The Word Ha Noi

From chat and SMS through to language used on the street or in school playgrounds, the last decade has seen a healthy development in Vietnamese slang. So how well has new language worked its way into the country’s literature? Words by Douglas Pyper

Many foreigners living in Vietnam try to get a grasp of the language, but they find it hard going. First there are the tones, an alien concept to anyone whose root language is from outside of East Asia. Then there’s the back-of-the-mouth pronunciation and the consonants that are different in almost every way to the parts of speech emanating from elsewhere.