Matty Sue
Learning Vietnamese Tips? I'm about to embark on learning a little Vietnamese, purely for personal gain. Does anyone have any tips or advice or even stories of learning Vietnamese. Is there a major difference between the North and South dialects? Thank you
Dec 5, 2014 9:45 AM
Answers · 7
1
Hey Matthew! Thanks for posting! Vietnamese is often cited as one of the more difficult languages to learn. The structure, grammar, and tones make it very hard for non-tonal language natives to pick it up independently. However with a bit of work and a good teacher you can go a long way in a short time. The real trick is dedicating consistent time and energy into your learning. The North and South share many of the same words and expressions, however, the pronunciation varies. For a native it can be a feat to decipher and for a foreigner it can be almost impossible without a solid base of understanding. The trick is to learn and use the core language that both areas share. If you're ever looking for professional help you can find me @ http://www.italki.com/teacher/1610484 I would be more than happy to help you get started on the right path with your language learning journey! See you soon! -Phương
December 12, 2014
1
In addition to what Kelli has said, you should find a Vietnamese native speaker to help you with your Vietnamese. Good luck!
December 8, 2014
Hi Mathew, You need to learn the pronounciation and the six tones. Tone is very important because a Vietnamese word may have the same pronunciation (and same spelling but it has different meaning depending on the six tones. For example: “ma” means “ghost” "mà" means "but" "má" means “mother” "mả" means "grave" "mã" means "code " or "horse" "mạ" means " seed as a noun" or "to plate as a verb" Practice, practice, practice with people who speak Vietnamese well. Tumy
December 30, 2014
Hi Matthew, I'm study live in the North dialects. I have just use italki for 2 day to want to find partner to learn with me, and your tips is the first question that i read casually . Although my language english have limited, i still try to answer your tips ^^! Your tips is very basic question about Vietnamese. The difference between the North and South dialects is very clearly and easy to discern by voice and local words. But, It is very very difficult for you to understand both voice of dialects. Even me, I'm also not completely easy to hear to understand voice of the South dialects. I think you should only learn one of language dialects. If you want to lean voice of North dialects, you can contact with me ^^!. I also want to improve my speak skill english from you. I'm alway readily to answer any the question of you !
December 25, 2014
Hi Matthew, I used to work as teaching English to foreigners and it was the most difficult job I've ever worked. Before taking that job, I had to learn to use Vietnamese correctly and standardly. However, I realized that I shouldn't teach them correct Vietnamese because Vietnamese people don't speak correct Vietnamese everyday. Then I changed my teaching plan, I did teach them the way Vietnamese people speak incorrectly. The most difficult skill is pronunciation, my students used to be American, Japanese and German, the German is pronounce better than the American and Japanese. The second difficult skill is the meaning of sentences and phrases. Vietnamese language is a very complicated language, 1 meaning - many way to say. That means if I teach them 1 best way to express 1 meaning, they can use it well, but when other Vietnamese people say that meaning in many different ways, they wouldn't understand. Last but not least, the accent - There are many accents of Vietnamese throughout Vietnam (54 provinces have 54 accents) even Vietnamese people can't understand all them :)) For example: the People from Ha Noi city may not understand the people from Hue Province or Da Nang Province. In summary, I still love that job and love Vietnamese much. When you meet trouble in learning Vietnamese, don't hesitate to contact me ;)
December 16, 2014
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