Vietnamese language classes

Vietnam is a thriving, resilient country in Southeast Asia, home to over 97 million people with close connections across the Pacific and beyond.

Vietnam is a thriving, resilient country in Southeast Asia, home to more than 97 million people with close connections across the Pacific and beyond. Many New Zealanders first encounter Vietnam as a tourist destination and as a major exporter of coffee. While it is renowned for beaches and good coffee, Vietnam is also a culturally-rich society that counts its history in the thousands of years. Today, the country has a youthful population, a dynamic tech industry and plays an increasingly central role in global value chains in digital technologies and manufacturing.

Interested in learning Vietnamese?

The New Zealand Asia Institute is offering a Vietnamese language course for those with a basic foundation in Vietnamese, including elementary vocabulary, simple sentence structures, and confidence with essential greetings and expressions. Our 2026 course will commence on Thursday, 19 February. This course will run for eight weeks, with 1.5-hour evening classes held each Thursday, 6-7.30pm. The class times are flexible dependent on the attendees’ preferences. 

To attend our course, please register here.

Please advise your interest to: d.towle@auckland.ac.nz and we will add you to our mailing list to receive the e-invite.

The in-person course will concentrate on spoken Vietnamese, with an emphasis on extending participants’ ability to communicate in everyday settings. Topics include:

  • Health Matters
  • At the bank
  • Email and texting
  • Colloquial language and slang

The course will be taught by a native Vietnamese speaker, educated in Vietnam and New Zealand. The core course book used will be Learning Vietnamese by Bac Hoai Tran, supplemented by other teaching materials (which are included in the course fee).

Course fees: $295 including textbook; $250 (excluding textbook); GST inclusive (refunds will not be given after the start of the course).

Further courses will be provided on a demand basis. Please email: d.towle@auckland.ac.nz

We gratefully acknowledge the generous support of the Nicholas Tarling Charitable Trust