What are your difficulties when learning Vietnamese?

Hi I have been here for over three years and was very keen to learn when I first arrived. I am not that good with language but I did try.
I found that no one hear really wanted to help me and if my pronunciation was a little off I felt I was more or less being laughed at. So I lost my enthusiasm completely.

Hi James,
Thanks for your feedback. I am wondering where or from whom you studied Vietnamese? And I am so sorry that no one helped you with your pronunciation, and of course pronouncing the word is a bit difficult and it  should take time to practice.
Maybe you have not met the right teacher to help you with your problem.

Tones

I hate words with -oc ending.  It always sounds like -up to me.

ex).  hoc = learn, it sounds like hup to me. 
khoc = cry, it sounds like cup.

And also, the first two letters in a word that use tr and ch, they both sound the same to me, but my fiance says its not

ex) trieu = million, chieu = afternoon, they both sound exactly the same!

Em ois!
As I mentioned  earlier, "nothing is free"!  If you really want to leaarn some language, you should go some school.
Here some members offering 'free' lessons with many implied intentions:-)  Don't fall in that offer. If you want to drink or eat or enjoy together, it's okay:-)  Please don't  misuse the phrases, "language exchange" or "cultural exchange":-)


Prem Charma

I thought I was pretty good with languages, till I tried to Learn Vietnamese.
Same as "jameskeep"

I found that no one hear really wanted to help me and if my pronunciation was a little off I felt I was more or less being laughed at. So I lost my enthusiasm completely.

and tones.

I don't bother now ... it's easy to get by. Pity though ....

Just try to learn to speak Vietnamese when you have a hearing problem - lose of being able to hear certain frequencies in normal speech, ie - some of your hearing levels / abilities to hear certain frequencies at all, as been damaged from what is commonly known as 'industrial deafness' and see how you get on.

charmavietnam wrote:

Em ois!
As I mentioned  earlier, "nothing is free"!  If you really want to leaarn some language, you should go some school.
Here some members offering 'free' lessons with many implied intentions:-)  Don't fall in that offer. If you want to drink or eat or enjoy together, it's okay:-)  Please don't  misuse the phrases, "language exchange" or "cultural exchange":-)


Prem Charma

Yes went down that road, girl says so what do you want to learn I said Vietnamese she's like but what words, I'm like eh?? Claimed she taught it and she's asking me lol

I've been studying on and off using iPad apps and audio program's when I'm out and about. my Vietnamese colleague who I get irritated at for his English skills was laughing at me saying yes it's not easy learning he says you just have to keep doing it and adding to your vocabulary and putting it together and not give up, he said if I study for an hour a day over a year it should come, I think the key is sticking with it and not giving up. I know of foreigners who speak fluently after being here 5 years.

My girlfriend says I must put time aside each day and do it, she says more than two hours but I get lazy and work and have hobbies and she says I'm a bad student as I don't pester her to teach me as much as I should. I think a lot of western people don't have the same studying ethos as Vietnamese.

Despite the negatives I know a lot more than most western people I know and it's really starting to benefit me when out and about I just need to do it more. Lessons would be great, proper ones. I got some from a guy from here but he taught far too much in one lesson and I didn't like that, as an English teacher myself I could see his methods and I wasn't impressed. I can't afford to pay for a school at the moment so if there's any real teachers of Vietnamese willing to teach me for a small fee I'd be up for it, obviously I would need to be satisfied with them or its not going to happen. A western fluent speaker would be cool if any out there.

And on regards to the op like others it's the tones and some words sounding the exact same but slight differences that's difficult, like an for food and Anh for England/English

My wife tells me that this is a cultural thing, but it is very annoying when people laugh after I say something in Vietnamese. She assures me that they are "just happy to hear a foreigner speak Vietnamese", but it always strangely feels like they are laughing at me, not with me.

Yes, Vietnamese do have a tendency to chuckle when you mispronounce or misspell a word.  But I think that is their culture.  It is not like they are holding that against you, by any mean.  As a matter of fact, the very act of laughing goes to make light of the mistake.

With that said, the parts I hate most about learning Vietnamese are the diacritical marks and the variations in pronunciation, by areas.  I still find them very confusing.

Wild_1 wrote:

Yes, Vietnamese do have a tendency to chuckle when you mispronounce or misspell a word.  But I think that is their culture.  It is not like they are holding that against you, by any mean.  As a matter of fact, the very act of laughing goes to make light of the mistake.

So will they get upset if I start laughing when they mess up English pronunciation, grammar, and idioms?

I tried very hard last week to not laugh whenever some people were talking about having enough shits, washing shits, and where to keep the shits. (sheets)

love it! Who has the shits. Now that would make anyone laugh.

Clearly the tones are very difficult for someone who doesn't speak a tonal language.

I think the majority of people just give up too soon and create excuses.  It can definitely can be frustrating but for every time someone chuckles or doesn't understand there is someone who is impressed and happy. 

One of my team told me I sound like an 8 year when I speak Vietnamese - but it's not going to stop me trying.  I now have a very good teacher, who isn't cheap but she is good. 

The thing I find the hardest is doing self-study but this year I'm going to try and find an exam to focus me.

jamesquanhai wrote:

The thing I find the hardest is doing self-study but this year I'm going to try and find an exam to focus me.

Thats a good idea if you find anything could you sharte it here, going to have a google for things like that.

mikeymyke wrote:

...

ex) trieu = million, chieu = afternoon, they both sound exactly the same!

The TR and CH is very hard to distinguish and locals don't always pronounce it crystal clear. 

After someone showed me the example of "TRain" versus "CHain", I became enlightened.

been in pr for years, and they are generally so pleased that your making an effort keep trying we get eventuelly