Languages / Vietnamese / Level 1 · Unit 2

Tính tiền — Paying the Bill

Lesson 9 of 170 · Level 1 of 6All lessons
In this lesson

You are learning paying the bill: you will read the scene it happens in, take apart the pattern behind them (bill + departure vocabulary), hear them in a conversation, rehearse them, and finish by saying one thing out loud to be graded.

The scene

At any Hanoi restaurant or street food stall. Asking for the bill, paying correctly, and leaving with the phrases that create a permanent good impression.

Quán Bún Bò — Paying

Two hours at the table. Empty bowls, empty beer bottles. The stranger's friend Minh has been teaching him the correct way to eat bún bò (don't blow on it to cool it — bad luck). The stranger has been practicing the word for lemongrass (sả) by pointing at what's in the broth.

「Tính tiền đi!」 The owner produces a handwritten slip. 180,000 VND for everything. Less than $8.

At the door: 「Ngon lắm! Chủ quán nấu giỏi quá! Cảm ơn!」 The owner — feeding Hanoi for thirty years — allows herself a full smile. 「Lần sau lại đến nhé!」

「Chắc chắn rồi! Hẹn gặp lại! Đi nhé!」