Learn Burmese from Natural Talk
Episodes
On Love and Life According to Forrest Gump
15 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
"Life's like a box of chocolate; you never know what you're gonna get," says Forrest Gump, the title character played by Tom Hank ...
Bite-Size Burmese: On the Poet Min Thu Wun's Ode to a Tree Stump
11 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
"Pyimma Ngote Toe (ပျဉ်းမငုတ်တို)" by Min Thu Wun (1909 to 2004), written in the four-syllable rhyme scheme typica...
Bite-Size Burmese: Twitchy Eyebrow, Itchy Heart
21 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Twitchy eyebrow? Itchy sole? According to Burmese superstition, twitching eyebrows may be an omen of good fortune or financial ruin, depending the exa...
On Christmas Festivities
14 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In San Francisco, the city I now call home, the large Christmas tree in downtown Union Square has officially been turned on to usher in the holiday se...
On Diplomacy and Language
28 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Imagine this. You’re a diplomat, and in the middle of an embassy cocktail party, you suddenly switch language and speak to your counterpart from the...
Bite-Size Burmese: Choking on Happiness, Flattened by Sadness
14 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Many Burmese words describing how you feel—happy, sad, depressed, and so on—are constructed with the root words ဝမ်း for "belly"...
On Burmese Poetry
20 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
My first introduction to Burmese poetry was through the children’s nursery rhymes and classic verses scattered throughout the government-prescribed ...
On Animal Farm, Part II
05 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Orwell’s masterpiece, Animal Farm, was inspired by the power struggle in post-revolution Russia, where a one-party authoritarian rule slowly began t...
On Animal Farm, Part I
12 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Orwell’s allegorical novel Animal Farm shows how a revolution could lead to the rise of opportunists, power struggles, infighting, fake news, and ul...
Bite-Size Burmese: Let's Talk About "You" and "I"
16 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In English, when you’re talking about yourself, your choice of pronoun is a solitary “I.” Not so in Burmese. There’s a variety of ways to refe...
On Dowry
02 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As singles with no marital experience, my cohost Su and I are under-qualified to discuss this episode's theme: dowry. In Burmese context, it usua...
On Burmese Slangs, from Being Broke to Having a Crush
15 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re going out to lunch with a Burmese friend who says he’s running low on water (ရေခမ်းနေတယ်), be prepared to pay for ...
Bite-Size Burmese: Drink a Cigarette, Strike a Photo, Dream a Dream
23 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Would you ever drink a cigarette or a cigar? In English, you wouldn't, but in Burmese, you must. To describe smoking a cigarette or cigar, you mu...
On Thingyan and Thaan Jaat
16 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mid-April is when Burmese people celebrate the end of the old year and the beginning of another one with a water festival, similar to the people of Th...
On Chinese New Year
22 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
You might have noticed that, in Chinatown, red lanterns are going up, and lion dancers and dragon dancers are coming out, ready to parade the street. ...
Bite-Size Burmese: Straddling Two Boats at Once
09 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If a politician speaks ambiguously without committing to one side or the other on an issue, you might call it political doublespeak in English, and ac...
On Culture Shock
30 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the 1980s, when I was growing up in Rangoon under Ne Win's Socialist Government, I remember how foreigners were shocked by, among other things...
On the Benefits and Risks of Social Media
19 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Some homegrown businesses and neighborhood restaurants flourish in Burma, thanks for the power of viral posts and social media. But fake news of levit...
Bite-Size Burmese: Will You Drink the Bitter Rainwater?
07 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Given a choice, would you rather drink the Kool-Aid, or the bitter rainwater (မိုးခါးရေ)? The phrase “to drink the Kool-Aid,” me...
On Tazaungdaing Festival and the Night of Mischief
26 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Why are the robes woven on full-moon night of တန်ဆောင်မုန်း , the 8th month in the Burmese lunar calendar, called, မသိ...
On Burmese Ghosts, Witches, and Sorcerers
31 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Do you know the legend of မဖဲဝါ Ma Phe Wah, the graveyard guardian spirit in disheveled hair, dressed in a yellow outfit? And do you know th...
On Thadingyut (or) Festival of Light
09 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In Myanmar or Burma, October is the month of Thadingyut, the festival of light. For the children, it's a rare excuse to play with fireworks, spar...
Bite-Size Burmese: The Brother from Another Belly
20 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Do you have a brother or sister from another belly? Most of you probably do. The Burmese term အကိုတစ်ဝမ်းကွဲ or ညီမတ...
On Pop Song Lyrics
24 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In a song about timid lovebirds too shy to confess their feelings for each other, the lyrics says "မျက်လုံးချင်းစကာ...
On Superstition
31 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the western culture, people often shrink from number 13. Noone wants to go out on Friday the 13th, and some businesses go so far as to skip the 13t...
On Chin People and Their Customs
13 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For the most part, people associate Burma, or Myanmar, with pagodas and Buddhist monks, but in reality, the country is much more diverse. Its multi-fa...
Bite-Size Burmese: Why is the Garuda Cooking Salt?
31 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What do you do when you’re in a pinch, out of options, and desperate? In English, you might make a Last-Ditch Effort. If you’re a football player,...
On Work-Related Words and Phrases
18 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The phrase လက်ဖက်ရည်ဖိုး literally translates to "cost of tea" or "tea money," but in workplaces, especi...
Bite-Size Burmese: Oh, the Humanity!
06 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Humane, inhumane, humanitarian, humanize, humanist, subhuman—there are examples of English words derived from the root word Human . In Burmese, if y...
On Airport-Related Words and Phrases
03 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
To talk about modern-day travel means to talk about air travel primarily. In this episode, my cohost Mol Mol from BLAY (Burmese Language Academy of Ya...
Bite-Size Burmese: A Word on Words to Describe How People Speak
31 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
If you can butter up someone into doing something in English, you can also “စကားချိုသွေး” or "sweettalk" someone...
On the Word Mingalah for Auspiciousness
17 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
You have probably heard the Burmese phrase မင်္ဂလာပါ Mingalah bah--typically used by hotel receptions and restaurant staff to greet ...
Bite-Size Burmese: Show Me Your Face and I'll Tell You How You're Feeling
03 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In Burmese, the face is a great way to express your helplessness, pride, shame, or outrage--figuratively. When you’re feeling awkward, you might say...
On Burmese Folk Tales and Bedtime Stories
05 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What is your favorite bedtime story? Cinderella? Snow White? For Burmese kids, most likely it’s a story associated with a proverb, like Maung Po and...
On Mon Language and Culture
08 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Mons, an ethnic group with its own distinct language and culture, exist in both Burma and Thailand. The Mon script is considered a source of the c...
Bite-Size Burmese: Gone to Live in the Village of the Spirits
21 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Gone to live in the village of the sacred spirits (နတ်ရွာစံတယ်), flown away (ပျံလွန်တော်မူတယ်), ...
How is Burmese Different From, and Similar to, English?
10 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Is Burmese difficult to learn--in particular, for English speakers? What’s the difference between Burmese and English grammar and sentence structure...
Bite-Size Burmese: Between Heaven and Earth
16 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the prince of Denmark told his trusted friend Horatio, "There are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of i...
On Reading Burmese Books
06 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
For today’s episode, I invited a special guest – the mesmerizing voice behind the podcast စာဖတ်ပြမယ် or “I’ll read you sto...
On Burmese Donation Rituals and Terms
27 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What might inspire someone in Burma to donate? The reasons can range from celebrating a birthday or remembering a loved one who has passed away to sup...
Bite-Size Burmese: Plain Janes and Hidden Talents Under the Leaves
16 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Where are your hidden talents hiding? If you’re speaking Burmese, they might be hiding under the leaves. The Burmese expression for someone with a h...
Burmese Insults: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
12 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
My students -- not all, but the rowdy and curious ones -- often ask me, how do you curse in Burmese? What is the Burmese version of the F-word or the ...
What's in a Burmese Name? Destiny, for a Start.
15 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The peculiar nature of traditional Burmese names is, they usually do not have last names or family names. Instead, they’re chosen based on the day o...
Bite-Size Burmese: Chinese Shutters, British Drinks, and Gurkha Fruits
14 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When are Venetian blinds not Venetian? In Burmese language, they become Chinese shutters (တရုတ်ကပ်). (Variations of the design are als...
Bite-Size Burmese: On Four-Letter Words
27 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Balderdash, baby talk, pillow talk, a clumsy act, a half-ass job, or a cuddly pet? Chances are, there's a four-letter, four-syllable word to desc...
On Ghostly Encounters in Burma
29 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this special Halloween episode, my cohost Mol Mol from the Burmese Language Academy of Yangon (BLAY) and I delve into things that go bump in the ni...
Bite-Size Burmese: Green-Branch Breakup, Green Death, and Green-Faced Folks
01 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In English, green is the color of jealousy, but in Burmese romance, a green-branch split (သစ်စိမ်းချိုး ချိုးတယ...
On Burmese Proverbs and Maxims
17 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In English, to talk about making the best use of time and circumstances, you’d say, make hay while the sun shines. But in Burmese, it’s to weave w...
Bite-Size Burmese: Droplets of Destiny and Romance Written on the Forehead
14 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Destiny comes in many shapes and forms, but in Burmese, figuratively speaking, it comes as water droplets, or ရေစက်။ People became friends...
On Pagoda Fairs and Fortunetellers
17 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What might you expect to find at a Burmese pagoda fair? What kind of food, souvenirs, and attractions would you likely encounter? Aside from cotton ca...
Bite-Size Burmese: Keep Your Butterfly Safe
01 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
If your conscience or your courage were an insect, what might it be? In Burmese imagination, it’s a butterfly. There are some Burmese expressions wh...
On Burmese Movies, from the Black-and-White Era to the Age of Surround Sound
05 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, my cohost Mol Mol from BLAY (Burmese language academy of Yangon) and I discuss the movie-going experiences in our own times. In my bo...
Bite-Size Burmese: Don't Show Up Without a Musical Prelude
30 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Theatrical performances, dance drama, and shows are such an integral part of Burmese culture that quite a number of everyday expressions can be traced...
On Travel in Burma, Prophetic Verses, and Cursed Trees
29 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, my cohost Mol Mol and I discuss the joy of travel. Mol Mol has just returned from a trip to Tarchileik, a city in the Shan State bord...
Bite-Size Burmese: The Shadows of Social Intercourse
18 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Hello!My cohost Mol Mol is on vacation this week. Rest assured, when she returns, we will resume our Learn Burmese from Natural Talk series, but in th...
On Dance, Drama, and Comedians
13 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Anyeint, Zat, Pwe: these are terms associated with classical music, dance, and drama, sometimes performed in respected public halls but more often in ...
On Ethnic Cuisine and Memorable Meals
23 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Time to talk about food!From Ramen bowls that rival the best in Tokyo to Kayah sausages stuffed with spiced minced meat, Burma’s big cities and smal...
What is Your New Year Resolution?
22 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Happy new year, Burmese learners!In this episode, Mol Mol from Burmese Language Academy of Yangon (BLAY) and I share our new year resolutions. Mol Mol...
Teashop Culture in Burma
22 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to another episode of Learn Burmese from Natural Talk!In Burmese teashops, have you ever listened closely to how regular customers order tea, ...
On Dating and Courtship
22 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Hello everyone!In this episode, my cohost Mol Mol from BLAY (Burmese Language Academy of Yangon) and I discuss the dating and courtship rituals in Bur...
On Witches, Wizzard, and Nats
22 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Hello everyone!It’s my pleasure to bring you the debut episode of a new podcast series for intermediate Burmese learners. My cohost is Mol Mol (မိ...