vỡ lòng

Vietnamese

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”).

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [vəː˦ˀ˥ lawŋ͡m˨˩]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [vəː˧˨ lawŋ͡m˦˩] ~ [vəː˧˨ lɔŋ˦˩] invalid IPA characters (][)
(Saigon) IPA^(key): [vəː˨˩˦ lawŋ͡m˨˩] ~ [jəː˨˩˦ lawŋ͡m˨˩] invalid IPA characters (][)

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