Introduction
The Lao language is a member of the Tai language group, sometimes known as Tai-Kadai or Kadai. Thai is well understood in Laos, since Lao people will watch Thai television and listen to Thai radio. Many of the goods that you will see in Laos are imported from Thailand. The north eastern part of Thailand, known as Issan has in fact more Lao speakers than Laos itself.
Lao is a tonal language, with six tones, some linguists have defined it as five. The difficulty lies in each word which contains a tone for each syllable and these tones vary in many circumstances. For example people from Vientiane will change a middle consonant word from low tone to rising tone when it is placed at the end of a sentence or when it stands by itself whilst there is no change in tone when it is placed in the middle of a sentence. Additionally tones vary in different regions of the country. People in the north tend to speak more slowly than others in the country leading to their words being drawn out.
The good news is that Lao is easily understood since there is so much individual and regional variations people are accustomed to hearing the words pronounced in different ways. You will be understood even if the tones and vowel lengths are not perfect, as long as the words are in context you will win instant friends.
