Vietnamese English

I was in Ho Chi Minh last week and was amazed at the level of English many people had. This was until I realized the conversation often stopped when the money was agreed upon.

This is a city of non-stop action. With a population of 8 million people and 4 million motorbikes, it is daunting for the visitor. I have never heard so many horns and a few Vietnamese men were surprised to find me trailing them like their shadow while crossing the road. I can say though that I did not see a single act of road rage...must be the Buddhism.

Back to the English. The economy is booming and so is the need to speak English. I was generally impressed by the overall level of English in tourist areas.  There were though some funny moments for me.

At the airport I successfully negotiated a ride to the city - I got ripped off by the way paying $6 US for the 40-minute trip. During the drive to my hotel (the Metropole - a bit exy but not bad) we were having what I thought was a conversation. I realized he was struggling so, as he was an older gentlemen who would have grown up with some French influence, I asked him in French if he spoke French. After another 2 minutes of conversation in French I realized he still thought I was speaking English.

To make a long story shortish, the desire to speak English in Vietnam is huge and they are trying their darnedest to master the language. The Vietnamese are the 5th highest in numbers visiting Englishlink. We appreciate their interest in our school and are currently putting Vietnamese on our site.

Englishlink would like to welcome VEGA Vietnam as our exclusive Vietnamese partner.

Comments

[Magnus Mahony]

Haha, I visited Vietnam ten years ago to teach in a small English academy there. When I arrived I don't know a single Vietnamese word, except for one: "nhanh", which supposedly means "slow". My friend told me that if the taxi driver is driving fast (Vietnamese taxi drivers are well-known to drive like Vin Diesel), I should say "nhanh". Which I did, but the driver just drove ever faster. I survived, but days later I found out my evil friend - thinking it was funny - deliberately gave me the wrong word, "nhanh" actually means "fast". I had my revenge though, by letting him eat a bowl of very spicy Bún Bò Huế, haha.