Differences in expressions of politeness between Northern and Southern dialects and cultures:

1. Politeness markers:

a. Underline the politeness markers dạ, ạ and any other polite expressions in the dialogs in the Chúng ta nói... textbook: p. 40, 130, 163, 187, 192, 247, 249, 276, 278, 280, 334, 356, 375, 379.

• Contrast with these dialogs, where politeness markers are not used: p. 14, 18, 43, 75, 78, 82, 85, 108, 110, 127, 161, 166, 189, 195, 213, 215, 219, 251, 297, 299, 301, 328, 331, 333, 357, 378, 413, 418.
• When are politeness markers used and when are they not used? Use this table to document the context in each dialog.

b. Ask a Vietnamese speaker familiar with both Northern and Southern dialects to tell you how politeness markers would be used in the dialogs with politeness markers from the textbook. Note the differences.

2. Address terms: Read article 1, article 2 How do Vietnamese address others in a polite way in each region?

3. Visiting at meal time: Watch this video clip at about 2:15. What are the polite practices for visiting Vietnamese people at their homes in each region?

Deciding on who pays for the meal: Watch this video clip at about 2:36. How do people decide on who pays for a meal in each region?

4. Other aspects of politeness: Read this article about politeness in daily life in Northern and Southern regions and this article (pp.15-27) about politeness in business transactions in Northern, Central, and Southern regions. What are some politeness practices in daily communication in each region?

Go to the Explore page to see the tasks for this project.