ken svay wrote:Well worth learning khmer.
It is standard throughout the country and the khmers in thailand understand it as well.
Very easy grammar but as son san says the sounds are difficult.
Thais dont like farangs who can speak thai,you know too much.
Khmers really appreciate it.
I am working hard at my khmer at the moment,but at 83 the old memory bank is buggered.
Despite my industrial deafness my ear for the sounds is good.
Dating a young woman who speaks little english and being able to speak even 50% is great.
I know some khmer song lyrics and sayings and I always have a really good time with the girls in the bars -they actually like me and always open the door for my wheel chair.
Well stripe me young man - 83
May your wheel chair never squeak
In pattaya old fellas rarely reach 63 after 5 years of drunken whoring takes its toll. In fact 70 is rare usually only in part time visitors
must be something in the water but of course having a nice young friend adds years to your lifestyle
thais used to have an in built respect for old age but thats all gone down the tube last couple of years, in fact its quite the opposite and we dont want to go there.
I daresay i could pick it up with the help of that stuff from Shizzler
Mind you it took me 5 years with Isaan, but there are no books and you can only listen write a word down phonetically.thais dont know how to write down their own language
In fact the best progress i made was with some Charlie chaplin cds which inexplicably were dubbed in Lao
Then i moved on to thai folk songs as per karaoke lounges and got some of those cds and gradually xslated the subtitles and began to piece it all together.
looking back on it - a monumental waste of time and it took me down alleys i should never have gone.
Perhaps you can tell me from your experience
Do people have successful long term relationships with khmer girls
In los its unheard of. In fact the boards are crowded with sob stories of disastrous relationships to common to be of interest. Anyone strutting about with a girl on his arm is a tourist or a soon to be poor fool.
Typically it will start going wrong after 6 months when the guy is in a false sense of security. The girl has sussed out what the flang worth and where he keeps his dosh. Then the scheming startss to get his money and if that doesnt work then she will find ways to squander it so no other bitch can get here hands on it. One way or another the flang ends up stuffed.
Cheers