On Learning Vietnamese

Thu, 02 Jul 2026 12:00:00 +0800

Why another project?

So I started learning Vietnamese a month or two ago, and I will briefly answer all the dumb questions. Nah, they’re not dumb; they’re very valid, I think. So some people might be wondering, ‘Why on earth add another project on top of your endless list while they don’t allow you to do anything anyway?’

The answer is pretty easy. #!^#!@#$^%@!#$^!@#$%!@#%!#$^!#$^!@# is the approximate translation into human language, which means:

Because I can.

What is it that you don’t understand about those three words?

Why Vietnamese

There might be other questions, for example: Why Vietnamese? I think this particular question is more interesting.

History

First of all, I’m sure there are interesting things to read. We all understand what, how, why and whatnot, right?

Proof of Concept

Secondly, and more importantly, this is a proof of concept. Let’s just see if I can get some form of communication skills going on in this particular language.

Linguistic Interest

Third of all, I learned Mandarin before, and fairly successfully. It’s hard to explain, but as a Westerner, you wonder how people talk using those strange sounds. I mean, I did learn Mandarin, so I know it’s possible, but trust me, the confusion is endless at times. It’s the same right now, so let’s just figure it out, right?

What I discovered: Speed

I’m learning this much quicker than I learned Mandarin. In a way, it’s easier. Five, six or seven tones don’t matter at all anymore. It’s still hard, of course, but I don’t even bother caring about that. It seems to be going much quicker, so as this is a proof of concept, let’s just see how well one can get at this.

Actually there are only a few main projects left

They’re just not easy. So I actually cleaned up a lot of nonsense over the past few weeks and months. I mean, it was a nice program, until it wasn’t. I was deliberately kept at dumbass level for three decades, and the other decade I was below it (elementary school and below). So. Yeah. Screw you and all that. There are also some unimportant side things that can be done anytime, such as polishing my computer setup and, I don’t know, buying a cooker or something, maybe. I have no idea. But these are really things that are far from imminent.

To sum things up

That’s about it. Feel free to post any question you still might have in the comment section. I hope I never have to answer any of these questions again, or that people are going to be hypersmart about it again. You have shown off something quite incredible in that department; never forget that. To sum things up, I’m just curious how on earth this is going to work out, that’s all. There’s not much other thought behind it, other than some practical considerations and a bit of comparing with some of the earlier years of my life.

Vietnamese on Sleepy Mario