Lao Lessons

So in preparation for my big move to Laos I have been trying to learn a few key Lao phrases. But let's be real so far it has been one big epic FAIL! As someone who speaks Spanish pretty well, knows enough French to get by, and even a little basic Chinese I consider myself pretty good at picking up languages, but Lao.. well I'm not sure if I will ever get the hang of this. You would think it would be similar to Chinese but let me tell you it. is. not. The two languages are alike in the fact that they are both tonal and written in letters that look nothing like the English language; however, the similarities end there.

In an attempt to make some sense of this language I downloaded a few apps to my phone as well as flipped through a Laos language book but I still just can't seem to get the hang of it. I listen to the robotic voice on my app pronounce the letters kor, khor, and khor (& no that is not a typo khor and khor are two different letters and apparently sound completely different) over and over again. And though I can hear a slight difference between the three, it's not enough that I can successfully repeat it back.

Though I haven't quite been able to master Lao just yet, I have not given up. My next idea is to search for a Lao/English dictionary and try learning actual words instead of the alphabet. I don't really know if its a good idea or not but I think being able to say hello to a local when I get to Laos makes more sense then reciting the alphabet to them.

And in case you would like to learn the Laos alphabet yourself here is a lovely chart via google!