Is it easy learning Vietnamese? 🗣🇻🇳

Is it easy learning Vietnamese.png

If you haven't realised by now or have only just started to follow me, I live and work in Vietnam. For the last two years, it's been home and became a little more permanent recently when I was granted Temporary Residence.

Over the last couple of years, I've got by with some basic Vietnamese phrases.

I know many ex-pats that have lived in Vietnam for over 10 years and can't speak the language. I don't get that. For me, one of the reasons for living in Vietnam is to experience the culture. So learning the language is essential to
to emerge yourself in day to day life here fully.

Being able to communicate is a luxury we take for granted. Many a time, I've just wanted to speak to someone, only for there to be misunderstandings or mistranslations.

What I've found, learning Vietnamese.

IT"S NOT EASY

The language has 6 different tones which can mean very different things.

The six tones are:

Mid-tone: produced at the relative middle of your voice range. No tone mark is used. (ma = ghost)
High-rising tone: begins high and rises sharply. (má = mother)
Low- falling tone: begins low and falls lower. (mà = but)
Low-rising tone: begins low, dips lower, then rises sharply. (mả = tomb)
High-broken tone: begins above middle, dips, then rises sharply. (mã = horse)
Low-broken tone: begins low then falls sharply. (mạ = rice seedling)

Unlike in English, if you mispronounce the word, typically you know what that person is trying to say. With Vietnamese as you can see from the examples above, you need to ensure the tone is right.

This is what I've found difficult about speaking Vietnamese. It is very different from English. I'm generally softly spoken, so adding the tones feels very unnatural for me at the moment. It feels like a real workout after each lesson.

Good news, I'm getting better. Like learning anything, practice, practice, practice.

Now,

I'm starting to understand more when people are speaking.
I can communicate more effectively when out at restaurants or buying things from the shops.
I've also improved as an English teacher. Being able to understand why they make certain mistakes helps me improve them quicker. I can also translate with the limited vocabulary I know.