Why learn Vietnamese?
Vietnamese is spoken by about 90 million people in Vietnam and across a global diaspora (United States, France, Australia, Cambodia, Laos). For descendants of Vietnamese families, learning it is both a deep personal act and an entry into a thousand-year written tradition.
Whether you are part of the diaspora or simply passionate about world languages, Dialect gives you the tools to progress quickly.
The Dialect Method
Our app combines playful learning with linguistic rigor:
- Essential vocabulary: learn the words most used in everyday life.
- Clear audio: hear the clear pronunciation of every word.
- Interactive quizzes: test your knowledge and track your progress.
- Review mode: never lose what you've already learned.
The Science Behind Dialect
To be among the best educational resources, Dialect builds on cognitive neuroscience principles:
- Spaced Repetition System (SRS): our algorithm calculates the optimal time to review each word, right before you would forget it.
- Clear audio: every word comes with audio to guide your pronunciation.
- Granular learning: we break dialects into manageable units to prevent cognitive overload.
Vietnamese in a few facts
- Language family: Austroasiatic language, Việt-Mường branch.
- Speakers: about 90 million speakers.
- Main regions: Vietnam, with significant communities in France, the United States, Australia, Cambodia and Laos.
- Writing systems: Quốc Ngữ — Latin alphabet enriched with diacritics marking the tones (official since 1945, replacing chữ Nôm based on Chinese characters).
Vietnamese is a tonal language: six tones in the North, five in the South, distinguishing otherwise identical words. It's an isolating language (no conjugation or declension), where each syllable forms a word. Its vocabulary contains about 60% Sino-Vietnamese borrowings, a legacy of over a thousand years of Chinese influence.
10 everyday Vietnamese words
The vocabulary people actually use at home or at the market. The right-hand column gives the full sentence in Vietnamese, exactly as it appears in the app.
| English | Vietnamese | Example |
|---|---|---|
| water | nước | Tôi muốn uống nước. |
| to eat | ăn | Tôi đang ăn cơm. |
| to drink | uống | Tôi muốn uống nước. |
| home | nhà | Nhà chúng tôi rất lớn. |
| mother | mẹ | Mẹ tôi rất tốt. |
| father | bố | Bố tôi ở nhà. |
| child | trẻ em | Trẻ em đang chơi. |
| market | chợ | Tôi đi chợ. |
| tomorrow | ngày mai | Ngày mai tôi sẽ đến. |
| a lot | nhiều | Cảm ơn rất nhiều. |
Northern Vietnamese has six tones, while southern speech merges two of them: the same written word sounds different in Hanoi and Saigon — and most diaspora families come from the South.
How Dialect makes learning Vietnamese easier
Learning a heritage language when you live in the diaspora has unique challenges: few structured resources, materials often aimed at linguists rather than daily learners, and a critical shortage of reliable audio recordings. Dialect was built to address these obstacles.
Specifically for Vietnamese, the app provides:
- Progress by frequency of use: you first learn words and phrases you will actually hear.
- Clear audio: consistent pronunciation from session one.
- Short sessions (5 cards a day): consistency beats intensity.
- Smart review: the spaced repetition algorithm presents each word right before you would forget it.
Hello, thank you and essential phrases in Vietnamese
Looking to say hello in Vietnamese, thank you or how are you? Here are the must-know greetings and polite phrases. Each one is available with audio in the Dialect app:
| English | Vietnamese |
|---|---|
| Hello | xin chào |
| Hi | chào |
| Thank you | cảm ơn |
| Yes | vâng |
| No | không |
| Goodbye | tạm biệt |
| Sorry | xin lỗi |
| How are you | bạn khỏe không |
Transcriptions above are approximate: real pronunciation varies by region. To hear the pronunciation, listen to each phrase in Dialect.
Frequently asked questions about learning Vietnamese
How do you say hello in Vietnamese?
In Vietnamese, "hello" is "xin chào". In casual settings you can also say "chào". Hear the pronunciation in the Dialect app.
How long does it take to learn the basics of Vietnamese?
With Dialect, practicing 5 to 10 minutes a day, you can master essential Vietnamese vocabulary in 4 to 6 weeks.
Is the Dialect app free?
Dialect is free to start: every day you get one session, one quiz and the Greetings lesson of the Path. Premium unlocks everything.
Is the Vietnamese audio available in the Dialect app?
Yes, every word comes with clear audio in the app to help you memorise the pronunciation.
Do I need to know any Asian language to start?
No. Dialect is designed for complete beginners.
Is Dialect available on Android?
Yes. The app is on Google Play. On desktop, Dialect runs directly in your browser through the web app (mydialect.io/app): same languages, the same audio, the same account. The native app is available on iPhone and iPad from the App Store.
Learning Vietnamese: the essentials
Vietnamese is in the big apps' catalogues, but what they teach is textbook language, built for exams. Duolingo teaches Northern Vietnamese, the speech of Hanoi, while diaspora families overwhelmingly come from the South. When it is your family's language you are after something else: the words of meals, of phone calls home, of summers spent there. Dialect covers Vietnamese with 308 words and phrases and 614 audio files in a synthetic voice, checked by ear, grouped by theme and reviewed with spaced repetition. The app is free for one session per day per language, on iPhone, iPad, Android and the browser.
Discover other languages on Dialect
Dialect offers 19 heritage languages to reconnect with your roots:
Start for free, today
Free daily session. On iPhone via the App Store, on Android via Google Play, or straight in the browser on desktop.
Scan with your phone · iPhone or Android
On a computer?
Open the web application