A Lesson in Language (7 February 2009)

I may have made a critical discovery and invented the new Esperanto of South East Asia. Here in the far North, English is less widely spoken and I was having difficulty being clearly understood. So I fell back on my skills from Vietnam and can tell you it works every time. It’s a fairly simple exercise but has made a real difference to my communication. All it takes is to drop off the end of each word and add what sounds like a local dialect and drop the odd “t”. Here are some very useful phrases (say them out loud, they make more sense that way!):
Haa sprees = Hot Springs
Do u ha foo = Do you have food
Kar e Hee try villa = Karen Hill tribe village
Café lahay = Café Latte
Liver goo = good river
Ba ha ha pakay = Banana pancake
Too too tahi = tuk tuk taxi
Pa Tye = Pad Thai
Elepha Ka = Elephant Camp
And the most well used of all - Wa gla why why plee = One glass of white wine please