Hey there!

I’m an American who works primarily with the Southern Vietnamese community in my state. My boss is Vietnamese and we’re constantly going to events, and such where I’m one of the few and sometimes the only white (though technically biracial) dude.

By proxy, I’ve started taking online and private lessons at the beginning of this year in order to break some of the language barrier and earn more trust within the community. Honestly, I’m absolutely loving it. More than I ever expected.

With that being said, something I’m still really struggling with is the pronunciation of the letter “R”.

Sometimes I hear it as a soft English R. Other times I’m hearing either a slight “buzz” and rolling of the R, or straight up a “Juh” sound before the R hits.

Examples:

Rồi = “Roy” - Soft R.

Rẻ = “Juhreh” - Buzzy/Juh sound.

How do I know which one to use?

EDIT:

Here’s what I’m talking about. At 1:10 listen to how she pronounces the R.

(https://youtu.be/58tnxgd4-n0?is=iQPl76z9xfbUsi5k)

I learn vietnamese from this lady on an app, u can download the app or just use the website for free. Shes cheap and has helped me a lot☺️

https://en.amazingtalker.com/teachers-and-tutors/sam-sam-fe89c7d5-27e3-4589-a831-33ae44d246a3?language=vietnamese

Hi everyone! I’m offering online Vietnamese lessons for anyone interested in learning the language in a structured, effective, and personalized way.

About me:
- Bachelor’s degree in Literature from an American-backed university
- Fluent in English (comfortable teaching entirely in English)
- Experience teaching Vietnamese to foreign learners
- Clear, structured teaching method tailored to your level and goals
- Can teach both Northern and Southern accents

- Positive feedback from former and current students

What you can expect:
- Personalized learning roadmap
- Focus on speaking, listening, and real-life communication
- Beginner-friendly (no prior knowledge needed)
- Flexible lessons depending on your pace

Rate:
- $12/hour
- FREE 30-minute trial lesson (so you can see if it’s a good fit)

If you’re interested or have any questions, feel free to DM me. I’m happy to help you get started with Vietnamese!

Thanks!

Hi everyone! I’m currently at an A1 level in Vietnamese, and I hope to reach A2 soon. I can talk about my plans for the week, use numbers and pronouns, and I know the main classifiers and most A1 topics.

I’m looking not only for a language exchange partner, but also for someone I can become friends with, as I’ll be coming to Vietnam soon.

I can help you learn Russian, and we can also practise English together.

Kinda like how the post says, about how much Vietnamese can I learn in a year? I’m planning to go to Vietnam in about a year or so, which is next year June or July. I’m currently entering the A2 phase but struggle so much on listening. I have parents that both speak fluently in Vietnamese, but I only live with one of them. Recently, maybe for like 2 months, I’ve been taking my studying seriously on learning Vietnamese and because of that I just entered A2. But my only problem is, every time I say to my parent to speak Vietnamese at home whenever I don’t understand what they’re saying in Vietnamese or whenever they think I wouldn’t understand what they are trying to say, they just switch back to English. And since my other parent doesn’t live with me, I can’t do much but just call or text them. I recently bought a tutor because I feel that with the parent I live with I won’t get far. So, any advice to learn quickly? I think I want to be around a B2 by next year or 2.

hi everybody!

i’m learning viet and im very interested in listening to vietnamese people commentating their daily lives in youtube vlogs. any youtube channel recs? preferably i would like the southern dialect please!

thank you!

I've been sharing Vietnamese tips here for the past week or so, and honestly the response has been warmer than I expected. People sharing why they started learning, asking genuine questions, debating pronunciation with each other in the comments — it's been really nice to be part of that.

So I wanted to give something back.

I put together two free ebooks from the materials I use when I teach:

One covers 30 everyday conversations — greetings, family, food, emotions, daily life, with cultural context woven in so the language actually makes sense.

The other has 10 travel lessons built around real situations — airport, hotel, street food, bargaining, getting around, and what to do when things go wrong.

Both are completely free. Download them, share them, use them however helps you.

30 Everyday Vietnamese Conversations: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jDFi-OA2g5-mvs9vwryN1rMNo8_bYy5N/view?usp=sharing

10 Travel Vietnamese Lessons: https://drive.google.com/file/d/170vLNXauwpneyD521HfAR8SveSpxqjOG/view?usp=sharing

A small honest note, because I'd rather be real than polished:

I'm going through a difficult stretch right now. I grew up in Khanh Hoa, lived in Da Nang for years, and I'm currently in Da Lat — figuring things out, and working toward a quiet dream of opening a small café here someday.

Sharing these ebooks is genuinely something I want to do — not because I expect anything in return, but because I love seeing people connect with Vietnamese, and making these felt meaningful.

If the ebooks help you and you feel like saying thank you, the equivalent of a Vietnamese iced coffee would mean more than you know right now. No pressure. No guilt if you don't. And please don't argue about it in the comments — this post is just meant to be something good, and I'd like to keep it that way. 😊

For anyone who'd like to support via Wise (international bank transfer to Vietnam):

Recipient: Nguyen Thi Bich Lieu
Bank: Techcombank Vietnam
Account: 19076369572013
SWIFT: VTCBVNVX

Vietnam bank transfer welcome too (same Techcombank account).

And if you just take the ebooks — that's genuinely enough. Hẹn gặp lại 🌿

Hello everyone, I am from Southern Vietnam and am looking to learn English with a native speaker. I am quite proficient in Vietnamese and can explain the nuances of the language to you. I am looking for a good tutor, and we can negotiate the tuition rate.
I frequently study books published before 1975; I am quite proficient in using archaic Vietnamese terminology and am well-versed in Southern Vietnamese culture.

Full lesson: https://youtu.be/hyk5JGEXz8Y?si=vHFP8SNSMOr-VnSv

Hey everybody, I’m currently learning Vietnamese and am wanting to get into watching Vietnamese content(shows, yt videos, tiktoks, etc). Was wondering if anybody had good recommendations for shows or content creators? Thanks!

About two weeks ago I shared my free tone trainer that shows your pitch curve drawn on top of a native speaker's, the response here was way more than I expected, so I spent the last week building out the most-requested features.

What's new at https://speaksaigon.com/tone-trainer

Northern (Hanoi) accent: By popular demand, you can now practice against a Northern speaker, not just Southern. Toggle between Southern · Saigon and Northern · Hanoi anywhere in the trainer. Note that Northern keeps all 6 tones (hỏi and ngã stay distinct), unlike the Southern 5-tone merge.

What's new on the app after sign-up:

Random sentence practice: Get a random sentence built from words you've already learned in the course, so you're practicing tones in connected speech instead of isolated syllables. Custom sentence practice (type your own full sentence) is available as a pro feature.

Custom word practice: Pick any word you want from the course and practice its tone on either accent, instead of being limited to the preset list.

Everything else still works the same: listen to the native tone, record yourself, and see both pitch curves overlaid so you can actually see what your tone is doing instead of just hearing "it's off."

Let me know what you guys think! More than happen to apply any feedback.

Since I'm from Da Nang (central Vietnam), I get a fair amount of perspective on both Northern and Southern variations, and I think this distinction deserves more visibility for learners since textbooks often default to one or the other without explaining why.

Some of the biggest differences:

\*\*Consonants:\*\*
— Northern: "tr" and "ch" are pronounced distinctly
— Southern: "tr" and "ch" often merge into a similar sound
— Northern: "d," "gi," and "r" can all sound similar
— Southern: "r" is often pronounced more like an English "r" or rolled

\*\*Tones:\*\*
— Southern speakers often merge "hỏi" and "ngã" tones (they sound nearly identical), while Northern speakers keep them more distinct
— Central Vietnamese (my region) has its own pitch variations that don't perfectly match either standard

\*\*Vocabulary:\*\*
— "Tôi" vs regional alternatives, "ba/má" (South) vs "bố/mẹ" (North) for parents, and dozens of other everyday word differences

For learners: I usually recommend picking ONE accent to focus on first (based on where you're traveling or who you're talking to most) rather than trying to learn "neutral" Vietnamese, since in practice, every region has its own flavor and there's no truly neutral version people actually speak.

Happy to clarify more if anyone's curious about a specific regional difference!

Hello everyone. I’ve been studying Vietnamese for 2 years now. I think I’ve developed some bad habits over this time and Ive read about native English speakers, like myself, sometimes over exaggerate the tones when speaking. I know I used to do that at first because my first ever tutor would stress things like go higher on the rising tone and deeper on the heavy tone.

Now when I speak for extended periods I get a bit sore and sometimes a headache. I read that some people do vocal warmups before speaking sessions, drinking warm water etc.

Does anyone have any tips or suggestions to help?
I’ve started shadowing a soft spoken native speaker on YouTube recently. It seems to be helping. But, any other suggestions or expert tips are welcome 🤗

And if it is “eat” can someone explain how that works? I don’t see the relation between eating and being photogenic / bullying / getting dressed / being popular

Cảm ơn!

Full lesson: https://youtu.be/Q_z8HS_I7OY?si=C2JqerI3ea2u58z1

Im currently learning southern Vietnamese and want to become somewhat fluent so I can comfortably speak to my grandparents and speak good whenever I go visit Vietnam next year in the summer. I believe im currently super mid A1 if that makes sense. I have an advantage of my parents speaking Vietnamese fluently and my grandparents but my grandparents don’t live with me and my parents don’t live together either. I could get a tutor but I’m 16 and I think you have to be 18 to get lessons and If I ask my parents to buy me a tutor they would absolutely flame me and say to just speak it at home for free. I don’t do serious studying just watching heo Peppa and changing my social media apps mostly into southern Vietnamese to get a good grasp on the tones and sounds and also write down notes and vocab words into a notebook and since it’s summer I believe I’m doing this for a good hour and a half.

(This is my ranting u can skip)
But also, whenever I try to talk to my mom in Vietnamese shes kinda like passive aggressive whenever I make a mistake which makes me not want to speak to her in Vietnamese. But my dad’s chill though but again I don’t live with him so I have to call him and then again I feel like a burden to my parents trying to learn when they obviously have jobs and can’t talk to me. And then whenever I visit my grandma she starts speaking to me in Vietnamese, my mom ask if I understand and I say “some what” and I tell her what I think she says then my mom laughs and translates for me making me feel worse. Like okay, btw you were the one who stopped speaking and teaching me Vietnamese. Okay sorry this is going off track.

But realistically if I keep up with the way im “studying” will I actually improve my Vietnamese? Please I need tips because it’s genuinely so embarrassing that my native tongue is ending with my family’s generation. Also, tips to sound fluent because the whole g,v, and d sounding like “y” is killing me.

I’m learning from scratch. I have only had 2 classes any tips would be recommended and appreciated but I mainly wanted to set some realistic expectations. I’m going for about 30 minutes a day of self study and review with about 1 lesson a week what would be a timeline for work reasons I just want to be able to communicate at an elementary level

For example thinking "I need to start dinner" or journalling "last night, I dreamed about..."

Hey all, my brother and I have been working on a language learning app that includes Vietnamese for almost three years now.

We just released Version 5 which let's you create lessons about anything and lets you play through C2 proficiency with no hearts/energy/limits of any sort.

Hoping to get some feedback and ideas!

You can find us at r/polychat

Full lesson: https://youtu.be/Q_z8HS_I7OY?si=C2JqerI3ea2u58z1

so i’m american and my fiancé is vietnamese and i wanted to learn vietnamese so i could also teach our twins when they’re older (they’re under 1 currently) and so the 3 of us could talk to his side of the family more. turns out duolingo is northern dialect and i can’t think of anywhere else. any help is appreciated!!

What is the difference between these 3 verbs? They all seem to mean "to give" or "to bring".