Learn Burmese from Natural Talk
Hello! Greetings from the Burmese corner! I'm Kenneth Wong, a Burmese language instructor, author, and translator. This is a podcast series for intermediate and advanced Burmese language learners who want to learn Burmese by listening to natural conversation. Every two weeks or so, my cohost Mol Mol from Burmese Language Academy of Yangon (BLAY), some guest speakers, and I record and upload an episode on a specific topic. At the end of each episode, you'll find the keywords and phrases with their meanings. You can reach BLAY from its Facebook page: BurmeseLanguageAcademyofYangon. For more on the podcast series, visit the Learn Burmese from Natural Talk blog: http://burmeselessons.blogspot.com/
Episodes
47 episodes
On Chinese New Year
You might have noticed that, in Chinatown, red lanterns are going up, and lion dancers and dragon dancers are coming out, ready to parade the street. Mid-February is usually Chinese New Year, so both the Chinese community in Yangon, and the Chi...
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Season 3
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Episode 47
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30:15
Bite-Size Burmese: Straddling Two Boats at Once
If a politician speaks ambiguously without committing to one side or the other on an issue, you might call it political doublespeak in English, and accuse him or her of being wishy-washy. In Burmese, you might say he or she is "straddling the s...
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Season 3
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Episode 46
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8:53
On Culture Shock
In the 1980s, when I was growing up in Rangoon under Ne Win's Socialist Government, I remember how foreigners were shocked by, among other things, local people chewing betel quid and spitting out splashes of red betel juice all over the sidewal...
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Season 3
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Episode 45
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39:09
On the Benefits and Risks of Social Media
Some homegrown businesses and neighborhood restaurants flourish in Burma, thanks for the power of viral posts and social media. But fake news of levitating monks and strange omens also spread online, like wildfire. While not exactly fake news, ...
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Season 3
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Episode 44
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32:04
Bite-Size Burmese: Will You Drink the Bitter Rainwater?
Given a choice, would you rather drink the Kool-Aid, or the bitter rainwater (မိုးခါးရေ)? The phrase “to drink the Kool-Aid,” meaning to embrace an irrational, foolish, or dangerous popular ideology, is associated with the tragic episode involv...
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Season 3
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Episode 43
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5:22
On Tazaungdaing Festival and the Night of Mischief
Why are the robes woven on full-moon night of တန်ဆောင်မုန်း , the 8th month in the Burmese lunar calendar, called, မသိုးသင်္ကန်း , literally, unspoiled robes? What is the legend of the origin of the practice called ပံ့သကူ to leave out items tha...
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Season 3
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Episode 42
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49:45
On Burmese Ghosts, Witches, and Sorcerers
Do you know the legend of မဖဲဝါ Ma Phe Wah, the graveyard guardian spirit in disheveled hair, dressed in a yellow outfit? And do you know the origin of the Burmese word စုန်း for witches? How about the two different branches o...
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Season 3
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Episode 41
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27:25
On Thadingyut (or) Festival of Light
In Myanmar or Burma, October is the month of Thadingyut, the festival of light. For the children, it's a rare excuse to play with fireworks, sparkles, and even firecrackers. For young people and couples, it’s a chance to take a stroll along the...
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Season 3
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Episode 40
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39:11
Bite-Size Burmese: The Brother from Another Belly
Do you have a brother or sister from another belly? Most of you probably do. The Burmese term အကိုတစ်ဝမ်းကွဲ or ညီမတစ်ဝမ်းကွဲ , literally brother or sister from another belly, refers to the son or daughter of your uncle or aunt -- in other word...
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Season 3
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Episode 39
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6:44
On Pop Song Lyrics
In a song about timid lovebirds too shy to confess their feelings for each other, the lyrics says "မျက်လုံးချင်းစကားပြောနေပြီ (Their eyes are speaking to each other)." In the song "ရတနာသူ (Jeweled Lover)," the lyrics compares the girl's bodypar...
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Season 3
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Episode 38
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39:10
On Superstition
In the western culture, people often shrink from number 13. Noone wants to go out on Friday the 13th, and some businesses go so far as to skip the 13th floor's button in their elevators. In Burmese culture, people love number nine. When looking...
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Season 3
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Episode 37
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29:28
On Chin People and Their Customs
For the most part, people associate Burma, or Myanmar, with pagodas and Buddhist monks, but in reality, the country is much more diverse. Its multi-faith population comprises Christians, Hindus, and Muslim communities in addition to the majorit...
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Season 3
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Episode 36
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35:30
Bite-Size Burmese: Why is the Garuda Cooking Salt?
What do you do when you’re in a pinch, out of options, and desperate? In English, you might make a Last-Ditch Effort. If you’re a football player, you might throw a Hail Mary Pass. But in Burmese, you might do what the mythica...
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Season 3
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Episode 35
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9:25
On Work-Related Words and Phrases
The phrase လက်ဖက်ရည်ဖိုး literally translates to "cost of tea" or "tea money," but in workplaces, especially in government offices known for corruption, it takes on a different meaning. လက်ဖက်ရည်ဖိုးတောင်းတယ် or "to ask for tea money," is "to d...
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Season 3
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Episode 34
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21:14
Bite-Size Burmese: Oh, the Humanity!
Humane, inhumane, humanitarian, humanize, humanist, subhuman—there are examples of English words derived from the root word Human . In Burmese, if you want to publicize something, you have to do it so that "men would know and ...
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Season 3
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Episode 33
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9:36
On Airport-Related Words and Phrases
To talk about modern-day travel means to talk about air travel primarily. In this episode, my cohost Mol Mol from BLAY (Burmese Language Academy of Yangon) and I teach you all the terms and phrases associated with airport, from custom officers ...
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Season 3
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Episode 32
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25:31
Bite-Size Burmese: A Word on Words to Describe How People Speak
If you can butter up someone into doing something in English, you can also “စကားချိုသွေး” or "sweettalk" someone in Burmese. In English, you might describe someone as “a foul mouth”; in Burmese it takes the verb form: “ပါးစပ်ကြမ်းတယ်” or his or...
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Season 3
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Episode 31
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8:24
On the Word Mingalah for Auspiciousness
You have probably heard the Burmese phrase မင်္ဂလာပါ Mingalah bah--typically used by hotel receptions and restaurant staff to greet you. Derived from Pali, the word roughly means to be auspicious, to have good omen, and to have good tidings -- ...
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Season 3
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Episode 30
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24:51
Bite-Size Burmese: Show Me Your Face and I'll Tell You How You're Feeling
In Burmese, the face is a great way to express your helplessness, pride, shame, or outrage--figuratively. When you’re feeling awkward, you might say, your face is burning (မျက်နှာပူတယ်). When you’re feeling insecure, your face is small (မျက်နှာ...
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Season 2
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Episode 29
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9:41
On Burmese Folk Tales and Bedtime Stories
What is your favorite bedtime story? Cinderella? Snow White? For Burmese kids, most likely it’s a story associated with a proverb, like Maung Po and the Tiger, or one of the jatakas, a retelling of the Buddha’s past lives that brought him to en...
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Season 2
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Episode 28
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29:59
On Mon Language and Culture
The Mons, an ethnic group with its own distinct language and culture, exist in both Burma and Thailand. The Mon script is considered a source of the current Burmese script. The conventional...
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Season 2
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Episode 27
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26:28
Bite-Size Burmese: Gone to Live in the Village of the Spirits
Gone to live in the village of the sacred spirits (နတ်ရွာစံတယ်), flown away (ပျံလွန်တော်မူတယ်), has taken up residence in Nirvana (ပရိနိဗ္ဗာန်စံတယ် ) ... They all mean "to die," but depending on the type of person involved, some terms may be ap...
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Season 2
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Episode 26
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10:52
How is Burmese Different From, and Similar to, English?
Is Burmese difficult to learn--in particular, for English speakers? What’s the difference between Burmese and English grammar and sentence structures? And how do Burmese tones affect Burmese learners? How does the Burmese expression ရေးတော့အမှန...
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Season 2
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Episode 25
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34:02
Bite-Size Burmese: Between Heaven and Earth
In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the prince of Denmark told his trusted friend Horatio, "There are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy." In this episode, I introduce you to Burmese phrases that stemmed from th...
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Season 2
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Episode 24
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10:42
