I want to learn hmong but it's hard to find stuff to learn it. All I get is Thai. Are Thai and Hmong the same?

Question

Are they the same language? If I were to learn Thai would my Hmong friends understand what I was saying?

Answer 1

If your Hmong friends are from Thailand, they might speak Thai in addition to Hmong, but Hmong and Thai are very different languages.  Many Hmong people speak more than one language, but it depends on where they are from, where they went to school, etc.

Here are a few phrases in Hmong and Thai, so you can see the differences between the two languages.  The links listed under "sources" may help you learn some Hmong.

English: Hello

Hmong: Nyob zoo (pronounced: nyah zhong)

Thai: สวัสดี (pronounced: sa wat dee)

English: Thank you

Hmong: Ua tsaug (pronounced: oo-ah chow)

Thai: ขอบคุณ (pronounced: khap khoon)

English: See you later.

Hmong: Sib ntsib dua (pronounced; shee njee doo-ah)

Thai: แล้วพบกันใหม่ (pronounced: laeo pohp gan mai)

English: One

Hmong: Ib (pronounced: ee)

Thai: หนึ่ง (pronounced: neung)

English: Two

Hmong: Ob (pronounced: ah)

Thai: สอง (pronounced: sawng)

English: Three

Hmong: Peb (pronounced: bay)

Thai: สาม (pronounced: saam)

English: Black

Hmong: Dub (pronounced: doo)

Thai: สีดำ (pronounced: see-dam)

English: White

Hmong: Dawb (pronounced: der)

Thai: สีขาว (pronounced: see-khao)

English: Blue

Hmong: Ntsuab (pronounced: njoo-ah)

Thai: สีกาล (pronounced: see-gan)

English: Red

Hmong: Liab (pronounced: lee-ah)

Thai: สีแดง (pronuonced: see-daeng)

English: Yellow

Hmong: Daj (pronounced: dah)

Thai: สีเหลือง (pronounced: see-leuang)

Answer 2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hmong_langu...

It is a separate language.

Try some of the sites on this page on learning hmong

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=h...

Answer 3

Hmm, this is a difficult situation.  I met a Hmong girl at UD, and she always explained to people she was, "like Thai."

From what I have gathered, it's spoken by the Hmong, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, northern Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos. However, if you look at Thai VS Lao you can clearly see a LARGE difference. That leads me to believe that spoken it is similar, but written is different.