Before I arrived in Vietnam I hadn’t looked for any Vietnamese-English dictionary. I hadn’t had any idea how to say Hello or how to ask for food in a restaurant. I wish I would have done some research because it would have made my first days easier.
If you are planning to visit Vietnam, I recommend you to collect the translation of food and fruits. It’ll help you to choose wisely from the menu. It’s also useful if you want to try the street food. The sellers don’t use any proper menu, sometimes they don’t speak English at all.
I spent plenty of time in the countryside and I found talking to them in Vietnamese easier, than in English. For now, I have learned a lot of useful words, mostly food’s names, which are very helpful when ordering from the menu.
So here is my list that you need to know when you are traveling around Vietnam.
Tip: Before trying to say these words out loud, check the pronunciation!
Vietnamese ---> English
cà phê đá - black coffee with ice
cà phê sữa đá - coffee with milk and ice
nước mía - sugarcane juice
cam ép - orange juice
trà - tea
cơm gà - roasted chicken with rice
cơm chiên - fried rice
bánh mì - bread
bánh mì ốp la - bread with fried egg
cá - fish
heo - pork
mì xào bò - fried noodle with beef and vegetable
xoi - sticky rice
sinh to - smoothie/shake
xoài - mango
dừa - coconut
cam - orange
dâu - strawberry
I hope this short list will be helpful during your stay in Vietnam! :)
If you’ve got more useful words, don’t hesitate to share them with us!
Thank you for reading my post! :) I appreciate the time you spent here.