People living in southern Laos sekong can speak more 14 languages.
It can be seen clearly that Xekong Province is a multilingual community. People in Xekong speak not only their
own mother tongue but also can speak Lao which is the national language of Lao PDR. Moreover, they speak the
languages of the other tribes living in nearby villages so that there can be good relationships and mutua
The fourteen tribes of Xekong have never fought against each other but helped fight in the liberation wars against
the French and Americans. We did not detect any racial or tribal problems when we conducted our field research in
Xekong Province. Inter-marriages among members of different tribes are common and this encourages bilingualism
within households and, later, multilingualism in villages.