Vietnamese Alphabet

The Vietnamese Alphabet

*Please note this we skipped ă, â and q in this audio. We read from left to right, every letter twice.

 

The letters in the National language are traditionally pronounced as a, be, xe,…. but nowadays we also can pronounce as: a, bo, co,…

The vowel system in the Vietnamese language

There are 10 main vowels (included y):

The vowels (base on each column) have the similar (position of the tongue) and the different thing (the shape of your mouth)

*Please note that, we read alternately from left column to right column , every letter twice.

 

 

• The first column: the position of tongue is close to lips and opening up from i to e

(Find picture below for each letter)

I/y  :

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I and Y sounds similar – “ee” in English.

Example (in Vietnamese word): ly– glass

Ê:

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Ê sounds like “eh” in English

Example (in Vietnamese) : lê – pear

 

 

E:

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E sounds similar with “air” but soften “r”

Example: mẹ – mother

 

 

• The second column: the position of tongue is in between and opening up from ư to a

(Find picture below for each letter)

Ư

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Ư sounds similar with “er” but shorten sound

Example: từ từ – slow down

 

Ơ

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Ơ sounds similar with “er” but soften “r”

Example: chợ – market

A

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A sounds like “ah” in English

Example (in Vietnamese): Ba – three/ father (in Souther Vietnamese)

 

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• The third column: is the only rounded one, the position of tongue is back of throat and opening up from u to o

U 

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U sounds like “oo” in English

Example (in Vietnamese): chú – uncle

Ô

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Ô sounds like “oh” in English

Example (in Vietnamese): Cô – Aunt/Miss (Formal pronoun)

 

O

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O sounds like “aw” in English

Example (in Vietnamese): có –  (to) have

 

 

The system of consonants:

*Please note that, we read alternately from first column to the fifth one (left to right) , every letter twice.

Please note that the final consonants c, ch, m, n, ng, nh, p, t

 ( in Vietnamese only have half sound)

Example:  Tám – Eight

                       

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*Please note that , in this audio we teach you how to speak a Vietnamese word properly  (Sắc = up tone)

Hence, we will close mouth when we pronounce “Tám”