This book is intended to help Vietnamese people who have recently arrived in this country. It provides phrases the refugees will need in their initial contacts with Americans. The subject matter provides some basic facts about the U.S. and the way Americans live, and covers as wide a range as possible of the situations that the Vietnamese will encounter. The book comprises the following twelve sections: (1) meeting people, (2) asking questions, (3) making conversation, (4) home and family, (5) food, (6) health, (7) the community, (8) traveling, (9) education, (10) government, (11) religion, and (12) how Americans spend their time. The guide begins with the most fundamental conversational problems and then progresses to more sophisticated information. Each phrase, sentence, or paragraph in the book is printed in both English and Vietnamese, with the exception of short statements in Vietnamese only that give instructions for using the book. However, the book was designed to be used by a Vietnamese person in conjunction with an English-speaking person. An appendix entitled "Useful Information" gives numbers, time, days of the week, seasons and months of the year, weights and measures, clothing sizes, and temperature measures. An English-Vietnamese dictionary and a Vietnamese-English dictionary conclude the publication. (TL)