Today we learned one thing, that convinced me Vietnamese will be a bit more complicated, than originally expected.
On ONE hand we learned about the greeting Xin Chào. That is supposed to be the correct greeting if you meet someone.
Everone knows that. Obviously.
Google translate does.
It’s thaught all over the place and many basic Vietnamese trainings contain it as one of the first lessons a part saying exactly that. Xin Chào is your friend.
If you meet people in Vietnam and ask them, they will gladly confirm this common knowledge and will add, that Xin Chào is a great choice even if you just want to quickly say goodbye.
Well it’s clear what you want to achieve and people will figure it out. Most of the guys however will not tell you anything else or teach you other ways to say hello or bye. They mostly won’t even try to teach you “tạm biệt“, the phrase you will get after entering “goodbye” in Google translate.
On the OTHER hand virtually nobody in Vietnam (except expats) will use Xin Chào in daily life.
Never.
Well, not commonly at least.
Sometimes, if you say Xin Chào, they will come back with a smile and a nice “hello”. Well, if they know “hello”.
Sometimes, but only sometimes, they will reply with Xin Chào.
But, they will basically do that only because you forced them to say it. And because you’re a foreigner and it’s OK, that you use a greeting like that one.
Is there anything wrong with this greeting? Should you avoid it?
Not at all. Vietnamese just have other ways to say hi. Some more formal, and some less.
1) Have you eaten yet?
It’s rather common to ask the other person ăn chưa? (have you eaten yet?), and the answer is simply either yes or not yet. That’s it.
2) Stating the obvious
When seeing someone entering a gym, you just ask the obvious question “Are you going to the gym?”
Should it not be too clear, where you are going, you just ask “Where are you going.”
3) Want to still use Chào?
Instead of Xin Chào you may use “Chào + pronoun of the person greeted.
Like this:
Greeting someone younger than you?
Chào em
Greeting someone much younger than you? Like your niece or nephew?
Chào cháu
Greeting someone your age?
Chào bạn
Greeting a lady older than you? Older like your siblings-older
Chào chị
Greeting a man older than you? The age is similar like with the previous greeting of a lady, older than you.
Chào anh
Greeting someone of similar age like your parent’s younger siblings? 😀
Chào chú for a man and Chào cô for a woman
Greeting someone of similar age like your parents?
Chào bác (Yay! You don’t have to differentiate between men and women now!)
Or do you want to say hello to someone around the age of your grandparents?
Chào ông or Chào bà (yeah, first is for the man, the second for the woman)
Easy, right?
Yeah. I guess if I stick to Xin Chào, life will be easier…
