Language use
The Vietnamese language is filled with expressions, words and phrases that show respect, it is done almost subconsciously, but a word used incorrectly or a phrase used off-hand will immediately solicit a reaction from your listener. There are different words for different relationships, for older people, for parents, for people in higher positions, for religious people. You seldom use someone's name when writing, not even Mr. Jones, but 'respected gentleman'. People are very seldom called by their name, as mentioned earlier, I think this goes back to the names of forefathers given to people, and they do not want to call up their spirits. Couples will start their relationship by using one term and when they get to know each other better they will drop that term of respect and use another term for endearment. If they fall out of love the this term is then dropped and the initial term is used again. If they have a major argument then yet another term is used to express the anger they feel. So, upon meeting other people there are at least three ways you can greet them. This makes the language very difficult for a foreigner to learn, unless they come from a country with the same system. But for English speakers, informality abounds and is very very strange for a Vietnamese person.

Austro-Asiatic
There are about 150 Austro-Asiatic languages spoken by various groups in Southeast Asia and eastern India. Vietnamese, Khmer, and Mon are culturally the most dominant of these languages and are also the oldest on record. Vietnamese and Khmer, the two most commonly spoken, are the national languages of Vietnam and Cambodia respectively. Mon is found in Thailand and Myanmar (previously Burma).



Malayo-Polynesian (western)
Malayo-Polynesian includes the Austronesian languages of the Philippines, western Indonesia which includes the following; Borneo, Sumatra, Java-Bali-Lombok, Sulawesi, as well as mainland Southeast Asia, Madagascar. There are many branches of Austronesian languages such as Malay, Acehnese, Toba Batak, Ilokano, Sundanese, Javanese, Tagalog, Cebuano, Minangkabau, Balinese, Buginese, Makasarese, and Malagasy all belong to the Western Malayo-Polynesian group.

Mon-Khmer
Mon-Khmer languages include the indigenous language family of mainland Southeast Asia and belong to the Austro-Asiatic group. They are spoken from China to Malaysia, west to the Assam state in India, and east to Vietnam. The most important Mon-Khmer languages, spoken by more than 100,000, are Vietnamese, Khmer, Muong, Mon, Khasi, Khmu, and Wa. The family consists of some 130 languages these are rarely written. Some of these languages are spoken by only a few hundred people and are dying out unless something drastic happens to halt this state of affairs.

Sino-Tibetan
There are more than 300 languages and dialects in the Sino-Tibetan language group , the most important members of these are Chinese, Tibetan, and Burmese. Sino-Tibetan is the world's second most spoken language family second only to Indo-European. Many Chinese languages, grouped under Sinitic languages, are spoken in China and Taiwan and by Chinese immigrants in many nations. Tibeto-Burman languages are spoken in Tibet, Burma, Nepal and throughout the Himalayan Mountain region.

To read or not to read
The Chinese writing system is nonalphabetic. Each meaningful syllable, or each non meaningful syllable that is part of a polysyllabic word, is represented by a specific character. The characters represent some object however, the objects cannot be recognised in most cases. Thus, it would be misleading to describe the Chinese script as pictographic or ideographic. Nor is it syllabic, since syllables that sound alike but have different meanings are written differently. The Chinese writing system is logographic which simply means each symbol represents a word.

The Tibeto-Burman languages have evolved from a common source in very different ways largely because of the movements of the various groups of people throughout central and southern Asia. The Tibetan writing system was developed by early Buddhist missionaries who came from India in the 7th to 9th century. It is an alphabetic system very similar to the Indo-Aryan systems. Present-day Tibetan pronunciation differs greatly from the written language. Western Tibetan dialects have most faithfully preserved such features as initial consonant clusters and final stops, which Central dialects have lost. Central dialects have developed a system of tones, probably owing to Chinese influence. Increasing influence of the Chinese language on the Tibetan dialects is likely a result of political control.

The Burmese writing system is alphabetic and originates from India. Written Burmese in its present form originates sometime in the 15th century. There have been many changes in the sounds of Burmese but the grammar has remained almost the same.

The Tai Language
Tai developed in the 1st century AD somewhere in the Jiangxi River valley. Many believe that Tai and its many branches belong to the Sino-Tibetan family but now we know that that isn't so. There are similarities in the sound (phonetic) systems (especially tone) but this is no longer seen as being a major aspect showing relationships. Much is the same as Chinese but there is too much that differs for it to be the same family. Tai and its many branches are now believed to belong to the Austronesian group.

The Tai have been constantly driven southwards by the Chinese until they were spread all over the northern part of Southeast Asia. They are linked to many but their main groups are the Thai in Thailand the Shan in Myanmar the Lao in Laos, the Tai in Vietnam and, in China, the Dai in Yunnan, the Buyi in Guizhou, and the Zhuang in Kwangsi's Zhuang Autonomous Region.