I've been meaning to put air in the tires of my motorbike for a few days now...
On the way back into my neighborhood tonight I saw an air pump on the side of the street! -- Perfect!
I worked my way over to the right and comically backed-up about 1/2 a block... said, "Xin chao!" to the guy standing there... and pointed at the air pump and then to my tires.
A different guy came running up... I realized that he was the guy who owned the air pump... so I said "Xin chao!" to him... and "Xin loi" [sorry] to the other guy.
WELL... my bits of Vietnamese put the guy into a fit of giggles! He kept laughing and repeating xin chao and xin loi to the first guy as he put air into the tires.
He then told me it would be 2,000d for each tire (or so I think that's what he was telling me... and that's what it usually is... which is about 10 cents). I nodded and said, "Yeah... hai and hai" (the only Vietnamese word in that 'sentence' was the number 2 - hai... but again, he burst into excited giggles).
The guy then started saying something to me in a burst of Vietnamese... to which I gave him the 'Vietnamese shake' and said, "I don't know what that means!"
When I paid him the 4,000d, I said, "Han gap lai!" [See you again]... which just put the guy over the edge! He LOVED it. He yelled to me as I sped off... "See you again!"
...I know where I'm going for air next time... this guy was awesome AND appreciated my attempts with the limited Vietnamese I do know. :)
Your Vietnamese is getting better and better, Madame, and they really do appreciate you trying to learn it! Good for you.
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