SAVANNAKHET, Laos — Listen closely in Laos and you can hear a linguistic renaissance. It sounds a lot like the letter R. Forty-five years ago, Laos's communist government officially dropped the ...

Laos' government dropped the letter R sound from the alphabet, calling it a symbol of foreign influence.The widening reach of the internet is changing that.

SAVANNAKHET, Laos - Listen closely in Laos and you can hear a linguistic renaissance. It sounds a lot like the letter "R." Forty-five years ago, Laos's communist government officially dropped ...