Customer Reviews

Cambodian for Beginners - Second Edition

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

This method does not focus on individual words, which all of us need to learn languages. Most of its vocabulary is written at the expression or short sentence level. This is what cheaper methods do. Then the reader does not know what means what. Perhaps younger learners can manage, but I can't. (This is the 20th language I am studying, so I have a sense of how to do this.) So, for most beginners, this will not work. On the other hand, it's a good method to use AFTER you have been through another.
What to start with? Richard Smythe (1994 or so) Cambodian book is the closest. Now, he writes for English-speaking readers, so he transcriptes Khmer in a pretty weird way. But Khmer pronunciation is hard to set down, and if you read 3 books you get 3 totally different renditions. Another Khmer method I bought locally was by Funai publisher. Limited amount of material but at the word level.

The other method to get is the Foreign Service Institute open source 1966 course. It's good and valid. The 1972 one is also now available for download with mp3 files.
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Mp3 files are too fast for decent learning. You need a slow-down and repeat mp3 player. Something like the Trnascend 860, some Irivers do this also. Old tape-based language repeaters did a great job, but the same equipment in mp3 files is not marketed.
Incidentally, the Khmer script is out of this world in complexity. Only those who know Indian or other east Asian scripts should dare try!

I speak English as a first language and minored in Spanish in college--my point is that the Khmer language is a completely and utterly new language system to me. About a week into this system (I have the book and CDs--you need them both), and I'm frustrated. There is very little in the book that tells you about the language itself and how it works. This is important information for the complete beginner. Instead, you just start by practicing sounds and repeating words. The first CD track is over 2 minutes long and there's no easy way to replay individual items. With the large number of sounds they throw at you, it's easy to get overwhelmed. My Cambodian friend told me to start with the consonants so I skipped ahead to Lesson 1. I do like that the books tells you very specifically how to write the consonants. My Cambodian friend is impressed with my ability to correctly write the 10 consonants I've learned so far.

One other issue I have is with the transliteration system this book uses. It's like you have to learn two languages. First, you have to memorize new irrelevant symbols in order to read from the pages w/o the CD. These symbols represent sounds we don't have in English. For example, you have to learn that two upside-down, backwards letter c's stand for the "AU" sound (as in the word "August"). This is overly complicated and very frustrating.

Overall, this is probably the best of the traditional memorize-and-repeat language learning systems. That's why I gave it three stars instead of two.
Khmer doesn't exist in Rosetta Stone, but there is a place on their webpage to request it. I suggest you do so.

As a Thai of Laotian and Cambodian ancestry, I am interested in Cambodian language and Khmer art. I bought this book and CDs after I bought "Lao for beginners" from Paiboon publishing and found it is very useful book. I am familiar with Cambodian language before I bought the book. Cambodian is not an easy language. Pronunciation is difficult if you try to read from textbook only. You need to buy CDs and listen. Cambodian is not a tonal language like Thai and Lao. I agree with other reviewers about difficulty of transliteration system used to show pronunciation in this book. Fortunately, I speak Thai as my native language. Thai script is related to the Cambodian script. It can help if you could read Thai alphabet and try to match with Cambodian counterpart. It works for me. It helps me get very accurate pronunciation. However, I still depend on the CDs. So you need to listen many times and repeat it. Some reviewers here worry about regional dialect. In my opinion, it depends on which dialect of Cambodia you want to learn. For example, you plan to stay in Phnom Penh or nearby, learn standard Cambodian. If you are not quite sure how to pronounce "Phnom Penh" on This CD, ask a native or watch Cambodian news on TV to get it clear. Sometimes it is shortened to "m'Penh". For myself, I've learned Northern Cambodian for communication with Cambodian natives in Thailand. I also learn standard Cambodian to watch Cambodian news on TV and travel in Cambodia.

A few recommendations to the author- wait a bit so people can answer who are listening rather than wait after the answer is already given- plus be a little more consistent - they say the english/ khmer word for spoon, fork and then wait interminably to say the same for knife- a bit frustating- as though you cannot possibly know what is coming-

Plus they denote everything in english terms when you could use basic khmer numbering after a few lessons- why say Lesson7A at the end of the book when everyone has already learned their numbers, etc.? Better to just think in Khmer more at this point.

The other is- I think it's best to learn the Khmer alphabet in the traditional form- the way the kids sing it at school but he dissects it into a different approach. Which is like learning the abc's in a different order-

Also- the vowells could use a little more emphasis on pronunciation and repetition.

BUT- if you need to polish up on vocabulary and pronunciation and begin basic writing skills- this is the best course available that I've seen- especially for enunciating clearly. Of courtse, CD's are a must have.

This book is a diappointment, the spelling of Cambodian words is, in many cases, not accurate when measured against the common pronunciation in the largest city, the capital Phnom Penh. I use this as the comparison point to avoid regional dialect issues. I have reviewed with several Khmer friends and they agree. I would not purchase again.