Outgrowing a dictionary

This summer, I have Khmer lessons every morning, and every afternoon I study the new words that came up in my lesson that day.  I’ve been making flashcards and doing my best to put the Khmer spelling on one side, but many of the words come up in conversation, not in the stories I’m reading.  So I’ve been looking up their spelling in the dictionary.  I knew that my dictionary was far from comprehensive (hence the large font), but I hadn’t realized just how many common words it was missing. 

Clearly Mr. Long Hair, the author, has a thing for obscure words.  How could his dictionary include “numskull,” “frosty,” and “pagination,” while leaving out “dirt,” “calm,” and “computer”?  I realize that many foreigners in Cambodia need job-specific vocabulary.  A doctor here might frequently use the word “harelip,” just as lawyers or embassy employees might need “diplomatic immunity.”  But some of these words don’t seem essential for any career here.  When’s the last time you used “gibbet,” “frogspawn,” or “obsequies”?  I’d wager a bet that no one has ever turned to this dictionary seeking the Khmer equivalents of “necromancy,” “rostrum,” “anvil,” or “patricide.”  It seems to me that more expats might need words like “corrupt,” “sunscreen,” “relationship,” “sink,” or “pronounce” – words mysteriously absent from its pages.

So I stopped by the bookstore and picked up Dictionary #2.  Like all the others at the store, it’s totally for Khmer people: no foreigner-friendly training wheels here!  The font is so tiny I can’t distinguish between a few of the letters.  It features phonetic Khmer spellings as well as IPA pronunciation for each English word, and even a section with English vocabulary exercises, but no help on pronouncing Khmer words.  So I’m still using my old dictionary to see how to pronounce words with tricky spellings.  But I can read the whole alphabet now, unlike a year ago, and so I’m increasingly able to decipher words on my own.  I like that my new one includes much more vocabulary, as well as a Khmer-English section.  Now I can look up Khmer words and find translations or explanations of words that I only somewhat understood when my tutor discussed them in Khmer.  The Khmer section is a real workout for my brain: with 100+ letters in various categories, alphabetical order is still pretty hazy in my mind.  But I like flipping through it, because some of the definitions crack me up.  Here’s my favorite. 

I’ve always found speaking Khmer to be fun and rewarding.  There are few grammar rules, and a small set of vocabulary can take you far.  Reading, however, drove me crazy for quite a while.  While I still only read like a first-grader, the squiggles are finally turning into words in my mind.  Dictionaries aren’t usually page-turners, but as a language nerd, it HAS been exciting to see my progress as I’ve grown into each one.  It’s nice to still have my “training wheels” when I need them, but despite a few wobbles, I’m finding my balance on the real thing.