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[tomgillespie]

Hey guys,

My girlfriend and I will be touring southeast asia for 3 months from May-Aug this year... we're flying into singapore, then heading north through malaysia and visiting thailand, cambodia, laos and vietnam.

How will we do without any knowledge of local languages? In addition to english we have some very basic french and spanish but thats about it. Is it worth getting phrase books or anything? not sure how long we'll be spending in each country either yet so its hard to predict which languages we would need more than others!

thanks in advance!

[rbisset]

You'll be fine. All these countries are used to tourists and English is spoken almost everywhere. That said it is always appreciated if you take the effort to learn a few phrases in each language.

[thellie]

definitely learn the basics for each country. the effort to do so goes a long way with the locals. and smile lots - then problems tend to dissolve quickly.

[tomgillespie]

cool thanks for the replies... I always try to learn as much as possible when I'm in another country (hate it when people go abroad and point blank refuse to speak in anything but english... so rude!) but just wanted to double check that its not impossible to get around without good language skills!

thanks!

[Paul]

Yeah very possible. If you were deaf, dumb and mute, it'd still be possible to get around southeast asia. People are friendly. Buying and carrying around language guides??? Hmmm - maybe, but maybe not. Can you just copy some pages out of books at the local library - or walk around with a notebook and write your own as you ask people and learn? Saves weight and space if you are short on those.

You should definitely learn some local languages. Thai and Laos are related, so you'll find they both help each other.

Your Spanish may come in handy in the Philippines.???
Your French maybe in Laos or even in Vietnam or Cambodia. But I must admit - these people tended to hate the French as colonial masters and so many don't want to use those languages. Now a days in Laos - the Laos government and Laotians are going out of their way to learn French to get the most out of the French tourists - but seems a shame that what the French couldn't achieve through repressive colonialism, they are now achieving with tourist dollars. I reckon try using the local languages - nicer.

[melons]

Dont worry, you will do fine. Everyone in s'pore speaks english, worry more about the length of your hair, and shave if you have a full beard (Does not apply to your girlfriend Malaysia is a bit different, depending on where you are traveling to.KL,Penang,JB are all very touristy, so no prob there. The Malay's living in smaller villages do not always speak english but they will do their utmost to understand and make themselves understood. A hand book is good and easy to get your head round as they use the letter pronounciation.
selamat pagi-good morning
selamat tengahari-good afternoon
selamat malam-good night
trema kaseh-thank you
sama sama-youre welcome
satu-1. dua-2. tiga-3. empat-4. lima-5. enam-6. tugu-7.lapan-8. sembilan-9. sapulu-10. sebelass-11. duabelass-12. Use same single number up to enambelass-19, then it becomes duapolo-20. duapolo satu-21 doapolodua-22....
tigapolo-30 empatpolo-40
The best thing is..booze is the same by name! And if in KL, the guiness is good. There is a huge factory on your way in from the airport..May account for the large Irish comunity there
If you are traveling over to Sarawak, you may well consider another hand book, as malay spoken there is a different dilect (Indionesian influanced) Bahasa malay & Kebansahan malay. If you are a H.H.H. They do a run on the last Friday of every month in Kuching. Have fun

[borneokid]

Dont worry, you will do fine. Everyone in s'pore speaks english, worry more about the length of your hair, and shave if you have a full beard (Does not apply to your girlfriend Malaysia is a bit different, depending on where you are traveling to.KL,Penang,JB are all very touristy, so no prob there. The Malay's living in smaller villages do not always speak english but they will do their utmost to understand and make themselves understood. A hand book is good and easy to get your head round as they use the letter pronounciation.
selamat pagi-good morning
selamat tengahari-good afternoon
selamat malam-good night
trema kaseh-thank you
sama sama-youre welcome
satu-1. dua-2. tiga-3. empat-4. lima-5. enam-6. tugu-7.lapan-8. sembilan-9. sapulu-10. sebelass-11. duabelass-12. Use same single number up to enambelass-19, then it becomes duapolo-20. duapolo satu-21 doapolodua-22....
tigapolo-30 empatpolo-40
The best thing is..booze is the same by name! And if in KL, the guiness is good. There is a huge factory on your way in from the airport..May account for the large Irish comunity there
If you are traveling over to Sarawak, you may well consider another hand book, as malay spoken there is a different dilect (Indionesian influanced) Bahasa malay & Kebansahan malay. If you are a H.H.H. They do a run on the last Friday of every month in Kuching. Have fun

hi there! Most Sarawakians speak English. the worst is broken english. so should be no problem.

cheers!

BestKuchingHotels.com

[luke_1989]

The only places i had a few difficulties with getting what i was saying across was in Vietnam and a tiny bit in cambodia! But its easy to get by in south east Asia and always good to learn a few thrases the locals like it