Cambodian for Beginners

Have questions or resources regarding Khmer Culture? This forum is all about the Kingdom of Cambodia's culture. Khmer language, Cambodian weddings, French influence, Cambodian architecture, Cambodian politics, Khmer customs, etc? This is the place. Living in Cambodia can cause you to experience a whole new level of culture shock, so feel free to talk about all things related to the Khmer people, and their traditions. And if you want something in Khmer script translated into English, you will probably find what you need.
jorahforist
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Cambodian for Beginners

Post by jorahforist »

Hello, newbie here. I'm planning to move to Cambodia in a few months (have traveled there before) and I would like to work on learning Khmer before I go. I found a great download of Khmer language resources which included a pdf of Cambodian for Beginners by Richard Gilbert. It seems by far the best book for me and I would love to access the audio portion for it. I have a couple other audio courses but I don't like them. As I am in Canada now the only option is buying the CDs online and having them shipped, which I would rather not do (stingy with money while saving for the move!). If anyone has a copy of the audio that they could upload I would really, really appreciate it. :bow:

Thanks so much,

Sarah
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Digg3r
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Re: Cambodian for Beginners

Post by Digg3r »

Are you suggesting we infringe copyright?
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StroppyChops
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Re: Cambodian for Beginners

Post by StroppyChops »

What's copyright?
Bodge: This ain't Kansas, and the neighbours ate Toto!
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Garry.Crabtree
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Re: Cambodian for Beginners

Post by Garry.Crabtree »

StroppyChops wrote:What's copyright?
Copyright to you, remix to a Nigerian.
According to the proverb: The pun is mightier than the sword
jorahforist
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Re: Cambodian for Beginners

Post by jorahforist »

Not at all, just share with a stranger online. :D
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General Mackevili
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Re: Cambodian for Beginners

Post by General Mackevili »

jorahforist wrote:Not at all, just share with a stranger online. :D
LoL. And welcome to CEO!



Personally, I'd just wait until you get here. Learning Khmer is hard. I think you can only learn it in an interactive way. You might be practising for many hours and think you're making progress, but when you get here and say it, nobody will understand what you're trying to say.

You need a live teacher to walk you through it and let you know when you got it right or wrong.

It's one of those languages where when i first heard it, the "p" "b" and "pb" sounds all sounded the same, but now they're very distinct from one another.

If I were you, I'd get the "Move to Cambodia" book and check out their website, while you're still in Canada, and work on the language once you actually arrive.

Good luck, and feel free to ask any random questions you have about Cambodia here on CEO. We're a knowledgeable and friendly bunch! :beer1:
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jorahforist
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Re: Cambodian for Beginners

Post by jorahforist »

Thanks, I'm sure you are right! Before I went to Peru I tried to learn Spanish, and when I got there I realized I knew nothing. But a few months of immersion fixed that! And one day I just woke up and could roll my 'r's. Interesting!
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StroppyChops
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Re: Cambodian for Beginners

Post by StroppyChops »

Self-learning Khmer is a really bad idea (as stated above) because un-learning incorrect pronunciation is much harder than learning it correctly in the first place, and for many Khmer phonemes there are NO correct written translations - any good text will say 'this is a near approximation, learn from a native-speaker'. For example, poor texts interpret at least four distinctly different sounds as 'k', which may sound the same to a western ear but lead to word confusion to a Khmer ear if pronounced as 'k'.
Bodge: This ain't Kansas, and the neighbours ate Toto!
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Re: Cambodian for Beginners

Post by djones »

This might interest you ;)
http://dfiles.eu/files/9miz3sr3v
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Re: Cambodian for Beginners

Post by djones »

Whilst i agree with the comments above about sitting at home and repeating badly pronounced Khmer, when i finally get an arrival date i'll spend a couple of weeks trying to recognize some basic phrases and grammar. As the General stated Khmer is very different to English so for me just getting used to hearing it will be helpful. It also gives you an idea of how it differs from English "dog big" "he skinny" etc which is nice to know :)
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