EDV Picks

After many requests, we’ve decided to compile a list of great resources about the Vietnamese Culture including cook books, language books, and general references.  Please feel free to browse the picks below and if you like a specific category, clicking on it further will review additional recommendations!

Recommended Learning Vietnamese Software

If you are looking for software to learn Vietnamese, we would highly recommend the Rosetta Stone for the serious learner.
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Recommended Vietnamese Language Books

Whose This For: Great for the beginner
Focuses On: Everyday phrases and things
Vietnamese English learning books are hard to pick because the level of difficulty and their audience vary drastically. If you think of them in terms of English books, there’s picture books for little kids in 1st and 2nd grade, and complex gramatically focused text books for college students.

That said, the same applies for Vietnamese language books. For our top pick, we chose The Oxford Picture Dictionary because it was not only backed up by Oxford University, but because of the mix of both visual and easy to understand & practical words. This book / guide is well formatted into different sections, such as Everyday language, people, food & health and can really be used for the English person learning Vietnamese or Vietnamese person learning English.

This book looks like a great resource for people hoping to learn vietnamese phrases and words vs the person looking to learn more conversational Vietnamese. And for under $20, what a great deal!

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Recommended Vietnamese Food Cookbooks

Whose This For: People who love Vietnamese food and want to cook it!
Focuses On: delicious Vietnamese food

The reviews seem to speak for themselves. Most people on Amazon rate this Vietnamese Food Cookbook 5 stars. This book has dozens and dozens of recipes accompanied by pictures and great detailed instructions. Written by a Vietnam-born woman, it covers everything from appetitizers to salads and main courses.

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Recommended Vietnamese Travel Books & Guides

Whose This For: Travelers & Dreamevers
Focuses On: Maximizing your trip to Vietnam

The avid traveler probably has at least a few copies of the Lonely Planet tucked away in their bookshelf. Nick Ray does not dissapoint with Vietnam Travel Book from Lonely Planet (did you know this is also available on the Amazon Kindle?) This 540 page guide covers just about everything you should know including food, transportation, sightseeing & accomodations. Some words of caution though, it seems as though some of the recommended restaurants have closed down and the border crossing specific instructions may not be as accurate as before, so you might want to double check on those or reference another Vietnam Travel Guide as well.

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