Do you know there are more Vietnamese native speakers (people who speak Vietnamese as their mother tongue) than there are French, German or Italian native speakers? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_number_of_native_speakers

Do you also know Vietnam is larger than Great Britain, Italy and Korea (North and South Korea combined)? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_outlying_territories_by_total_area

Do you know that there are more Vietnamese than there are Englishmen, Frenchmen, Germans , Italians or Koreans? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population

So why are many people (including many Vietnamese) still referring to Vietnam as a tiny country when it's bigger and more populated than many major world powers? Are they ill-informed (for most non-Vietnamese) or having an inferiority complex (for most Vietnamese) or both?

I looked it up on Wikipedia, and after some further research, I found that it is absolutely true that almost all Vietnamese surnames are Chinese in origin. My last name is Lê, which is the Vietnamese pronunciation of the Chinese character, 黎, or Lí in pinyin. In fact, my whole name is Sino-Vietnamese. There isn't a single native Viet word in my name. The surname Nguyễn is 阮（Ruǎn), and Trần is 陈(Chén). Why is this? I know that most Viets take their surnames from royal dynasties, why did they do that? And why did Vietnamese kings take Chinese last names?
If you don't believe me or want to know more, here's a site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese_names
adiavoy, your last name is, I'm assuming, Đào. It would be 陶(Táo) in Chinese.

I have read in wikipedia. it spoken in india, bangladesh, srilanka, thailand, vietnam and indonesia and lao?
digna : okay lol
Hayy Ibn Yaqzan : informative, I just curious how different between pali and sanskrit?

so south vietnamese pronounce it as (ow yai) and north vietnamese proununce it as (ow zai).. how do central vietnamese pronounce it?

[yes, they all have different accents/sounds. my mom is south vietnamese, and my dad is central]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aodai

What if a male wants to say it to a male (his partner) or a female wants to say it to a female (her partner)? Don't tell me to Wikipedia it either.

I ask it here because there must be a lot of people from all over the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chinese_Surnames

On the right you can see Korean or vietnamese pronunciation.

Originally, Vietnam had its own distinct written language which began in the 13th century.

However, when the French Colony came into Vietnam, their culture heavily influenced Vietnamese written language, thus it became popular and the original became less.

So does anyone have any links that show this original written language? I have never seen it and am interested.

According to wikipedia, the writings looked that of Japan or China, but of course it was different in its own way.

Originally, Vietnam had its own distinct written language which began in the 13th century.

However, when the French Colony came into Vietnam, their culture heavily influenced Vietnamese written language, thus it became popular and the original became less.

So does anyone have any links that show this original written language? I have never seen it and am interested.

According to wikipedia, the writings looked that of Japan or China, but of course it was different in its own way.