In Saigon, one of the first questions a new acquaintance asks — right after your name and whether you've eaten — is "Làm nghề gì?" ("What do you do?"). It's not nosy; it's how people place you and find common ground. Get comfortable talking about your job and you unlock endless small talk, from the coffee-shop auntie to a friend's ba má at dinner.
Let's start by eavesdropping on a very ordinary exchange between two people who just met at a friend's birthday party.
Quick answer: To ask what someone does, say "(Anh/Chị) làm nghề gì?" — and to answer, just say "Tui làm + [job]", like "Tui làm giáo viên." ("I'm a teacher.")
Asking "what do you do?" — làm nghề gì
The core word is nghề, meaning profession or trade. Pair it with làm ("to do / to work") and gì ("what"), and you have the whole question. In Saigon speech people almost always tack a soft vậy or dạ onto it to sound friendly rather than blunt.
Local tip
Swap the pronoun to fit the person: anh for a man a bit older than you, chị for an older woman, em for someone younger, bạn for a peer. Starting your reply with dạ is the single easiest way to sound polite and likeable in the South.
Saying your job — common jobs in Saigon
To answer, you have two natural patterns: Tui là + [job] ("I am a…") for your identity, or Tui làm + [job] ("I work as a…"). Both are correct and both are heard everywhere. Here's a spread of the jobs you'll actually run into.
Good to know
A quick job wordlist to steal: giáo viên (teacher), bác sĩ (doctor), y tá (nurse), kỹ sư (engineer), kế toán (accountant), đầu bếp (chef), thợ hớt tóc (barber), công nhân (factory worker), tài xế (driver), bán hàng (salesperson). Notice Southerners say hớt tóc for a haircut where the North says cắt tóc.
Common mistake
Don't answer "Làm nghề gì?" with a place. If someone asks your job and you say "Tui làm ở quận 1" ("I work in District 1"), you've answered "làm ở đâu?" instead. Give the job first — "Tui làm kế toán" — then add the location if you like.
Where do you work — làm ở đâu & công ty
Once the job is out, the natural follow-up is location. The key phrase is làm ở đâu ("work where"), and the word for company is công ty. Saigon is organized by districts (quận), so people love naming them.
Local tip
Southerners use tiệm for a small shop or business — tiệm cà phê, tiệm nail, tiệm hớt tóc — where the North leans on cửa hàng. If you're self-employed, tui làm tự do ("I work independently") is the everyday way to say it.
Going to work — đi làm every day
Daily-grind talk revolves around đi làm ("to go to work"). You'll want to say what time you go, how you get there, and — this being Saigon — how heavy the traffic and the workload are.
Good to know
Lãnh lương is the classic Southern way to say "get paid / collect one's salary." You'll also hear nghỉ làm ("take a day off work"), nghỉ phép ("take annual leave"), and nghỉ hưu ("retire").
South vs North: the same conversation, different words
Most work vocabulary is shared nationwide, but a handful of everyday words in these conversations really do split by region. Here's what changes when you cross from Saigon to Hanoi.
| Meaning | Southern (Saigon) | Northern (Hanoi) |
|---|---|---|
| I (casual) | tui / tụi tui | tớ / bọn tớ |
| to work / to do (colloquial) | làm, mần | làm |
| to collect one's salary | lãnh lương | lĩnh lương |
| small shop / business | tiệm | cửa hàng |
| haircut (for a barber) | hớt tóc | cắt tóc |
| expensive (e.g. rent, cost) | mắc | đắt |
Local tip
You'll sometimes hear older or rural Southerners use mần for làm — "Đi mần chưa?" ("Off to work yet?"). It's warm and countryside-flavored. You don't need to produce it, but recognizing it will make you smile the first time an auntie says it to you.
Your quick work-talk cheat sheet
Try it yourself
- Ask a woman slightly older than you what she does for a living.
- Say: "I'm an accountant, I work at a company in District 3."
- Say: "I go to work at 7 by motorbike."
- Tell a friend: "I'm super busy lately, overtime every night."
Answers: 1) Chị làm nghề gì vậy? 2) Tui làm kế toán, làm ở một công ty trên quận 3. 3) Tui đi làm lúc 7 giờ, đi bằng xe máy. 4) Dạo này tui mắc lắm, tối nào cũng tăng ca.
Frequently asked questions
Is it là or làm before a job?
Both work. Tui là giáo viên states your identity ("I am a teacher"), while Tui làm giáo viên describes the activity ("I work as a teacher"). In casual Saigon chat you'll hear làm constantly, so if in doubt, use it.
What's the difference between nghề and việc?
Nghề is your profession or trade (teacher, engineer), while việc (or công việc) is the work or task itself. So "làm nghề gì?" asks your career, and "nhiều việc quá" means "so much work to do."
Do I really need to say dạ?
With anyone older or in a polite setting, yes — it's the little word that separates "friendly foreigner" from "abrupt foreigner." Starting an answer with dạ costs nothing and buys a lot of goodwill in the South.
How can I practice these conversations with a real Southern speaker?
The fastest route is to learn Southern Vietnamese online with a native Saigon teacher who corrects your pronouns and particles in real time. A single 30-minute trial where you role-play "what do you do?" will lock these patterns in far better than any wordlist.
Learn Southern Vietnamese online with people who actually speak it
SVFF is the school built entirely around the Southern (Saigon) dialect — native teachers from Ho Chi Minh City, since 2014.
- Listen to the SVFF podcast — real Southern Vietnamese, free.
- Book a free trial lesson — 30 minutes 1-on-1 with a native Saigon teacher.
- Browse our courses — structured A0–C1, all Southern dialect.
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