Indonesian vs Vietnamese: which should you learn?

Estimates for a native English speaker, following the US Foreign Service Institute’s groupings. Languages the Institute does not rank are placed beside their closest relatives. Your own pace will differ.

• You want one of the fastest languages to start speaking: no tenses, no genders and simple sounds.
• You will use it in Indonesia and, in a close form, Malaysia.
• You want the faster path: Indonesian is the quicker of the two.

Watch out for: everyday speech uses lots of informal shortcuts that textbooks skip.

• You want an alphabet you can already read, simple grammar and a fast-growing economy.
• You will use it in Vietnam.

Watch out for: six tones, which you can only learn by listening and speaking.

Indonesian. One of the easiest languages for English speakers to start speaking. The sounds are simple and the grammar is light.

Vietnamese. It takes longer than European languages because of the tones. The grammar is simple, with no verb conjugation.

In both, the quickest fix for pronunciation is the same: hear a whole sentence, say it out loud and check how close you were. That is the loop 4ToSpeak runs on every sentence.

Indonesian and Vietnamese are not close relatives, so learning one saves little time on the other. Pick the one you will use soonest, get to a comfortable conversation, and add the second later.

If you cannot decide, start both for a week at 15 minutes a day. After seven days you will know which one you look forward to, and motivation matters more than the difference in hours.

Start Indonesian or start Vietnamese, both free with no card.