thoughts and thoughts
5/8/2019
Today's Topic: Eyes and ears...I was hanging out at my absolute favorite coffee shop today (again): the Presidents Café (https://www.facebook.com/PresidentsCafe). The PC is owned and run by Thắng Nguyễn, his wife, and his crew of two. I like this café for many, many reasons; but, one reason in particular stands out. They are very patient with me as I try to practice my tiêng Việt. To the observer, it must be amusing to watch. Imagine...I, the English speaker, trying to speak tiêng Việt. They, the tiêng Việt speaker, speaking to me in English. I will add, however, their English is quite good!
A typical conversation goes something like this:
Me: "Chào em! ("hello" person younger than me")
Them: "Hello" (in English)
Me: "Tôi muốn một Long Black đen double " ("I want one hot Long Black, double shot") Sometimes I like to mix it up so I say: "Cho tôi một Long Black đen, double " ["Give me one hot Long Black, double shot") FYI, the Vietnamese like to drink there coffee with ice (Cà phê đá) or cold ("cà phê lạnh").
Them: "Yes, one hot Long Black, double shot." (in English)
Me: "Cảm ơn bạn" ("thank you, friend") or "Cảm ơn"
Them: "You're welcome" (in English).
I then sit down and they bring me my coffee. When I am finished with my first cup, I walk back to the counter...and attempt to say "Một Long Black..." but alas they already know I want my second cup and are preparing it...but I try to say it anyway.
When I'm ready to go:
Me: "Cái này bao nhiêu?" ("how much is this thing") - not exactly right, so they gently, respectfully, and politely correct me in tiêng Việt, "Cà phê, của tôi bao nhiêu tiền?" which I repeat.
Them: "Forty thousand [VND]" (in English)
Me: "Bốn mươi nghìn, phải không?" ("Forty thousand, right?")
Them: "Correct" (in English)
Me: "Cảm ơn ("thanks) and as I leave I throw out a quick" "Gặp lại sau nhé" (see you later").
Well, I'll grant you, it's not a real conversation, but you know that practice makes perfect, phải không? So I keep at it.
Although I am getting better, I have learned to say:
"Nói chậm thôi" ("speak slowly") - In case you are wondering, I don't say "Speak slowly, please" because the Vietnamese do not say "please" to convey politeness; rather, politeness is conveyed through mannerisms, body language, facial expression and eye contact.
I also have learned to say: "Tôi không hiểu" ("I don't understand") and "Tôi nói ít tiếng Việt" ("I speak little Vietnamese") and "Viết ra cho tôi" ("write it out for me").
As you can tell, I'm pretty proud of my meager grasp of tiêng Việt language skills because I can recall 9 months ago when I didn't even know how to say "thank you" or "Hello".
Bonus: Dragons are back: One of my favorite fruits is back in season in Việt Nam! All hail the mighty thanh long trắng!! White Dragon Fruit rocks!!! If you can find it, try it...sweet and succulent! I'll let you cut one open and find out what it looks like:
(pg 1) (pg.2) (pg.3) (pg.4) (pg. 5) (pg 7) (pg 8) (pg 9)