Khmer school in Siem Reap

You have just arrived. You have already said “yes” to three tuktuks you did not want, paid the price of a coffee back home for a bottle of water, and been handed change in a currency you were not expecting. Good news: all of that can be learned in one morning. An hour and a half in class with a Cambodian teacher for the basics, then an hour at the market to try them for real — with someone next to you to smooth things over if needed.

What you will learn

• Hello, thank you, goodbye — and the sampeah, the gesture that instantly changes how people look at you
• Turning down a tuktuk without feeling guilty — there is a word for it, and it works far better than an awkward shake of the head
• Haggling at the market — the numbers, the right tone, the compulsory smile, and knowing when to stop before you spend ten minutes negotiating 25 cents. You will try it for real an hour later
• Telling the masseur to press less hard — the most useful phrase in Cambodia, learned before the massage rather than after. Because by the time the elbow goes in, it is already too late to reach for Google Translate
• Dollars or riels? — Spoiler: both, at the same time, and 4,000 riels = 1 dollar. We will explain why you always walk away with riels in your pocket
• Getting around — tuktuk, PassApp, what rides actually cost, and how not to pay three times the local rate
• The cultural codes — what is done, what is not, and why everyone is smiling (it is not always what you think)

Who it is for — Short-stay travellers, new arrivals, volunteers, families fresh off the plane.

* Barang: the Khmer word for a Western foreigner.