Customer Reviews

Lonely Planet Vietnamese Phrasebook (Language Survival Kit)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

As an individual who has spent about 2 years learning Vietnamese I believe this to be a very good book. The comments of the previous two reviewers should be dismissed (as one did not read the book and the other is already fluent). As long as you understand the setup and reasoning for the layout of a phrasebook this book will not dissappoint anyone. Unlike a dictionary where words are alphabetically listed, this book has similar items arranged (i.e. foods, health, animals). If you went to Vietnam and needed a book to take with you this is the only one I would recommend. It will allow you to survive; and, if you had trouble pronouncing words you could also point to the phrase you were trying to say (this of course would only work if the other individual was literate). If you are planning on learning the language at all (other than for a brief trip) then I'd strongly recommend getting other books (Elementary Vietnamese is good, but Colloquial Vietnamese is awful).

I don't speak Vietnamese to rate the translations and phrasing used in this pocket-sized guide, but I have used a number of Lonely Planet phrasebooks for languages that I do know more about. This guide follows the format of those other guides, broken down into sections by situation, with a 2-way dictionary at the back and a pronounciation guide at the beginning of the book.

Two notable omissions. There is not a section on "love and dating" as there is in every other LP Phrasebook I've used.

Also, unlike the Russian phrasebook, which contains the english phrase, a phonetic pronounciation, and then the actual spelling, this book does not contain a phonetic spelling. For a language likely to be as difficult as Vietnamese for native English speakers and considering that such speakers are the book's target audience, phonetic spellings (indicating inflection as well) would help a lot.

Still, a decent phrasebook as LP ones tend to be.

An nice, small companion for those needing a quick reference. Its dimensions ensure that that the book will fit neatly into a pocket or pack, and frequently needed phrases are easy to locate. This reference guide also includes a Vietnamese-English / English-Vietnamese dictionary, though the selections are rather slim. A little more information on pronounciation would be ideal, but as this book is geared more for the traveller, the basics are well addressed.

Phrases are collected according to what you think you'll need to ask - so you'll find a section with phrases and words for ordering food, for going to a doctor, and for talking to locals. As a tool to help you learn some vocabulary, there are small crossword puzzles...which are more of a nice afterthought than something really useful.

Definitely not exhaustive by any stretch of the imganation, but well worth the money if you need a quick reference guide.

Not recommended. Will not enable you to communicate, as it does not contain pronounciation information. Although if you just want to point to phrases and show the locals, this phrasebook will be helpful.

I have nothing wrong with the actual product itself, just be careful of buying used copies. The one I received had multiple faded pages making the accent marks hard to make out on the words which is essential with Vietnamese. The content of the book itself was adequate though I have seen better by Lonely Planet, namely the Japanese version, it works in a pinch, just buy it new.

I've been studying Vietnamese for 4 months and can speak it quite fluently now, I bought this book before I started learning anything, it was just too difficult to use for those who don't know Vietnamese at all (most travellers). Now because I know more Vietnamese, I tried to re-read this book and I still find this quite useless. The conversation are organized by topics rather than by alphabetical order so it limits yourself from point and choose and talk with Vietnamese with the same kinds of topics again and again. Very poorly designed, almost useless and very disappointing, probably one of the worst LP phrasebooks on the market (I have used the Hindi/Urdu, Persian, French and German before). Vocabulary list is not as comprehensive as the Rough Guide, the tiny (*tiny!) dictionary at the back doesn't even have the word "spoon"! This phrasebook is, however, much more popular than the Rough Guide because of the "reputation" and popularity of the Lonely Planet.

Glancing through several pages of the book, I was very unimpressed. I am fluent in both the northern and southern dialects of Vietnamese; this book looks like it will help you with neither. The diagram and explanation of tones is simply incorrect. The pronunciation guide is also confusing and imprecise. Save yourself the money and time. Keep looking. For intermediate-level students of Vietnamese, I would recommed "Colloquial Vietnamese" by John Moore and Tuan Duc Vuong. For beginners, I hear that "Elementary Vietnamese" by Binh Ngo is a good bet.