Читать книгу Lao Basics - Sam Brier - Страница 6

Acknowledgments

Although this is a short book, many thanks are in order:

Thank you Gordon Allison, the author of Easy Thai—the book that Lao Basics is modeled after. I found Easy Thai in a Bangkok bookstore and quickly saw that it simplified what seemed to me a very complex language. After using it to grasp the basics of Thai in a rather short period of time, I thought to myself, "If there were only a book like this for learning Lao." Unable to find one, I decided to write it myself.

Back in Lao, I asked Tee to be my co-author, and thankfully she accepted. Tee pushed Lao Basics through its most difficult phase—the first draft. Souphing Saphakdy edited it to this final version. Without either of them, this book would not be in your hands now. We hope that Lao Basics survives the test of time, as has Allison's Easy Thai, first printed in 1968 and still widely available after more than 27 printings.

There are also the many others I met in Lao who made me want to stay longer than I had planned. Much longer. And I did. Their names, if I knew half of them, would double the size of this book. Some of them I can't forget, however: Simon Creak, Leisa Tyler, Carrie-Anne Best, Clif Meys, Liam Thammavongsa, Manichanh (Lang) Sichanhthapadid, Rome, Alain, Nick, the entire staff of the U.S. Embassy, plus Ely Ruel and everyone else at the Vientiane International School.

Although I didn't know my wife, Linh, when I started this project, it wouldn't feel right if I didn't thank her for supporting me since the day we met. It would be akin to not thanking my parents, who never thought I'd live in Asia so many years, but have come to visit many times. Thank you.

Even with a great co-author, editor and excellent friends, plus the inspiration, energy and support to finish a book, it takes something special to bring it to market. Some might call it luck, but I call it a publisher. The hardest part in the publishing process is not necessarily finding a publisher, however; it's finding the right publisher, and I have been fortunate enough to find Tuttle Publishing and Sandra Korinchak, my editor, who have been wonderful to work with on this and our other projects together so far: A Chinese Phrase a Day Practice Pad and A Japanese Phrase a Day Practice Pad.

Finally, I'd like to thank you for having an interest in Lao, a language spoken by relatively few, but more than worth the effort to learn.