Cambodian for Beginners

by Richard Gilbert, Sovandy Hang

The Cambodian language made easy! Cambodian for Beginners 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.

292 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2004

About the author

Richard Gilbert has always had a passionate interest in growing house plants and there can be few writers with greater experience. He is particularly interested in begonias, bromeliads and saintpaulias (African violets) but has grown virtually every house plant available at some time. A long standing member of the Royal Horticultural Society, he now sits on their committee responsible for greenhouse and house plants. This committee recommends suitable awards for exhibits of plants in its field of interest, including those at the Chelsea Flower Show. He has also been chairman of the British Saintpaulia and Houseplant Society since 1965.
Richard Gilbert has travelled throughout the world to study plants in their native habitats and the knowledge he imparts comes totally from first-hand experience.

Reviews

[Brett C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paiboon Publishers did another excellent job making this workbook for learning Cambodian. This language has a rather complex alphabetical system I think is challenging. Each chapter touches on a few letters and vowels for gradual progressive learning of the language. There are vocabulary lists, converstion pieces, and some grammar notes within each chapter.

Cambodian differs from other languages in the region (Lao, Thai, Vietnamese) because there are no tones. The audio CDs sold by the publisher are clear and easy to hear. Due to complexity and the lack of tonal distinction, I definitely recommend the audio because repetitive listening can help tune your ear to the language.

Honestly I recommend anything from this publisher to include Vietnamese for Beginners and Lao for Beginners. These self-study courses are aimed for people with little to no exposure to the language. Thanks!

[Tilopa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teaches all four language skills- speaking, listening, reading and writing by yourself or in a classroom. You can improve yourself very fast with a native Cambodian tutor.

[Juliette Phan · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is amazing! atp it’s abt culture and other things !!

[Joel Hopkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is an excellent guide for studying the Khmer language.

[M.J. Hancock · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good starter course for learning modern Khmer with a balance of vocab, grammar, conversation & practice. Gilbert also introduces the writing system gradually throughout the course. WARNING: If you want to pronounce Khmer clearly, do not use his flawed transliteration system, it will haunt you in the future. Use the real IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) or even better, work really hard at learning to read and write the Khmer text.

[King Haddock · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book gives some phonetics help, which is good... and while I hear this is one of the best books for learning the Khmer language, it still is not extraordinary.