HSC Vietnamese Continuers (NSW) flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Tết Nguyên Đán

Vietnamese lunar new year, falling between late January and mid-February. Families reunite, honour ancestors, give lucky money in red envelopes, and observe the first-visitor custom.

Giỗ ceremony

An annual family ceremony marking a relative's death anniversary. It involves offerings on the home altar, prayers, and a shared meal with relatives.

Vietnamese kinship pronouns

Address terms depend on age, gender and family side: bác, chú, cô for the father's siblings; cậu, dì for the mother's; anh, chị, em among siblings.

Xông đất

The custom of the first person to enter a home in the new year. Families choose someone believed to bring good luck for the coming year.

Hội đoàn

Vietnamese community associations abroad, organised by region, religion or interest. They run festivals, language classes, and cultural and welfare activities.

Vietnamese name order

Personal names place the family name first, then a middle name, then the given name. People are usually addressed by their given name with a title.

Post-1975 settlement

After 1975 and the later refugee movements, large numbers of Vietnam-born people settled in Australia, mainly through humanitarian and family reunion programs.

Vietnamese Australian population

Vietnam-born Australians form one of the largest Asian-born groups. The 1976 census recorded very few; numbers rose sharply from the late 1970s.

Fairfield and Bankstown

South-western Sydney areas with strong Vietnamese Australian communities, visible in grocery stores, restaurants, temples and community services.

Springvale and Braybrook

South-eastern Melbourne suburbs with large Vietnamese Australian populations, hosting markets, eateries and community organisations.

Community language schools

Weekend or after-hours schools teaching Vietnamese language and culture to second-generation students, supported by Australian multicultural policy.

Intergenerational language shift

The tendency for second-generation Vietnamese Australians to become English-dominant, maintaining Vietnamese mainly at home and in community schools.

SBS multicultural broadcasting

Australian public broadcasting providing multilingual news and programs, supporting access to information for Vietnamese-speaking residents.

Đổi Mới

Vietnam's economic renovation policy from 1986, moving toward a market economy and increasing trade, tourism and links with overseas Vietnamese.

Kiều hối

Remittances sent by overseas Vietnamese to relatives in Vietnam. They are a major source of foreign currency and household income.

Việt kiều

A term for ethnic Vietnamese living outside Vietnam. Many visit, do business, or send money to relatives, sustaining transnational family ties.

Vietnamese loanwords

Borrowed terms adapted into Vietnamese, such as ti vi, cà phê and in-tơ-nét, reflecting technological and cultural contact with other languages.

Mekong Delta pressures

Climate change, salinity intrusion and urban migration are reshaping rural livelihoods in southern Vietnam, pushing workers toward cities and industry.

Two hearings rule

In the listening examination, each text is played twice. The second hearing is used to confirm details, not to hear new information.

Question cue words

Vietnamese question words signal what to extract: tại sao (reason), như thế nào (manner), khi nào (time), ai (person), bao nhiêu (quantity).

Hedging in listening

Words such as có lẽ and chắc là signal uncertainty. Answers should report the speaker's doubt rather than presenting it as fact.

Register in speech

Formal address (ông, bà, quý vị) versus informal pronouns (mày, tao) reveals the relationship, politeness level and attitude between speakers.

Discourse markers

Words such as tuy nhiên, nhưng, vì vậy and thứ nhất that structure speech and signal contrast, cause or sequence in listening texts.

Text type identification

The first reading step: identify whether the text is a letter, advertisement, article or notice, since each has conventions and a typical purpose.

Vietnamese noun modifiers

Adjectives follow the noun they describe: nhà mới (new house), áo đỏ (red shirt). Word order is reversed compared with English.

Vietnamese classifiers

Words such as cái, chiếc, con, người and loại precede nouns and must match the noun's category, for example con for animals.

Time markers

Vietnamese marks time with words such as đã (past), đang (ongoing) and sẽ (future) rather than by changing verb forms.

Cohesive devices

Connectives such as vì thế, do đó, mặc dù and trước hết link ideas and signal result, concession or sequence in a text.

Formal letter opening

A formal Vietnamese letter opens with Kính gửi plus the recipient's title and name, and closes with Trân trọng and the writer's signature.

Tonal diacritics

Tone marks distinguish meaning: ma, má, mà, mả, mã, mạ are different words. Accurate diacritics are essential in writing tasks.

Writing connectives

Words such as trước hết, bên cạnh đó, ngoài ra, tuy nhiên and tóm lại organise paragraphs and raise coherence in Vietnamese writing.

Text type conventions

Diary entries, personal letters, articles and speeches each have expected openings, structure and register that must be followed in writing tasks.