“The longer you will be here, the more fluent you will get”, is said by the ladies in the community when I asked them how long does it take to learn the spoken language. Stieng, one of the other indigenous groups in Cambodia who has a community located in Krorng village, Snuol commune, Snuol district, Kraches (Kratie) province. Stieng language is not written, it is only a spoken language. I always thought that learning a different language is hard but when I went there, the ladies made it easy for me to learn their language (Stieng). For every word that I asked for translation to, she always said the word then continued with something similar to “that’s it, it’s easy, right?”. It made me feel relaxed and that I could actually learn the language very easily. Some words that I learned are:
- Na’ Hee = House
- Kho = Pants
- Hae = I
- Em or Ae = You
- Takat = Feeling cold
- Yaos = Shirts
- Tang = Bitter
- Naak Guru = Teacher (Female)
Some words sound the same as the Khmer language, they are;
- S’art = Pretty or clean
- K’dao = Hot
- B’rai = Salty
- Katarb = Bags
- Siv Phov = Books
In the village, some are Cambodians. The ladies said that some people that are Stieng are afraid to speak their native language because they want to fit in with other Cambodians in the village. However, most of the time, they speak their language to each other. Elders in the village hope that the younger generation of Stieng understands the importance of preserving their language. I wish I could have stayed in the community longer and learn the language because it is always interesting to learn new things.