Cambodian Videos & Media

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Watching movies in the language you're learning is an excellent way to learn new vocabulary. Watch the movie with English subtitles. Try and memorize certain scenes by writing down what is said in Khmer, and then act it out yourself repeating the words. Invlolving gestures and feeling while you act out the scene uses more parts of your brain and is much more conducive to learning than trying to memorize words by sitting at a desk and looking at them.

There aren't many Khmer movies available, especially from before the Khmer Rouge era. Pre 1975 Khmer films are very popular among refugees but tend to be old copies of very poor quality which are fast deteriorating.

Below we've recommended some movies which are easily available and could be used as valuable language learning tools, as well as providing in insight into the Cambodian culture.

Rice People is a powerful movie directed by Rithy Panh depicting the struggle of the Cambodian rice paddy farmers. The movie centres around a couple who fight everything from floods to cobras to produce a succesful crop. When the husband dies, the wife is left with the struggle of having to provide for her seven daughters.

S21 The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine is an award winning documentary where Rithy Panh an his team undertook a three year investigation involving the survivors of the Khmer Rouge S-21 Prison, and their former torturers. They persuaded both groups to return to the S-21 Prison (now a genocide museum) to face their past. One survivor, Vann Nath confronts his captors, some of whom were 12 years old when they tortured him.

Internet Freebies:

There is a thriving Khmer video industry in California and Texas, which produces music videos of US khmer life set to popular Khmer songs, or depicts pre war village life. You can find many of these videos on Youtube.

Help Others Live & Learn Cambodian

Have you had experience in learning the Khmer language? If so we'd love to hear about how you learned the language. Did you watch Cambodian vidoes and films? Which did you find best?

Please e-mail us your tips using the form below. Your shared language learning experiences will save other language learners' time, energy, and money. In fact, that is the the mission of Live & Learn Languages!