Internet & WiFi

1. ཝི་ཕིའི་གསང་ཚིག་ཅི་རེད།

   Wi-fi-i sang-tsik chi-re

   What is the Wi-Fi password?

   Usage

   Used to ask for a Wi-Fi password at hotels or cafes. Wi-Fi is available in urban Tibetan areas

   Grammar Note

   "Chi-re" is the question "what is it." "Sang-tsik" literally means "secret word" — password. "Wi-fi-i" is the genitive "-i" attached to a word ending in a vowel

2. དྲ་རྒྱ་ཁང་ག་པར་ཡོད།

   Dra-gya khang ga-par yö

   Where is the internet cafe?

   Usage

   Used to find an internet cafe when a smartphone isn't available. Lhasa has several options

   Grammar Note

   "Dra-gya" means "web/network connection" — the Tibetan word for internet. Location question uses "ga-par"

3. ཕོན་གྱི་འཁོར་ལམ་ཅིག་ཡོད་དམ།

   Phon-gi khor-lam chig yö-dam

   Is there a phone charger?

   Usage

   Used to borrow a charger at hotels or cafes. Charging opportunities are limited in remote Tibetan areas

   Grammar Note

   "Yö-dam" forms an existential question. "Phon" is borrowed from English. "Dam" is the question-final particle

4. སིམ་ཤོག་བྱང་ག་པར་ཉོ་ཐུབ།

   Sim shok-chang ga-par nyo-thub

   Where can I buy a SIM card?

   Usage

   Used to find a SIM card for communication in Tibet. Available at telecommunications offices in Lhasa

   Grammar Note

   "Thub" marks ability/possibility. "Nyo" is the verb "to buy." SIM is used as a loanword in Tibetan

5. དྲ་རྒྱ་གཤིབས་གི་ཡིན།

   Dra-gya shib-gi-yin

   The internet is slow

   Usage

   Used to report slow internet to staff. Connectivity is often unstable in rural Tibet

   Grammar Note

   "Gi-yin" is an auxiliary phrase describing current state. In Tibetan, adjectives appear in predicative position

6. ལག་ཐུང་གི་གློག་མེ་ཡོད་དམ།

   Lag-thung gi log-me yö-dam

   Is there a power outlet?

   Usage

   Used to check for power outlets at accommodation or public spaces. Power can be limited in rural Tibet

   Grammar Note

   "Log-me" literally means "electric fire" — used for electricity/outlet. "Yö-dam" forms the existential question

7. ངར་འཕྲིན་གཅིག་གཏང་དགོས།

   Nga-r trin chig tang-go

   I need to send a message

   Usage

   Used to request help sending a message at an internet cafe or accommodation

   Grammar Note

   "Tang" means "to send." "Go" expresses necessity. "Trin" traditionally means "news/information"

8. ATM ག་པར་བེད་སྤྱོད་བྱེད་ཐུབ་ཀྱི་རེད།

   ATM ga-par be-chö je-thub-kyi re?

   Where can I use an ATM?

   Usage

   Used to locate an ATM when needing cash. Multiple ATMs are available in Lhasa

   Grammar Note

   In Tibetan, "ATM" is written with the Latin letters. Location questions use ག་པར and ability is expressed with ཐུབ་ཀྱི་རེད

9. ཤོག་ལེབ་ག་པར་མར་བཀྲམ་ཆོག་གམ།

   Shog-leb ga-par mar-tram chog-gam

   Where can I print documents?

   Usage

   Used to find printing services for travel documents or photos. Print shops exist in Lhasa's tourist areas

   Grammar Note

   "Chog gam" forms a permission/ability question. "Shog-leb" is a compound meaning "leaf-shaped paper"

10. གློག་ཀླད་གཅིག་གཡར་ཐུབ་བམ།

    Log-ke chig yar thub-bam

    Can I borrow a computer?

    Usage

    Used at internet cafes to borrow or use a computer

    Grammar Note

    "Log-ke" literally means "electric brain" — the Tibetan term for computer. It avoids using foreign loanwords

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