Can I communicate with people from Hanoi if I learn Vietnamese in Saigon?

Vietnamese Tiếng Việt
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Hey everyone!

I’ve seen this question pop up a few times, so I thought I’d share my take on it: Can you communicate with people from Hanoi if you learn Vietnamese in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City)?
(A bit background check about me: I’m a Vietnamese native speaker from Hanoi!!!)

Short answer: Yes, absolutely! :raised_hands:

Vietnamese has regional dialects, and the Southern (Saigon), Northern (Hanoi), and Central accents can sound quite different, especially to beginners. But just like British vs. American vs. Australian English, people across Vietnam still understand each other without major issues.

If you learn Vietnamese in Saigon, you’ll likely pick up the Southern accent, which is known for being a bit softer and more laid-back. When you talk to someone from Hanoi, they might notice your accent, just like you’d notice theirs, but you’ll still be able to hold a conversation. Most vocabulary and grammar are the same across regions. (Almost 90%!!!)

From my experience, people are usually just excited and happy that you’re making the effort to speak Vietnamese, no matter what accent you have. In fact, it often becomes a fun topic of conversation!

BONUS: To know more about the difference between the dialects in Vietnamese, you can check out: Vietnamese Dialects // North or South?

So if you’re in Saigon and thinking about learning Vietnamese, go for it! You’ll still be able to connect with people all over the country. :earth_africa::speech_balloon:

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100% True!

When talking to my northern Vietnamese friends, I would often feel shy to speak in a southern Vietnamese way and would find myself mimicking the northern pronunciation so that they’d understand me better…

However my Vietnamese American friend said to me, “Do you change your Irish accent to an American one when talking to Americans… or British when talking to British people? No, you don’t and they still understand you! So why would you do it with Vietnamese?”.

Since then I just talk to them in Vietnamese in the accent which I’ve spent most of my time studying, the Saigon accent… and they understand me 90% of the time… (10% of the time is caused by my imperfect pronunciation… I’m still a beginner kk)

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Glad to hear it. Sometimes when you hear of the differences it can be intimidating and even put people off learning or visiting.

Happy to hear it, hoping to visit Northern Vietnam for the first time soon!!

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