Learn Burmese

မြန်မာဘာသာ

Language Facts: 

Speakers:  28 million 
Family:  Sino-Tibetan 
Status:  Official in Myanmar 
Script:  Mon-Burmese 
 
  • The first step to learning Burmese will be to learn the alphabet, called Mon-Burmese. Each letter is a syllable combining a consonant and vowel. There are 33 consonant symbols and 14 vowels. Many languages like to brag that their language is spoken exactly as it is written, however Burmese is not one of them. 
  • Burmese is a tonal language , with 4 tones. The tones not only are distinguished by pitch, but also by timbre, duration and intensity. Getting comfortable with tones is a crucial step to learn Burmese because many otherwise identical words are differentiated only by tone, much like Chinese or Thai
  • Burmese is an analytic language, meaning that words generally do not change and most grammatical functions are achieved with particles and word order 
  • Basic word order is Subject-Object-Verb. 
  • Nouns have no gender, number, or case. 
  • Like Chinese, all count nouns require a specific measure words when quantifying. Specific measure words go to specific nouns and these must be learned. 
  • Politeness markers are an important element of the language. 
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burmese

Learn Burmese: 

 

Books: 

Burmese: an Introduction to an Intriguing Language – great introductory book to learn Burmese. Good focus on learning the script with straightforward explanations.
 
Burmese Stories for Language Learners – 25 stories in both English and Burmese, with glossary for important vocabulary. Online audio is available for all the stories 

Reading and Writing Burmese – workbook to help learn the Burmese writing system. 

Youtube: 

Kenneth Wong – 65 video playlist ranging from beginner to intermediate. Note, the playlist seems to be in reverse order, so the beginner material is at the very end of the playlist. 
 

Online:

Ling– an app based course for Burmese. Great for beginners. 
 
Italki – has a few tutors to help learn Burmese. One-on-one tutors can be a great way to improve quickly. 

Podcasts: 

Courses:

 

Burmese Media: