True, but I was comparing it to Mandarin and Cantonese (OP didn't say which Chinese language but I assume it's one of these). Both of them are also tonal languages from what I understand so in that way they are all different from English.

However, Vietnamese is easier since the characters are more recognizable. Listening to movies/shows with subtitles makes it easier to understand and it's easier to pick up reading Vietnamese than reading Chinese.

The issue here though, is that for OP it seems like Chinese is the more practical language to learn since their "friends" also speak it.