Instant Vietnamese

I recommend this book to anyone traveling to Viet Nam. It is concise, easy to master, and doesn't get bogged down in a language that has six tonal sounds. Meant for travelers and business people, I would not recommend this volume for any serious and in- depth study of Viet Namese language; but rather as a "survivor's guide" to the language; a fairly quick and dirty introduction.

I study this book from time to time. I find it especially useful for learning Vietnamese because unlike most learning resources, this book gives both northern (Hanoi) and southern (Saigon/US) pronunciations. Most resources only teach northern accent, which isn't as relevant in the US. It is well organized and thorough considering it's small size. There are also little tips here and there explaining cultural differences regarding pronoun usage, what's considered polite/impolite, etc. Definitely a buy for anyone interested in learning Vietnamese. It's cheap too so it's great in terms of cost effectiveness.

Simple, easy to read

Worth the money. There are many Vietnamese here in Fountain Valley, California. Unfortunately, the phrases may be too heavily North instead of South Vietnamese because a reply I got once was, "I'm not Chinese, I'm Vietnamese". I think Google Translate may be more accurate for my purposes.

Look, for $6.95, you're not expecting to learn the language, right? This little book (literally small enough to easily fit in your pocket) is fun, useful, and really, really inexpensive. I've been studying Vietnamese for two years now and consider myself a serious student of the language, even though my progress has been painfully slow. I've used the Pimsleur and L-Lingo home study systems and purchased a number of books, dictionaries and grammars, all of which have been useful to some extent. Theoretically, I guess, I should be beyond Instant Vietnamese. But I looked inside, and I liked what I saw. I was already quite familiar with 90 of the 100 key words, but I found that Sam Brier and Linh Doan brought plenty of extra information regarding pronunciation (including regional variation) and usage. It's mostly practical, very useful day-to-day information and tips that other books don't give you. And for $6.95, why not? I'll take the help anywhere I can get it, even in a beginner's book or tourist phrase book. Of course, you can't express 1000 ideas with just 100 key words (and phrases). That's marketing talk. In the numerous usage examples, the 100 key words are surrounded by hundreds of others. I don't have anything resembling an accurate count, but if you studied the entire book diligently, I suspect that you'd learn at least 1000 words. Maybe more, maybe less, but you get the idea. Not a bad thing at all -- just pointing it out. So who should purchase the book? Well, as I wrote above, I've got two years' learning under my belt and I find it a useful supplement to what I already know. But I suppose it's aimed more at the casual visitor, who wants to know how to say thank you and use a few words here and there during a visit. I'm sure it's at least as useful as any other phrase book in that respect. Perhaps more so, given that it contains many modern, nuanced, real-world usage examples. A very tiny book, but a useful one. I'd give it four-and-a-half stars, but Amazon won't do halves, so four out of five.

Perfect for a backpacking trip to Vietnam. Fits easily into your back pocket so you can pull it out anytime, anywhere. Highly recommended for anyone making a visit to beautiful Vietnam.

This booklet is different than the other booklets made by Tuttle. These are meant for beginners and the Thai, Japanese, Indonesian booklets were perfect and beginner friendly. In this one, it assumes you know the vocabulary. The glossary in the back is very incomplete. Many words I would try to look up are simply not in the back but are in the sentences. It says it is a newer edition but it is very much like the old Chinese Version that came out some 20 years ago. Make sure you know a little Vietnamese before you use this booklet because it leans more towards a refresher course than a booklet for an absolute beginner. The other languages that the Tuttle Instants came out with are great except this one.

I have shown the paperback to Vietnamese friends. They speak North, Central, South and the Southern islands accents. They all laughed when I showed how the book says to pronounce the words. It is good for phrases, buy a dictionary that tells you how to speak the different tones and vowels