Learning root words [of the Mon-Khmer language]

Stockton Cambodians pass their language on to next generation

Teacher Phonn Sok goes over the Mon-Khmer alphabet during an Aug. 12 lesson at Wat Dharmararam Buddhist Temple.CALIXTRO ROMIAS/The Record

By Kevin Parrish

Record Staff Writer

August 27, 2012

STOCKTON - Quickly, but carefully, Emily Phann used her black dry marker to form the letter "am," a vowel in the oldest language from southeast Asia, the Mon-Khmer.

It is the official language of Cambodia.

Sitting at a cafeteria-style table, Phann held up a small white board framed in pink to show she had correctly written the symbol from the Austroasiatic family of languages.

"It is childish, but it works," said Phann, a 20-year-old Edison High School graduate who is one of 30 or so students in instructor Vann Ong's unique Sunday school class.

Ong is a 61-year-old teacher at Wat Dharmararam, Stockton's Cambodian Buddhist Temple on Carpenter Road east of Stockton. He used a giant white board to spell out the daily lesson on a recent Sunday afternoon.

Phann is one of his more appreciative students.

"I hardly speak or understand Cambodian," said Phann, "so when I'm here it's really challenging."

Like many others her age, Phann wants to catch up on what she doesn't know.

"It's all about culture and religion," she said. "I realize that I'm missing so much. My mom only spoke in English to me at home."

San Joaquin County has more than 10,000 residents who trace their heritage to Cambodia.

It has the third-largest population of Khmer speakers of any county in the United States - and the highest percentage to the overall county population.

Between 1975 and 1979, an estimated 1.7 million people - 21 percent of Cambodia's population - were killed by Khmer Rouge forces. The first wave of refugees arrived following the overthrow of despot Pol Pot in 1979.

A large community took root in the Stockton area. At first, assimilation was the goal. Now, it's preservation.

The sandwich generation - those whose parents were born and raised in Cambodia and whose children were born and raised in America - is trying to sustain their southeast Asian heritage and language.

Cultural celebrations such as the Cambodian New Year's festival in April and ongoing ethnic dance classes have long been a part of Stockton's diversity.

What's happening at Wat Dharmararam is the first attempt locally to pass on the complicated Mon-Khmer language (33 consonants, 24 vowels and a segmented writing system known as alphasyllabary) to a younger, American-born generation.

"I thought it was important to teach the children their language," said Ong, who was a teacher in his native Cambodia and came to the United States in 1984. "I want them to know about the letters, how to speak correctly and politely to their elders, how to address Buddha."

Two-hour classes start at 3 p.m. every Sunday inside the cavernous temple at Wat Dharmararam. The students range in age from 5 to 21. They sit upright, paying close attention to Ong. He speaks only in Cambodian and he goes over the alphabet. He coaches from the front of the class, he teaches while walking between the tables and he examines individual white boards for the just-right touches to the delicate Khmer script.

"This is such a necessity," said Stockton's Jimmy Inn, a FedEx employee and the oldest student in the class. "These teachers won't be around for long. I want to learn.

"I'm proud of my culture. Young kids today don't appreciate it."

Inn wore a black T-shirt to class. In white letters on the back, it read, "Stop the violence. Stop crime. Stop hate."

He came to Ong's language class with his 16-year-old sister, Jessica Inn, a junior at McNair High School. "Kids don't know their heritage," she said.

Savoeun "Cindy" Pov, 35, an accountant in Oakland who lives in Stockton, works at the temple. She helps organize the Sunday language school.

"The older adults think it is important for the kids to learn to read and write in Cambodian," she said. "If a teacher is willing to step up, why not do it?"

Phann rates Ong's white board-to-white board exercises highly. Even though Khmer is not a tonal language, has no space between words and has no punctuation, she is a motivated student.

"This is a fun way of learning. The others understand more than I do, but I want to learn as much as I can," Phann said.

Contact reporter Kevin Parrish at (209) 546-8264 or kparrish@recordnet.com.