The purpose of this guide is twofold. First, it’s for learning sentence level pronunciation; a follow up to the basic pronunciation taught here. Secondly, it’s a primer for conversation. Allow me to explain a bit more.
I’m a native English speaker who speaks 13 foreign languages at an intermediate or better level, 6 of which are Asian, including Lao. I’m not a linguist, but I’ve done lots of research on language learning and tried many different methods. Those are facts; everything that follows is merely my opinion. If you're in a hurry to start conversing, but you want to do it safely:
Before starting a regular conversation component of a language learning plan, you should learn 30 to 50 key sentences really well.
The sentences for Lao are below. Before you get to them though, I’d like to suggest how they fit into your learning plan:
1. Learn the writing system along with basic pronunciation.
2. (after learning the writing system and pronunciation)
Learn 30 to 50 key sentences really well
Start a reading component
Start a listening component
Start a writing component
Start a grammar learning component
Start a vocabulary review component
3. (after learning the sentences really well)
Start a conversation component
Continue the other components
In 2., it’s good to do some writing to reinforce other skills. But you can spend less time at it than you spend doing the other components, or drop it completely by the time you get to 3., depending on how important it is to you. In 3., the next component to be finished will be grammar, and eventually you’ll be able to stop reviewing vocabulary too. That will leave you with conversation, reading and listening, which are the skills most language learners are after. I won’t get into more detail here - this is a very brief description of a language learning plan, presented merely to show you where the sentences fit in.
After learning the sentences, how do you start conversations?
Take a daily conversation class. I recommend using online platforms like italki. The classes should be 100% Lao conversation, with no fixed topics. When the teacher says something you don’t understand, ask them to write it down. When you want to say something but don’t know how, ask the teacher how to say it and write it down.
After the lesson, curate a list of all unknown words and sentences, and put them in an SRS. I recommend Anki. The cards should be both Lao-English and English-Lao and include audio. The next day, do all your reps before class. When you start your reps, write the Lao answers out in a notebook. After writing at least five complete lines, you can put the notebook away and finish the rest of the reps without writing. Doing it this way takes care of your vocabulary and writing components at the same time.
If you do this every day, you should improve very quickly. The first 5 to 10 lessons should only be 30 minutes, because you are going to have a lot of things to write down, and you don’t want to get overwhelmed. When the number of new items becomes easy to handle, start taking 60 min lessons.
How to memorize the sentences:
There are many ways to memorize a list of sentences, but this is the way I’d do it:
a) Listen to the audio of the first sentence and repeat. Do it enough times to feel you are pronouncing it correctly, then move onto the next one. Do the same thing, then move onto the next one, etc.
b) Once you’ve done a group of three or four sentences, stop and hide the Lao. To hide items, you can either click them individually, or scroll to the top and use the "hide all" buttons. Glance at the English of the first sentence, and try to produce the Lao. Say it out loud with correct pronunciation. Play the audio to check. Do this for each of the sentences in the group. If any are incorrect, do all of them again, until you are able to produce the whole group correctly. Then do the next group of three or four. Do a total of 10 sentences the first day.
c) The next day review sentences 1-10 by hiding the Lao, glancing at the English, and making sure you can produce the sentences with the correct pronunciation. Then do steps a) and b) for sentences 11-20.
d) Repeat step c) for the next 10, for three more days or until you have all 50 sentences memorized. Remember to review all previous sentences every day. After that, come back every day and review all 50. The day that you can quickly, easily and correctly produce all sentences is the day that you are ready to start daily conversations.
ສະບາຍດີ. ຂ້ອຍຊື່ ລີໂອ.
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Hi, my name is Leo.
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ເຈົ້າຊື່ຫຍັງ?
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What's your name?
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ເປັນແນວໃດ?
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How's it going?
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ສະບາຍດີບໍ່?
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How are you?
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ຂ້ອຍສະບາຍດີ. ແລ້ວເຈົ້າເດ?
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I'm fine. And you?
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ຂອບໃຈເດີ້!
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Thank you (na).
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ຂໍໂທດ.
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Sorry.
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ເວົ້າອີກເທື່ອໜຶ່ງໄດ້ບໍ່?
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Can you repeat that?
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ກິນເຂົ້າແລ້ວບໍ່?
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Have you eaten yet?
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ແນ່ນອນ!
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Of course!
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ຊ່ວຍຂຽນໃຫ້ແນ່.
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Please write that for me.
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ຂ້ອຍມີຄໍາຖາມ.
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I have a question.
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ແປບໜຶ່ງເດີ.
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Just a moment (na).
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ແລະ ອື່ນໆ.
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Etcetera.
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ເວົ້າຊ້າໆແນ່.
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Speak slower please.
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Dog ພາສາລາວແປວ່າແນວໃດ?
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What does "dog" translate to in Lao?
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ໝາຍຄວາມວ່າແນວໃດ?
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What does that mean?
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ບໍ່ເປັນຫຍັງ.
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Never mind/No problem.
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ຂ້ອຍກໍາລັງຮຽນພາສາລາວ.
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I'm learning Lao.
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ຂ້ອຍຍັງເວົ້າລາວບໍ່ເກັ່ງ.
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I don't speak Lao well yet.
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ເຈົ້າຮຽນພາສາອັງກິດຢູ່ໃສ?
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Where did you learn English?
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ຂ້ອຍຮຽນພາສາລາວອອນລາຍ.
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I learn Lao online.
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ຂ້ອຍຮຽນພາສາລາວຢູ່ປະເທດໄທ.
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I learned Lao in Thailand.
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ຂ້ອຍມັກຮຽນພາສາລາວ.
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I like learning Lao.
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ຂ້ອຍຢາກຮຽນພາສາລາວ.
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I want to learn Lao.
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ເຈົ້າມາຈາກໃສ?
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Where are you from?
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ຂ້ອຍມາຈາກເມກາ.
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I come from America.
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ເຈົ້າເຄີຍໄປເມກາບໍ?
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Have you ever been to America?
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ຂ້ອຍເຄີຍໄປລາວຫຼາຍເທື່ອແລ້ວ.
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I have been to Lao many times already.
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ຂ້ອຍຢາກໄປທ່ຽວລາວ.
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I want to travel in Lao.
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ເຈົ້າອາໄສຢູ່ໃສ?
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Where do you live?
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ຂ້ອຍອາໄສຢູ່ແຖວຊີແອັດເທິນ.
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I live near Seattle.
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ຂ້ອຍມັກອາຫານລາວ.
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I like Lao food.
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ຂ້ອຍຢາກກິນອາຫານລາວແທ້ໆ.
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I want to eat real Lao food.
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ຂ້ອຍເຄີຍກິນອາຫານລາວຫລາຍເທື່ອແລ້ວ.
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I've eaten Lao food many times already.
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ແລ້ວພົບກັນໃໝ່.
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Until we meet again!
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ຊ່ວຍໄດ້ຫຼາຍເລີຍ.
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That was helpful.
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ເລີກຮຽນແລ້ວແມ່ນບໍ?
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The class is over, right?
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ບົດຮຽນນີ້ມ່ວນດີ.
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The lesson was fun.
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ງານອະດິເຣກຂອງຂ້ອຍແມ່ນການຮຽນພາສາ ແລະ ການທ່ອງທ່ຽວ
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My hobbies are language learning and travel.
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ຂ້ອຍເວົ້າໄດ້ສາມພາສາ.
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I speak three languages.
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ຕອນເຮັດວຽກ ຂ້ອຍກໍຮຽນພາສານຳ.
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When I was working I studied languages too.
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ຂ້ອຍກໍາລັງນອນຢູ່.
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I was sleeping.
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ເຈົ້າມາຈາກແຂວງໃດ?
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Which province are you from?
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ເຈົ້າມີລູກບໍ່?
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Do you have kids?
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ເຈົ້າມີລູກຈັກຄົນ?
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How many kids do you have?
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ເຈົ້າເຮັດວຽກຢູ່ນີ້ດົນທໍ່ໃດແລ້ວ?
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How long have you worked here?
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ເຈົ້າຢາກເອົານໍ້າຫຍັງບໍ່?
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Do you want a drink?
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ເຈົ້າລອຍນ້ຳເປັນບໍ່?
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Can you swim?
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ເຈົ້າມັກຝຣັ່ງບໍ່?
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Do you like Westerners?
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When you can quickly, easily and correctly produce all sentences, as mentioned above, you can start a regular conversation component. Per the plan, you are also are ready to move onto daily reading practice, and you should do the following to promote good pronunciation. Try to put in at least 30 min/day. When you read, read out loud, and when in doubt, check your pronunciation with TTS or audio that corresponds with your transcript. For the next few weeks try to develop a knack for self-checking pronunciation. Be vigilant, it will be worth it in the long run. Best of luck!