Ask for a spoon at a noodle stall in Saigon, and you'll hear muỗng, where Hanoi says thìa. A pig is heo in the South and lợn in Hanoi. Reviews by Migaku and Nutty Vietnamese say Duolingo's Vietnamese course uses the Hanoi accent, so this page lists what we found for Southern Vietnamese. Our Vietnamese app comparison covers apps for every accent.
Custom Lessons Made for You
Bubblegum
For serious learners, Bubblegum is the best app to learn Southern Vietnamese. You learn from Southern Vietnamese you can mostly understand, which is called comprehensible input.
Tell Poppy, your AI tutor, that you're visiting family in Cần Thơ, and she writes a Southern Vietnamese lesson about that visit at your level. Ask her about any line you don't follow, or why someone ends a sentence with nha.
Bubblegum isn't a person to talk with, so for speaking practice, try a tutor or partner in Practice With People From the South.
- Southern Vietnamese is its own journey, and lessons are read aloud in a Saigon accent.
- The Quốc Ngữ course has a Southern version, with the tones as the South says them.
- Grammar cards show Southern words like nha and vô next to the Northern ones.
- Regenerative Review™ brings saved words back in new lessons, and you can export them to Anki.
- Clear, expressive AI voices read every lesson aloud, with a different voice for each speaker.
- A Vietnamese novel of your own can't become a lesson. When a page of it is hard, paste it into your chat with Poppy, and she goes through it sentence by sentence.
- A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so your first one is free, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn.
- Regenerative Review™
- Teaches Quốc Ngữ
Mobile
Southern Dialogues and Podcasts
Learn Vietnamese With Annie
Each lesson is a short dialogue, then a talk about it in Vietnamese and English. Every lesson stands on its own, so you can pick topics in any order.
- Every lesson uses the Southern dialect of Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta.
- Each dialogue usually runs under a minute, so it's easy to replay.
MobileWeb
SVFF
SVFF tells stories set in Sài Gòn, arranged as a listening course from your first words onward. Your place stays in sync between its app and the web.
- 218 episodes in 8 series, from A1 to C1, all in Southern Vietnamese.
- A read-along transcript comes with each episode.
- Flashcards
MobileWeb
Build Vocabulary
Drops
Drops turns Vietnamese words into short games on your phone, so a bus ride is enough for a round.
- A learner review on Drops' Vietnamese page says it uses the Southern dialect.
- Each word comes with a picture and audio.
Mobile
Practice With People From the South
italki
When you find a tutor from the South, ask them to talk the way people do at home in Saigon, with dạ for a polite yes and nha at the end of a friendly request.
- Many tutors say in their profile where they live and which accent they speak, so you can look for one from the South.
- Book one-to-one lessons over video.
MobileWeb
Tandem
Each member on Tandem's Ho Chi Minh City page shows the languages they speak and the ones they're learning, so look for someone who speaks Vietnamese and is learning your language.
- Chat by voice note, audio call, or video.
- Each partner can correct what you type.
MobileWeb
TV and News From the South
Once SVFF's middle series feel comfortable, try the news and shows on HTV, Ho Chi Minh City's television station. For reading, Tuổi Trẻ, a newspaper from Ho Chi Minh City, has sections on news, business, travel, and culture.
Which Southern Vietnamese Apps Are Free?
| App | Free? | What's Free |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | Free version | The lesson library is free for everyone. Your first custom lesson is free, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons. |
| Learn Vietnamese With Annie | Some lessons free | Some sample lessons are free. The full lesson library needs a monthly subscription. |
| SVFF | Some lessons free | Nine starter episodes are free to play, with no account. The full podcast library needs a subscription. |
| Drops | Free version | The free version lets you learn for five minutes every 10 hours. Drops Premium gives you unlimited time and all the content, and the yearly plan starts with a 7-day free trial. |
| italki | Paid | You pay for each lesson, and each teacher sets their own price. Practicing with the community and taking the level test are free. |
| Tandem | Free version | Signing up is free, and Tandem reviews each new member first. Many features are free, and Tandem Pro gives you all of them. |
Learn Southern Vietnamese in Your Language
The number of languages you can use an app in isn't the same as the languages its lessons explain things in, so check one lesson in your language before you pay.
| App | Languages You Can Use It In | Full List |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | 74 | Supported language pairs |
| Learn Vietnamese With Annie | 1 | App Store |
| SVFF | 1 | App Store |
| Drops | 16 | App Store |
| italki | 19 | App Store |
| Tandem | 14 | App Store |
Other Apps We Looked At (1)
- GlossikaGlossika has a separate Vietnamese (Southern) course that teaches through thousands of sentences with audio, from A1 to C1.
Common Questions
Which Southern Vietnamese app should a beginner choose?
If you are serious about learning Southern Vietnamese, start with Bubblegum. Poppy writes lessons at your level about things you like. Or start with Learn Vietnamese With Annie if you'd like short Southern dialogues with an explanation after each one. To combine an app with a podcast and a tutor, see the best way to learn Southern Vietnamese.
Do the tones sound different in the South?
Yes. Southern speakers say the hỏi and ngã tones the same way, so mả (grave) and mã (horse) sound alike. Both words keep their own mark in writing, so learn the mark along with each word.
Is Bubblegum free?
Yes. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn. It holds lessons that other learners asked Poppy for. A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so your first one is free, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Vietnamese phonology (the hỏi and ngã tones merge in Southern accents)
- Wikipedia: Vietnamese language, regional variation
- Wiktionary: heo (central and southern Vietnam: pig)
- Wiktionary: muỗng (central and southern Vietnam: spoon)
- Migaku: Duolingo Vietnamese review
- Nutty Vietnamese: Does Duolingo Have Vietnamese?
- Wiktionary: lợn (Northern Vietnam: pig)
- Wiktionary: thìa (Northern Vietnam: spoon)
- Glossika: Learn Vietnamese (Southern)
- Bubblegum: Southern Quốc Ngữ course, chapter 3 (hỏi and ngã sound the same)
- Bubblegum: Southern Vietnamese lessons and the Southern Quốc Ngữ course
- Learn Vietnamese With Annie: FAQs (real Southern dialect; dialogues usually under one minute)
- Learn Vietnamese With Annie on the App Store
- SVFF Podcast (218+ episodes, 8 series, A1–C1, 100% Southern)
- SVFF Online on the App Store
- Drops: Learn Vietnamese
- Drops: free vs Premium
- Drops: Premium
- Drops on the App Store
- italki: Vietnamese teachers
- italki: home page (what is free)
- italki on the App Store
- Tandem: Language exchange in Ho Chi Minh City
- Tandem: home page
- Tandem on the App Store
- HTV, Ho Chi Minh City Television
- Tuổi Trẻ, a newspaper from Ho Chi Minh City
- Wikipedia: Tuổi Trẻ (based in Ho Chi Minh City)
- Bubblegum
- Learn Vietnamese With Annie
- Tandem
Checked on October 21, 2026 against each app's own pages.
