越南，一個不可能說出「我愛你」的地方。

     Vietnam is a country where saying “I love you” is impossible. It isn't because the Vietnamese are not passionate. Rather, there is no word for "I" or "you" in colloquial Vietnamese.

[Voc]：

colloquial     [kəˋlokwɪəl]    adj. 口語的

越南是一個不可能說出「我愛你」的國家，並非因為越南人不熱情；相反地，是因為在越南語口語是沒有「我」跟「你」的字的。

     People address each other according to their relative ages: "anh" for older brother, "chi" for older sister, "em" for younger sibling and so on. This is why Vietnamese quickly ask strangers how old they are so that they can use the appropriate pronoun and treat them with the correct amount of respect.

[Voc]：

address         [əˋdrɛs]   vt. 對...說話

sibling             [ˋsɪblɪŋ]  n. 兄弟姐妹

appropriate   [əˋproprɪ͵et]   adj. 適當的 vt. 挪用(錢)

人們會根據彼此的相對年紀來跟對方說話：「anh」表示哥哥、「chi」是姊姊，而「em」是弟弟或妹妹。這就是為什麼越南人會立刻問陌生人年紀多大，這樣才能使用適當的代名詞，來適切地尊重對方。

     So a typical declaration of love might be: "Older brother loves younger sister." If, however the woman was older, it would be: "Older sister loves younger brother." But it has to be said that women often prefer to be called "em", regardless of their age.

[Voc]：

declaration   [͵dɛkləˋreʃən]   n. 宣告  *. declare vt, 宣布 

所以，典型的示愛有可能是；「哥哥愛妹妹。」但如果是女方年紀比較大，那就會是「姊姊愛弟弟。」不過女生不管年紀多大，通常都比較喜歡被稱作「妹妹」。

  

     There are more than 40 different pronouns describing the relationships between individuals and groups of different ages and positions. Most sound a lot better in Vietnamese than in English.

[Voc]：

individual      [͵ɪndəˋvɪdʒʊəl]  n./adj. 個人(的)

描述不同年紀跟地位的個人和團體關係的代名詞，有超過四十種。大部份聽起來，越南語都比英語好聽多了。