Lunar New Year 2025 is coming. What is the English vocabulary for Tet dishes such as banh tet, braised pork with duck eggs...? How are Tet customs such as New Year's Eve offerings used in English?
The atmosphere of the Lunar New Year 2025 has filled everywhere. Every household is bustling to shop for specialties, fresh flowers, wrap banh chung and banh tet, and cook typical dishes of the Vietnamese New Year. In the North, boiled chicken, sticky rice, vermicelli soup with bamboo shoots, banh chung, and braised meat... are indispensable in the New Year's Eve meal. In the South, the New Year's Eve offering tray cannot lack banh tet, braised pork with duck eggs, and stewed bitter melon soup...
Below are English vocabulary about typical dishes on Tet holiday, vocabulary about traditional customs on traditional Tet holiday of Vietnam suggested by Mr. Huynh Chi Vien, Executive Director of BHV English Center.
Seeing peach blossoms means seeing Tet
Vocabulary about Tet dishes often appears on the New Year's Eve offering tray
Word/phrase | Transcription | Meaning |
Vietnamese square sticky rice cake | /ˈviː.et.nəˈmiːz skweər ˈstɪk.i raɪs keɪk/ | Chung cake |
Vietnamese cylindrical sticky rice cake | /viː.et.nəˈmiːz sɪˈlɪn.drɪ.kəl ˈstɪk.i raɪs keɪk/ | Banh tet |
Pickled small leeks | /ˈpɪk.əld smɔːl ˈliːk/ | Pickled cucumber |
Pickled onion | /ˈpɪk.əld ˈʌn.jən/ | Pickled onions |
Pickled bean sprout | /ˈpɪk.əld ˈbiːn spraʊt/ | Cucumber |
Braised pork belly with duck eggs | /breɪzd pɔːrk ˈbel.i wɪð dʌk eɡz/ | Braised meat with duck eggs |
Jellied meat | /ˈdʒel.id miːt/ | Jellied meat |
Steamed stuffed bitter melon | /stiːmd stʌft ˈbɪt̬.ɚ ˈmel.ən/ | Bitter melon stuffed with meat stew |
Vermicelli soup with dry bamboo shoot | /ˌvɝː.məˈtʃel.i suːp wɪð draɪ ˌbæmˈbuː ʃuːt/ | Vermicelli soup with bamboo shoots |
Boiled whole chicken | /bɔɪld hoʊl ˈtʃɪk.ən/ | Whole boiled chicken |
The five-fruit tray: custard apple, coconut, papaya, mango, fig | /ðə faɪv fruːt treɪ: ˈkʌs.tɚd ˈæp.əl, ˈkoʊ.kə.nʌt, pəˈpaɪ.ə, ˈmæŋ.ɡoʊ, fɪɡ/ | Fruit tray: custard apple, coconut, papaya, mango, fig. |
Spring rolls | /sprɪŋ roʊlz/ | Spring rolls |
Fried spring rolls | /fraɪd sprɪŋ roʊlz/ | Spring rolls |
Vietnamese style pork sausauge | /ˌviː.et.nəˈmiːz staɪl pɔːrk ˈsɑː.sɪdʒ/ | Pork roll |
Vietnamese style fermented pork | /ˌviː.et.nəˈmiːz staɪl fərˈmen.tɪd pɔːrk/ | Nem chua |
Typical Southern New Year's Eve offering tray
Children learn to wrap Chung cake for Tet At Ty
Vocabulary about traditional New Year customs such as New Year's Eve worship, picking lucky branches, writing New Year's couplets
Word/phrase | Transcription | Meaning |
Displaying apricot blossom/peach blossom | /dɪˈspleɪ.ɪŋ ˈeɪ.prɪ.kɑːt ˈblɑː.səm/ - /dɪˈspleɪ.ɪŋ piːtʃ ˈblɑː.səm/ | Displaying apricot blossoms/peach blossoms |
Arranging flowers for Tet | /əˈreɪndʒɪŋ ˈflaʊ.ɚz fər tet/ | Flower arrangement |
Paying New Year's visits to relatives | /ˈpeɪɪŋ nuː jɪrz ˈvɪzɪts tə ˈrel.ə.tɪvz/ | Go to wish relatives a happy new year |
Visiting a pagoda on New Year's Day | /ˈvɪzɪtɪŋ ə pəˈɡoʊdə ɑːn nuː jɪrz deɪ/ | Go to the temple at the beginning of the year |
Giving lucky money | /ˈɡɪvɪŋ ˈlʌki ˈmʌni/ | New Year's Eve |
Receiving lucky money | /rɪˈsiːvɪŋ ˈlʌki ˈmʌni/ | Receive lucky money at the beginning of the year |
Making offerings to ancestors on New Year's Eve | /ˈmeɪkɪŋ ˈɔːfərɪŋz tə ˈæn.ses.tɚz ɑːn nuː jɪrz iːv/ | New Year's Eve Offering |
Sending the kitchen god to heaven | /ˈsendɪŋ ðə ˈkɪtʃən ɡɑːd tə ˈhev.ən/ | Sending the Kitchen Gods to Heaven |
Picking buds | /ˈpɪkɪŋ bʌdz/ | Picking luck |
Visiting and cleaning ancestors' graves | /ˈvɪzɪtɪŋ ənd ˈkliːnɪŋ ˈæn.ses.tɚz ɡreɪvz/ | Tomb Sweeping |
Writing New Year couples | /ˈraɪtɪŋ nuː jɪr ˈkʌp.ləts/ | Write Tet couplets |
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/cung-giao-thua-banh-tet-thit-kho-hot-vit-noi-the-nao-trong-tieng-anh-185250124194507598.htm
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