Vietnam

To which language should you translate to localize in Vietnam?

“Vietnamese is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is spoken by the majority of the population as a native language, while ethnic minority groups speak it as a second language.

Vietnamese is a tonal language. Accents are used to denote six distinctive tones: “level” (ngang), “acute-angry” (sắc), “grave-lowering” (huyền), “smooth-rising” (hỏi), “chesty-raised” (ngã), and “chesty-heavy” (nặng). In writing, one tone is represented as unmarked (a), four are indicated with diacritics marked on a vowel (á, à, ả, and ã), and one is marked with a dot under a vowel (ạ).

The language has head-initial directionality, with subject–verb–object order and modifiers following the words they modify. It also uses noun classifiers. In Vietnamese vocabulary, there are many Chinese-Vietnamese words, French-like words, and English terms. Vietnamese also includes a large number of idioms, slang, and legends. 

The language has several dialects, with the three most prominent:

– Northern Vietnamese – This is considered the standard language
-Central Vietnamese
-Southern Vietnamese

There are quite a few differences in pronunciation and vocabulary between the three dialects, but they are mutually understandable – at around the same level as US and UK English.”

Official language

Vietnamese (86.80%; 85.8 mln)

Actual languages

Vietnamese (86.80%; 85.8 mln), Tho (1.80%; 1.7 mln), Thai (1.60%; 1.5 mln), Nung (1.10%; 1 mln), Muong (1.50%; 1.4 mln), Khmer (1.40%; 1.3 mln), Chinese (1.40%; 1.3 mln), Man (0.70%; 692k), Miao (0.90%; 889k).

What the top 150 best localized websites in the world do in Vietnam

(Top 150 websites listed in the Global by Design ranking – published annually by Byte Level Research, this report provides a list of globally localized websites, showcasing best practices and emerging trends in their globalization)

• 82/150 localize by translating into Vietnamese
• 1/150 localizes by translating into Vietnamese, Thai, Khmer and Vietnamese Sign Language
• 1/150 localizes by translating into both Vietnamese and Khmer
• 1/150 localizes by translating into Vietnamese, French and Chinese
• 1/150 localizes by translating into Chinese