Learn Lao

The most widely used and also the official language of Laos is Lao. The usage of Lao within and without the country surpasses the other languages of Laos. The best way to learn Lao is to interact with a native of the country. It is a tonal language and is mostly made up of monosyllables.

Knowledge of South Indian language will make it easier to learn Lao as the Lao script owes its origin to Pali, a South Indian script. But Lao as a spoken language along with the vocabulary existed from before the emergence of the written form of Lao.

While learning Lao it is evident that Buddhism had brought the script of Lao to Laos. The modern script of Lao stems from the writings of the Buddhist monks. Lao falls under the Sino-Tibetan language family.

Learning of Lao can prove to be quite easy. For people who can speak the language it is easier. Certain characteristics of Lao make Lao learning easy. Along with the word Lao also expresses the sound and the tone in which it is spoken. The language is phonetic and so the spellings match the pronunciations. Unlike western languages it does not include inflections but has separate words. That way there is no need to remember grammar rules or conjugations. Pasa Lao is a little difficult to learn because of its rules, consonants, vowels and diphthongs.

There are a number of books on Lao available for those who want to learn Lao. "Lao For Beginners" by Hoshino and Marcus is a very popular book with wide availability and is most convenient for the novice. Dictionaries can also be used for learning Lao. Some basic words and phrases are:

How are you? Bin Yang dai Good-bye Lahkon Thank You Kop jai I am hungry yak deum nam