Cambodian for Beginners - Second Edition [Paperback]

Richard Gilbert (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 188752181X | ISBN-13: 978-1887521819 | Publication Date: January 18, 2008 | Edition: 2

This is the second edition of Cambodian for Beginners. It is the Cambodian language program that has been made easy for non-Cambodian speakers. It is designed for either self-study or classroom use. It teaches all four language skills - speaking, listening (when used in conjunction with the audio), reading and writing; and offers clear, easy, step-by-step instruction building on what has been previously learned. Lots of exercises and useful phrases. Very user-friendly and fun to use. There is an audio version that follows the book. Three CDs are available separately.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Richard Gilbert has extensive experience with the Cambodian language and culture. He originally learned the Cambodian language as a missionary and has worked in Cambodia for several organizations. Currently, he resides in Northern California and works as a Cambodian language translator and interpreter.

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Paiboon Publishing; 2 edition (January 18, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 188752181X
• ISBN-13: 978-1887521819
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #409,511 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #87 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Instruction > Southeast Asian

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for at home learning, April 7, 2009

By 

Bethany S. Mandel (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cambodian for Beginners - Second Edition (Paperback)

I bought the book and the matching CDs to try and learn as much Khmer before I move to Cambodia in July. It's been really easy to follow along and work independently. I imagine this book would be really helpful in a classroom also. My only complaint about the CDs would be that they don't record the exercises in the beginning when you're learning the sounds of the letters and vowels, but given that there's already 3 CDs, I can see there being a bit of a space constraint, and it doesn't take that much away from the experience. I've tried learning a few languages (Hebrew, Russian & Khmer) on my own, and tried another way of learning Khmer (a different disc set), but this is probably the best I've encountered on both the Khmer level and in general as far as independent language learning.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good beginners reference guide (with the CDs), December 3, 2009

By 

Owen Harris (Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cambodian for Beginners - Second Edition (Paperback)

My book is well read and completely colour tagged and coded (perhaps a side index or page edge colour coding would be beneficial?. This is a very good book for beginners, assuming you also get the CDs. As with many other authors, Gilbert has struggled to find an "intuitive" transliteration method. I would rate it as good rather than great. Which is why you need the CDs or some lessons from a native speaker. The CDs are average in terms of usability (can't really use them in the car or copied to one's mp3 player - you need the book too).
Try to wean yourself off the transliteration as early as possible as it takes as long to learn Gilbert's system as it does to just learn the script itself. The lists are particularly helpful (eg numbers p24 and p212, colours on p86 and Appendix II are all very useful. This book lacked an explanation on why the alphabet is structured the way it is (which is very important when learning where to put your tongue to make the sounds - and to differentiate between the tricky sounds for English speakers (differentiating between doh and dto for example, or trying to say ngo at the start of a word). In conjunction with Chapter 1 of Frank Smith's excellent book "Muk Khmae: Khmer Beginning Textbook" I was able to overcome this minor issue. Frank's book is more comprehensive (and it comes with a DVD) but its a textbook rather than a handy reference you can throw in your backback whilst wandering the food markets of Battambang. So the books provide different value points. I recommend you buy both.
Our family has 3 copies of this book and a copy of the CDs and consider them to be very good value for money compared to similar systems on the market.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Make sure you get the CDs, August 10, 2009

By 

Angela (Kansas, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cambodian for Beginners - Second Edition (Paperback)

I'm not sure how this book compares to others because it's the only one I've used. One major difficulty is the transliteration system used to show pronunciation. You MUST have the CDs or you will NOT be able to pronounce the words correctly. I like the fact that it offers an introduction to the Cambodian script along with the introduction to spoken Cambodian.