Burmese is the predominant language
although substantial tribal minorities speak
Karen, Chin, Shan and various Kachin dialects. English
is also quite widely spoken
although, as in other Asian countries, it's
easy to be deceived in the cities into believing
that English is more widespread than it
actually is. It doesn't take a long bus ride into
the country to raise a few communication
problems. If you do find difficulty in making
yourself understood, a simple rule of thumb
is to look for somebody older. There are
more likely to be English-speakers amongst
the older generation.
