Lonely Planet Lao Phrasebook (Lonely Planet : Language Survival Kit) [Paperback]

Joe Cummings (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0864422768 | ISBN-13: 978-0864422767 | Publication Date: October 1995

Appreciate and participate in what's going on around you by speaking a few words of the local language. Or learn more for a longer stay. Either way, this is the book to help you communcate with Laos as you enjoy this wonderful country.

Features includes: Practical words and phrases Lao script to learn or point to Pronunciation guide Tips on the culture

Editorial Reviews

Review

National Geographic Traveler, September 2006
'Lonely Planet Phrasebooks. Portable, pocket-size, cheap, and available for almost any country you might want to visit...'
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From the Publisher

Who We Are
At Lonely Planet, we see our job as inspiring and enabling travelers to connect with the world for their own benefit and for the benefit of the world at large.

What We Do
* We offer travelers the world's richest travel advice, informed by the collective wisdom of over 350 Lonely Planet authors living in 37 countries and fluent in 70 languages.
* We are relentless in finding the special, the unique and the different for travellers wherever they are.
*We update our guidebooks by visiting thousands of places in person to get the details right and tell it as it is.
* We always offer the trusted filter for those who are curious, open minded and independent.
* We challenge our growing community of travelers; leading debate and discussion about travel and the world.
* We tell it like it is without fear or favor in service of the travelers; not clouded by any other motive.

What We Believe
We believe that travel leads to a deeper cultural understanding and compassion and therefore a better world. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 152 pages
• Publisher: Lonely Planet (October 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0864422768
• ISBN-13: 978-0864422767
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 3.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,857,105 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #76 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Reference > Foreign Languages > Instruction > Southeast Asian

More About the Author

Joe Cummings was born in New Orleans, and raised in California, France and Washington DC. In high school he developed a taste for rock guitar and subversive politics, playing in a succession of garage bands while publishing an underground newspaper. After he graduated from college, the Peace Corps granted his request to be posted to Thailand, where he served as an English lecturer at King Mongkut's Institute of Technology in Bang Mot, Thonburi. He later earned a master's degree in South Asian Civilization from the University of California at Berkeley, and was a scholar in residence at the East-West Center in Hawaii. His Thailand guide for Lonely Planet was the first guidebook to that country written in English since 1928. An instant success, it remains one of the bestselling guidebook ever published. He has authored over 35 other books, including coffeetable books, phrasebooks and travelogues. Joe has twice been honoured with the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Gold Award and is also a recipient of Mexico's Pluma de Plata (Silver Quill) for outstanding foreign journalism on Mexico. He never gave up the guitar, and continues to jam regularly at clubs in Thailand, where he makes his home.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's a very through pocket book that can guide you in Laos, February 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Lonely Planet Lao Phrasebook (Lonely Planet : Language Survival Kit) (Paperback)

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.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars transliteration makes lao even more complex than it is, December 4, 2003

By 

M. Meerkerk - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lonely Planet Lao Phrasebook (Lonely Planet Phrasebook: Lao) (Paperback)

The Lonely Planet phrasebooks are usually a great help travelling around the world. This one however turned out to be creating more problems than solving them. The transliteration is so weird that you actually have to learn two new languages before pronouncing anything closely right. I tried the book with several english speaking lao persons and lao speaking native english speakers while travelling around the country and all had problems with the transliteration. Nothing is like you would naturally pronounce it. For example who would say Khoj if you see Khawy?
Helpful is the lao bit so you can point, in the end its how I got around. A pity, there are much better transliterations around.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Helpful little book, May 14, 2007

By 

Kelly @ Mango - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lonely Planet Lao Phrasebook (Lonely Planet Phrasebook: Lao) (Paperback)

Besides my Lao Dictionary, this is *the* Lao book I carry around daily with me. I wish I could post a photo of my worn out dog-eared copy. I agree w/ the one reviewer who said the transliteration is a little wacky, however the Lao script is generally "spot on". (I'll mention transliteration with Lao is a less than exact science) It's one of the few if only books outside of the books attempting to teach Lao that handle things like Grammar.. very handy for the traveler. It also throws some Lao culture in for good measure to make sure you don't do something offensive to the local people. Great book, worth the money and besides... it's so small you can fit it in your pack/bag pretty easy.