To learn the script...

Hanno · Post by **Hanno** » Mon Jun 27, 2016 10:40 am

or not?

I have decided to make a serious effort at learning Khmer and have a question for those that have mastered it: should I learn the squiggly bits first or just stick to trying to learn to speak and listen?

Thank you in advance for your sage advice my friends,

Hanno

Post by **Felgerkarb** » Mon Jun 27, 2016 10:51 am

Knowing the scripts (both the larger signage script and the normal small) helps you with the nuances of the vowels. Where in western languages messing up the vowels gives you an accent only but is understandable by most, messing up the vowels in Khmer makes your speech incomprehensible to most Khmers. In English, the consonant structure is the key to speaking, in Khmer, it is the vowels. Learning to spell out what you hear really helps in this.

Hanno · Post by **Hanno** » Mon Jun 27, 2016 11:12 am

Felgerkarb wrote:Knowing the scripts (both the larger signage script and the normal small) helps you with the nuances of the vowels. Where in western languages messing up the vowels gives you an accent only but is understandable by most, messing up the vowels in Khmer makes your speech incomprehensible to most Khmers. In English, the consonant structure is the key to speaking, in Khmer, it is the vowels. Learning to spell out what you hear really helps in this.

Thanks Sir Felger

I shall try and make sense of the squiggly bits then.

Khmerhamster · Post by **Khmerhamster** » Mon Jun 27, 2016 11:19 am

^ Yep, what he said.

I found it really difficult to learn new Khmer words before I grasped the script. I would write the new word down (in Roman script) to try to remember it. But then the next day I would review the word and pronounce it a completely different way.
If you have the script then you have the pronunciation. English has loads of exceptions in language (weird pronunciations and spellings) but Khmer largely follows a rule.
Also means you can self learn afterwards. You can learn new words using a dictionary app and be pretty confident you are pronouncing it reasonably correctly.

Learn the script, it isn't easy but it is well worth it.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Joon · Post by **Joon** » Mon Jun 27, 2016 11:43 am

^ Khmerhamster raised all the points I would have.

Plus, you'll also be able to read signboards and navigate more easily, all by yourself.

Barang_doa_slae · Post by **Barang_doa_slae** » Mon Jun 27, 2016 1:59 pm

Same as above, if I didn't learn the script I wouldn't be considered among the best speakers in SHV, as you need to read the word to be able to pronounce it correctly.
Nowadays when speaking on the phone people take me for a khmer from abroad.
But being a lazy mofo i never went further so it takes me ages to read anything. One of my khmer teacher told me once that I would have to wait to have children going to school to get into it. 15 years later, My oldest being 4 1/2 I guess the moment of truth is upon me.

Khmerhamster · Post by **Khmerhamster** » Mon Jun 27, 2016 2:21 pm

Joon wrote:^ Khmerhamster raised all the points I would have.

Plus, you'll also be able to read signboards and navigate more easily, all by yourself.

Stagger Lee · Post by **Stagger Lee** » Mon Jun 27, 2016 6:53 pm

Hanno wrote:
I have decided to make a serious effort at learning Khmer and have a question for those that have mastered it: should I learn the squiggly bits first or just stick to trying to learn to speak and listen?

Do both simultaneously. They are mutually beneficial in your language acquisition (for the reasons others have stated).

You may find you surprise yourself, and be pleased when you can decipher some of the squiggly bits - a bit of a sense of achievement.

..............

I don't know how Khmer teachers operate these days, but it seems they used to teach foreigners following exactly the same process - with the same learning materials and methodology (i.e. rote learning and repetitive copying of letters) - as that served up to kids in Cambodian schools.

(I know a lot of people who went down this route - as it was, seemingly, The Only method on offer - and they struggled and writhed and bleated...and then lost interest and quit.

This is not the way I learned.)

Jamie_Lambo · Post by **Jamie_Lambo** » Sat Jul 02, 2016 7:39 pm

i learnt it back to front, and it worked better for me, i wanted to learn about speaking and grammar first as i wasnt so fussed about reading,

it started off fine, and my tutor was super strict with my pronunciations and id often have to re-romanize my spelling until i got the correct spelling, some of which are actually impossible to romanize i found,
but as the classes got more advanced, i started to appreciate that being able to read is a big factor, but by this point i had learnt all the sounds i needed to know,
so once we had finished that course i then told them i wanted to start learning to read and write,
when i first tried to learn to read i found it difficult as i wasnt really sure/familiar with the sounds each symbol is representing,
but now i had my vocab all i was doing was matching the sounds that i already knew to the symbols they represent, and it only took me about 6 lessons before i could read and write, my teacher was impressed at how quickly i picked it up, its just a case of practice now and learning the correct spellings,
as one thing ive noticed is that there are quite a few words that you could spell a number of different ways, which makes reading far easier than writing

id say it would be best to learn both at the same time, when i come back to the kingdom in a few months im going to take up another tutor and go through a course again, 1. to dust off the cobwebs and 2. be fun to go through it again now i have a greater understanding of speaking and writing