We’re going to talk about the pronunciation of three single vowels in Vietnamese: I, U, and Ư today. 

1. The Pronunciation of "I"

Common mistakes with Numbers

• Mistake #1: "Không" (0)

One common mistake is with the number "Không" (zero). When trying to pronounce the "ng" sound at the end of "không," many students tend to open their mouths too much. However, you need to close your lips slightly when saying "không."

VIETNAMESE VS ENGLISH: FUNCTION WORDS

Around 90% of Vietnamese sentences and questions include "strange" or "ambiguous" words that we call function words, functors, or particles. They have little lexical meaning or have ambiguous meaning, but specify the attitude or mood of the speaker*** 

VIETNAMESE VS ENGLISH: TONE OR INTONATION

In response to my students’ complaint about the fact that Vietnamese tones are so difficult, I say: Yes, they are, but you still make them every day in English.

Vietnamese has six tones from low to high: low constricted tone (nặng), falling tone (huyền), level tone (ngang), rising tone (sắc), falling rising tone (hỏi) and high rising tone (ngã).

The tones are different from but actually similar to intonation in English.

Common mistakes: Cũng (Also, too) vs Không (Not)

Most of my students confuse "Không" (no) with "Cũng" (too, also), and vice versa. Therefore, when I respond to their greeting with "I'm also good. Thank you!", they often get worried and ask me, "Are you okay?" because they understand it as "I'm not good."

In speaking, mixing up "Cũng" (too) and "Không" (no) is a common mistake among my students. So, it's time for you to practice your pronunciation with these two words.

VIETNAMESE VS ENGLISH: SHORT VOWELS AND LONG VOWELS.

Vietnamese doesn't have "Short vowels" like foot and "Long vowels" like food which is different from English. That's why many new English Vietnamese learners usually say "foot" and "food" the same.

Need /niːd/ was one of the words that I was struggled with. If I didn't really pay attention to my pronunciation, the sound I made would be knit /nɪt/

VIETNAMESE VS ENGLISH: ENDING SOUNDS

Do you know that when you say "Vietnamese," we pay more attention to how your voice rises and falls (intonation) than to the "ese" sound at the end?

This happens because Vietnamese doesn’t have many ending sounds like the "s" in cats, the "d" in God, the "sh" in cash, the "kst" in text, or the "ng" in sing. As a result, don’t be surprised if you hear different ending sounds for the same word when spoken by different Vietnamese people.

VIETNAMESE VS ENGLISH: VIETNAMESE IS VERY EFFICIENT

Like German, we seem to shorten sentences as much as possible. We don't waste time with filler words and many of the pleasantaries of English. But we do have many personal pronouns which in some ways are less efficient than English but they are probably the exception.

Instead of "Could you please pass me the phone?", we will say "Pass me the phone với" 

Vietnamese learning embarrassing mistakes

Please don’t get discouraged from speaking Vietnamese because of this article. While tones are important, context plays an even greater role in Vietnamese.

01. Calling your wife/husband/friends' mother a "ghost".

• Má (Mother) with a low constricted tone vs. Ma (Ghost) with a level tone.

02. Calling your wife/husband/friends' uncle a "dog" or "breasts".