anh: cỡ [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Hoang Anh: yêu cầu [natural native speed]
Eric: request, requirement
Hoang Anh: yêu cầu [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Hoang Anh: yêu cầu [natural native speed]
Eric: And last..
Hoang Anh: nước lẩu [natural native speed]
Eric: hot pot soup
Hoang Anh: nước lẩu [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Hoang Anh: nước lẩu [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: đặt
Eric: which means “to book,” or “to reserve.”
Hoang Anh: đặt is followed directly by a noun or noun phrase.
Eric: Basically, this word has several meanings, but in this lesson it means “to book or reserve a table or a seat.”
Hoang Anh: Right. đặt chỗ means “to book a seat,” and đặt bàn means “to book a table.”
Eric: You can also use it when you book a hotel room or a plane or train ticket.
Hoang Anh: đặt phòng khách sạn means “to book a hotel room,” and đặt vé tàu means “to book a train ticket.” And “to book a plane ticket” will be đặt vé máy bay
Eric: Can you give us an example using this word?
Hoang Anh: Sure. For example, you can say.. Tôi phải đặt vé máy bay trong hôm nay.
Eric: ..which means “I have to book an air ticket by today.” Okay, what's the next word?
Hoang Anh: cỡ
Eric: which means “size.”
Hoang Anh: Cỡ is followed directly by a noun to show the size of the object mentioned.
Eric: It can also be followed by an adjective to show how big the size is.
Hoang Anh: Right. You can use it in such expressions as...cỡ quần áo
Eric: “size of clothes”
Hoang Anh: cỡ giày
Eric: “shoe size”
Hoang Anh: cỡ dép
Eric: “size of slippers or sandals”
Hoang Anh: cỡ lớn or cỡ to
Eric: “big size”
Hoang Anh: cỡ nhỏ
Eric: “small size” and so on.
Hoang Anh: Cỡ is rarely used with nouns other than those mentioned above.
Eric: Can you give us an example using this word?
Hoang Anh: Sure. Giày này hơi nhỏ. Lấy cho tôi cỡ lớn hơn nhé.
Eric: .. which means “This shoe is a little small. Give me a bigger size.” Okay, what's the last word?
Hoang Anh: yêu cầu
Eric: which means “request,” or “requirement.”
Hoang Anh: You can use yêu cầu as a verb and as a noun.
Eric: As a noun, it means “a request” or “a requirement”
Hoang Anh: In this case yêu cầu can directly follow such verbs as có, “to have”, chấp nhận, “to accept”, đạt or đáp ứng, “to meet”. For example... có yêu cầu
Eric: Meaning “to have a request”
Hoang Anh: chấp nhận
Eric: “to accept a request”
Hoang Anh: đạt or đáp ứng yêu cầu
Eric: “To meet the requirement.” As a verb, it’s followed by a noun of person then a verb phrase to mean “request someone to do something.”
Hoang Anh: For example...yêu cầu anh giữ trật tự
Eric: “request you to keep quiet”
Hoang Anh: Listeners, as a verb yêu cầu should only be used by an older person or a person of higher rank to a younger person or a person of lower rank or position, not the other way around.
Eric: Can you give us an example using this word?
Hoang Anh: For example, Bài luận văn này không đạt yêu cầu.
Eric: .. which means “This essay does not meet the requirements.”
Hoang Anh: Another example is.. Sếp yêu cầu tôi viết lại bản báo cáo.
Eric: “My boss requests that I re-write the report.” Okay, now onto the lesson focus.

Lesson focus

Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to express preferences in Vietnamese.
Hoang Anh: To do this, you can use the phrase thì càng tốt. Thì means “to be,” càng means “more and more,” and tốt means “good.”
Eric: How can we use this?
Hoang Anh: Just add a verb phrase or noun phrase and then thì càng tốt.
Eric: So, the whole structure means “it will be/ would be better or preferred to do something.”
Hoang Anh: Right. You can use this sentence structure to enhance the meaning of something that has been mentioned before it.
Eric: So, it often comes after another sentence or clause rather than standing alone as a single sentence or clause.
Hoang Anh: These two sentences or clauses can be connected by the conjunction nhưng, which means “but,” a comma, or a full stop.
Eric: Can you give us some examples?
Hoang Anh: Sure. Biết tiếng Anh là một lợi thế, nhưng biết cả tiếng Anh và tiếng Nhật thì càng tốt.
Eric: This means “Having English proficiency is an advantage, but both English and Japanese proficiency would be better.”
Hoang Anh: Tôi muốn có hai con, trai hay gái đều được. Một trai một gái thì càng tốt.
Eric: “I want to have two children, either boys or girls are fine. One boy and one girl would be great.”
Hoang Anh: Hi vọng là ngày mai không mưa. Nắng thì càng tốt.
Eric: “I hope that it won’t rain tomorrow. It will be better if it’s sunny.”
Hoang Anh: Listeners, you can also use the conditional structure Nếu...thì…which means “if...then…” with our pattern thì càng tốt.
Eric: Can we have some sample sentences, please?
Hoang Anh: Tiệc sẽ bắt đầu lúc 7 giờ tối nhưng nếu cậu đến sớm hơn thì càng tốt.
Eric: “The party will start at seven pm but if you can come earlier, it would be preferred.”
Hoang Anh: Ăn uống lành mạnh thì tốt cho sức khỏe. Nếu tập thể dục thường xuyên thì càng tốt.
Eric: This means “Eating healthily is good for health. If you do exercise regularly, it would be better.” Ok! What's our next grammar topic?
Hoang Anh: Adverbs of quantity, which you can use to describe flavors.
Eric: There are three adverbs of quantity which can be used before the adjectives of taste. They are...
Hoang Anh: không
Eric: “without”
Hoang Anh: ít
Eric: “less”
Hoang Anh: nhiều
Eric: “more.” With these adverbs of quantity and adjectives of tastes, we can make different combinations to describe flavors.
Hoang Anh: Right. For example... không cay
Eric: “not spicy,” or “make it not spicy”
Hoang Anh: ít ngọt
Eric: “less sweetness” or “add less sweetness”
Hoang Anh: ít mặn
Eric: “less salty” or “add less salt”
Hoang Anh: ít chua
Eric: “less sourness” or “add less sourness”
Hoang Anh: nhiều chua
Eric: “more sourness” or “add more sourness”
Hoang Anh: nhiều cay
Eric: “more spicy,” “spicier”
Hoang Anh: nhiều ngọt
Eric: “more sweetness,” “sweeter”

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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