Shadowing Practice: 10 Things You Should NOT Do in Vietnam - Learn English Speaking with Video

When is COVID time?

Why would you want to bring the shoes in the house?

Hi everyone, welcome back to my channel.

My name is Văn, I'm Vietnamese and I'm gonna be your local tour guide who introduces you to Vietnamese culture, food and travel.

So if you'd like to learn more about Vietnam, don't forget to subscribe to my channel and hit that bell button

so you'll be the first one to be notified for my next videos.

So recently I did a video called A Vietnamese reacts to

7 things not to do in Vietnam by Kel McKinley

but today I'm gonna do 10 things that you should not do in Vietnam under a Vietnamese person perspectives.

I think this video is gonna be helpful for those of you who plan on coming to Vietnam

because it can help you mitigate the culture shocks

and the misunderstandings in terms of communications due to the cultural differences

so yeah without further ado let's get right into the first

one we compare the weather here especially in hanoi to a teenager who is going to her

or his puberty because it is

so unpredictable one day it can go up to 40 degrees

and then the next day it can be rainy

and cold also just because we have a tropical climate doesn't mean we don't have snow in Vietnam.

It can snow in the northern mountainous regions of the country.

I personally made a mistake under dressing when going back to Hanoi in the winter last year.

I was so sure that I could handle the winter in Vietnam

because I used to live seven years in one of the coldest states in America but I was wrong.

It was freezing in December in Hanoi.

Even though I was just like what like 10 degrees in celsius

which is 50 degrees in fahrenheit but it's still so cold guys

and i finally know the reason why is

because vietnamese people don't insulate their homes like they have no

carpets no fireplaces no heat in the house you know they just use the legendary floral blanket that every asian knows

So yeah, it might get very hot in Vietnam and it might get very cold in Vietnam.

So don't underestimate the weather.

Bring your four seasons close because you never know.

One of my favorite things when I came to the US to study was that I could drink tap water, the water from the faucet.

But when you come to Vietnam, keep in mind that Vietnam is still a developing country.

We still need to work on our water contamination, water pollution.

So the tap water in Vietnam is not safe to drink.

If you want to drink water in Vietnam, I suggest you to buy water dispensers or water bottles from any convenience stores or supermarkets.

Or if you want to drink tap water, just remember to boil the tap water first before drinking it.

Even though you can't drink tap water in Vietnam, it's totally safe for you to take a shower,

brush your teeth, or like wash your fruits and everything with tap water.

If you accidentally drink tap water while taking a shower, you won't die.

All right, number three is gonna be a sensitive matter, and I always don't like to talk about politics on my channel, but I think you guys should know this one

because I have seen a lot of incidents that foreigners are being arrested for not knowing this rule.

I know in America, it's okay for you to make fun of your presidents Like you can make memes out of them

Or you can make them rap But in Vietnam,

making fun of the presidents Or the Vietnamese national heroes is highly prohibited.

So yeah, making fun of the government or taking pictures of any military installations

and equipment is considered a breach of national security and you could end up in jail.

So you need to know this Vietnamese culture to understand why Vietnam takes it so seriously.

For most of the time in the past, Vietnamese people have fought many foreign troops to protect our freedom

and that's why Vietnamese people are very proud of the national heroes like Ho Chi Minh or Võ Nguyễn Giáp.

That's the reason why when you make fun of them in public it's gonna get very offensive

so please be careful with any political topics in public maybe keep those conversations in your room

because I don't want you to spend your vacations in jail.

All right, so let's say that you are in Vietnam

and a Vietnamese person invites you to his

or her house to have a dinner because that's how friendly Vietnamese people are, right?

One of the unspoken rules in many Asian countries, especially in Vietnam, is that you should take off your shoes before entering their house.

When you enter someone's house, taking off your shoes shows that you care enough about them

and the cleanliness of their home to go extra mile and remove your shoes In fact, Vietnamese people are more family-oriented

and we tend to have less personal space than Westerners There will be a lot of family gatherings

and many activities happen on the floor Like having hot pot on the floor, playing cards or chit-chatting on the floor So yeah,

we don't want you to bring germs from the outside to our floor where we're gonna sit on it

or like sleep on it, you know?

And it's COVID time.

Why would you want to bring the shoes in the house?

Alright, so you get into the house without your shoes on.

Congratulations.

You did a great job.

And now the host invites you to sit down and ready to have a dinner.

You should not play with your chopsticks.

I did a whole video about Vietnamese dining etiquette

And I'm gonna leave the link up here so you guys can check it out But for the sake of this video, I'm just gonna quickly explain why you shouldn't play with your chopsticks

You shouldn't knock your chopsticks to the bowl because it's like inviting ghosts

or wandering spirits from the outside to the house And they might bring bad lucks to the family Also,

you shouldn't stick your chopsticks straight into the rice because it reminds Vietnamese people of funerals

People usually stick burning incense into rice to honor the dead people

These customs are heavily applied in the northern part of Vietnam

So if you're from the central region or the southern part of Vietnam

Don't hesitate to comment down below to let me know if you guys apply these customs too

Vietnamese traffic can be tricky or chaotic for you if this is your first time visiting Vietnam.

But no worry, let me show you how to cross the road properly.

Alright guys, so today I'm going to teach you guys how to cross the road in Vietnam.

Step number one, put down your hand like this if you are too scared.

So you can give the people signal that you're about to cross the road.

Step two, go with a steady speed and try not to stop suddenly.

Step three, pray.

Yup, just pray that you can survive.

Alright, so let me demonstrate you, okay?

Let's go!

Mission complete!

Pickpocketing and bag snatching can be common problems in many tourist attractions in many countries, including Vietnam.

Although Vietnam remains a safe destination for tourists, bag snatching can be a serious problem in the southern part of Vietnam,

especially in Ho Chi Minh City.

So if you don't want to be a victim of bag snatching, you should hold your purse in front of you or you can grab it around your shoulder.

Never have your phone in public like this or your camera or any of your valuable belongings and remove any unnecessary jewelry.

Keep separate sums of money in different bags or pockets, any locations that you feel safe, so you can have backup once it's lost.

Temples and pagodas are considered as religious places that are very sacred

So you should show your respect and you shouldn't wear any inappropriate clothes Inappropriate clothes mean no shorts,

no skirts, no bare shoulders, anything that reveals a lot of your skin Vietnamese generally have conservative dress codes

100

So if you don't pay attention to what you wear before visiting those religious places, it's considered rude and disrespectful

101

When you speak Vietnamese to local people

102

and they laugh at your broken Vietnamese It doesn't mean that they're making fun of you.

103

In fact, they think that you are cool or cute It's just a Vietnamese thing a Vietnamese culture thing You know,

104

we Vietnamese get very excited when we see a foreigner tries to speak our language

105

And we really like foreigners who attempt to speak our language because our language is pretty damn hard You know,

106

we have six different tones and if you don't make like a perfect pitch or vowels One word can mean another.

107

Remember when I first came to the US I didn't know how to pronounce the word coke instead.

108

I pronounced cock Would you laugh at me if I mispronounce that word?

109

You know, like I didn't even know that I mispronounce that word.

110

So yeah, just don't get offended because it's normal.

111

Laughing at somebody's embarrassment in Vietnam is a way of helping them make a light of that situation.

112

It is not intended to offend you or to make fun of you.

113

So yeah, don't take it personally.

114

Everyone makes mistakes.

115

Keep asking the local how to pronounce Vietnamese words and I bet they will be happy to help you

116

Keep in mind that Vietnam is not a perfect country

117

No country is perfect Even when I stay in one of the best countries in the world It still has flaws

118

But isn't it a beauty of the world where we can see different places,

119

different people, different languages, different cultures and we can all learn from each other.

120

When you travel to Vietnam, don't get too shocked when you can't drink tap water or the weather here is just so fluctuated

121

or Vietnam has so many trash and it's not as clean as Singapore and the US.

122

It's still a developing country and that's why I'm making YouTube video to raise awareness.

123

So yeah, just travel with an open mind and a warm heart

124

And I bet your best experience will come from unexpected moments when you travel to Vietnam So yeah,

125

those are the 10 things that you should not do in Vietnam And if you find this video helpful, don't forget to give me a thumbs up

126

And don't forget to share this video to your friends so they know too Alright, I'll see you guys in the next one Bye

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “10 Things You Should NOT Do in Vietnam”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: Vietnam, vietnamese, tap, drink. This video has 126 sentences and 1824 words to shadow. The speech runs for 11:58. The speaker talks at a natural 152 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 83% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
shoe noun	/ˈʃu/	A protective covering for the foot, with a bottom part composed of thick leather or plastic sole and often a thicker heel, and a softer upper part made of…
foreigner noun	/ˈfɔɹ.ɪ.nɚ/	A person from a foreign country.
snatch verb	/snæt͡ʃ/	To grasp and remove quickly.
pronounce verb	/pɹəˈnaʊns/	To declare formally, officially or ceremoniously.
invite verb	/ɪnˈvaɪt/	To ask for the presence or participation of someone or something.
mispronounce verb	/ˌmɪspɹəˈnaʊns/	To pronounce (a word, phrase, etc.) incorrectly.
offend verb	/əˈfɛnd/	To hurt the feelings of; to displease; to make angry; to insult.
inappropriate adjective	/ˌɪnəˈpɹoʊpɹi.ət/	Not appropriate; not suitable for the situation, time, or place.
cloth noun	/klɒθ/	A fabric, usually made of woven, knitted, or felted fibres or filaments, such as used in dressing, decorating, cleaning or other practical use. Sometimes…
cleanliness noun	/ˈklɛn.li.nᵻs/	The property of being cleanly, or habitually clean; good hygiene.
dispenser noun	/dɪˈspɛnsə/	Something or someone that dispenses things.
etiquette noun	/ˈɛt.ɪˌkɛt/	The manners or decent behaviour to be observed in social or professional life; conventional decorum; the ceremonial code of polite society.
faucet noun	/ˈfɔsɪt/	An exposed plumbing fitting; a tap or spigot; a regulator for controlling the flow of a liquid from a reservoir.
fluctuate verb	/ˈflʌkt͡ʃu.eɪt/	To vary irregularly; to swing.
incense noun	/ˈɪnsɛns/	Biotic material that releases fragrant smoke when burnt, often used in religious rites or for aesthetic reasons.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
take off verb	To remove.
go back to verb	To stem from; to originate in.
put down verb	To insult, belittle, or demean.
sit down verb	To assume a sitting position from a standing position.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	be notified · being arrested · is considered
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	have seen · have fought
Advice with “should” should + verb — saying what is a good idea	should not do · should know · should take
Possibility with “might / may” might/may + verb — something that is possible but not certain	might get · might bring

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 50 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, gonna, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: cloth /klɒθ/, thumb /ˈθʌm/, gathering /ˈɡæð.ɚ.ɪŋ/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shoe /ˈʃu/, contamination /kənˌtæm.əˈneɪ.ʃən/, attraction /əˈtɹækʃn̩/, installation /ˌɪn.stəˈleɪ.ʃən/, pollution /pəˈluʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: inappropriate /ˌɪnəˈpɹoʊpɹi.ət/, disrespectful /dɪs.ɹɪˈspɛkt.fəl/, underestimate /ʌndɚˈɛs.tɪ.meɪt/, misunderstanding /ˌmɪsʌndɚˈstændɪŋ/, contamination /kənˌtæm.əˈneɪ.ʃən/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like shoe, foreigner, snatch.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?