Essential greetings
“Xin chào” is a neutral and easy greeting to remember. In natural conversation, you will also hear chào anh, chào chị, chào em or chào cô depending on who you are speaking to. Vietnamese pronouns are therefore an important part of polite conversation.
Useful expressions
To say thank you, use “cảm ơn”. “Tạm biệt” means goodbye, although in everyday conversation people may simply use chào again with the appropriate pronoun. Start with a few common expressions before expanding your vocabulary.
How to improve
Listen to complete sentences, repeat them aloud and reuse them in a specific context. Memorising a useful sentence is often more effective than learning a long list of isolated words.