Learn Burmese from Natural Talk

Author: kennethwongsf

Hello! Greetings from the Burmese corner! I'm Kenneth Wong, a Burmese language instructor, author, and translator. This is a podcast series for intermediate and advanced Burmese language learners who want to learn Burmese by listening to natural conversation. Every two weeks or so, a guest speaker and I record and upload an episode on a specific topic. At the end of each episode, you'll find the keywords and phrases with their meanings. For more on the podcast series, visit the Learn Burmese from Natural Talk blog: http://burmeselessons.blogspot.com/ 
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Bite-Size Burmese: Twitchy Eyebrow, Itchy Heart
Episode 59
Saturday, 21 February, 2026

Twitchy eyebrow? Itchy sole? According to Burmese superstition, twitching eyebrows may be an omen of good fortune or financial ruin, depending the exact spot of the twitch, also on who you ask. And an itch in the sole might be a sign of imminent travel. မျက်ခုံးလှုပ်တယ် (the eyebrow twitches) and ခြေဖဝါးယားတယ် (the sole itches) are also expressions people might use to convey worry and anxiety or wanderlust and the itch to travel, so even if you don't plan on visiting a fortuneteller, it's a good idea to add them to your vocabulary and learn to use them correctly. Sometimes the itch is not in the sole but in the heart. The expression အသည်းယားတယ် (the heart itches) is the Burmese equivalent of "I can't stand it! I can't bear it!" The sight of an adorable baby or puppy might make an English speaker feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but for a Burmese speaker, the common response is an itch in the heart. In this episode of Bite-Size Burmese, I discuss the circumstances in which you might encounter these phrases, along with examples. (Image: AI-generated in ChatGPT; Music: "Sunshine Dreams" by Kaazoom, Pixabay) Vocabularyမျက်ခုံး eyebrowလှုပ်တယ် to shudder, to moveမျက်ခုံးလှုပ်တယ် the eyebrow twitchesခြေဖဝါး sole, the underside of the footလက်ဖဝါး palm, the underside of the handယားတယ် to itchခြေဖဝါးယားတယ် the sole itchesအသည်း (also written အသဲ) heartအသည်း (အသဲ) ယားတယ် the heart itchesHave a question about a Burmese word or phrase you heard here? Send us a message.