Lonely Planet Lao Phrasebook

Besides my Lao Dictionary, this is *the* Lao book I carry around daily with me. I wish I could post a photo of my worn out dog-eared copy. I agree w/ the one reviewer who said the transliteration is a little wacky, however the Lao script is generally "spot on". (I'll mention transliteration with Lao is a less than exact science) It's one of the few if only books outside of the books attempting to teach Lao that handle things like Grammar.. very handy for the traveler. It also throws some Lao culture in for good measure to make sure you don't do something offensive to the local people. Great book, worth the money and besides... it's so small you can fit it in your pack/bag pretty easy.

Very good book, especially for someone that don't understand a lot of English. They could always use as reference anywhere they go. Again, good book and excellent choice for someone who wantsto learn English. [reasonable] price and great book, what can I say.

The Lonely Planet phrasebooks have come a long way since the days when the foreign script portion was merely hand-written in the space beside the romanized portion. The Lao phrasebook is representative of that new generation, and it is pretty impressive. Along with all the usual categories of phrases one would expect to see (greetings, directions, lodging, food, shopping, health, numbers, dates, emergencies, etc.), the splendidly informative introduction provides an interesting background on the spoken language and script, followed by a great section on pronunciation and grammar. There are interesting cultural notes dispersed throughout the book, and a vocabulary list at the end. Its compact size makes it ideal to carry in one's pocket. On the down side the marking system used in the romanized portion to indicate Lao tones is a little confusing and under-explained, but all-in-all a great little phrasebook.

This is an excellent book for those who wish to travel to Laos, or even those who wish to begin learning lao in small steps. I purchased this book in order to learn the language at a quicker and more simplified pace. It contains not only basic phrases that one might need to know in order to conduct ones self in the main parts of Laos but also be able to learn some of the country's culture as well. Even though studying an entirely new language can be laborious, Mr. Cummings has made it easy for anyone to be bilingual, even multi-lingual.