Vietnamese Medical Terms: How to Talk About Illness Like a Local

At a clinic in Vietnam you will hear cảm lạnh, sốt, and uống thuốc, not a translated medical textbook. Start with Tâm's Body Reactions series, then Ngọc's How is Your Health? and Hoàng Trâm's clinic skits.

Tâm's ten symptoms

Đau đầu (headache), sổ mũi (runny nose), ho (cough), đau bụng (stomachache), buồn nôn (nausea), ngứa (itchy), hắt xì (sneeze), chóng mặt (dizzy), đau lưng (back pain), run tay (shaking hands).

Clinic and pharmacy phrases

Chào bác sĩ. Tôi bị đau đầu và sốt. Bạn bị từ khi nào? Uống thuốc (take medicine). Lạnh bụng is Tâm's pharmacy phrase for a "cold stomach" after iced drinks, snails, or sour mango.