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goodolboy wrote:

Do the Vietnamese use the terms "xin chao", "cam on", "cam on ban" in their general daily life? or are these used more in a formal setting?

A previous girlfriend taught me that I should stop saying Xin Chào to everyone in the marketplace and merely nod my head towards them in a gesture of respect.

Another friend told me that "Chào em" is an alternate among friends, and even simply "Chào" sometimes.

He's a somewhat lower middle-class guy and seems to feel that Xin Chào is a little formal.

Another person told me that Xin Chào is properly a greeting given by a host to people who are arriving as guests or a shopkeeper who is greeting customers, literally meaning "welcome".

She said that when I walk into a store and say Xin Chào, it's a little funny to the Vietnamese people because it sounds like I am welcoming them to their own store

All of that is just anecdotal experience so I'd be happy to have someone like Ciambella correct me.

Previous discussions here indicate that Cảm ơn and Cảm ơn bạn are definitely used in everday life by Vietnamese people, but not always in situations where foreigners might normally use those terms.

Xin chao is not used in a formal setting, it basically means "Hi". More common is to use the specific pronoun, Chao chi, Chao anh. Ciambella will confirm if this is right or wrong.

colinoscapee wrote:

Xin chao is not used in a formal setting, it basically means "Hi". More common is to use the specific pronoun, Chao chi, Chao anh. Ciambella will confirm if this is right or wrong.

Yes I dont hear Vietnamese say Xin Chao a lot but have heard it at sort of formal settings, but I do here Cam On & Cam On Ban on a daily basis at shop check outs etc.

Most grab drivers always use Xin Chao, more likely to ensure they get 5 star reviews.

Most people you come across just nodd

goodolboy wrote:

colinoscapee wrote:

Xin chao is not used in a formal setting, it basically means "Hi". More common is to use the specific pronoun, Chao chi, Chao anh. Ciambella will confirm if this is right or wrong.

Yes I dont hear Vietnamese say Xin Chao a lot but have heard it at sort of formal settings, but I do here Cam On & Cam On Ban on a daily basis at shop check outs etc.

Maybe amongst friends they used it. If you were meeting someone you dont know in a formal setting I doubt xin chao will suffice.

Coincidentally, my wife told me just this morning that she has learned to say thank you frequently in English but that she rarely does so in Vietnamese.

Im free anyone wanting tips on Essex English 😂

Replying in general without a quote: I often say thank you to a sales clerk when I am paying them and they say thank you when they receive my money most of the time. But I don't think most Vietnamese people thank the sales clerk when they give them money

colinoscapee wrote:

Xin chao is not used in a formal setting, it basically means "Hi". More common is to use the specific pronoun, Chao chi, Chao anh. Ciambella will confirm if this is right or wrong.

Colin is absolutely right.  The "first" thing I taught my husband after 25 years of marriage  was never greet or thank a Vietnamese without a specific pronoun  (it's done but it's not a nice way to do):  Chào chị, chào ông, chào em.  Cảm ơn chị, cảm ơn ông, cảm ơn em.

The pronoun is neither formal nor informal, it simply makes the greeting and thanking personal and not just some throwaway words.

If you want to do it even better (the way I do all the time, which explains why I always receive very good customer service everywhere):  Em chào chị, anh chào em.  Em cảm ơn chị, anh cảm ơn em.  You use two pronouns, the first to address yourself and the second to address the other person.

It's harder to use two pronouns with "ông" and "bà" unless you can estimate their ages and social standing so just stay with one pronoun.

THIGV wrote:

Coincidentally, my wife told me just this morning that she has learned to say thank you frequently in English but that she rarely does so in Vietnamese.

I brought up that subject in a thread some time ago (I can't search for anything on this site).  I also brought that up on general FB to attract a bigger Vietnamese audience.  The answer, idiotically, is "that's not the Vietnamese way".  I replied that almost everyone of my generation and the generations before me (including my father and his contemporaries who were all born at the turn of the 1900s) used the word thank you daily, so it's definitely "the Vietnamese way".

No conclusion or helpful ideas.

Jlgarbutt wrote:

Most grab drivers always use Xin Chao, more likely to ensure they get 5 star reviews.

They use Xin Chào with foreigners because they think that's the only greeting foreigners understand.  With Vietnamese passengers, they say chào followed by a pronoun.

Couldn't agree more with you Ciambella. This is hardly known if you're not a native. And I think there's an explanation for this: both Grab drivers and expats use Google translate.

Ciambella wrote:

No conclusion or helpful ideas.

Could it be a generational shift? 

This sounds far fetched but could it even be ideological post 1975.  After all if it is "to everyone according to his needs" then why do you need to thank anyone.