When I first moved to Vietnam, I dreaded getting a call from my Grab driver.
I had already marked my pickup point in the app. Why call again? I struggled to understand the conversation, so after booking a ride, the phone call worried me more than the journey.
Now I understand that many of those calls were simply to check whether I was outside or whether the pickup point was correct. Once I could give a short answer, what used to feel like an inconvenience sometimes felt more like an effort to make sure we found each other.
I have lived in Vietnam for more than two years. English is the language I use most, while my Vietnamese covers greetings, numbers, food orders and simple conversations.
So yes, I have been able to live in Hanoi without speaking much Vietnamese. But as I have learned to understand a little more, the way I experience the same city has changed.
There was a reason I could get by in English
I speak English with my colleagues. They all speak it, so I do not rely on an interpreter at work.
The restaurants and places I visited early on also tended to be places where some English was spoken. Some Korean and Japanese restaurants I used had staff who spoke those languages, too. At the hospitals and banks I visited, I was able to communicate in English without much difficulty.
That made life without Vietnamese feel easier than I had expected. Looking back, I already had a support system built into my daily routine. This was my experience at the places I used, not a claim that English is available at every hospital or bank.
Even at work, though, a shared language does not mean every thought comes across clearly. Neither my colleagues nor I speak English as a first language. Explaining what needs to be done is one thing; explaining exactly why I see it a certain way can be harder.
When my meaning gets lost or I give up halfway through an explanation, I sometimes catch myself thinking it would be faster to do the task alone. Those moments remind me that communication still takes effort, even when everyone speaks English.
Later, when I started visiting more local markets and restaurants, I encountered a different barrier. Outside my familiar routine, there were many more situations where English was not enough.
I chose what I could order, not always what I wanted
When I knew no Vietnamese at all, a long menu did not necessarily give me more choice.
Pictures helped. Without them, I looked for dishes whose names I already knew and often ordered the same things again.
I could get a meal, but I was choosing from what I knew how to ask for rather than everything I might want to eat.
Now I can order the dish I want and make simple requests to add or leave out an ingredient. That gives me more control over a very ordinary part of daily life.
It has made meals more satisfying, too. When I see an unfamiliar restaurant, I am less likely to walk past because I know I can probably manage an order.
The first benefits I noticed from learning Vietnamese were small choices like these, not long conversations.
I wrote separately about my actual food and transport spending in Hanoi, including a mix of Vietnamese meals, home cooking, and Korean, Japanese and Western restaurants.
Ordering online was easier than answering the delivery call
Online shopping brought a similar problem. I could browse Shopee, the online shopping platform, and place an order. The difficult part was the call when the parcel arrived.
Was the courier asking me to come downstairs, or asking where to leave the package? At first, the thought of that conversation sometimes put me off ordering altogether.
It was frustrating that simply receiving a parcel might require someone else’s help. I imagine it would have been harder still if I had needed to receive or send something urgently.
Now I can usually explain where I want a delivery left. If a phone conversation is not working, I send a translated message instead.
If you are new to Hanoi, it may help to prepare the delivery requests you are likely to use repeatedly: whether you will come downstairs or whether the parcel can be left at an agreed location. Start with the situations that recur in your own routine.
Both Grab calls and delivery calls were stressful when I had no idea what I would hear. Recognizing the usual questions has made answering the phone much less intimidating.
If you are also new to the service, my GrabCar safety checks for Hanoi cover what to check before getting in and before leaving the car, separate from the language issue.
I give the translation tool context, not just a sentence
When I get stuck, I mainly use ChatGPT. I often use voice translation, but I also explain the situation and what I am trying to communicate.
For example, a request for help writing to a courier could look like this. This is an illustrative prompt, not a record of a particular delivery.
This is a message for a delivery driver. I cannot come downstairs right away, so I want to ask politely whether they can leave the parcel at the security desk. Please write a short message in Vietnamese.
Rather than asking for a sentence to be translated in isolation, I explain who I am speaking to and what I need. If tone or emotion matters, I describe that as well.
I do not remember a major misunderstanding in my own use. Still, I cannot judge the accuracy of every translation. For important details such as amounts, addresses and dates, I think it is worth checking the information together on screen.
I also used translation tools when dealing with a mobile carrier. What helped was knowing beforehand what I wanted to apply for and which questions I needed to ask.
Writing down the plan, documents and conditions I wanted to check made the translation request clearer. It was easier than arriving and trying to work everything out from scratch.
Start with hello, thank you and sorry
I would not tell someone moving here that they need to study a lot of Vietnamese before arriving. I learned the phrases I needed gradually, while living here.
But I do recommend learning basic greetings, how to say thank you and how to apologize before you come.
Even if you cannot hold a long conversation, you can greet someone and show appreciation. For me, those short exchanges have helped reduce the distance between myself and the people I meet. Making an effort in someone’s language feels like a good way to begin life abroad.
After that, learn the words that keep appearing in your own day. If you eat out often, start with ordering and ingredient requests. If you take taxis, work on explaining your pickup location.
I do feel some regret when I look back at my first year. Without really noticing it, I kept returning to familiar restaurants and places because the language barrier felt uncomfortable. Life was manageable, but there were plenty of places I was curious about and simply passed by.
That discomfort also gave me a reason to practice. I am still not fluent. But now I can walk into a restaurant even when I cannot read the whole menu.
After more than two years in Hanoi, that is the biggest change: being able to enter places I used to walk past.
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