Ciambella wrote:MarkinNam wrote:No Emmy, i think it's closer to 90%, Vietnamese I've had dealings with simply aren't able to, 2, not flexible when allowing for miss pronounced words and interpret correct words given the sentence and context of that sentence to predict the correct words, ( See o/p reply )
There are *so many* cases in which Vietnamese cannot interpret a foreigner's mispronounced words to give them the correct meaning even within the context. I'm going through this several times a week with my husband.
For instance, a few days ago he came to me saying "What does 'thang' mean?" I asked him how the word was used in the sentence, and he said, "I asked KA if she needed my help, I didn't understand her answer but I think she said something to do with 'thang'."
I spent 10 minutes going through the entire lists of words close to 'thang' with every accent conceivable. Thang as ladder? Tháng as month? Thẳng as straight? Thắng as a brake or to reduce a sauce? Thằng as a lad? Thành as a ledge? Thạch as jelly? Thông as clear? Thính as rice powder? Thỉnh as invite? etc and etc.
After about dozens of different pronunciations and word choices, he was about to give up when I finally said, "Is is 'thùng'? Do you think she wanted you to bring her a bucket?"
Yes, she did. And no, 'thang' and 'thùng' are not at all similar in the pronunciation.
Another case, this one happens almost daily: It always takes me a minute or two to know whether my husband says niece/nephew (cháu), congee (cháo), frying pan (chảo), or fermented tofu (chao). Given the context of dining, any of those words would make sense, but only one of them is what he wants to express.
In short, it's quite impossible at times for Vietnamese to guess what a non-Vietnamese tries to say.
In relation to your answer, if I was in a road side shop in the back blocks of the Mekong Delta, and the shop sold just six types of drinks, I say "cho tôi tra xanh," to the owner. How many possibilities that tra xanh could be something other than one of those six drinks.