The best channels and shows to learn Southern Vietnamese in 2021

This is a list of channels and series on Youtube to learn Southern Vietnamese. Most of of these have Vietnamese subtitles and some even have both Vietnamese and English subtitles. If they are missing, you can turn on the Youtube auto-generated subtitles (if enabled by the channel owner). The quality isn't always superb. That said, if the speaker talks in a very clear voice and there isn't any background noise, these subtitles are surprisingly accurate. If you would like to find more channels with subtitles, there is a search filter called "Subtitles/CC". Unfortunately, this will sometimes also return clips with empty subtitles or a single caption like "Subscribe to our channel!". So, it does take a bit of time to search.

1. MCVMedia productions

The single best resource for clips with Vietnamese subtitles is MCV. This channel consistently provides captions on almost every show - sometimes even bilingual English/Vietnamese. Many of the formats are related to love/dating and family life. I recommend any show with MC Quyền Linh. As far as I'm concerned, this guy is easily the most charming and funny TV host in the entire country.

 a) Bạnh muốn hẹn hò

 This series is a classic dating show format. The male host is Quyền Linh. This dude manages to crack jokes about even the most mundane things, like body odor or who gets to keep the money in a marriage. Sometimes, he does go a bit over board, but overall, the show is very entertaining - and in large part thanks to Anh Linh. The candidates are Vietnamese people of all ages and backgrounds.

 b) Hẹn ăn trưa

 Very similar to BMHH, but there is only one host, Cát Tường. Much less entertaining than its sibling above.

 c) Ghép đôi thần tốc

 This is a newer dating show format where the candidates tune in from remote locations. That means the sound quality is sometimes bad and it's really hard to understand people. Candidates are from across the country. This contrasts to the previous formats, where participants skew toward hailing from the South. Thus, this show allows you to get more exposure to various accents.

 d) Gõ cửa thăm nhà

 Two MCs visit celebrities in their homes. There is pretty much always some sort of issue the family is having. The TV hosts sort of act like a team of psychologists helping the family to talk about the problem. This usually also means tears. Nice if you like this kind of drama.

2. Reality Dating TV shows

There are two shows with a format that has participants live together for a certain amount of time while everything is recorded.

 a) Ngôi nhà chung

 This is the older one of the two. It has 14 seasons and each season has over 10 episodes. The candidates live together in some place in Vietnam for 10 days. This show is excellent for learning slang. The participants are all young, urban and educated. Many of them do acting, modeling or are otherwise engaged in the showbiz. There is one twist called the "mystery couple". That is, two of the participants are already a love couple, but the others don't know who and the two lovers try their best to keep it a secret. The big downside of this that the participants constantly suspect each other of being that "mystery couple". Which gets repetitive quickly.

 b) Từ lạ thành thương

 This series is from 2020. It only has 15 episodes overall. The candidates live together for five days somewhere in South Korea (the show was sponsored by the Korean government). Unlike Ngôi nhà chung, this show has three hosts discussing what's happening. However, they all lack the charm and wit of someone like Quyền Linh. The discussions by the hosts as well as the activities organized for the candidates often feel forced and unnatural. I much prefer Ngôi nhà chung. However, overall it's still an interesting show.

3. Humor

 a) FAP TV

 I think FAP TV is the work of genius. Somehow, they manage to create funny stories that have real mass appeal. At the same time, however, they mostly avoid lowbrow and crude humor (unlike e.g., Ghiền Mì Gõ). A lot of the humor stems from the four main actors and their superb facial expressions. My favorite is Phương with his deadpan face.

 b) Ghiền Mì Gõ

 This is another channel making funny videos. However, unlike FAP TV, it's much less sophisticated. A lot of the humor is based on sexual references. Moreover, the girls are usually scantily clad.

 c) Saigon Tếu

 A group of local standup comedians. This is another great resource to learn slang. If you want to impress someone with funny jokes about Vietnamese life, you will get help on this channel.

4. Miscellaneous

 a) Dustin on the go

 Dustin Nguyễn is a freelance MC. He has two major formats on his channels. One is a more modern dating show that is open to people of all sexual orientations. The other is called Bar Stories, where he interviews celebrities inside an otherwise empty bar while drinking alcohol. The videos are usually very long-winded. That said, they always come with Vietnamese subtitles, so I keep watching them occasionally. This is also a good place to get insight about the blogging scene (e.g., see the episode with Giang Ơi and Khoai Lang Tang).

 b) Khoai Lang Tang

 This is a classic travel & food blog. Khoai Lang Tang is from the Mekong River Delta, so many of his clips are shot there. Unfortunately, only some of the older episodes have Vietnamese subtitles.

 c) Ngọc Trinh

 A channel for those who are into "girly" stuff. Ngọc Trinh is a super model with a unique personality. She stems from a poor family in a small village, but managed to strike it big in the showbiz. If you want to see a lingerie model slurping noodles or doing the Asian squat thing while talking about her $100k high-heels collection, visit this channel.