The bridge into B1: eat out, make friends, understand Southern manners and fast Sài Gòn speech.
This course is in beta: lessons may still change.
What you'll learn
About this course
The bridge into B1: eat out, make friends, understand Southern manners and fast Sài Gòn speech.
One continuing story: Ben, an Australian who moved to Sài Gòn for work, his friend Mai and the neighbours of his hẻm — cô Sáu, anh Tuấn, Vy and chú Bảy — so every new word comes back in real situations.
The 10 lessons
1. Eating out — At a street snail stall, learners order dishes, express preferences using khẩu vị, handle wrong bills, split costs, and tip, practicing grammar like vừa... vừa and sau khi.
2. Making friends in Sài Gòn — At a park running club, learners make friends, make small talk without being intrusive, invite others, and exchange contacts, using làm quen and không những... mà còn.
3. Southern customs & good manners — Attending a housewarming party, learners practice Southern customs like burning incense, properly addressing elders with thưa, and politely declining food using tuy... nhưng and quá trời.
4. What do they look like? — Finding someone at a bus station, learners describe appearances like cao ráo and personalities like tính cách, compare people, express doubt, and apologize, practicing the càng... càng structure.
5. Health & small illnesses — At a pharmacy, learners describe minor illness symptoms like tiêu chảy, report allergies, understand medication instructions, and call in sick to work, using mặc dù... nhưng and miễn là.
6. Renting & problems at home — Viewing rental houses, learners inquire about conditions, negotiate prices, report moving-day issues to the chủ trọ, and ask for repairs, using thì... còn and various conjunction pairs.
7. When things go wrong on a trip — Facing travel mishaps like missing a bus and losing a wallet, learners narrate events using đang... thì, understand fast speech at the bến xe, and report lost items.
8. Talk like a Saigonese (nè, nha, nghen, ha, hén, hôn) — Playing a language game, learners convert standard sentences into natural Southern speech by dropping subjects and appropriately using sentence-final particles like nè, nghen, and hén in various contexts.
9. Listening lab: fast Southern speech — Reviewing audio recordings, learners revise the eight situations from the course by catching details from fast, reduced Southern speech, distinguishing accents, and using phrases to politely ask for clarification.
10. Review & Level 6 test — At a housewarming party, this four-skill test evaluates learners on renting, addressing people, and illnesses through listening, speaking role-plays, storytelling, and writing sentences, cumulatively reviewing Level 6 items.
What you get
Inside every lesson: an illustrated student book (35–45 pages), native Southern Vietnamese recordings at two speeds (slow and natural), 24 interactive activities (dictation, listening, role-play with a twist, flashcards, tones and pronunciation, games) and a teacher guide your SVFF teacher follows page by page.
How it works
28 live hours with your SVFF teacher, plus about the same time of self-study. Lessons 1–8 have three 60-minute sessions each (input, skills, production); lesson 9 is a review and lesson 10 the level test (two sessions each). Passing the level test moves you up to Level 7.
Southern (Sài Gòn) Vietnamese only: the words and the accent you hear in the street, the market and the office.
Requirements
- You finished Level 5 (the A2 exit), or your teacher placed you at this level.
- A computer, tablet or phone with internet, and headphones for the recordings.
- About one hour of self-study for every hour of class (activities, recordings, homework).
Goals
- Order, ask about dishes and handle problems in a restaurant or street stall.
- Make friends, invite and keep a conversation going with Southern particles.
- Understand Southern customs and forms of address, and use them politely.
- Describe people and deal with health, housing and travel problems.
- Follow natural-speed Southern speech, with linking words like không những … mà còn and tuy … nhưng.
Who this course is for
- Adults learning Southern (Sài Gòn) Vietnamese for daily life, work or family
- Learners who finished Level 5 (the A2 exit) or placed at B1 in the SVFF level check
- People who want the Vietnamese that Sài Gòn really speaks, with a native Southern teacher
Your Instructor
SVFF is a Vietnamese language school in Ho Chi Minh City. We have taught Vietnamese to English speakers since 2018 — most of them partners, spouses and family of Vietnamese people, learning the language of the people they love. Our courses are built and taught by native teachers from both ends of the country, because Vietnamese is not one accent. What you hear in Hà Nội is not what you hear in Sài Gòn, and a learner who only ever meets one of them gets stuck the moment they travel. We teach the language as it is actually spoken.
Course Curriculum
10 lessons · 20h
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