Language in Cambodia

Cambodiais a country of controversial past. It was involved in a great number of battles, thus its past has influenced the common culture and development to a great extent. However, when coming to this country, it is important to keep in mind the language question, because it is one of those Asian countries, which has its own one of a kind language that has also a lot of different interesting backgrounds.   

The international languages, which tourists will face in Cambodia is English and French. Hopefully, this is clear from the long past with battles of this country. Therefore, when going there, you should not be worried that communication will not be too difficult– all the hotels, big stores and other places, where tourists go has people speaking various languages. In fact, the number of the local population, which is not involved into the touristic business is also educated with the foreign languages, thus the level of education overall of this country should not be underestimated.

However, when coming to Cambodia, it is much more interesting to hear the local language. The national language of Cambodia is Khmer language. It is one of the languages of the asian-australian background that has the biggest spread. But what is much more interesting about this language are the legends that lie behind it.

Legends of Origin

One of the legends about this language is a very beautiful one. It concerns the great number of vowels that is has. In fact, it has twenty vowels, which is much more than the standard carrier of the international languages could imagine. The legend says about the Goddess that has been wondering in the beautiful forests of the Cambodia, she was listening to the birds singing, to the wind blowing through the leaves of the trees, to the sound of the waterfalls hidden in the depth of the hills. The Goddess got so carried away with all she was hearing that she got lost in the woods. She was scared and did not know what way to go, but suddenly the man saw her and offered her help. He was hunting in the forest and knew those places very well, unfortunately he could not speak with the Goddess, because she did not understand the word he was saying, as it was more similar to the language of the animals. However, she understood, that he means no harm and want to show her the way. When they got out of the woods to the path the Goddess was before, she was so happy and in return she not only thanked the man, but also gave him the language, which had the beautiful sounds of the waterfall, birds singing and leaves. And the man was able to teach his tribe this language and so the beautiful and filled with vowels language appeared.   

Dance Language

However, when we are talking about the language in Cambodia, it is also better to remember that not only the voice serves as a language in this country, but also the dance. All the great and colorful national costumes of Cambodia are used to make a picture while in the dance, as it has its own story to tell. It can take a long time to learn the dance language of Cambodia, therefore it is better for the tourists to simply enjoy the beauty of it.

Dance language of Cambodia is very important, because the special dances are presented on different important occasions. Usually the beautiful Khmer language is not used while in the dances of such a kind, because the words should not frighten the sound of the music. That is why one type of the music is enough to underline the beauty of the Cambodian dance. If you travel a lot around this beautiful country, don’t forget to take a portable fridge freezer to cool down you drinks and keep some food.