Books about learning the Lao language

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Lao Language learning

English-Lao/Lao-English Dictionary (Revised Edition) by Russell. Marcus

This little book is the only widely available Lao-English and English-Lao dictionary. It is therefore unfortunate that it is also one of the least useful. Selection of words is frustratingly poor - both in terms of the limited number of words listed, and more importantly in the choice of words listed. Many of the most essential words (both Lao and English) have been omitted, while the dictionary contains a great many words of questionable significance. Trying to use the English-Lao section is particularly difficult because the choice of English source word used is generally inappropriate and it is rarely possible to find a Lao equivalent without elaborate second-guessing of the English entry to look under. Errors abound, especially in the Lao spellings.

I wish I could recommend a satisfactory alternative in a similar (pocket) class - but there is none. For the serious student of Lao there is only one English-Lao dictionary to consider (by Soukbandith, published in the USA) and one Lao-English dictionary (by Allen Kerr, published in Bangkok by White Lotus). Both of these are fairly comprehensive (and therefore in a different class from the Russell dictionary), but the Soukbandith is printed in small print and is not more than twice the physical size of the Russell - it is perfectly viable to carry around, and about 50 times more useful than the Russell. The Kerr, although the best Lao-English dictionary, has a very heavy Thai slant on the language and is also rather dated; it is a large tome not suitable for carrying about. There is also a half-passable Lao-Lao dictionary available from the government printing press in Vientiane, which can be useful for cross-checking despite its serious typological confusion and disordered pages.

Lao Basic Course by Warren G. Yates, Souksomboun Sayasithsena

I like this book very much. Too many language books published nowadays are full of fluff about the culture of the country, and other extraneous material that you could get elsewhere, and that frequently comes at the expense of space that could be used to elucidate difficult or obscure parts of the language (in the case of a couple of books I have, it comes at the expense of glossing some of the words in the text material). This is a very good, businesslike job that sticks to the basics, gives the learner a lot of useful, everyday vocabulary, and it is arranged in a format that is extremely easy to use. There are many good exercises, WITH answers. This book was originally used in State Department courses and it is one of the most practical and approachable texts I have for any language.

Two things missing, though, would make it better (and that is why I am only giving it four stars). First, tapes: Many sounds of Lao do not exist in English, and some are only approximately similar. Lao is, of course, a tonal language and so the need for good audio support should be obvious. Since Lao is similar to Thai (and I do have audio materials for Thai) I've been plugging Thai pronunciation into the Lao sounds. It's the best I've been able to do, but it's an unsound practice.

Also, the Lao writing is not covered. I have yet to meet a Laotian in my area (and there are some) who can recognize the romanization of Lao that this book uses, so it is hard to get help with pronunciation when I'm particularly unsure of it. Some of them would be able to help me if the all the sentences in the lessons were written in the alphabet that they knew. Also, why not just teach the writing as part of the course? I have excellent books on Cambodian and Thai that teach those alphabets (as an integrated part of the course) and yet they are not huge or difficult books.

Lao-English/English-Lao Dictionary and Phrasebook by James Higbie

Lao for Beginners: An Introduction to the Written and Spoken Language of Laos by Tatsuo Hohino, Russell Marcus, Tatsuo Hoshino, Tatsuo Hoshimo

This is an introductory book to the language of Lao. Lao for Beginners gives students a basic under-standing of the rudimentary aspects of the language needed for everyday communication. Its easy-to-use layout includes lessons in Laos script, romanized form, and English, introducing beginning students to essential vocabulary and grammatical structures, and allowing them to focus on both the written and spoken language. This guide is for anyone interested in learning the language of the people of Laos.

Lonely Planet Lao Phrasebook (Lonely Planet : Language Survival Kit) by Joe Cummings

This is an excellent book for those who wish to travel to Laos, or even those who wish to begin learning lao in small steps. I purchased this book in order to learn the language at a quicker and more simplified pace. It contains not only basic phrases that one might need to know in order to conduct ones self in the main parts of Laos but also be able to learn some of the country's culture as well. Even though studying an entirely new language can be laborious, Mr. Cummings has made it easy for anyone to be bilingual, even multi-lingual.

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