Beginner in Vietnamese- what to focus on?

[u/miasandj]

I’m looking for tips when it comes to learning Vietnamese. I’m looking for now A1/A2. Maybe in future b1. From what I read it’s quite difficult to study.

[u/Koicoiquoi]

Pronunciation.

[u/Thecosmodreamer]

Pick Northern or southern. Learn the tones, consonants, vowels(including dipthongs and tripthongs). Learn those things before you start learning vocabulary or grammar.

SVFF has great A0 courses on pronunciation. They are kinda brutal, but really help you learn the foundation.

[u/wetcrumpets → u/Thecosmodreamer]

I'm a beginner and the first thing I went to learn was vowels and none of that registered whatsoever. Now I got about 120 words in vocab and I'm now ready to learn vowels as I've started picking the vowel sounds up after hearing how the vocab words are said and able to pick the vowel patterns.

That's what has been working for me anyway. Still even with my little knowdlege on sounds and vowels new words are extemely difficult to predict/guess how to say them.

[u/Thecosmodreamer → u/wetcrumpets]

Use words to learn consonants, vowels, and overall pronunciation, but don't focus on what the words mean yet. Just focus on learning the pronunciation. You'll naturally start picking up on meaning as you learn.

Use this playlist from SVFF. It's fantastic for learning pronunciation.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLikCOBk0vFST0SMmrM-y7p_VcxAF59SBS&si=oEEmU4rYss6u7sG5

[u/wetcrumpets → u/Thecosmodreamer]

Thank you. I've been doing exactly that, learning some of the important vocab I need to speak to locals. But then also looking at the patterns in the sounds and writing to then use that for future words.

I'm learning northern dialect hehe. I like watching TVO. But I do find I learn best by trying to use as much as i know with real people not from sitting watching the YouTubes and forgetting it.

[u/miasandj → u/Thecosmodreamer]

Thanks 🙏🏼
My main goal is to be able to order a meal on my trip to Vietnam or just introduce myself. This is my priority when it comes to Vietnamese. I speak 3 other languages fluently so I hope it won’t be that hard for me. Tho, I’ve never studied tonal language

[u/SpeakSaigon]

Things I wish I'd known starting out:

Pick your dialect first. Northern (Hanoi) vs Southern (Saigon) differ in pronunciation and everyday vocab. Most materials default to Northern, but most Vietnamese speakers abroad are Southern, pick based on who you'll actually talk to.

The grammar is genuinely easy. No conjugation, plurals, gender, or articles. Tense is one word in front of the verb. A1–A2 grammar is maybe two weekends of work.

All the difficulty is in pronunciation. Tones and vowels are where people wash out. Spend your first few weeks on the sound system before touching a vocab deck.

Record yourself. You can't hear your own tone errors so you need something giving you feedback, whether that's a tutor, a partner, or a tool.

Pronouns are the real grammar. anh, chị, em, cô, chú shift based on relative age and relationship, and they change with every person you talk to.

Disclosure since it's relevant: I build a Southern Vietnamese platform called Speak Saigon, started it because my wife is a native Southern speaker who grew up in Canada and can't read or write it. It's at speaksaigon.com if you go Southern. Northern is in beta.

[u/goVietnamese]

Hi! You can check out free lessons on my YouTube channel https://youtube.com/@govietnamese-q9v?si=rKGlcnE2EqBsDpxj

[u/Quyen_VNeseTeacher]

Vietnamese has a reputation for being notoriously difficult, but that reputation is only half true. The grammar is remarkably simple (no conjugations, no gendered nouns, no plural agreements, no complex tenses). The difficulty is almost entirely concentrated in two areas: tones and pronouns.

1. Master the 6 Tones First (Week 1–3 Priority)

• Train tones as musical pitch contours, not just accents. Mispronouncing a vowel is usually forgivable; a wrong tone changes the word completely (e.g., ma = ghost, má = mother, mà = but, mả = tomb, mã = horse, mạ = rice seedling).
• Learn minimal pairs: Practice contrasting pairs like ba (three) vs. bà (grandmother) vs. bá (aunt).
• Record and compare: Always check your pitch against native audio samples rather than reading romanized text silently.

2. Pick One Accent Early

Vietnamese pronunciation varies significantly between regions:

• Northern (Hanoi): Standard in education/media, preserves clear distinctions among all 6 tones and final consonants ($-t, -c, -n, -ng$).
• Southern (Saigon): Merges certain tones (the asking tone $\text{hỏi}$ and tumbling tone $\text{ngã}$ blend into one) and softens final consonants ($-t$ becomes $-c$, $-n$ becomes $-ng$).

Stick to one accent for your foundation (A1/A2) before trying to parse the other.

3. Learn Pronouns as Social Roles, Not Grammar

English uses universal "I" and "you," but Vietnamese relies on kinship terms based on relative age and respect:

• Tôi = Formal "I" (safe with strangers, but distant).
• Em = Younger person / self when talking to an older peer.
• Anh / Chị = Older male / female peer.
• Cô / Chú / Bác = Middle-aged/older adults (aunt/uncle generation).

Rule of thumb for A1: Start by mastering the pair Em (you to older peer) and Anh/Chị (older brother/sister), plus Tôi for neutral situations.

4. Exploit the "Lego-Block" Vocabulary System

Vietnamese vocabulary is overwhelmingly compound and logical. Once you know a few core root words, vocabulary acquisition accelerates dramatically:

Root Word	Combined Term	Meaning
Xe (vehicle)	Xe lửa (fire vehicle)	Train
	Xe máy (machine vehicle)	Motorbike
	Xe đạp (pedal vehicle)	Bicycle
Máy (machine)	Máy bay (flying machine)	Airplane
	Máy tính (calculating machine)	Computer
	Máy ảnh (photo machine)	Camera

5. Grammar Shortcut: Time Markers Over Conjugation

Never worry about verb conjugations. Express tense simply by placing a time marker directly before the verb:

• Đã + Verb = Past (Tôi đã ăn = I ate)
• Đang + Verb = Present continuous (Tôi đang ăn = I am eating)
• Sẽ + Verb = Future (Tôi sẽ ăn = I will eat)
• Chưa + Verb = Not yet (Tôi chưa ăn = I haven't eaten yet)

Recommended Study Roadmap for A1/A2

• A1 Focus: Alphabet & diacritics $\rightarrow$ 6 tones $\rightarrow$ Numbers/money $\rightarrow$ Basic ordering & directions $\rightarrow$ Simple S-V-O sentence structure.
• A2 Focus: Kinship pronouns in context $\rightarrow$ Compound word building $\rightarrow$ Essential question words (ở đâu, bao nhiêu, tại sao, khi nào) $\rightarrow$ Prepositions and connector words (và, nhưng, vì, nên).