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Burmese or Vietnamese?

I am thinking of learning one of these languages and they each seem equally difficult. Is there one that is better to learn than the other I.e. Study resources?
Original post by Isambard Kingdom Brunel
I am thinking of learning one of these languages and they each seem equally difficult. Is there one that is better to learn than the other I.e. Study resources?


Vietnamese is spoken by more than double the amount of Burmese speakers - it's now up on Duolingo as well. There's quite a few phone apps on iOS for Viet, haven't seen any for Burmese. I imagine Android is the same.
You won't have to learn a completely new alphabet, but there are some pretty complex vowels. If you can cope with more tones then Vietnamese is the obvious choice :smile:
Original post by Ninjasrule
Vietnamese is spoken by more than double the amount of Burmese speakers - it's now up on Duolingo as well. There's quite a few phone apps on iOS for Viet, haven't seen any for Burmese. I imagine Android is the same.
You won't have to learn a completely new alphabet, but there are some pretty complex vowels. If you can cope with more tones then Vietnamese is the obvious choice :smile:


Are you sure Vietnamese is on duolingo? Last time I checked they only did European languages.

Any other Asian languages on there? Free ones?
Original post by Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Are you sure Vietnamese is on duolingo? Last time I checked they only did European languages.

Any other Asian languages on there? Free ones?


It's in Beta mode but yes it's on there. :smile:
Russian's on there.
Hindi, Korean and Indonesian are hatching - they could take a while yet. Depends on how much spare time the course contributors have.

If you feel like learning Korean though, check out KoreanFromZero - the first book is free as a pdf on their site. They also have a few Japanese books out but none of these are free.
If you want to learn Mandarin and you have a smartphone, look up "HelloChinese" and "ChineseSkill". If you've not learnt many languages before, use ChineseSkill first. HelloChinese's pace goes far too quickly for beginners as my friends found out. Although you might be fine if you just keep repeating the the lessons until you have the swing of it.
Original post by Ninjasrule
It's in Beta mode but yes it's on there. :smile:
Russian's on there.
Hindi, Korean and Indonesian are hatching - they could take a while yet. Depends on how much spare time the course contributors have.

If you feel like learning Korean though, check out KoreanFromZero - the first book is free as a pdf on their site. They also have a few Japanese books out but none of these are free.
If you want to learn Mandarin and you have a smartphone, look up "HelloChinese" and "ChineseSkill". If you've not learnt many languages before, use ChineseSkill first. HelloChinese's pace goes far too quickly for beginners as my friends found out. Although you might be fine if you just keep repeating the the lessons until you have the swing of it.


Thanks. I downloaded duolingo and there's no Vietnamese but I am doing Russian!

Chinese skill also looks pretty decent.
Original post by Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Thanks. I downloaded duolingo and there's no Vietnamese but I am doing Russian!

Chinese skill also looks pretty decent.


Might not be available on the app, but it's definitely there on the website.
Ayee, ChineseSkill is pretty good. You can unlock everything after doing just a few lessons whereas with HelloChinese you have to unlock them one bye one.
Original post by Ninjasrule
Might not be available on the app, but it's definitely there on the website.
Ayee, ChineseSkill is pretty good. You can unlock everything after doing just a few lessons whereas with HelloChinese you have to unlock them one bye one.


Do you know of a similar app for Asian languages like Chinese Skill? Atm I am using Mondly, FluentU, Nemo, Babbel, Busuu, and Duolingo for various languages, but probably Chinese Skill is the best of all!

Shame there is no similar app for Korean or other Asian languages... Or is there?
Original post by Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Do you know of a similar app for Asian languages like Chinese Skill? Atm I am using Mondly, FluentU, Nemo, Babbel, Busuu, and Duolingo for various languages, but probably Chinese Skill is the best of all!

Shame there is no similar app for Korean or other Asian languages... Or is there?


Not for other Asian languages, no :frown:
One site that's not on your list is LingQ, maybe try that?

Try the book I recommended for Korean - KoreanFromZero. They have the dialogue up on the internet somewhere. I've learnt quite a lot from that and from listening to Kpop & by watching kdramas because the speech can be so repetitive. KFZ places a lot of emphasis on grammar but it's honestly the best resource I've found for Korean. I sometimes use Talk To Me In Korean alongside it, which also gives further explanations and examples.
Make your own flashcards using Anki as well - find new words whenever you can and add to the Anki decks.

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