Survival Burmese Phrasebook & Dictionary: How to communicate without fuss or fear INSTANTLY! (Manga Illustrations)

By Kenneth Wong

This practical Burmese phrasebook and dictionary puts all the most important Burmese words and phrases in the palm of your hand.

It contains all the necessary words and phrases for speaking Burmese in any setting. Perfect for students, tourists, or business people learning Burmese or traveling to Myanmar, it also contains a beginner guide to the Burmese language, allowing for a more in-depth understanding than a typical Burmese phrasebook or Burmese dictionary. The phrasebook is organized by situations where one might need to speak Burmese such as: at the hotel, in a taxi, using numbers, etc.

Key features of Survival Burmese include:

• Hundreds of useful Burmese words and expressions
• A pronunciation guide for Burmese letters and words
• A guide to Burmese grammar
• A section on specific titles and place names
• A Burmese dictionary for quick reference
• Manga illustrations to provide fun visual cues

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
• Release date: Mar 27, 2018
• ISBN: 9781462919536

Book preview

SURVIVAL BURMESE

PHRASEBOOK & DICTIONARY

How to communicate without fuss or fear INSTANTLY!

by KENNETH WONG

Contents

Introduction

How to Use this Book

English in Burma

A Crash Course in Burmese Culture

The Ongoing Debate: Burma or Myanmar?

On Burmese Pronunciation

A Brief Guide to Burmese Grammar

PART 1

Everyday Phrases

Useful Phrases

Expressing Yourself

Coming and Going

Popular Cities and Destinations

Eating and Drinking

PART 2

Common Scenarios

Polite Forms of Address

Meeting People

Getting a Taxi

Checking into a Hotel

Asking for Something

Asking for Directions

Numbers and Counting

Going Shopping

Eating Out

Drinking Tea

Telling Time

Months, Years, Seasons and Festivals

Talking About Family

Talking About the Weather

Talking About Money

Talking About Animals

Talking About Art

Tech Talk

Going to the Train Station

Going to the Airport

At the Bank

Going to the Cinema

Nightlife

Farewells

PART 3

Special Situations

Asking For Help

Going to the Hospital

At the Post Office

Visiting Temples and Monasteries

Speaking to Buddhist Nuns and Monks

Additional Vocabulary

PART 4

English-Burmese Dictionary

INTRODUCTION

How to Use this Book

When I travel overseas, I always make an effort to learn a few phrases, and sentences to communicate with the locals. Being able to say "Ohaiyo (Good morning)! to a ramen shop owner in Osaka or Une café por favor (One coffee, please!)" to a waiter in Barcelona doesn’t seem like much, and they certainly weren’t enough for in-depth conversations about culture, politics, or social issues. Yet, I noticed even those humble, flawed attempts invoked a kind of warmth in the locals. I believe they interpreted these efforts as genuine overtures, as my homage to the country and to them.

In that sense, this book is for travelers like me. It’s for those who like to wander off the beaten track, explore hidden spots not listed in the guidebooks, and chat with the noodle stall owners, street vendors, and flower sellers they may encounter. You won’t learn how to read, write and speak Burmese with a polished accent and proper grammar—this kind of fluency can only come from years of dedicated study and immersive classes—but the book should be sufficient to cover all the situations you’ll find yourself in.

You should be able to order common Burmese dishes, describe your discomfort to a doctor, ask for the price of the item you want to buy, and be able to negotiate with the vendor (in most open-air markets, roadside shops and traditional bazaars, but not the Western-style department stores, where prices are fixed).

This book favors shorter, simpler casual versions of place names, vocabulary and formulaic expressions over the more complex, formal ones. Rather than asking Would you kindly provide me with a cup of water? Kyayy zuu pyu ywayt kya-nawt goh yay layy ta-khwet lauk payy bah kha-myaa, with all the graceful formality and differential attitude expected of a native speaker, the book instead uses the shorter, simpler (Kyayy zuu pyu ywayt yay payy bah) or Some water, please, which will be undoubtedly easier to master.

English in Burma

Many of my westerner friends who traveled to Burma for the first time were pleasantly surprised to find the extent to which they could rely on simple English terms and phrases to communicate with the locals. There are good reasons for this.

In the last three or four years, Burma has become much more accessible to international travelers. Forward-thinking hoteliers, innkeepers, restaurateurs—even teashop and café owners—recruited English-speaking staff in anticipation of increased tourism.

Burma also lived through a long colonial period under the British, and English is still taught today as one of the subjects in government-run schools.

The younger Burmese get their mashup English from western films and Facebook. In their status updates and comments, many young Burmese employ a hybrid language strung together with common abbreviations (like coz for because), English conjunctions, and romanized Burmese words.

You can easily find many people who can speak English with varying fluency in most metropolitan areas. Even when an English speaker is not readily available in the vicinity, you’ll find that you too can string together sentences using common English nouns (like battery, bicycle, SIM card, or taxi) with simple Burmese phrases (like Bae hmah laee for Where is … or Shi larr for Is there …/Do you have …) to make yourself understood.

For this book, we’re focusing on conversational Burmese—the spoken variety that people use daily to shop, make friends, and chitchat—rather than the written Burmese you’d find in official documents, etc. Its most rudimentary form (what the Burmese call Hta-minn zarr yay thauk or the eating-drinking speech) will help you to get by with a set of common expressions (like Kyite tae for I like …, Yuh mae for I’ll take …, and Ya aung for Let’s …) with the appropriate nouns, verbs, and adjectives.

You’ll also be glad to know that you do not need to conjugate Burmese verbs. You can use the same verb saa, to eat, for both singular and plural nouns, as well as to talk about eating in the present or the past. Only the future requires a slightly different treatment (more on this in A Functional Guide to Burmese Grammar).

The biggest challenge for Burmese learners is mastering the tones—the degree of stress you place on the vowel to convey the desired meaning. The good news is, you only need to deal with three distinct tones (See On Burmese Pronunciations).

A Crash Course in Burmese Culture

Having endured a series of military regimes from 1962 to 2012, Burma is finally taking steps to establish a civilian government. In the country’s landmark election in late 2015, the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Aung San Suu Kyi won a decisive victory. An ingenious workaround by the party allowed her to hold office as the State Counsellor, a prime minister-like role with significant influence over policy making. Today, NLD’s U Htin Kyaw, a scholar and the son of a prominent poet, serves as the president.

The Burmese people’s rhythm of life is governed by Theravada Buddhism, the main religion in the country. Their mindsets, attitudes, rituals, social protocols, and even superstitions are derived primarily from this faith. The country is also home to thriving Hindu, Christian, and Muslim communities.

The core principle of Buddhism is universal compassion. It teaches its followers to wrestle with existential sufferings and human desires; and to adopt the right conduct, the right speech, and the right mindset to reach enlightenment. The monastic order is part of the social fabric of Burma, where the monks are revered as the spiritual sons of the Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. For better or worse, they’re also the guardians of century-old traditions and some conservative practices.

Under the previous military regimes, western culture, NGOs, and tourists trickled in. In today’s open climate, they rush in. Change comes at breakneck speed, in the form of punk rock, rap and reggae, miniskirts, mobile phones, viral Facebook posts, and rising real estate prices, raising fear among some of the social conservatives, who feel their way of life is under threat. The backlash is noticeable in the swift rise of a small but vocal faction, led by the Race and Religion Protection