As Vietnamese is a monosyllabic language with different sounds and without consonant clusters, brand names and other foreign words can be pronounced very differently.
Words like passport and visa should generally be understood if you pronounce them as they are. Some brands such as Nokia or Coca-Cola sound more or less the same. Many Korean and Japanese brands are also pronounced similarly, like Samsung and Yamaha.
There are however some foreign words so different that you may face communication problems. The differences are best explained through examples, so let’s take a look at some common ones.
Dream = đơ-ream
Martin = Mạc-tin
Pantene = Pan-teen
Lotteria = lốt-te
LG = el-ri
Sting = si-tin. Totally unrecognisable!
Over to you: Have you had problems pronouncing foreign words in Vietnamese? Have you got any more examples to add to this list?
3 replies on “Pronouncing brand names and other foreign words in Vietnamese”
This was a really interesting post on a topic that you’ll never find in a textbook : ) For me the biggest difference was “LG” to “el-ri”.
I’ve noticed this issue in Russian too… instead of the “Nike-E” brand, it’s “Nike” (rhymes with “like”). What does it sound like in Vietnamese?
Sometimes it’s the little things like this that can throw you the most!
Actually, in British English we say Nike same as ‘like’… I’ve never heard it in Vietnamese but I’m sure it would be ‘niiiie’ because in Vietnamese final consonants aren’t pronounced. Same as another motorbike model called ‘Wave’ is just pronounced like ‘way’.
Wow, that was like a double dose of learning: Vietnamese and British English, cool! : ) It wasn’t so long ago that I figured out the double pronunciations of “schedule”… had no idea that Nike was also said differently!