Possible Red Flag

[tcTTct 37]

Ok, this one has been driving me crazy. Since tones are so critically important that they're literally inscribed in their written language, how the hell do they understand what someone is saying when they're singing? Doesn't that completely screw up the tones?

You can tell what the person is singing because the tones are sung relative to the other words in the sentence. When you grow up hearing Vietnamese singing you would automatically know that there is no other word that could fit in that spot. On top of this, almost all Vietnamese songs are sung in the more "correct" northern accent, with the exception of some traditional country folk songs, and uses more "poetic" words. This makes it pretty much impossible for non-Vietnamese speakers to understand. In contrast, English is a walk in the park.

Edited February 21, 2012 by tcTTct

[brian_n_phuong 193]

English is a walk in the park.

I could use your support with my VK officemates (6 people in the office, 5 VK, I'm the only white boy !).

I have one guy in particular that claims that English is harder to learn that Vietnamese. We have gotten into some heated arguements, but he refuses to accept the difficulty of learning Vietnamese as an adult.

[tcTTct 37]

I have one guy in particular that claims that English is harder to learn that Vietnamese. We have gotten into some heated arguements, but he refuses to accept the difficulty of learning Vietnamese as an adult.

If this guy had to learn English as an adult then the reason he says it's more difficult is because it's the only foreign language learning experience he's ever had.

[luckytxn 2,264]

If this guy had to learn English as an adult then the reason he says it's more difficult is because it's the only foreign language learning experience he's ever had.

I have trouble with Vietnamese. I have been to many countries and have had trouble learning languages but have learned enough to get by but Vietnamese is kicking my azz. It doesn't hurt that since I am home seldom that when we do relax it is me that is teaching her English. Mostly pronunciation. Some people it is hard to learn a new language. I am one and I have been all over the world. Strange I have always been so comfortable in Asian countries the most and have had the hardest time learning Asian languages.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I could use your support with my VK officemates (6 people in the office, 5 VK, I'm the only white boy !).

I have one guy in particular that claims that English is harder to learn that Vietnamese. We have gotten into some heated arguements, but he refuses to accept the difficulty of learning Vietnamese as an adult.

Every language seems so easy when you look at a native 3 year old speaking it with such ease.

Out of the three VK living in my house, my step-daughter has the best grasp of English. She says the hardest part about learning English is the vocabulary. She says we have far too many ways to say the exact same thing, and a huge number of ways to say very nearly the same thing with only very subtle differences.

As far as pronunciation, it takes a very long time for them to learn to put hard consonant sounds at the end of words.

Anh, plee dry to the bang.

What?

The bang. I won go to the bang.

Sorry, I don't understand.

Take me to the bang! I won deposee my chek!

[luckytxn 2,264]

Every language seems so easy when you look at a native 3 year old speaking it with such ease.

Out of the three VK living in my house, my step-daughter has the best grasp of English. She says the hardest part about learning English is the vocabulary. She says we have far too many ways to say the exact same thing, and a huge number of ways to say very nearly the same thing with only very subtle differences.

As far as pronunciation, it takes a very long time for them to learn to put hard consonant sounds at the end of words.

Anh, plee dry to the bang.

What?

The bang. I won go to the bang.

Sorry, I don't understand.

Take me to the bang! I won deposee my chek!

Saying the hard consonant is the hardest thing for my babe. I say over and over to do so.

[crea78 0]

I have one question on the DS-156 form. Does this need to be filled out online: https://evisaforms.state.gov/ds156.asp; and then hit continue to print it out? Also, in the instructions on #2: should my fiancee put Tay Ninh for Place of Issuance:City and leave Country + State/Province blank? I know it says to leave state/province blank, but what about Country?

Edited February 23, 2012 by crea78

[brian_n_phuong 193]

I have one question on the DS-156 form. Does this need to be filled out online: https://evisaforms.state.gov/ds156.asp; and then hit continue to print it out? Also, in the instructions on #2: should my fiancee put Tay Ninh for Place of Issuance:City and leave Country + State/Province blank? I know it says to leave state/province blank, but what about Country?

No, leave the Country blank in box two (just the City).

Section 2 should only include the city of issuance for the passport. Do not select "Vietnam" for place of issuance, and do not include State/Province. Leave these two fields blank

You can put the country in Box 3 as "Issuing Country"

Edited February 23, 2012 by brian_n_phuong

[crea78 0]

No, leave the Country blank in box two (just the City).

Section 2 should only include the city of issuance for the passport. Do not select "Vietnam" for place of issuance, and do not include State/Province. Leave these two fields blank

You can put the country in Box 3 as "Issuing Country"

Thanks again

[Alaska101 2]

haha, this is a very interesting topic about learning the language. Thanks for sharing everyone. i agree that the only way you will learn a new language is to use it daily. I was born in Viet Nam and moved to the U.S at 15 years old. my first year in high school was brutal because i did not know any English what so ever. I had to switch to survival mode for study English since my family was in the same boat haha. I practically ate my Vietnamese/English dictionary that year. I learned a lot from people around me by talking and using English daily for everything at school.

So, OP and other people with vietnamese SO, i have a suggestion for everyone based on my own experinced of learning English. you could try to teach your fiance/wife about 10 new random words a day (both speaking and writing). you could try to put them into simple sentences so she could understand. The goal is to explain to her the meaning of each words through fully as much as you could and not to overwhelm her. she will have to use an English Vietnamese dictionary for more in depth explaination. you could increase the number of words by 5 each month. haha, you will be amazed how fast she will learn to speak English. I used this method to learn English throughout my school years. Before you know it, she will become a very influent English speaker. I hope this will help everyone to learn and to teach each others. after all, we are still learning new words everyday.

[luckytxn 2,264]

haha, this is a very interesting topic about learning the language. Thanks for sharing everyone. i agree that the only way you will learn a new language is to use it daily. I was born in Viet Nam and moved to the U.S at 15 years old. my first year in high school was brutal because i did not know any English what so ever. I had to switch to survival mode for study English since my family was in the same boat haha. I practically ate my Vietnamese/English dictionary that year. I learned a lot from people around me by talking and using English daily for everything at school.

So, OP and other people with vietnamese SO, i have a suggestion for everyone based on my own experinced of learning English. you could try to teach your fiance/wife about 10 new random words a day (both speaking and writing). you could try to put them into simple sentences so she could understand. The goal is to explain to her the meaning of each words through fully as much as you could and not to overwhelm her. she will have to use an English Vietnamese dictionary for more in depth explaination. you could increase the number of words by 5 each month. haha, you will be amazed how fast she will learn to speak English. I used this method to learn English throughout my school years. Before you know it, she will become a very influent English speaker. I hope this will help everyone to learn and to teach each others. after all, we are still learning new words everyday.

Wow.

My wife and I made a goal of just 2 new words a day. Now the two new words worked for a little while but now I am lucky if she learns a word or two a week. She will take a word and repeat it maybe a few thousand times over and over until I finally break and almost scream for her to stop. She will even after that wait until I am just drifting off to sleep and say that word again. I used to like to teach her new words though.

[Dan_P 5]

I use Google translate instead of a traditional dictionary. It is nice in that they can speak words in English. Works great on android or ios.

[tcTTct 37]

It took me 3 months to learn English at the age of 9. If you're lucky enough to start learning before the age of 14 there's a high likelihood that you'll speak with no accent.

Edited February 25, 2012 by tcTTct

[crea78 0]

After realizing the several mistakes I made filling out the DS-230 Part 1 for my fiancee (since she rarely uses the computer & trying to help her out), I know for a fact the NVC will give us an RFE. I noticed the mistakes AFTER looking at the example form shown on this forum. The form has already been faxed to her and she submitted it to the Embassy this past Wednesday. First of all, I put in the district of her town and NOT the province. This occurred on #4 and #30. Another mistake was not putting "Same as #10" on box #11 for where to send your Permanent Resident card. I left that blank.

I know she cannot send in the updated form with the correct information until she gets an RFE, but will the NVC ask for her to resubmit the DS-230 form? I know these are honest mistakes, but mistakes nonetheless!! I do have the updated form printed out ready to fax to her as soon as we hear something.

[brian_n_phuong 193]

After realizing the several mistakes I made filling out the DS-230 Part 1 for my fiancee (since she rarely uses the computer & trying to help her out), I know for a fact the NVC will give us an RFE. I noticed the mistakes AFTER looking at the example form shown on this forum. The form has already been faxed to her and she submitted it to the Embassy this past Wednesday. First of all, I put in the district of her town and NOT the province. This occurred on #4 and #30. Another mistake was not putting "Same as #10" on box #11 for where to send your Permanent Resident card. I left that blank.

I know she cannot send in the updated form with the correct information until she gets an RFE, but will the NVC ask for her to resubmit the DS-230 form? I know these are honest mistakes, but mistakes nonetheless!! I do have the updated form printed out ready to fax to her as soon as we hear something.

I doubt if the "District" being listed as a province is a deal killer. I think they can figure it out, Viet Nam is not that big. The province is really a trivial issue unless she is from an extremely small village.

Not sure why you think leaving box 11 blank is a mistake?? You are only to fill it out if the address in box 10 is DIFFERENT from where you want the green card sent. It is supposed to be left blank if it's the same address.