[latchkey]

> The grammar is really similar to english (subject-verb-object). Words only have one form (they do not change with tense / plurality / etc).

The issue isn't reading/writing... it is speaking... I literally can't tell the difference between the tones, it all sounds exactly the same to me. This also makes it really hard for me to reproduce the tones when speaking it.

> If you translated each word indivdually you'd probably get an almost correct english sentence.

I heard that google translate actually went from Vietnamese->Chinese->English, which explained why it often came out as gibberish. Over the years, the translations have improved and I think is much better now. Apple translate, which just added Vietnamese recently, is quite good.

> But I'm probably biased since I grew up around it (in the States, so it isn't my primary language).

That's exactly it... I didn't grow up around it.