Mother Tongue: Vietnam’s official language is Vietnamese, a tonal language spoken as a mother tongue by 90% the country’s population. Vietnamese is written using a 29 letter alphabetical system. However, the accent of Vietnamese varies from province to province. Besides Vietnamese, around 50 other languages are spoken by ethnic minorities. English is a popular foreign language and is used in most offices, restaurants… in big cities or tourism places. French, Russian, Chinese, Japanese… are also popular and can be found in tourist places.
Vietnamese: Vietnamese belongs to the Austro-Asiatic language group. It is mother tongue to nearly 85% of the country’s population and an additional 3 million Vietnamese living abroad and is the 17th most spoken language in the world (Ethnologue estimate 2005).
The language is most closely related to Khmer but is heavily influenced by Chinese and somewhat influenced by French. It is a mono syllabic language.
Tones: Vietnamese seems complicated to foreigners because it is mono syllabic and has six different tones. Hence, sounds that are slightly different will have totally different meaning.
Other minority languages:
Vietnam has 53 other ethnic groups besides Viet (making up nearly 10% of the population, many living in mountainous areas), each with their own languages. 24 even have a written form. A few popular languages besides Vietnamese are:
* Chinese: spoken by Ethnic Chinese immigrants who have settled in Vietnam during the last 300 years, living mainly in big cities and provincial towns.
* Muong: spoken by the Muong ethnic group inhabiting the Northern mountainous regions of Vietnam.
It is not necessary to know these languages when visiting places with ethnic minorities, as Vietnamese is a common language used between groups.
Many Vietnamese are tremendously proud of their language and its complexities. People particularly enjoy the rich opportunities for plays on words that come from its tonal nature and value the ability to appropriately use the countless number of adages and proverbs enshrined in the language. Vietnamese also have an attachment to their natural world. The expression “Vietnamese land” (dat Viet), with its defining metaphors of mountains and rivers, encapsulates the notion that Vietnamese society and culture have an organic relationship to their environment.
Languages you speak:
English is the most popular foreign language in Vietnam and is taught is school. Many people speak English and information in English can be found easily in big cities such as Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh; and growing tourist places such as Sapa, Hue, Da Nang or Nha Trang. Guides in English are usually offered.
French and Russian are fairly popular, especially in big cities Hanoi, Ho Chiminhcity..
Japanese, Korean and Chinese are also growing in popularity. Tours in these languages are also possible depending on location and agency.