If you’re attempting to learn Vietnamese, one excellent resource that can make your educational endeavor easier is a language-learning podcast.
Podcasts are a useful complement to any Vietnamese course you might be taking, as they can be used anywhere, anytime and anyplace. Plus, there are some good ones to choose from. Whether you need something for beginners, something around the intermediate level or something more advanced, you’ll be able to find it.
Additionally, if you want a podcast that incorporates history, culture and world events, you can find that, too, or likewise if you just want something more basic that sticks to language and grammar only.
Intrigued? Then consider one of these nine podcasts to learn Vietnamese.
Podcasts for Beginners
Beginner-level podcasts are as basic as it gets. The instruction is in English, the instructor goes extra-slow and there’s a lot of focus on things like basic vocabulary and how to put together a sentence using that basic vocabulary.
VietnamesePod101
The VietnamesePod101 podcast allows you to learn Vietnamese language concepts at your own pace, using learning materials that aren’t just limited to audible resources like podcasts. You can also access video and written content.
Some of this content does require a paid subscription, but a subscription is certainly not unaffordable. If you’re interested in learning about the kind of value an account could offer you, read our full review of VietnamesePod101.
Vietnamese Survival Phrases
Maybe you don’t necessarily want to become extremely fluent in Vietnamese. Maybe you’re just traveling to the country for work or vacation and you want to make sure you can get by. If that sounds like you, then Vietnamese Survival Phrases might be a good fit. The podcasts cover basic phrases that you might need while traveling or sightseeing. There are a range of episodes to choose from, all short, with topics such as greetings, terms you might need in a restaurant and more.
Vietnamese 4 Everybody
If you find yourself struggling with some of the basic Vietnamese concepts in your current language course, catch up with this quick hit of Vietnamese language concepts. This podcast offers just six episodes, but each touches on an important aspect that you’ll need in order to build a strong foundation in the language. Learn about vowels, consonants, combining consonants, accents, pronunciation and numbers.
Learn Vietnamese in Saigon
While the Learn Vietnamese in Saigon brand primarily specializes in in-person classes, it also offers an online podcast that allows users to take both beginner and intermediate courses. Although there aren’t yet many episodes available, you can sign up to receive notifications on when new episodes are added to the website. The podcasts include information on not only vocabulary and grammar, but also the Vietnamese alphabet (something some other beginner Vietnamese podcasts do not offer) and intonation.
Intermediate
Once you’ve nailed basic grammar and have a growing Vietnamese vocabulary under your belt, you can move on to intermediate Vietnamese lessons.
VietPod
While VietPod unfortunately only has a few episodes available, the podcast does focus on one crucial skill that you’ll need in order to move on to more advanced podcasts: listening. Through the beginning phases of learning Vietnamese, you likely were working with English instructors (whether in a podcast or through a course), but when you get into advanced concepts, the instruction is typically 100 percent in Vietnamese. To get used to this process, VietPod puts an emphasis on listening skills.
Advanced
If you can understand Vietnamese pretty well, you might consider moving on to a podcast that’s entirely spoken in Vietnamese, versus English. While it might seem intimidating at first, doing so can strengthen your Vietnamese skills significantly, as you develop an aptitude for comprehension and begin picking up words and phrases to add to your growing vocabulary.
SBS Vietnamese
The SBS Vietnamese podcast, from the Special Broadcasting Service, gives you extensive coverage of national and international news, all spoken in Vietnamese. You can find podcast episodes on just about every subject, from current events to sports, and episodes are uploaded on a regular basis, sometimes multiple episodes per day.
Each episode is on the short side and because the episodes cover international news and events, you may find this podcast an easy place to start in terms of all-Vietnamese podcasts, since you’re likely already familiar with the subject matter.
Passionate Vietnam
Take your exploration of the Vietnamese language a bit further when you listen to the Passionate Vietnam podcast. This weekly podcast celebrates all things Vietnamese, including the language, with stories, music and more presented by three hosts and their guests from all over the world. Each episode is around 40 minutes in length.
Faith Comes by Hearing: Vietnamese
If you’re perhaps more familiar with religious texts than you are current events, you might find it easier to follow and listen along to the Faith Comes by Hearing: Vietnamese podcast. It offers 260 episodes, all presenting biblical passages. This makes it easy for you to read along as you listen to the podcast, as you can read your English version of whatever text is being read aloud and then recognize the words you’re hearing. The episodes are organized by biblical chapter, so you can quickly find your favorites and listen to select passages.
Vietnamese Poems
For those who prefer artistic works to biblical texts or the news, Vietnamese Poems allows you to listen to beautiful works of art while learning your new language. Each podcast episode features a different poem and there are 36 episodes to choose from. Since there’s only a single poem in each episode, the episodes are pretty short, around a minute.
Final Thoughts
A Vietnamese podcast can be a great complement to however you’re currently learning the language, whether via an online course or in a more formalized setting. There are so many options to choose from, too, that you’re just about guaranteed to find a podcast you like.
Did we miss a Vietnamese language-learning podcast in our list above? Let us know!