Which language sounds more beautiful ? Thai or Vietnamese ?

Guest   Tue Aug 26, 2008 1:10 pm GMT
Which language sounds more beautiful ? Thai or Vietnamese ?

Incidentally, Which one is considered more useful or helpful ?
So far, I haven't got to learn either of them, & I've never been to Thailand or Vietnam.
Guest   Tue Aug 26, 2008 2:00 pm GMT
Thai is a cool language but very difficult to learn:
http://mx.youtube.com/watch?v=J3kQeSvnfog&feature=related
In fact it sounds like english to me.
Guest   Tue Aug 26, 2008 4:47 pm GMT
Thailand seem like a more exciting place to visit.
Ken   Tue Aug 26, 2008 11:43 pm GMT
Thai. Vietnamese sounds ugly.
Guest   Wed Aug 27, 2008 1:25 am GMT
So does Thai, but Thailand is a cooler country.
Guest   Wed Aug 27, 2008 1:28 am GMT
Thai sounds soft and elegant. Vietnamese sounds harsh and sloppy.
Guest   Wed Aug 27, 2008 2:14 am GMT
Vietnamese is practical and elegant to write.
Guest   Wed Aug 27, 2008 2:20 am GMT
"Vietnamese is practical and elegant to write."

LOL, they have never even had their own script. Before, they just used Chinese characters and now they use a modified Latin script. How exactly is it so elegant compared to the graceful loops of Thai abugida?
JIAJIA   Wed Aug 27, 2008 2:34 am GMT
In fact, Vietnamese has given up Chinese characters for many years.

Chinese characters are called as Chữ Nôm (喃字/字喃) only in Vietnam.
Guest   Wed Aug 27, 2008 3:04 am GMT
Vietnamese alphabet seems much easier than weird Thai writing system.
Guest   Wed Aug 27, 2008 3:09 am GMT
"Vietnamese alphabet seems much easier than weird Thai writing system."

Just because it's easier doesn't make it more elegant. Differentiate the two, sherlock.
JIAJIA   Wed Aug 27, 2008 3:20 am GMT
IMO, Thai alphaber is probably as difficult as Arabic or Hebrew alphabet.
Guest   Wed Aug 27, 2008 5:53 am GMT
Please click them to listen carefully.


Thai
http://www.nhk.or.jp/rj/asx/en/thai.asx


Vietnamese
http://www.nhk.or.jp/rj/asx/en/vietnamese.asx
Guest   Wed Aug 27, 2008 6:50 am GMT
I listened to those links, and I'll have to pick Thai as the better sounding language.
Meesh   Wed Aug 27, 2008 7:11 am GMT
I am ethnically half Thai and half Vietnamese, and I speak both languages fluently. From my impartial perspective, I have some things to say.

The speech samples provided by the users who previously posted should be used as what it is--simply a sample. One person's speech. What one must realize, though, is that there is wide variation in the regional accents and intonation of Thai and Vietnamese people alike. The Northern Vietnamese accent is very clean and tonal because northerners enunciate their words and differentiate between the six different tones. The Southern Vietnamese accent is more fluid (but less comprehensible) because they tend to slur their words and don't make as strong of a differentiation between the tones as the northerners do. The Central Vietnamese accent is the most different out of the three because their tones are almost completely different and they have many regional words that are unique to the area.

I would like to recommend to Guest and everyone else reading this that Vietnamese is the better language to learn out of the two. While Thailand is more popular to tour, Vietnam is rapidly growing as a tourist destination. Take for example, the most recent Miss Universe Pageant that was held in Nha Trang, Vietnam.

In addition to the growth of the tourism industry, Vietnam is considered to be experiencing a tiger economy, which means rapid growth alongside Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China.

True, the Vietnamese writing system is based on a modified Latin script, but that doesn't mean that the language is not rich. As a matter of fact, I revert to the Vietnamese language when I want to really express my emotions. English is my native tongue, but I express myself best in Vietnamese because the Vietnamese language is so much more rich with more meaningful vocabulary.

Any more questions? I'll be happy to answer them!