vỡ lòng
Vietnamese
Etymology
From vỡ (“to break; to open”) + lòng (“intestines; heart”). A native calque of the Sino-Vietnamese khai tâm (開心, “to open one's heart; to begin to learn”).
Pronunciation
- (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [vəː˦ˀ˥ lawŋ͡m˨˩]
- (Huế) IPA(key): [vəː˧˨ lawŋ͡m˦˩]
- (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA(key): [vəː˨˩˦ lawŋ͡m˨˩] ~ [jəː˨˩˦ lawŋ͡m˨˩]
Verb
vỡ lòng
- (archaic, of children) to learn the alphabet
- lớp vỡ lòng ― ABC level
- học vỡ lòng ― to learn the alphabet
- to learn something from the very beginning, as a complete newbie
- trình độ vỡ lòng ― beginner level
- học tiếng Anh vỡ lòng ― to learn English from the ground up; to start learning/dabbling in English