on language

Rachel, Brent, and I have begun language lessons! On MWF mornings we head to Hanoi University for our "Pre-Elementary" class (this course is 100 hours total). We worked on pronunciation for the entire time the first day. Vietnamese is tricky! There are 12 vowels and some of those sounds have only previously been emitted from my mouth via grunts and "uh"s. Then there are six different tones--straight and high-pitched, falling, rising, down and up slowly, down and quickly up (like a check-mark), and low and short. If you say a word with the wrong tone, it means something completely different. For example, "ta" can mean we/us, flap, describe, be worn out, dozen, and 100 kg all depending on the tone. Most Vietnamese words are only one or two syllables, so getting the vowels and tones correct makes the difference between being understood and being a fool. I'm afraid most of my attempts make me the latter so far, but I'll get it with time. My language class often feels like a flute lesson, talking about tongue placement, mouth shape, etc. I remember some flute lessons in high school where we spent nearly an hour working on where to place the tongue for different notes and different attacks. Well, same thing here, except the result means a difference between thoi (stop) and toi (I/me). Language is a giant ear-training class. Except this is (mostly) fun. '-)