Foreign language for your Cambodian friends ?

qinjingyou · Post by **qinjingyou** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 1:08 pm

Hotdigr wrote:I would suggest he learn Chinese. Their influence in this country/region is huge and second to no one . And its growing bigger day by day.

I'd second that. I use Mandarin nearly as much as Khmer around Phnom Penh. So it's locally useful as well as internationally.
Any of the languages mentioned so far is potentially very useful. Depends on what your friend would use it for.

Post by **Jamie_Lambo** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 8:20 pm

yeah i was going to say chinese in my original post, i decided on french due to the amount of french expats and businesses there are here,
i speak german, well not as good as i used to, and ive never been in any situation where its been useful other than speaking to the odd random german i bump into, i learnt it at school was quite good at the time and was my 2nd language, but now i would say it would be my 4th under Khmer and Thai, i can also speak a small bit of Spanish, French, Ukrainian, Japanese, Laotian and Portuguese but mainly just a handful of words ive picked up from holidays and friends haha

Anchor Moy · Post by **Anchor Moy** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 8:43 pm

Russian, Chinese or Korean. Depends on your longterm plans and your location.
If you live near a border and want to do business, then learn Thai, Vietnamese or Lao.
If you have a boutique hotel then aim for your market.
If you want to sell your stuff in China etc...

As for the western tourist market, any country where they don't like speaking English - France for example - speaking their language can be a big attraction. I have a Khmer friend who is learning French for his guesthouse and I think he's got the right idea. Even if you are not fluent, French people (and most other countries) appreciate the effort to learn their language, so that can be a draw for hotels, guesthouses and tour guides.

Samouth · Post by **Samouth** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 8:50 pm

TheGrinchSR wrote:
Samouth wrote:If You were asked by your Cambodian friends to give him or her some suggestions on what foreign languages beside English that she or he should learn, what language would you suggest and why ?
I'd say German. German is the only European language with a high ROI (return on investment) for learning it. Mainly because Germans (like the French and the British) aren't all that keen on learning other languages. Thus... people who learn German have a very good chance at landing a job with German companies seeking to bridge language gaps and German companies generally pay well and have great working conditions, etc.

It's also the only second language to offer a high chance of such employment... mainly because German colonies weren't as prevalent as other European colonies and they were made to hand them all over at the end of the First World War...

I personally also once thought about taking German class, however it is so expensive for classes provided by Meta House (German Cultural Institution). I have known quite a few German friends and we exchanged some classes. I thought them khmer and they thought me German and i actually found German is a hard language to learn. BTW, Are there really many German companies in Cambodia?

Samouth · Post by **Samouth** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 8:53 pm

qinjingyou wrote:Spanish is really useful in business, it lets you connect with Latin America.

But there are not many companies from South America in Cambodia and for tourists from those countries i think most of them speak good English. BTW, do you know where can Cambodia take Spanish class? I think most of Cambodians can't afford to have one on one class with native Spanish teacher.

Samouth · Post by **Samouth** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 8:55 pm

Therapist wrote:
Samouth wrote:What do you think about German or Spanish ?
If your friend is a guy I would say Spanish.
The foreign languages I was forced to take were German, English and Latin.
Never got any “mogambo” with Latin. Never!

I always regretted not learning Spanish…oh the missed opportunities!
But Samouth, take this advice with a grain of salt as my mind is always on one thing (actually two things now, I’ve given up on rock n roll).

Wow, i thought you are from English speaking country. I think it is hard to find Spanish class in PP.

Samouth · Post by **Samouth** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 8:58 pm

Duncan wrote:Question for Khmer and Thai members here.,,,, How easy is it to learn each others language and how many words are the same in both languages. I know some numerals are simular but as both countries were once a part of a large empire there must be a lot of spoken and written words that are the same ??

Yes our languages are really similar, when listening to Thai news, i could hear some words that sound really similar to khmer, but i am not sure about the meaning. For numbers are completely different. One thing you can notice about the different of khmer and Thai is that Thia has intonation and Khmer doesn't have intonation, that is what i learned from school.

Anchor Moy · Post by **Anchor Moy** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 8:58 pm

Samouth wrote:
Samouth wrote:If You were asked by your Cambodian friends to give him or her some suggestions on what foreign languages beside English that she or he should learn, what language would you suggest and why ?

... BTW, Are there really many German companies in Cambodia?

Bitte_Kein_Lexus wrote:Chinese, Japanese or Korean. Spanish and French are good for travelling, but not for much else (though French is quite useful here, because of the high number of French businesses and expats). German is a business language more than anything. Given tbst there are relatively few German companies here that I know of, I wouldn't say it's a very useful language for a Cambodian to learn. ..

[/quote]

I think it then depends if you are learning a language to use in Cambodia, or if you aim to work overseas or for an international company.

Samouth · Post by **Samouth** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 9:03 pm

Hotdigr wrote:I would suggest he learn Chinese. Their influence in this country/region is huge and second to no one . And its growing bigger day by day.

Yes Chinese is a must language for Cambodian to learn for the fact that there are more and more Chinese came to invest in Cambodia, however i personally don't like working with Chinese people. I have never worked with them, but just feel like i can't work with them. I prefer working with Westerners.

Samouth · Post by **Samouth** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 9:07 pm

Bitte_Kein_Lexus wrote:Chinese, Japanese or Korean. Spanish and French are good for travelling, but not for much else (though French is quite useful here, because of the high number of French businesses and expats). German is a business language more than anything. Given tbst there are relatively few German companies here that I know of, I wouldn't say it's a very useful language for a Cambodian to learn. Russian could potentially be useful if working in the service industry.

Given that most Cambodians will be learning for work rather than pleasure or travel, I would suggest Chinese, Korean or Japanese. What kind of work does your friend do or plan on doing? I think this would affect the language he or she should learn. Either way, I think focusing on Korean or Japanese is the way to go, as there are already tons of sino-khmers who speak fluent Chinese already (so tough competition for a non-native speaker).

Most my friends are taking Chinese, Japanese and Korean classes and i think they were right choosing to study those languages as they will have more opportunities to get good jobs with high salary while most of them speak really good English.

I think i will take either German or French classes. I really like the sound of French, but will consider about German too since not many Cambodians speak German.

Foreign language for your Cambodian friends ?

Re: Foreign language for your Cambodian friends ?

Re: Foreign language for your Cambodian friends ?

Re: Foreign language for your Cambodian friends ?

Re: Foreign language for your Cambodian friends ?

Re: Foreign language for your Cambodian friends ?

Re: Foreign language for your Cambodian friends ?

Re: Foreign language for your Cambodian friends ?

Re: Foreign language for your Cambodian friends ?

Re: Foreign language for your Cambodian friends ?

Re: Foreign language for your Cambodian friends ?

Who is online

Register/Login to CEO with your Social Media Account: