Tips for Beginning Burmese

What are the pitfalls when learning Burmese from scratch, especially as a native English speaker? Nance Cunningham, a Canadian Public Health Specialist who has lived in Myanmar for over a decade, gives advice to English speakers for attaining functional Burmese and working with interpreters. Nance has long taught and facilitated language courses and has also authored/published several Burmese dictionaries and bi-text stories.