Vietnamese communication: indirectness and saving face
How Vietnamese people express disagreement and refusal, why a smile is not always agreement, and what visitors most often misread.
#cultural notes
Starting to speak Vietnamese when you fear the tones
Why learners study Vietnamese for months without speaking it, what actually happens when you get a tone wrong, and where to start.
Greetings in Vietnamese: the pronoun comes first
Why a Vietnamese greeting requires choosing a term of address before you can say hello, how to choose safely, and what accompanies the greeting.
Everyday situations to prepare for in Vietnamese
The situations you will certainly encounter in Vietnam, what to prepare for each one, and the everyday ones that textbooks leave out entirely.
What to do when you cannot follow Vietnamese
How to handle not understanding or not knowing a word in Vietnamese, the rescue phrases to memorise, and how to keep a conversation alive.
Finding people to practise Vietnamese with
How to find Vietnamese conversation practice inside and outside Vietnam, why people switch to English, and what to do when you have no partner.