This is a concise, do–it– yourself guide to the Lao language

Lao Basics teaches conversational Lao from the very beginning with an emphasis on reading and writing. Students of Thai will find Lao quite simple, as much of these two languages are the same or very similar. These languages derive from Sanskrit and share many of the same consonants, vowels, vocabulary and grammar. Lao Basics is organized so that you first learn to read Lao, write Lao, speak Lao and comprehend the 26 consonants in their tonal classes. Once you have mastered these you will study the 28 vowels in subsets. Within each vowel grouping, you will learn vocabulary, conversational phrases, alphabetical order and sentence structure through exercises that grow more challenging as your vocabulary increases.

As you progress through Lao Basics, vocabulary from previous lessons will be repeated regularly and our command of the written and spoken language will steadily improve. And you can do all this on your own. Each chapter's Lao words and exercises have been recorded on the accompanying MP3 audio–CD, and all of the exercises answers are in the back of the book.

Highlights of this book are:

• Throughout, review exercises with answer keys help you polish your skills.
• The vocabulary and phrases are written in Lao script, and are accompanied by pronunciations that help English speakers to say them accurately.
• The MP3 audio CD includes every vocabulary item, sample phrases, and exercises, so that you can learn from native voices.