Ngoài đất sét ra, xưởng gốm còn có men gốm.

Here, ngoài ... ra means besides, apart from, or in addition to.

So Ngoài đất sét ra means Besides clay or Apart from clay.

This pattern is very common in Vietnamese:

• Ngoài A ra, ... = Besides A, ...
• Ngoài việc học ra, tôi còn đi làm. = Besides studying, I also work.
• Ngoài tiếng Anh ra, cô ấy còn biết tiếng Nhật. = Besides English, she also knows Japanese.

In your sentence, it sets up đất sét as one thing the pottery workshop has, and then adds another thing: men gốm.

In this structure, ra helps complete the pattern ngoài ... ra.

So:

• ngoài by itself can mean outside
• but ngoài ... ra is a fixed grammar pattern meaning besides / apart from

That means in this sentence, ra is not being translated word-for-word as out. It is part of the expression.

You will often hear both:

• Ngoài đất sét ra, ...
• Ngoài đất sét, ...

Both can be understood, but ngoài ... ra often sounds more complete and natural in careful speech.

Còn here means something like also, still, or in addition depending on context. In this sentence, it works as also / in addition.

So the structure is:

• Ngoài A ra, B còn có C.
• Besides A, B also has C.

In your sentence:

• Ngoài đất sét ra = besides clay
• xưởng gốm còn có men gốm = the pottery workshop also has glaze

Without còn, the sentence would still be understandable, but còn makes the additive meaning clearer and more natural.

Compare:

• Ngoài đất sét ra, xưởng gốm có men gốm.
• Ngoài đất sét ra, xưởng gốm còn có men gốm.

The second version more clearly emphasizes there is another thing too.

Có here means to have.

So:

• xưởng gốm có men gốm = the pottery workshop has ceramic glaze

Vietnamese often uses có when talking about possession, availability, or existence.

In this sentence, the idea is that the workshop possesses or stocks these materials.

It would not use là here, because là means to be in the sense of identification:

• Đây là men gốm. = This is ceramic glaze.
• Xưởng gốm có men gốm. = The pottery workshop has ceramic glaze.

So có is the correct verb for has.

Xưởng gốm means pottery workshop, ceramics workshop, or ceramic workshop.

It is made of:

• xưởng = workshop, factory, production place
• gốm = pottery, ceramics

Together, xưởng gốm means a place where pottery or ceramic items are made.

In this sentence, xưởng gốm is the subject of có:

• xưởng gốm = the pottery workshop
• có = has
• men gốm = ceramic glaze

Men gốm means ceramic glaze or pottery glaze.

It refers to the coating used on pottery or ceramics, usually before firing, to give the surface color, shine, texture, or waterproofing.

This is a vocabulary item worth learning as a set:

• men = glaze
• gốm = ceramics / pottery

So men gốm is specifically the glaze used in pottery or ceramics.

Yes, it is the same word, but the meaning changes depending on the structure.

Ngoài can mean:

• outside
  • ngoài nhà = outside the house
• besides / apart from
  • ngoài đất sét ra = besides clay

So in your sentence, ngoài does not mean physical location. It is part of the grammar pattern ngoài ... ra.

This is very common in Vietnamese: one word can have several related meanings depending on context.

Yes, that is possible, and many speakers would understand it perfectly.

• Ngoài đất sét ra, xưởng gốm còn có men gốm.
• Ngoài đất sét, xưởng gốm còn có men gốm.

Both can work.

However, ngoài ... ra is a very common and complete pattern, so learners will often hear and see it with ra included.

If you want to sound safe and natural, using ra is a good choice.

The structure is:

• Ngoài A ra, B còn có C.

Meaning:

• Besides A, B also has C.

For your sentence:

• A = đất sét
• B = xưởng gốm
• C = men gốm

So literally:

• Besides clay, the pottery workshop also has ceramic glaze.

This is a useful pattern you can reuse:

• Ngoài cà phê ra, quán còn có trà.
  • Besides coffee, the shop also has tea.
• Ngoài tiếng Việt ra, anh ấy còn nói tiếng Anh.
  • Besides Vietnamese, he also speaks English.

Yes, Vietnamese word order is somewhat flexible, though some versions sound more natural than others.

Your sentence:

• Ngoài đất sét ra, xưởng gốm còn có men gốm.

A possible variation:

• Xưởng gốm ngoài đất sét ra còn có men gốm.

This is also understandable and natural enough, especially in speech or writing where the speaker wants to keep xưởng gốm as the topic first.

Still, the original version is very clear because it starts with the besides... phrase and then gives the main clause.

Mainly possession / availability.

• xưởng gốm có men gốm means the pottery workshop has ceramic glaze

In English, you might also translate it as there is ceramic glaze at the workshop, but grammatically Vietnamese is using có with xưởng gốm as the subject, so it is structured like possession.

Vietnamese có often covers both ideas:

• Tôi có tiền. = I have money.
• Trong phòng có người. = There is someone in the room.

In your sentence, it is closer to has.

The main marker of also is còn.

So if a speaker wants to stress that clay is not the only thing available, còn does that job:

• Ngoài đất sét ra, xưởng gốm còn có men gốm.

If you remove còn, the meaning is still possible, but the contrast is weaker.

You can think of it like this:

• ngoài ... ra = besides
• còn = also / in addition

Together they strongly signal there is something else too.

A rough pronunciation guide for an English speaker:

• ngoài ≈ ngwai
• đất ≈ duht with a short clipped ending
• sét ≈ set with a rising tone
• ra ≈ zah/rah depending on dialect
• xưởng ≈ something like sưởng with a falling-glottal tone
• gốm ≈ gohm with a rising-broken tone
• còn ≈ cawn with a falling tone
• có ≈ gaw/goh with a rising tone
• men ≈ men
• gốm again as above

A few important notes:

• x in southern and standard spelling is pronounced like s
• đ is like English d
• tones matter a lot, especially in words like có, còn, gốm, and sét

If you are learning pronunciation seriously, it is best to listen to native audio, because tone and vowel quality are hard to capture fully in English spelling.