Writing in Vietnamese
Writing tasks require you to produce coherent Vietnamese texts in a specified thể loại (text type): thư, bài báo, bài phát biểu, nhật ký, bài nghị luận. Marks reward nội dung (content), cấu trúc (structure), từ vựng (vocabulary range), ngữ pháp (accuracy) and sự phù hợp (register and audience). Master connectives: trước hết, hơn nữa, tuy nhiên, do đó, vì vậy, tóm lại. Use classifiers correctly (cái, con, chiếc, quyển, người) and remember that Vietnamese verbs do not inflect - tense is shown by đã, đang, sẽ and time words.
Traps
- Ignoring the text type: a formal letter without Kính gửi and a closing formula loses structure marks.
- Register errors: slang in a formal article, or stiff formality in a diary.
- Word-for-word translation from English produces unnatural word order; Vietnamese prefers topic-comment structure.
- Overusing và and nhưng; vary with hơn nữa, mặt khác, tuy vậy.
- Writing far over or under the word limit; plan before writing.
Rule of thumb
Spend five minutes planning with a four-part outline: mở bài (introduce), thân bài 1, thân bài 2, kết luận (conclude with a judgement). Allocate roughly 10% to introduction, 75% to body, 15% to conclusion. Leave three minutes to check tone marks and classifiers.
Worked example
For a formal letter to a community association proposing a Vietnamese language club, open Kính gửi Ban Chấp hành Hội người Việt, state the proposal, give two reasons, and close Trân trọng cảm ơn / Kính thư. That framing alone secures the structure marks.