Maia

Learn Vietnamese.

Tiếng Việt

Learn Vietnamese with a course designed for its six tones, complex vowel system, and the grammar that's surprisingly simple once you stop looking for conjugations.

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Why Vietnamese

Vietnamese is spoken by 85 million people in Vietnam and by significant diaspora communities worldwide. It uses a Latin-based script (quoc ngu), which makes reading accessible from day one -- unlike Chinese, Japanese, or Korean.

The real challenge is the sound system: six tones, vowels with multiple diacritics, and consonant clusters that don't exist in English. But Vietnamese grammar is refreshingly simple -- no conjugation, no gendered nouns, no plural forms. Words don't change shape.

What makes Vietnamese challenging — and how Maia helps

Six tones

Vietnamese has six tones, each marked by a diacritic. The same syllable with different tones means different things. Maia builds tone recognition and production through systematic exercises from the first lesson.

Vowel complexity

Vietnamese has 11 vowel sounds and numerous diphthongs, each represented by accented characters. Maia groups similar sounds together and drills the distinctions that matter most.

Regional variation

Northern (Hanoi), Central (Hue), and Southern (Saigon) Vietnamese differ in pronunciation and some vocabulary. Maia lets you choose your target dialect and stays consistent.

What your course includes

  • •Conversational lessons covering tones and pronunciation from day one
  • •AI podcast episodes mixing Vietnamese and English
  • •Tone drills, vocabulary, and sentence exercises
  • •Spaced repetition for vocabulary and tonal patterns
  • •Adaptive curriculum based on your progress

Sample lesson topics

  1. 1.Vietnamese tones and pronunciation: the six-tone system
  2. 2.Greetings and introductions: xin chao and basic phrases
  3. 3.Numbers, counting, and classifiers
  4. 4.At the market: food vocabulary and transactions
  5. 5.Basic grammar: sentence structure without conjugation
  6. 6.Asking questions and expressing preferences
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