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Thursday, 21 October 2010
Jo, Myanmar (Burma) - Speaking Burmese like a local - almost.
I am now in Yangon preparing to leave at the weekend. I continued my Myanmar language lessons while I was in the Delta. Although they haven’t really equipped me for long philosophical discussions, I did learn enough to greet people and ask if they have eaten, (which is the Myanmar equivalent of an English person saying “how are you?”). I can also go shopping, ask the price of something and request a little discount, direct a taxi driver and order a cup of coffee without sugar. This is about as much as I have needed. I also think that people like it if you make an effort to speak their language, so it breaks down more barriers than just a linguistic one.
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