Khmer is a language in the Austroasiatic language family, one of the six major language families found in Southeast Asia. Khmer is the national language of Cambodia and groups of Khmer speakers could be found also in neighboring countries such as Thailand and Vietnam. Khmer culture is one of the oldest and best known culture of Asia. The Angkorean Empire marks the height of Khmer culture where the kings built exquisite monumental stone temples considered one of the major wonders of the world.
The Khmer (Cambodian) language at Cornell:
The Department of Asian Studies offers beginning, intermediate and advanced level Khmer. The curriculum emphasizes the four basic skills on reading, writing, listening comprehension, and speaking. It follows the performance-based interactive pedagogical philosophy. In addition, students can enroll in a directed studies course that can be designed to meet the interest of individual students who plan to conduct field research in Cambodia.
Khmer language resources:
- Cambodian Media Library & Khmer Life
- Khmer Unicode fonts
- Radio Free Asia
- Voice of America
- SEASSI (Southeast Asian Studies Summer Institute)
- Colloquial Cambodian
Related people
Senior Lecturer
