1.2 Directional Expressions in Khmer

1. Pre-listening

Listen to the song called ជិះ^[1]ស៊ីក្លូ “Riding a Cyclo”.  This song is about a man who comes to Phnom Penh for the first time and wants to explore Phnom Penh by taking a Cyclo. Transcript of the song  ជិះ. 

Then look at the image and click on the purple plus signs to learn the directional expressions. Then choose the expressions you think you heard in song.

The Word នៅ​​​ and Prepositions in Khmer

When talking about where someone or something is situated, the verb “To be” is replaced by the word នៅ “at”.

Also, the word នៅ​ is commonly formed with preposition such as ក្នុង​ “in”, លើ “on”, ក្រោម “under”​, មុខ “in front of” and ក្រោយ “behind”.

2. Listening: Conversation I

Listen to the conversation between Thida (first speaker) and a Tuk Tuk driver (second speaker) and then tell whether the Tuk Tuk driver knows the route. Then after the second listening, answer the following questions. Transcript of the conversation.

Please refer to the vocabualary section for the list of vocabulary and expressions related to location and direction.  

3. Post-listening:

Thida is directing her friend towards Wat Phnom. Read and rearrange the given directions.