Admin
Tạm trú
tam CHOO
Temporary residence. Your landlord must declare you to the ward police within 12 hours of you moving in — the confirmation is a document you will be asked for repeatedly.
Giấy phép lao động
zay fep lao DONG
Work permit. Employer-sponsored, and it must exist before your residence card can. Ask about it in your first week, not your third month.
Thẻ tạm trú
teh tam CHOO
Temporary residence card (TRC) — the thing that ends visa runs. It cannot outlast either your work permit or your passport.
Phường
FOO-uhng
Ward. Since July 2025 Vietnam has no district tier at all, so the ward is the office you actually deal with for police registration and local paperwork.
Daily life
Ngõ / ngách
ngaw / ngaik
Alley and sub-alley. Most Hanoi addresses are a street number, then a ngõ, then a ngách — a flat 'on Đội Cấn' may be 200 metres down two turns.
Nồm
nohm
The late-winter damp when warm sea air hits cold surfaces and floors, walls and clothes literally sweat. Peaks around March. Northern Vietnam only.
Social
Bia hơi
bee-a HUH-ee
Fresh draught beer brewed daily and drunk the same day, sold on plastic stools from about 4pm for around 15,000 đồng a glass. A Hanoi institution, not a southern one.
Anh / chị / em
an / chee / em
Older brother, older sister, younger sibling — used instead of 'you' with almost everyone. Getting the age hierarchy right matters more in Hanoi than in Saigon.
Food
Bún chả
boon CHA
Grilled pork in a bowl of sweet-sour fish sauce with cold noodles — Hanoi's lunch, eaten before 2pm and rarely after.
Work
Không cần hoá đơn
khong kun hwa DUHN
'No invoice needed.' Vietnamese VAT invoices are a separate ritual from a receipt; if you need one for expenses, ask before you pay, not after.
Emergency
113 / 114 / 115
—
Police, fire, ambulance. All free from any phone, all Vietnamese-language. For anything serious, most foreign residents call a private clinic's own ambulance line instead.
Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.