Have kept a copy from the tread Vietnamisation Program originated from bro Lament in my file folder in year Jan 2005. Hope it is ok to share.
People terms
Anh (pronounced as “ang”)= I/You (Male)
Em (pronounced as “M”)= I/You (Female)
Bo Me (pronounced as “boh meh”)/ Cha Me (pronounced as “char meh”)= Parents
Bo = Father Me = Mother Ban (pronounced as “bun”) = Friend
Ban Tot (pronounced as “bun +++”) = Good Friend
Ban Than (pronounced as “bun teng”) = Very Close Friend (almost like lovers but not yet)
Con Gai (pronounced as “cong guy”) = Girl
Con Trai (pronounced as “cong try”) = Boy
Ban Trai / Gai (pronounced as “bun +++”) = Boy/Girl Friend
Nguoi Yeu (pronounced as “Ngui U”) = Lover
Ong Xa (pronounced as “Ong sa”) / Chong (pronounced as “Chong”) = Hubby
Ba Xa (pronounced as “Bar sa”) / Vo (pronounced as “Ver”)= Wife
Gia Dinh (pronounced as “Kia Deng”) = Family
Ai (pronounced as “I”) = Who / Somebody
Common Connectors
Khong (pronounced as “cong”)= No/ Negative Expression (Any words following this becomes negative), Short form is “KO” or “KG”
Vang (pronounced as “vung”) / Da (pronounced as “ya” in the South and “za” in the North) = Yes
Nhung (pronounced as “nung”) / Ma (pronounced as “mar”) = But
Nua (pronounced as “nuar”) = Again Neu (pronounced as “new”) = If
Dung (pronounced as “don’t”) = Correct / Right
Roi (pronounced as “roy”) = Already
Co (pronounced as “kor ”)= Have (sometimes can be used as “Yes)
Duoc (pronounced as “duc”) = literally “Can get” / “Achievable” (in the sense of asking for permission for something) Example “Duoc Bao Lau” = “Got how long”
Khong Duoc = Cannot be done/achieve Duoc Khong = Can be done/achieve or not
Chua (pronounced as “cher”) = Yet to Voi (pronounced as “vuy”) = With
Qua (pronounced as “kwa”) / Rat (pronounced as “rak” but Vietnamese usually pronounced it as “zak”) = Very
Co The (pronounced as “kor ter”)= Can Khong The (pronounced as “cong ter”)= Cannot
Expression of Feelings
Yeu (pronounced as “U”)= Love
Thich (pronounced as “thick” or “turk”)= Like
Nho (pronounced as “U”)= Remember / Miss [someone]
Gian (pronounced as “yang”) = Angry
Ghen (pronounced as “gang”) = Jealous
Buon (pronounced as “bonng”) = Sad / Boring
Vui (pronounced as “vuy”) = Happy
Vui lam(pronounced as “vuy lam”) = Very happy
Hanh Phuc (pronounced as “hang phuc”) = Very Blessed (like “xin fu” in Chinese)
Dau (pronounced as “dow”) = Pain Hien (pronounced as “hint”) = Virtuos
Dau Tim (pronounced as “dow tim”) = Heart-Pain / Broken Heart
[basic expressinon] Qua/Lam = Very ….
Rat [basic expressinon] = Very ….
Some Vocab
Di (pronounced as “D”) = Go
Den (pronounced as “Den”) = Come
Lam (pronounced as “Lam”) = Make / Work ….etc depending on context
Nhieu (pronounced as “new”)= Many / A lot
It (pronounced as “it”) / Chuc Chuc (pronounced “chook chook”) = A little
Het (pronounced as “hack”) = Run out / Over already
Dep (pronounced as “depth”) = Pretty
Eg: Dep lam = Beautiful (for Gals), Dep Trai = Handsome
Ngu (pronounced as “ngo”) = Sleep Nghi (pronounced as “ngee”) = Rest
Nghi (pronounced as “nghee”) = Think Met (pronounced as “met”) = Tired
Benh (pronounced as “burn”) = Sick
Dien Thoai (pronounced as “dian toy”) = Telephone (short form is “dt”)
Xin Loi (pronounced as “sing loy”) = Sorry
Xin tha loi cho (pronounced as “sing ta loy cher”) = Please forgive me
Ngoi (pronounced as “ngoy”) = Sit Xao (pronounced as “sow”) = Lie (Lying)
That (pronounced as “thick”) = Truth (in the case such as “Rat that” = really true/truly”)
Song (pronounced as “song”) = Stay (where one stay)
Hat (pronounced as “hark”) = Sing Doi (pronounced as “doy”) = Wait
Doi (pronounced as “doy”) = Hungry
Doi Buon(pronounced as “doy bom”) = Very Hungry
Hieu (pronounced as “hew”) = Understand
Biet (pronounced as “beet”) = Know
Viet (pronounced as “veet”) = Write Doc (pronounced as “+++”) = Read
Noi (pronounced as “noy”) = Speak Hoi (pronounced as “hoy”) = Tell
Cho (pronounced as “Cho”) = Give
Mong (pronounced as “monk”) / Hy Vong (pronounced as “hee vong”)= Hope/Wish for oneself
Chuc (pronounced as “chook”)= Hope/Wish for someone
Mua (pronounced as “mu”) = Buy Eg “Mua Do (pronounced as “doe” = Shopping
An (pronounced as “ang”) = Eat Ve (pronounced as “vay”) = Return
Choi (pronounced as “chui”) = Play Uong (pronounced as “uong”) = Drink
Gap (pronounced as “kap”) / Thay (pronounced as “thigh”)= See / Meet
Xem (pronounced as “sim”) = Watch (usually for watching tv or movie)
Cam on(pronounced as “kam en”) = Thank You
Lam Tinh (pronounced as “Lam teng”) = Make Love
Kiem Tien (pronounced as “Kim Tin”) = Earn Money
Can Tien (pronounced as “chan tin”) = Need Money
Khong co Tien (pronounced as “cong kaur tin”) = No Have Money
Het Tien (pronounced as “het tin”) = Run out of money eg. handphone
Food terms
Com (pronounced as “kum”)= Rice Com (pronounced as “kum”)= Rice
Pho (pronounced as “fur”)= Kway-teow like noodles
Mien (pronounced as “mean”)= Noodles Bo (pronounced as “bore”)= Beef
Ca (pronounced as “ka”)= Fish Ga (pronounced as “gar”)= Chicken
De (pronounced as “yeah”)= Mutton Ech (pronounced as “er”)= Frog
Chao Ech/ Chao Er= Frog-leg porridge
Rau (pronounced as “row” as in rowdy)= Vegetable
Nuoc (pronounced as “nerd”)= Liquid
Nuoc Suoi (pronounced as “nerd soy”)= Water
Nuoc Yen (pronounced as “nerd yeng”)= Bird Nest Drink
Cam (pronounced as “kam”)= Orange (Nuoc Cam = orange juice)
Da (pronounced as “da”)= Ice Duong (pronounced as “don’t”)= Sugar
Sua (pronounced as “sir”)= Milk
Sua Dua Nhan (pronounced as “sir dow nan”)= Soya Bean Milk
Sua Chua (pronounced as “sir cho”)= Yoghurt
Ca phe (pronounced as “car fair”)= Coffee Tra (pronounced as “cha”)= Tea
Nuoc Mieng (pronounced as “nerd ming”)= Saliva
Ngon (pronounced as “ngong”)= Delicions
Cay (pronounced as “kai”)= Hot (as in too much chilli)
Ngot (pronounced as “ngot”)= Sweet
Nong (pronounced as “nhong”)= Warm / Hot (applicable to weather as well)
Positional terms
Ngoai (pronounced as “ngoay”) = Outside Dau (pronounced as “dow”) = Where
O (pronounced as “er”) = At / In Ngoai (pronounced as “ngoay”) = Outside
Thang (pronounced as “tang”) = Straight Ahead
Xuong (pronounced as “soon”) = Down (as in downstairs)
Tren Duong (pronounced as “trend jung”) = On my way to ……
Day (pronounced as “die”) = Here / This
Kia (pronounced as “kia”) = There / That
Past/Future/Present Tense
Dang (pronounced as “dung”) = Event that is in the process of happening
Da (pronounced as “dung”) = Event that has happen
Se (pronounced as “say”) = Event that will happen
Numbers
Mot (pronounced as “mock”) = 1 Hai (pronounced as “hai”) = 2
Ba (pronounced as “bar”) = 3 Thu (pronounced as “ter”) = 4
Nam (pronounced as “nam”) = 5 Sau (pronounced as “sau”) = 6
Bay (pronounced as “bye”) = 7 Tam (pronounced as “thumb”) = 8
Chin (pronounced as “chin”) = 9 Muoi (pronounced as “mui”) = 10
Tram (pronounced as “charm”) = hundreds
Nghin (pronounced as “ngan” or “nghin”) = thousands
Trieu (pronounced as “chieu”) = millions
Number system is like Chinese so for Eleven (Muoi Mot) and for twenty (Hai Muoi) and so on.
Time Terms
May (pronounced as “may “)= What (used for asking about numbers, date date and time)
Gio (pronounced as “yer” for south or “zer” for the north) = Time / Hour
Eg: What Time = May Gio , 5 Gio (usually written as “5g” = 5 o’clock
Ruoi (pronounced as “re”) = half
Eg: When they say “1 Tram Ruoi” = 150, “5g Ruoi” = 5.30
Bay (pronounced as “bay “) Gio= Now
Mot lat (pronounced as “mock lark “) / Mot chuc (pronounced as “mock chook “)= In a while (usually the latter is of shorter time frame)
Eg “doi mot chuc” or “doi 1 chuc” = wait a while, “1 chuc nua” = in a little while
Truoc (pronounced as “trock “) = Before
Sau (pronounced as “sow “) = After
Thoi Gian (pronounced as “toy zan “) = Period of time
Ranh (pronounced as “rung”) = Free time
Lau (pronounced as “lau”) = Long time
Khi Nao (pronounced as “key now”)= When
Other Expressions
Gi (pronounced as “yi” [south] or “z” [north]) = What
Cai (pronounced as “ker”) Gi = What do you want? / What is it
Khong Co gi = You are welcome / small matter
Khong Sao (pronounced as “sow” = Doesn’t Matter / Never Mind
O Dau (pronounced as “er dow”) = At where (literally = where are u)
Nha (pronounced as “nia”) = Home Cho (pronounced as “cho”) =Workplace / Market
Khach San (pronounced as “cut sun”) = Hotel
Tai Sao (pronounced as “thigh sow”) / Sao = Why
Bao Nhieu (pronounced as “bow new”) = How much …..
Bao Lau (pronounced as “bow new”) = How Long …..