Vietnamese → English
English uses 43 sounds. You already own 15 of them from Vietnamese. The other 28 are the work — and 24 of those are the dangerous kind: close enough to something you already say that you will substitute them without hearing yourself do it.
The silent swaps
Your mouth has something close enough to reach for. These survive for years precisely because they sound right to you — the fix is hearing the difference first, not trying harder.
the move: labiodental → dental
English: think · written "th"
Tongue between the teeth, no voice.
Your /f/ is the one in phở (phở (noodle soup)).
the move: labiodental → dental
English: this · written "th (function words, between vowels)"
the, this, that, they, mother, breathe.
Your /v/ is the one in vui (happy, fun).
the move: alveolar → postalveolar
English: ship · written "sh", "ti (-tion)", "ci", "ssi"
Your /s/ is the one in xin (to ask for; please).
the move: alveolar → postalveolar
English: measure · written "s (measure)", "si (vision)", "ge (beige)"
Your /z/ is the one in dạ (yes (polite)).
the move: close → near-close
English: sit · written "i", "y", "e (unstressed)"
Your /i/ is the one in đi (to go).
the move: open-mid → near-open
English: cat · written "a"
Between /ɛ/ and /a/; mouth wide.
Your /ɛ/ is the one in mẹ (mother).
the move: close → near-close
English: book · written "oo (book)", "u (put)", "oul (could)"
Your /u/ is the one in thu (autumn; to collect).
the move: close → near-close
English: near · written "ear", "eer", "ere (here)"
American: /ɪr/.
Your /iə/ is the one in tiền (money).
the move: close, but not identical
English: bed · written "b", "bb"
Your /ɓ/ is the one in ba (three; father).
the move: close, but not identical
English: dog · written "d", "dd", "-ed"
Your /ɗ/ is the one in đi (to go).
the move: longer
English: see · written "ee", "ea", "e_e", "ie"
Your /i/ is the one in đi (to go).
the move: longer
English: law · written "or", "aw", "au", "al"
Your /ɔ/ is the one in cho (to give; for).
the move: longer
English: food · written "oo", "u_e", "ew", "ou (soup)"
Your /u/ is the one in thu (autumn; to collect).
the move: unrounded
English: cup · written "u", "o (son, love)", "ou (young)"
Your /ɔ/ is the one in cho (to give; for).
the move: open-mid → open
English: hot · written "o", "a after w"
American: /ɑ/.
Your /ɔ/ is the one in cho (to give; for).
the move: it glides, yours would hold still
English: make · written "a_e", "ai", "ay", "ei (eight)"
Your /e/ is the one in đêm (night).
the move: it glides, yours would hold still
English: time · written "i_e", "igh", "y", "ie (pie)"
Your /a/ is the one in ba (three; father).
the move: it glides, yours would hold still
English: boy · written "oi", "oy"
Your /ɔ/ is the one in cho (to give; for).
the move: it glides, yours would hold still
English: house · written "ou", "ow"
Your /a/ is the one in ba (three; father).
the move: it glides, yours would hold still
English: hair · written "air", "are (care)", "ear (bear)"
American: /ɛr/.
Your /e/ is the one in đêm (night).
the move: close-mid → mid, front → central
English: about · written "any unstressed vowel"
The commonest English vowel. banana = /bəˈnɑːnə/.
Your /e/ is the one in đêm (night).
the move: close, but not identical
English: red · written "r", "rr", "wr"
Silent after vowels in British English (car /kɑː/); pronounced in American.
Your /w/ is the one in sao (star; why).
Words you may say identically
Two or more English sounds landing on one sound of yours. Until the ear separates them, the mouth cannot — which is what the ear trainer is for.
Genuinely new
Nothing in Vietnamese sits close to these. They sound foreign in your mouth — which is the good news: you can hear that you are not saying them yet.
church
Closest thing you own: — but plosive → affricate, alveolar → postalveolar.
judge
Closest thing you own: — but nasal → affricate, alveolar → postalveolar.
car
Closest thing you own: — but open-mid → open, unrounded, longer.
home
American: /oʊ/.
Closest thing you own: — but it glides, yours would hold still, close-mid → mid, front → central.
Rhythm and pitch
The layer spelling never records, and the one that makes a correct sentence still sound foreign.
| Vietnamese | English | |
|---|---|---|
| Rhythm | Syllable-timed, one tone per syllable | Stress-timed |
| Stress | No lexical stress. Every syllable carries its own tone and its own full vowel, and none is reduced. What sounds like stress to an English ear is a syllable holding its tone longer or louder for emphasis, and grammatical words (đã, sẽ, được) being said lighter and faster than content words. | Contrastive, and unmarked in writing — the single most common cause of not being understood. Dozens of noun/verb pairs differ only in where the stress goes, and every unstressed vowel collapses to /ə/. |
| Pitch | lexical tone — pitch changes the word | No lexical tone, but intonation carries an enormous amount: rise for yes/no questions, fall for statements and wh-questions, and a whole grammar of contrast ('I didn't say SHE took it'). |
What you have that English doesn't
20 sounds with no job in English. They are not mistakes — but they are where an accent leaks in, because a sound you own is easy to use when a hard one is due.
The honest caveat
This is a prediction from the shape of two sound systems, not a recording of you. It says what your inventory makes likely — it cannot know that your Vietnamese has a regional variety that already owns one of these, or that you learned English from someone whose accent you copied. A teacher listening to you beats it. Use it to know what to listen for.
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