French people

[brownexile]

I met a guy last night at Victory Hill who spoke fluent French and Khmer. The hookers loved him. It reminded me of the French family in Apocalypse Now. Is there still a sizable population of French people in Indochina?

[Miguelito]

Have you been to any restaurants in Phnom Penh?

[Khmerhamster]

Your posts are so random.
Lots of educated Khmer folk speak French, and there is a decent crossover between the countries.
Expats speaking several languages isn't that uncommon. How do you know he was fluent?
Many people listen to me speaking & think I am fluent - I know I am far from it.


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[PenhMan]

Where do you think the colonialists, who gave Indochine its name, came from? Would it be a stretch to think there's a sizeable number of French-speakers in Cambodia?

[Mèo Đen]

Where do you think the colonialists, who gave Indochine its name, came from? Would it be a stretch to think there's a sizeable number of French-speakers in Cambodia?

That's a hard one, I'll check the map

[ricecakes]

Is there still a sizable population of French people in Indochina?

There is still a sizable population of french muppets in SOUTH EAST ASIA who still refer to it as Indochina....yes.

[Lucky Lucan]

Where do you think the colonialists, who gave Indochine its name, came from?

The name was used for the present-day areas of Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and sometimes peninsular Malaysia. It is now usually called Mainland South-East Asia or the Indochinese Peninsula.

Would it be a stretch to think there's a sizeable number of French-speakers in Cambodia?

It would, considering their colonial period ended more than 6 decades ago. The number of French actually increased after independence, but then declined hugely after 1970. There are a lot of French living here now, but outside of certain professions and the very elderly it is not common to find locals who speak it.

[Miguelito]

There are a lot of French living here now, but outside of certain professions and the very elderly it is not common to find locals who speak it.

I agree. The ministers will speak it, for example, and there a lot of French-Khmers that are returning here from France and Switzerland. I was pleasantly surprised to see a young Khmer waitress at the Deli Cafe the other night who spoke excellent French. I've also stayed at Les Manguiers, which is owned by a French guy and his Khmer family, and they all speak fluent French, Khmer, and English, with the young daughter hardly having an accent in any language -- was pretty impressive. I could see a growing interest among the youth to learn French as a third language, with the number of French expats and tourists around.

[Mèo Đen]

There are a lot of French living here now, but outside of certain professions and the very elderly it is not common to find locals who speak it.

I agree. The ministers will speak it, for example, and there a lot of French-Khmers that are returning here from France and Switzerland. I was pleasantly surprised to see a young Khmer waitress at the Deli Cafe the other night who spoke excellent French. I've also stayed at Les Manguiers, which is owned by a French guy and his Khmer family, and they all speak fluent French, Khmer, and English, with the young daughter hardly having an accent in any language -- was pretty impressive. I could see a growing interest among the youth to learn French as a third language, with the number of French expats and tourists around.

The Open Wine Restaurant on street 19 used to provide French lessons for their staff, I don't know if they still do.

[Miguelito]

My Khmer tutor said all of her young neighbors are taking French in school as well as English - not sure how prevalent that is.

[scobienz]

The Open Wine Restaurant on street 19 used to provide French lessons for their staff, I don't know if they still do.

No idea, but all the Khmer staff speak fluent French. To the OP; seriously mate, have you no sense of the history of the country and region. It's a former French colony. The colonial architecture is all French, and the French comprise the largest western expat community.

I'd hazard a guess and say that 80% of all locals who fled before 1975 went to France.

Hell, even Khmer440 has been invaded by the French - we have a French Khmer mod.

[Hanno]

My Khmer tutor said all of her young neighbors are taking French in school as well as English - not sure how prevalent that is.

Not very, at least here in Temple Town. English and more and more Chinese.

Bit of a joke that Cambodia is part of the "La Francophonie" but then so is Vietnam were almost nobody speaks Frog anymore.

[LexusSchmexus]

The French classes at Alliance are quite cheap, so lots of locals take French there. I think classes are only $100 for 3 months, five days per week of study. That's quite cheap when you think about it. Many foreigners studying there as well, ad you wouldn't be able to get those rates in any Western county. Of course, it's sponsored by the French government in an attempt to broaden the number of French speakers. For the most part it works as I've met numerous Khmer, both young and old who can speak good French. Often I find they have a softer accent than in English (though Khmers tend to have a light accent in English as well).

[batshitcrazyweirdo]

Who are you people?????? I speak French fluently, granted with a unique southeastern accent, bbbbbbbbbbut.

Isn't Joon French. Say something, dear, as I may have to say something and this is not sound off, nor my cage.

Please say something! French. Fries. Figaro. Filipino. Flemish. I shall never utter a word of French. Beautiful language to speak though, really. Sexy n shit.