Customer Reviews

Vietnamese: Audio Cd Course (Language 30) (Vietnamese Edition)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a short (2-tape) but very well put together course. It goes through all the SOUNDS of Vietnamese, which is critical in a tonal language. (other languages such as Spanish allow a lot of leeway for poor pronunciation; not so Vietnamese) The essential beginning phrases are here, as well as good basic vocabulary. Repeated playing of tapes, with a fair amount of rewinding is what is needed in using this course, more so than in a course like the Pimsleurs, which have a lot of repetition built-in.
While the Pimsleur courses have what I consider to be a better approach to language instruction, you definitely get a lot of bang for your buck out of this 2-tape course and since Pimsleur has a very limited Vietnamese offering, I consider this mini-course an essential for the beginner.

Language/30 courses basically teach phrases that you learn like a parrot. If you are a linguist, you will figure out which words mean what and a few ideas of the grammar. This has the advantage of using both men and women speakers, which is esp. important with a tonal language, but has a glossary restricted to the vocabulary in the course. Bottom line: a good way to get used to the sounds and start making them yourself, but if you need to say more than is on the tape or CD you will be out of luck.

This product consists of two CDs and a small phrase book. The phrases are short but practical in everyday life. The CDs show clear pronunciation and intonation by native (northern) speakers. A phrase is spoken in English followed by in Vietnamese twice, and then there is a short pause for you to repeat after.

If you master all of the phrases in the book, which is not difficult to do, it will be the most useful basis for your Vietnamese learning. You can build more of your Vietnamese language skills with other products such as Beginner's Vietnamese by Robert M. Quinn.

I have several Vietnamese language learning products (plus a Vietnamese husband who speaks tieng Viet). This product is the one I recommend to the beginner.

This is a great introductory learning product. The price is excellent. It is essential to hear the language and these CDs are a portable way to do it. It is important to take time to go through both the included phrase book as well as listening to the audio. Then revisits to either of them are of continued benefit.

I own this and Pimsleur Quick and simple Vietnamese. This is much better than Pimsleur. A lot of bang for the buck.

Caution! This product is:

Vietnamese - Start Speaking Today on CD.

It's the same as the cassette version listed here as well. Because the title was not listed here, I bought both by mistake :(

Otherwise, I am pleased with it.