"The" questions.

I spend a lot of my time here with young adults who are trying to learn English.  Their teachers encourage them to practice English, but the only problem is, most young people don’t know any people who speak English. 

Many people study incredibly hard to try and make a better life.  A couple of young men told me last week that they routinely get up at 4.30am to study because this is when their house and village are quiet and it is easiest to study.

Lao are generally quite shy.  The idea of approaching a foreigner (falang) is incredibly daunting.  But some go out of their way to make an effort, including going to the night market in the hope of meeting foreigners they can practice with.

As my main reason for coming here was to help people to learn English, I hope I am approachable and take the time to talk to people. Some people do not have extensive English language skills so they are a little limited in the conversations available to them and the questions they can ask.  I’ve found there is a similar routine to many of the conversations.

Following is a list of the questions I am routinely asked, and they tend to be roughly in the same order.  I've been here 7 weeks and would have been asked these questions at least 10 times each week.    

I haven’t generally included my responses or the questions I ask in return.

What’s your name?

Where are you from?

How long have you been in Luang Prabang?  (LPB)

How long will you stay in LPB?

Where have you been in LPB?

Do you like LPB?

What do you do in your country?

How old are you?

Do you have children?

            Ans      No

Why?

            Ans      I just don’t

Are you married?

            Ans      No

Why?

How many people in your family?

Are you a teacher?

You can string out this conversation for quite some time by the time I ask questions in response.