Objective

Create an interactive Vietnamese primer in vietnamguru.ru that users review at the very beginning and then constantly use as a reference map when learning words.

Role of the Primer

The primer should not be an examination chapter that must be learned perfectly before moving on. Its purpose is to give adults a primary model of how Vietnamese spelling encodes sound, and then remain a tool to return to from specific words.

What Should Be Inside

• Vietnamese alphabet and special letters;
• ă, â, ê, ô, ơ, ư, đ and their pronunciation;
• key consonant and vowel combinations;
• initial consonants and finals;
• basic structure of a Vietnamese syllable;
• six tones as part of a word's sound;
• tone marks and the connection between the mark and the sound;
• practical examples of syllables and words;
• differences between northern/southern pronunciation where they cause real difficulties.

UX

The primer should be constantly accessible from the main learning interface — for example, as a pinned right-side tab/bookmark "Primer".

It is advisable to provide deep links from a word to a specific fragment of the primer. If a user sees nước and doesn't remember ư, the final, or the tone, they should be able to open the exact corresponding explanation and then return to the word in a single action.

Presentation Principle

Do not overload with academic terms and rules for the sake of rules. First show and let the user hear the phenomenon, then briefly explain what they are observing. Sound, tones, and contrasts must be available audibly, not just described in text.

Result

After the first overview pass, the user is not required to remember everything, but must understand the general mechanics of Vietnamese reading and know where to quickly check any basic element.

Links

• Parent task: Develop a Vietnamese language learning system for an adult audience.
• The rules for using the primer must be explained in the task Write the article "How to use the Vietnamese course".
• The primer must be directly integrated into the mechanics of the task Design the learning of Vietnamese words through familiar meanings: from a word, the user returns to a specific section of the primer and back.
• Access to phonetics and pronunciation must also be maintained at the level of the task Design the transition from words to phrases and Vietnamese impromptu speaking.