Cantonese → Vietnamese
Vietnamese uses 35 sounds. You already own 13 of them from Cantonese. The other 22 are the work — and 22 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: velar → palatal
Vietnamese: hello / goodbye · written "ch", "tr (Hanoi)"
A stop made with the tongue body on the palate; there is no 'sh' after it. Close to Korean ㅈ but tighter and with no hiss. tr merges into it in Hanoi (the south says a retroflex /ʈ/).
Your /k/ is the one in go3 個 ((classifier)).
the move: velar → palatal
Vietnamese: house · written "nh"
Spanish ñ. Also a final: anh, bánh.
Your /ŋ/ is the one in ngo5 我 (I).
the move: near-close → close
Vietnamese: to go · written "i", "y"
i and y are the same vowel; the spelling choice is convention (Mỹ, kỹ).
Your /ɪ/ is the one in sing1 星 (star).
the move: near-close → close
Vietnamese: autumn; to collect · written "u"
Your /ʊ/ is the one in tung4 同 (same).
the move: close, but not identical
Vietnamese: mother · written "e"
Open e — French è, the e of American 'bed'. Korean ㅐ as it was before Seoul merged it into ㅔ: Vietnamese still keeps the two apart, so mẹ 'mother' and mê 'to be entranced' are different words.
Your /ɛː/ is the one in se2 寫 (to write).
the move: close, but not identical
Vietnamese: three; father · written "a"
Long and open. Before -nh and -ch it is said shorter and fronter (anh, sách).
Your /aː/ is the one in saam1 三 (three).
the move: close, but not identical
Vietnamese: to eat · written "ă", "a (in ay, au)"
A SHORT a. Written ă on its own, but the a of tay and sáu is this vowel too — which is why tai/tay and sao/sáu are different words.
Your /aː/ is the one in saam1 三 (three).
the move: close, but not identical
Vietnamese: to give; for · written "o"
Open o — the vowel of 'law' for an American who keeps caught apart from cot, shorter. Korean has nothing between ㅗ and ㅓ; this sits between them.
Your /ɔː/ is the one in ngo5 我 (I).
the move: close, but not identical
Vietnamese: money · written "ia", "iê", "ya", "yê"
One diphthong, spelled ia when nothing follows (kia) and iê when a consonant does (tiền).
Your /iːu/ is the one in siu2 小 (small).
the move: close, but not identical
Vietnamese: to buy · written "ua", "uô"
ua when final (mua), uô before a consonant (muốn). After q the u belongs to the consonant: qua is /kwa/.
Your /uːi/ is the one in bui1 杯 (cup).
the move: near-close → close-mid
Vietnamese: night · written "ê"
Closed e — French é, Korean ㅔ, the vowel of American 'say' without the glide. The hat makes it closed.
Your /ɪ/ is the one in sing1 星 (star).
the move: near-close → close-mid
Vietnamese: aunt; Miss; female teacher · written "ô"
Closed o — French eau, Korean ㅗ, the vowel of American 'go' without the glide. The hat makes it closed.
Your /ʊ/ is the one in tung4 同 (same).
the move: voiced
Vietnamese: happy, fun · written "v"
Hanoi /v/; the south says /j/, so vui sounds like 'yui'.
Your /f/ is the one in fan3 瞓 (to sleep).
the move: voiced
Vietnamese: yes (polite) · written "d", "gi", "r (Hanoi)"
Three spellings, one Hanoi sound. The south says d and gi as /j/ and r as /ʐ/ or a trill, and keeps all three apart in writing.
Your /s/ is the one in sik6 食 (to eat).
the move: near-close → close, unrounded
Vietnamese: letter · written "ư"
Say /u/, then unround the lips and keep the tongue where it was. The horn on the letter means 'unrounded'. This is Korean ㅡ (eu), exactly — a Korean speaker owns it already.
Your /ʊ/ is the one in tung4 同 (same).
the move: plosive → fricative
Vietnamese: no; not; zero · written "kh"
German ach, Spanish j — or Korean ㅎ in front of ㅡ (흐), which comes close. không is the word you will say most.
Your /k/ is the one in go3 個 ((classifier)).
the move: nasal → fricative
Vietnamese: chicken · written "g", "gh"
A voiced fricative, like Spanish g between vowels — softer than English g. gh before e/ê/i.
Your /ŋ/ is the one in ngo5 我 (I).
the move: unrounded
Vietnamese: rain · written "ưa", "ươ"
ưa when final (mưa), ươ before a consonant (nước, người).
Your /uːi/ is the one in bui1 杯 (cup).
the move: near-close → close-mid, unrounded
Vietnamese: cooked rice; a meal · written "ơ"
Say /o/ and unround the lips — the same horn, same instruction. Close to Korean ㅓ (eo), and to American 'bird' with the r taken out.
Your /ʊ/ is the one in tung4 同 (same).
the move: near-close → close-mid, unrounded
Vietnamese: to weigh; a kilo · written "â"
A SHORT ơ: cân is clipped, cơn is held. The vowel of American 'cut', or a short Korean ㅓ.
Your /ʊ/ is the one in tung4 同 (same).
the move: voiced
Vietnamese: three; father · written "b"
Implosive: the larynx drops and air is drawn in as the lips open. A plain English b is understood, but sounds foreign. New for Korean speakers too — Korean ㅂ is neither voiced nor implosive.
Your /p/ is the one in baa1 爸 (dad).
Words you may say identically
Two or more Vietnamese sounds landing on one sound of yours. Until the ear separates them, the mouth cannot — which is what the ear trainer is for.
Rhythm and pitch
The layer spelling never records, and the one that makes a correct sentence still sound foreign.
| Cantonese | Vietnamese | |
|---|---|---|
| Rhythm | Syllable-timed | Syllable-timed, one tone per syllable |
| Stress | No contrastive stress; prominence comes from particles and from changed tone (變調) lifting a syllable to tone 2. | 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. |
What you have that Vietnamese doesn't
29 sounds with no job in Vietnamese. 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.
pʰm̩kʰkʷkʷʰŋ̩t͡st͡sʰaːɐɛːiːɪɔːuːʊœːɵyːaːiɐiaːuɐueiouɵyiːuuːiɔːi
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 Cantonese has a regional variety that already owns one of these, or that you learned Vietnamese 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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