The official language of Lao PDR is Lao, as spoken and written in the capital city. However, Lao is spoken with differing tonal accents as you move from north to south.
Vientianne Lao has five tones - low rising, high rising, flat (mid tone), high falling, and low falling. What this means is that a syllable or word is distinguised only by tone. For example, "kai" can mean near, far, past (go past) and chicken depending on the tone. Needless to say, this is a challenge for me.
Did you say the market is near or far? Or that you go past the chickens to get to the market? What did I tell them I want to do? I want to buy "far".
No wonder they look at me with uncomprehendable looks. I'm trying to also not call my friends pigs, as both words are the same, just with different tones.
The trick also is not to use my "normal" English-speaking intonations. Can I ask a question without raising the tone at the end of a sentence? In an attempt to provide cues to my ears and voice, I've been using "falling" and "rising" hand gestures. Sometimes this works and sometimes it just causes confusion for native speakers. Why does she move her hand in such strange ways and still not make the correct tone?
Well, perhaps after another 20 Lao classes, I'll have made some progress.
1 comment:
That is funny and made me realize that you could have a totally different conversation than you might be thinking. You might be trying to be serious but the whole time the others are seriously laughing on the inside....
your bro.
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