Khmer words worth learning
Fifteen phrases, phonetically. Nothing changes a trip here faster than the first three.
4 min read
Khmer has no tones, which makes it far kinder to a beginner than Thai or Vietnamese. Almost nobody expects a visitor to try, which is exactly why trying lands so well. The phrases below are written the way they sound in English; a shopkeeper will understand them long before a linguist would approve of them.
The three that matter most
Hello is suo-sdei. Thank you is aw-kun — and with a sampeah, aw-kun ch’ran, thank you very much. Sorry, or excuse me, is som-toh. Learn these three and you will use them thirty times a day.
Politeness particles matter: men end a sentence with baat, women with jaa. They also mean "yes". Saying aw-kun baat or aw-kun jaa is noticeably warmer than aw-kun alone.
Getting by
How much is this — t’lai pon-maan. Too expensive — t’lai pek. No thank you — ot te, aw-kun. I do not understand — k’nyom min yol te. Where is — noev ai na. Delicious — chnganh. Water — tuk. The bill — kit luy.
Numbers
One to five: muy, pii, bei, buon, pram. Then it gets elegant — six is pram-muy, five-one; seven pram-pil; eight pram-bei; nine pram-buon. Ten is dop, one hundred is roy, one thousand is poan. Riel prices are counted in thousands, so poan is the one you will hear most.
Two things not to say
Do not use the Thai greeting sawasdee — it is a different country and a different language, and it lands badly. And avoid calling someone barang unless you are using it about yourself: it means foreigner, comes from "French", and is friendly from a local and odd from a visitor.
Common questions
Is English widely spoken?
In hotels, restaurants and anywhere touristic, yes, and often very well. In the countryside and among older people, much less.
Is French still useful?
Occasionally with the oldest generation and in some medical and legal vocabulary, but English has long been the second language of business and tourism.
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Culture and etiquette
The handful of gestures that mark you as a considerate guest — and the two or three mistakes visitors make without noticing.
What to eat and drink
Khmer food is the quietest great cuisine in South-East Asia. Ten dishes, where to find them, and how to eat street food safely.
Festivals and public holidays
Three festivals shut the country down and are worth planning around — one of them is the biggest water fight on earth.
