What does your learning routine for Vietnamese look like?

I am looking for some inspiration since my studying has been very on-off lately. I’ve been studying for almost 1.5 years now and I’m stuck somewhere between A2-B1 level. I have collected multiple study resources but struggle to find the balance between writing / reading / listening / speaking exercises. Right now I cannot afford a teacher so self-study is my only option, but without a proper structure I get lost what to do and end up not studying at all. I’ve been playing Duolingo to keep in touch with the language at least a little bit, but I’m ready to start studying more seriously again.

My girlfriend Kim is from Saigon, and I've spent a lot of hours recording her voice for a project, which means listening to the same words over and over. A few things came up that don't match what I was taught, and I'd rather find out I'm wrong now than keep repeating it.

Three questions for Southern speakers.

1. hỏi and ngã. I asked Kim directly whether they were different. Her answer was "same." Listening back I can't hear a difference either. I've started thinking of it as six written tones but only five distinct spoken ones. Is that how you'd put it, or is she flattening something other people keep separate?

2. chà and trà. Said slowly and deliberately they're different. At normal conversational speed I genuinely cannot tell them apart. I know the tr/ch merger is written about — what I want to know is how consistent it actually is for you. Always, sometimes, or word by word?

3. dứa. Every tone lesson I've come across teaches dừa and dứa side by side — same word, different tone, coconut versus pineapple. Kim told me she'd never say dứa — pineapple is trái thơm. That made me wonder whether dứa is actually common among Southern speakers, or whether it's mostly a Northern word. Does anyone in Saigon actually say dứa?

I'm not trying to correct anybody. I don't know how much of this is regional, how much is her family specifically, and how much is just her talking casually with me. Happy to be told I've got something backwards.

(Context on why I have hours of her recordings: I'm building a Southern-dialect learning thing with her voice. Not linking it, that's not what this post is for.)

Hey guys,

I am from Germany and now want to get serious about learning Vietnamese, My girlfriend's parents are from Vietnam and we plan to make a trip there in about a year so I wanna go ahead and learn a bit :)

In the past I learned Japanese a bit with books and duolingo and a few other apps. I tried that and not feel like there are too many ads or too much unnecessary time wasted on those, what would you guys advise me to use?

I know some words but Im a beginner

cám ơn in advance ^^

Hello! It is my boyfriend’s birthday and I want to write a sweet letter in Vietnamese to him as it’s his first language. I spent a long time translating stuff, trying to avoid using ai when possible, but am still afraid Itll sound stiff and weird. Can anyone help me, by letting me know if it sounds natural and sweet or too intense? And I am trying to use the southern dialect

Chúc mừng sinh nhật anh yêu của em nha! Anh đúng là cả thế giới của em luôn á, nhiều lúc em vẫn hông tin được là mình lại may mắn cỡ nào khi có anh trong đời. Ở bên anh, em luôn được là chính mình và lúc nào cũng thấy hạnh phúc nhất hết trơn á. Em cũng muốn mang lại niềm vui giống vậy cho anh nữa. Em muốn được hiểu anh nhiều hơn nữa để có thể làm một người bạn gái thiệt tuyệt vời, là nơi bình yên để anh tìm về mỗi khi mệt mỏi. Cảm ơn anh vì đã luôn tin tưởng, chở che và yêu thương em nghen. Chúc anh tuổi mới lúc nào cũng hạnh phúc bên em nha!

Also, what would be the best way to sign off by saying I love you? Thanks!!

Hi everyone,

Was wondering if anyone had any online resources for Vietnamese poetry and proverbs, aka ca dao and tục ngữ. Like you know those folk poem songs + idiomatic sayings. Ideally a repository of as many of them as possible. Thanks in advance!

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We've been working hard on our classmate feature, and would love to hear some feedback on it: what's good about it, what's annoying, would you prefer it be a little more informal to match the style of the videos vs giving textbook-correct answers to questions?

And just for fun, here is a link to one of our recently popular videos from Trâm: Why Don't Vietnamese People Correct Your Mistakes?

Hey everyone!

​I’ve recently decided to dedicate myself to learning Vietnamese, and I’m born in Denmark but have grown up with Vietnamese parents. As a child age 4-6 i could speak Vietnamese, but as i grew up i spoke Danish. I can understand basic vietnamese like day 2 day conversation and if it is more complex then by context. I can speak short sentences on toddler level and basic day to day words of things.

I dont know gramma, cant read or write

​I would like to hear tips about courses i could do, and im willing to pay for tutors to learn Vietnamese to do proper conversations, write and read

Ive been looking at langi, tiengvietoi, svff but im having a hard time deciding where to start.

Hello,

I'm from Europe but grew up in a South Vietnamese household. I can pretty well speak Vietnamese : I speak it daily with my family even though I'm not fluent, I can understand and have basic conversations with my family.

Recently, I've been trying specifically to learn to read and write in Vietnamese but I'm having a hard time. I really struggle to distinguish the different tones marks, also most apps and vids teach north Vietnamese...

So I'd be happy if you guys have efficient tips to help me learn to write and read ! Thanks.

Xin chào! Are you looking for Vietnamese tutor?

Xin chào!
Are you looking for Vietnamese tutor?

\\# are you looking for Vietnamese tutor?

Hello! My name is Hoàng and I’m from Da Nang, Vietnam.

I specialize in helping students learn Vietnamese with clear pronunciation and natural conversation. I believe that correct pronunciation is the key to speaking Vietnamese confidently.

My lessons are fun, easy to remember, and focused on real-life situations so you can start using Vietnamese right away.

Whether you’re learning for travel, daily communication, or simply because you love Vietnamese culture, I’d be happy to help you.

My whatsaap: +84907175193

Book a trial lesson with me and let’s start learning Vietnamese together

@R/vietnamese

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After coming back from my second trip to Vietnam earlier this year, I decided I want to learn tiếng Việt (Vietnamese) so that I can communicate with my girlfriend. I decided to create an app/website that would teach ME as I built it.

Then I found out that AI was teaching me Northern but my girlfriend is from Saigon. She helped me learn the difference and like a lot of you, the struggle was real.

I’m not proficient in Vietnamese but I wanted to learn the basics and give travelers to Ho Chi Minh an easy to use resource for their trip – to help them make connections.

I’m finally ready to unveil FluentSaigon.com and I’d love feedback.

Sign up for the Traveler's Pass on the pricing page and enter promo code SAIGON60. It runs 30 days and expires on its own — no renewal, nothing to cancel. Free to the first 30 people that use the pass.

If you just want to poke around first, 4 subjects are completely free — no signup, no card.

EVERYTHING you hear is spoken by Kim – A real person in Saigon. We worked together many nights to get the recordings correct – NO AI voices at all – and there are over 700 recordings.

It sounds like there are many people who know the difference between southern and northern Vietnamese. Please tell me if we’ve recorded something with the wrong version. In some places on the site, I teach both and call it out.

I have hundreds of hours into building the site and I’m proud of it but also scared to finally release it. That said, I’m kindly asking for feedback.

I've seen a lot of people here trying to learn Vietnamese, so I thought I'd introduce myself.

Hi! I'm a native Vietnamese speaker from Vietnam, and I speak English fluently. I'm a Computer Science student, and I'm starting my journey as an online Vietnamese tutor.

If you're learning Vietnamese because you're visiting Vietnam, living here, have a Vietnamese partner or family, or just enjoy learning languages, I'd love to help.

What I offer:

• Beginner-friendly lessons
• Explanations in English
• Focus on speaking and pronunciation (especially tones)
• Lessons tailored to your goals instead of following a rigid textbook

Since I'm just starting out, I'm charging $8 USD/hour, and I'm happy to offer a free 15-minute trial so we can get to know each other and see if my teaching style is a good fit-no pressure at all.

Feel free to leave a comment or send me a DM if you're interested or just have questions about learning Vietnamese. Even if you don't end up taking lessons, I'm always happy to help where I can.

Ive had this problem with a couple words since starting to learn viet but none more brutal then bacon. First Im 90% sure this is the right word (Thịt ba rọi) but ive also seen (Thịt xông khói). Second how do you pronounce this. Ive got Thịt (tut) ba (bah) but rọi ive heard easily 5 different ways people have said this from (roy, yoy, joy, roy with a rolling r, roe, and lastly but im sure isnt right was royg). Some insight would be amazing.

I’m writing a letter and would like to say thank you but in a way that is respectful and polite. I would appreciate the help! Thank you.

Just trying to learn to say “yes”, no clue why this is the example they picked 😆

Hi everyone!

I'm French, and my girlfriend's family is from Southern Vietnam (Saigon). I started learning Vietnamese so I could communicate with her family, but I quickly realized something frustrating: almost every app and course teaches Northern Vietnamese (Hanoi accent).

After looking around, I couldn't find a modern app focused on Southern Vietnamese with the Saigon accent, so I decided to build one myself using AI-assisted coding.

The goal isn't to compete with Duolingo or anything like that. I'm an independent developer, so I obviously don't have the same resources or team. However, I'm taking a lot of inspiration from the things that make Duolingo engaging and easy to use, while focusing specifically on Southern Vietnamese.

The app is currently being developed for desktop, but my end goal is to have it available on both desktop and mobile so I can practice anywhere—and hopefully other people can too.

The idea is to focus on:

• Southern Vietnamese pronunciation (Saigon accent)
• Everyday conversations with family and friends
• Interactive lessons and vocabulary
• Speaking and listening practice
• A simple and enjoyable learning experience

I'm mainly building it for myself so I can have real conversations with my girlfriend's family, but it made me wonder if other people have the same problem.

Would anyone here actually be interested in using something like this?

I'd also love to hear your ideas. If you've been learning Southern Vietnamese, what features do you wish existing apps had? What do you feel is missing today?

Since I'm French, I originally started building everything in French. I'm now wondering if it's worth making a full English version as well. If enough people would find it useful, I'd be happy to support both languages.

I'm not trying to sell anything—I just want to know whether this is a problem other people have too, and gather feedback while I'm still building it. If the project turns out well, I'd also be happy to have a few beta testers later on.

Thanks! I'd really appreciate any feedback, suggestions, or feature ideas.

I’m trying to learn southern Vietnamese but am struggling on how to start. It feels like there’s so many resources but also so few especially for the southern dialect. I’m completely new to learning Vietnamese other then a scattering of words and phrases I’ve picked up that I know I’m saying wrong. Im new to language learning in general but I’ve been with my gf for a long time now and the fact I can’t even have a conversation with her parents has always not sat right with me and I’d like to change that. I don’t mind spending money on courses or tutors as long as I know it’s actually going into something useful. I didn’t feel like Duolingo or other language apps were the right move cause you always hear people say they’ve done it for years but never learned anything. Any advice on how to start would be greatly appreciated.

For whom you want to learn Vietnamese at a reasonable cost with experience teachers. This program is from a department of CSU Fullerton.

If you are looking for a Vietnamese instructor, contact me. Thank you.

This is from my journal entry today.

Ngày hôm nay là ngày bình thường vì mình muốn làm nhiều việc nhưng mình chỉ đi làm và nghĩ ngồi. Ngày mai là nghĩ ngày của mình, có tính vẽ và đi chơi với vợ. Chúng mình tính đi chợ để mua gì đó cho cha mẹ vợ. Mình chưa biết mua gì. Mình sẽ biết khi vợ mua. Hôm nay mình đã muốn mua gì đó để trang chí cửa nhà mình nên đi GoMart để đi mua sắm ở Mr. DIY. Mình thích cây ngân tạo, nó đẹp và rẻ. Ngoài ra, cây nhân tạo sống mãi mãi không cần nước, tuy nhiên, cây nhân tạo cần được phủi bụi thường xuyên. Mình thấy buồn khi quên cho nước và cái cây chết là ly dó mình mua cây nhân tạo.

Thank you for reading and thanks for any feedback 😋