Vientiane is the capital city of Laos. It sits on the Mekong River, in the middle of the country, right on the border with Thailand — you can stand on one bank and see the other country.

Vientiane is the capital city of LaosVientiane是寮國的首都。It sits on the Mekong River它坐落在湄公河邊, in the middle of the country在這個國家的中部, right on the border with Thailand就在跟泰國的邊界上 — you can stand on one bank and see the other country你可以站在這一岸看到對面的國家。

It is the biggest city in Laos, but by the standards of Asian capitals it is small and quiet: under a million people, low buildings, wide slow streets, temples and French-era houses mixed together. Because Laos was ruled by France for about sixty years, a lot of the old city looks French, and there is even an arch in the middle of town that people compare to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

It is the biggest city in Laos它是寮國最大的城市, but by the standards of Asian capitals不過以亞洲首都的標準來看 it is small and quiet它算是小又安靜: under a million people人口不到一百萬, low buildings, wide slow streets, temples and French-era houses mixed together低矮的建築、寬闊悠緩的街道，寺廟和法國殖民時期的房子混雜在一起。Because Laos was ruled by France for about sixty years因為寮國被法國統治過大約六十年, a lot of the old city looks French舊城區有很多地方看起來很法式, and there is even an arch in the middle of town that people compare to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris市中心甚至有一座拱門，大家會拿來跟巴黎的凱旋門比較。

In English the name is a place name, so we write it with a big V and use no 'the': 'She lives in Vientiane.' Say it roughly VYEN-tyan or vee-en-TYAN — English speakers do not agree on this, and both are accepted.

In English the name is a place name在英文裡這個名字是地名, so we write it with a big V and use no 'the'所以要大寫V開頭，前面不加'the': 'She lives in Vientiane.''她住在Vientiane'。Say it roughly VYEN-tyan or vee-en-TYAN大概唸成VYEN-tyan或vee-en-TYAN, English speakers do not agree on this英文使用者對這點也沒有共識, and both are accepted兩種唸法都可以接受。

One thing worth knowing: 'Vientiane' is the French spelling of the Lao name, and Lao people say something closer to 'Wiang Chan', which means something like 'city of the moon' or 'city of sandalwood' — scholars are not sure which. So the English name and the local name are further apart than they look.

One thing worth knowing有件事值得知道: 'Vientiane' is the French spelling of the Lao name'Vientiane'是寮語名字的法文拼法, and Lao people say something closer to 'Wiang Chan'而寮國人自己講的比較接近'Wiang Chan', which means something like 'city of the moon' or 'city of sandalwood'意思大概是'city of the moon（月亮之城）'或'city of sandalwood（檀香之城）' — scholars are not sure which學者也不確定是哪一個。So the English name and the local name are further apart than they look所以英文名字跟當地名字的距離，其實比看起來的還要遠。