Khmer, Lao, Thai and Vietnamese for travellers

Speaking a bit of the local language can be a great way to get more from your holiday, and nowhere is this truer than in Southeast Asia. Despite the masses of travellers the region has been receiving for years, very few bother to learn much of the language at all. It's true these are some of the world's more challenging languages, but if you try your hand at them, you'll be surprised at just what a warm response you'll receive.

While many local students study English at school, the level they leave with is often rudimentary at best, while very few foreign travellers study any Khmer, Lao, Thai or Vietnamese whatsoever at school, so it's not at all unusual to come up against language barriers over and over again while travelling. The simplest way to get around this kind of problem, not surprisingly, is to learn some of the local language.

It's not as difficult as you may think to pick up the basics, and, as with any language, once you've got the basics down, the more you use it the more you'll learn.

Unless you're planning a long stint in the region, undertaking a formal course in-country isn't always practical, so it's a good idea to warm up the foreign-language section of your brain before departure. Rest assured, if you arrive in the region being able to exchange pleasantries and count from one to 20, you'll be way ahead of the pack!

So keeping in mind you want to get to a basic conversational level, and won't be bothered if you're unable to discuss the intricacies of border demarcation disputes, here are a few approaches we'd suggest you consider.

Free language downloads

If you're reading this, then you've access to a computer and an internet connection -- with those you're well on the way to picking up some good learning resources for which you won't need to open your wallet.

Your first stop should be World Nomads, where they offer iPod phrasebooks and more detailed language lessons. The latter are particularly useful for their unorthodox format -- it's a real world setting where the traveller learns a few key sentences in the language concerned. Useful phrases include "Don't shoot -- the drugs aren't mine"!

Download Thai lessons | Download Lao lessons | Download Vietnamese lessons

Phrasebooks

The downloaded soundfiles and online lessons are good to a point, but not much use when you're away from the computer. This is when a phrasebook will come in handy. If you're after nothing more than the bare basics, and would prefer to do most of your learning once you're in-country, then a phrasebook should be sufficient. Popular phrasebooks include:

Cambodia Cambodian for Beginners	Laos Lonely Planet
Thailand Lonely Planet Rough Guide Collins Hill Tribes Phrasebook Thai for Travelers Essential Thai Instant Thai	Vietnam Lonely Planet Rough Guide Larousse Phrasebook Collins

Formal language texts

More formal language texts are appropriate for those looking to get beyond "Where is the bus station?" However, before you go and buy a whole collection of learning texts, consider how much time you have to put into serious language self-study.

Pimsleur Direct has an excellent reference dealing with the question "How long do I need to learn a language?" They use the FSI (Foreign Service Institute) Rating Scale and suggest that to gain a minimum professional level of proficiency in Khmer, Lao, Thai or Vietnamese, you're looking at around 44 weeks, or 1,320 hours of study -- that's study via the FSI intensive course where one "studies a language for six hours a day, five days a week, in a class of no more than 10 students, led by an experienced linguist and a well-trained native drillmaster".

What that means is it could take you a good deal longer if you're doing an hour a day during your lunch break.

But don't be put off -- the more you study, the more you'll get out of your trip, so even if you're fitting in just 45 minutes a day, you'll have a firm basis in the language before you arrive. After all, once you're in-country, unlike FSI students, you'll be experiencing the language 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Here are some introductory language texts that come recommended -- they're a stepping stone between a phrasebook and 1,320 hours of study with a Goverment Foreign Service agent. Those marked with Our choice! indicate we've used the book ourselves and think it's pretty good.

Cambodia Modern Spoken Cambodian Our choice! Colloquial Cambodian Cambodian Dictionary	Laos Lao for Beginners Our choice! Lao for Beginners (same title, different book) Lao Dictionary
Thailand Thai for Beginners Our choice! Speak Like A Thai Volume 1 Basic Thai Thai Dictionary	Vietnam Vietnamese for Beginners Our choice! Basic Vietnamese Vietnamese Dictionary

Software solutions

If free downloads, phrasebooks and tuition are all too old school for you, there's a range of software packages that can be very helpful in learning a new language.

These packages often come bundled with just about everything you need to learn a language except for a live human to speak to and they can be an incredible helpful in a number of ways:

a) You can listen to it.
b) You can speak to it.
c) It can test you.
d) It can fit far more complexity into a small package than traditional teaching materials can.
e) It's far more fun to do than that spreadsheet you should be doing.

Transparent Language

Transparent Language offers a range of language learning software, including video immersion environments, flashcard tools, translation dictionaries and reference sets, and audio courses. They also have a number of complimentary downloads and resources available on the Transparent Language Store website.

We've not used their products so can't vouch for them, but they're priced competitively and could be worth a try if you're looking for a more budget-minded solution.

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Travelfish may receive commissions for purchases from the providers mentioned above, and while we can't vouch for all of them from experience, we believe them to be quality providers with long track records in the business.