Women Learning Thai... and some men too ;-)

Thai Tales: Bananas, Papayas, and Angry Thai Feet

Catherine — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 03:45:34 +0000

Thai Tales: Bananas, Papayas, and Angry Thai Feet…

Last week I introduced a new section, Thai Tales. The first story introduced Mangoes, Mangosteen and Angry Thai Feet. In the comments Carsten pointed us to the full version, ทำไมกล้วยจึงเรียก Banana มะละกอจึงเรียก Papaya (megga thanks Carsten). As Carsten’s version went into more detail I took a stab at translation.

If you have anything to add, correct, whatever, please do.

Why กล้วย is called Banana and มะละกอ is called papaya…

This is the story of why กล้วย is called banana and มะละกอ is called papaya.
ทีมาของทำไมกล้วยจึงเรียก Banana มะละกอจึงเรียก Papaya
tee-maa kŏng tam-mai glûay jeung rîak Banana má lá gor jeung rîak Papaya

A long time ago
ประมาณว่านานมากแล้ว
bprà-maan wâa naan mâak láew

a farang tourist came to visit the floating market in Thailand
มี ฝรั่งนักท่องเที่ยว มาเที่ยวตลาดน้ำเมืองไทย
mee fà-ràng nák tông tîeow maa tîeow dtà-làat náam meuang tai

and saw various kinds of fruits.
และเห็นผลไม้มากมาย
láe hĕn pŏn-lá-máai mâak maai

The farang looked at bananas first.
ฝรั่งก็มาดูที่ กล้วย ก่อนอันอื่น
fà-ràng gôr maa doo têe glûay gòn-an-èun

And then the farang asked, “What is this?”
แล้วฝรั่งถามแม่ค้าว่า “What is this?”
láew fà-ràng tăam mâe káa wâa

The fruit seller didn’t know English so said nothing.
แม่ค้าไม่รู้ภาษาอังกฤษจึงไม่ได้ตอบอะไร
mâe-káa mâi róo paa-săa ang-grìt jeung mâi dâai dtòp a-rai

The farang tried to squeeze (the banana).
ฝรั่งเห็นดังนั้นจึงลองบีบดู
fà-ràng hĕn dang-nán jeung long bèep doo

By accident, the heavy-handed farang squeezed the banana until it became soft.
บังเอิญฝรั่งมือหนักจึงบีบกล้วยเละ
bang-ern fà-ràng meu nàk jeung bèep glûay

The fruit seller saw and yelled, “baen nâe nâe!“
แม่ค้าเห็นจึงร้องโวยวายว่า “แบนแน่ๆ”
mâe-káa hĕn jeung róng woi waai wâa “baen nâe nâe”

The farang heard, so answered, “Oh! Banana”
ฝรั่งได้ฟังจีงร้องอ๋อแล้วก็บอกว่า “Oh! Banana”
fà-ràng dâai-fang jeeng róng ŏr láew gôr bòk wâa “Oh! Banana”

After that the farang pointed to mangosteen and asked, “Is this mango?”
หลังจากนั้นฝรั่งก็มาชี้ที่ มังคุด และถามว่า “Is this mango?”
lăng-jàak-nán fà-ràng gôr maa chée têe mang-kút láe tăam wâa

The Thai fruit seller was angry with the farang because he made the banana mushy
แม่ค้าชาวไทยกำลังโกรธที่ฝรั่งทำกล้วยเละ
mâe-káa chaao-tai gam-lang gròht têe fà-ràng tam glûay lé

then replied “maeng goh sôn-dteen ná si”
เลยตอบไปว่า “แมงโกส้นตีน นะสิ”
loie dtòp bpai wâa “maeng goh sôn dteen ná sì”

The farang answered, “Oh Mangosteen!”
ฝรั่งก็ร้องอ๋อแล้วบอกว่า “Oh Mangosteen!”
fà-ràng gôr róng ŏr láew bòk wâa

Then the farang glimpsed a papaya.
แล้วฝรั่งก็เหลือบไปเห็น มะละกอ
láew fà-ràng gôr lèuap bpai hĕn má-lá-gor

He picked up the papaya with his dirty hands
ก็เอามือที่เลอะกล้วยไปจับ
gôr ao meu têe lúh glûay bpai jàp

and then asked, “What is this?”
แล้วถามว่า “What is this?”
láew tăam wâa

The fruit seller saw and was very angry that the papaya was dirty.
แม่ค้าเห็นดังนั้นก็ยัวะมากที่มะละกอเลอะเทอะ
mâe-káa hĕn dang-nán gôr yúa mâak têe má-lá-gor lúh túh

So she took a pestle to hit the farang.
จึงคว้าเอาสากขึ้นมาจะตีฝรั่ง
jeung kwáa ao sàak kêun-maa jà dtee fà-ràng

But another person shouted to stop her “bpâa, bpâa yàa”
แต่มีคนตะโกนห้ามแม่ค้าว่า “ป้าๆ อย่า”
dtàe mee kon dtà-gohn hâam mâe-káa wâa “bpâa bpâa yàa”

The farang overheard, thinking someone was saying the name of the fruit má-la-gor
ฝรั่งได้ยินดังนั้นจึงนึกว่ามีคนบอกชื่อมะละกอ
fà-ràng dâai-yin dang-nán jeung néuk wâa mee kon bòk chêu má lá gor

so he said, “OH! papaya!”
จึงร้องว่า “OH! papaya!”
jeung róng wâa “OH! papaya!”

Useful vocabulary…

The vocabulary is listed in the order of its appearance in the text. To help with understanding, I’ve attempted to keep both the translation and the vocabulary list as close to the actual meaning as possible.

story (implied): ทีมา /têe maa/
of: ของ /kŏng/
why: ทำไม /tam-mai/
banana: กล้วย /glûay/
then: จึง /jeung/
be called, named: เรียก /rîak/
papaya: มะละกอ /má-lá-gor/

approximately: ประมาณว่า /bprà-maan-wâa/
for a long time: นาน /naan/
very much: มาก /mâak/
already: แล้ว /láew/

have: มี /mee/
farang (westerner): ฝรั่ง /fà-ràng/
tourist, traveler: นักท่องเที่ยว /nák-tông-tîeow/
to go out: มาเที่ยว /maa tîeow/
floating market: ตลาดน้ำ /dtà-làat náam/
Thailand: เมืองไทย /meuang-tai/

and: และ /láe/
see: เห็น /hĕn/
fruit: ผลไม้ /pŏn-lá-máai/
a lot: มากมาย /mâak-maai/
then: ก็ /gôr/
come see: มาดู /มา doo/
at: ที่ /têe/
first: ก่อน /gòn/
other (kinds): อันอื่น /an èun/

and: แล้ว /láew/
asks: ถาม /tăam/
female (fruit) seller: แม่ค้า /mâe káa/
mother: แม่ /mâe/
trade, do business: ค้า /káa/
that: ว่า /wâa/

not: ไม่ /mâi/
know: รู้ /róo/
English language: ภาษาอังกฤษ /paa-săa ang-grìt/
didn’t: ไม่ได้ /mâi dâai/
answer, reply: ตอบ /dtòp/
what, anything: อะไร /a-rai/

like that: ดังนั้น /dang-nán/
try and see: ลอง … ดู /long … doo/
squeeze, press: บีบ /bèep/

accidentally: บังเอิญ /bang-ern/
hand: มือ /meu/
heavy-handed farang (westerner): ฝรั่งมือหนัก /fà-ràng meu-nàk/
hard: หนัก /nàk/
mushy: เละ /lé/

shout, yell: ร้อง /róng/
cry out loud: โวยวาย /woi-waai/
flat: แบน /baen/
certainly, surely: แน่ๆ /nâe-nâe/

listened: ได้ฟัง /dâai-fang/
say out loud: ร้อง /róng/
Oh!: อ๋อ /ŏr/
say that: บอกว่า /bòk-wâa/

after that: หลังจากนั้น /lăng-jàak-nán/
come: มา /maa/
point: ชี้ /chée/
mangosteen: มังคุด /mang-kút/

Thai people: ชาวไทย /chaao tai/
to be angry: กำลังโกรธ /gam-lang gròht/
to do, to make: ทำ /tam/

therefore: เลย
answer that (inferred): ตอบไปว่า /dtòp-bpai-wâa/
heel of the foot: ส้นตีน /sôn-dteen/
shows emphasis: นะสิ /naa-see/

glance, glimpse: เหลือบ /lèuap/

take, want: เอา /ao/
hand: มือ /meu/
dirty: เลอะ /lúh/
to catch, to hold: ไปจับ /bpai-jàp/

very angry: ยัวะมาก /yûa-mâak/
to be dirty, soiled: เลอะเทอะ /lúh-túh/

seized, grab: คว้า /kwáa/
pestle: สาก /sàak/
upwards: ขึ้นมา /kêun-maa/
to hit: จะตี /jà-dtee/

but: แต่ /dtàe/
someone: มีคน /mee kon/
shouted: ตะโกน /dtà-gohn/
forbidden!: ห้าม /hâam/
aunty: ป้าๆ /bpâa bpâa/
don’t: อย่า /yàa/

heard: ได้ยิน /dâai-yin/
like that: ดังนั้น /dang-nán/
think that: นึกว่า /néuk wâa/
name: ชื่อ /chêu/

If you too have Thai Tales please leave suggestions in the comments below or contact me.

YouTube Thai Lessons: Ajarn Adam is Teaching Thai

Catherine — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:50:59 +0000

Adam Bradshaw is well-known amongst Thais and intermediate Thai language students for his insightful English language videos on YouTube. And now Adam is now teaching Thai. Excellent.

Most Thai learners know me as an English teacher because most of my material on the Internet is made for Thais learning English. However, many intermediate/advanced Thai learners have been learning more Thai in a backwards fashion by listening to me teach English in Thai.

Beginners obviously won’t benefit as much from doing this because they won’t understand much of what is being said.

Therefore, as I continue to receive more and more requests to post more Thai learning material, I have decided to start making some clips about learning Thai.

So far the material is rather basic, yet numerous intermediate/advanced speakers have commented that these clips actually are quite useful for them as well because it helps them touch up on their basics and solidify their Thai language knowledge.

How to Read Thai: Middle Class Consonants…

As a westerner fluent in Thai, Adam has a natural insight into how westerners learn a tonal language. His first video, where he carefully enunciates each letter, is a taste of more to come.

Where to find Adam…

Ajarn Adam: Learn Thai
Twitter: @AjarnAdam
Facebook: ajarnadam
YouTube: jadambrad and winkwinkenglish

In 2011 Adam was interviewed for the Successful Thai Language Learner series. Thanks Adam!

Note: For a couple of months (or so) I’ll post updates from Adam’s YouTube in the comments below. But please don’t depend on me – subscribe to jadambrad on YouTube. Pssst… Subscribing is also a great way to show support. What I mean is, decent Thai language videos don’t just magic out of thin air, ya know?

Thai Language School Review: Baan Aksorn

Tod Daniels — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:07 +0000

Thai Language School Review: Baan Aksorn Thai Language School…

School: Baan Aksorn
Telephone Number: 02-258-5617 or 02-662-3090
Mobile: 084-769-6449
Address: House #40 Sukhumvit Soi 33, Klongton Nua, Watana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand

Location: Baan Askorn has a PDF that shows exactly how to get to their school either by walking from Phrom Phong BTS or by driving. Meaning, I don’t need to give you directions!

Basic Info: I looked at this school a few years ago, but kinda forgot about it. Actually, when I toured the school the first time I was quite put off by the condescending attitude of a particular student. But, in retrospect, students shouldn’t come into play so an in-depth review was in order.

I have to say the overall ambiance of this school is the best of any I’ve been to. From the outside it’s the most un-school looking building I’ve ever seen. Baan Askorn is located in a 30 year old Thai house that has been totally redone as a functional Thai language school. The garden area is full of towering mature trees, with places to sit. It’s shady and certainly more than adequate for having a Thai lesson outdoors (weather permitting). Honestly, I wouldn’t mind just stopping by their garden to “hang out”. Inside the school is just as inviting. The downstairs is the reception area, with the classrooms are upstairs.

Materials: The first four books are pretty standard fare. And I don’t mean that with ANY negative connotation. It’s just that they’re close to the materials seen in the better private Thai Language schools around Bangkok (as far as basic intro Thai books go). These types of books are designed to get you speaking something that at least resembles Thai. The books also provides a student with a base line vocabulary with the means to concentrate on conversation, reading, writing or a combination.

Baan Askorn’s advanced reading and writing materials are not the same old beat to death stuff I’ve seen at other schools. The course books are contemporary, up to date, and interesting. Stories start out with just a few sentences and progressively get longer in content and harder in vocabulary. New vocabulary is introduced at the beginning. And to gauge a student’s comprehension, questions (both spoken and written) are asked afterward. Quite honestly, as far as advanced materials go, these were some of the most interesting books I’ve come across in any school I’ve toured.

Method: The initial methodology at Baan Askorn is similar to other schools. Their phonemic transcription uses a system pretty close to Benjawan Becker’s Paiboon Plus. The material is presented in Thai, karaoke and English. This is situational-based material, covering the basics: greeting, meeting, getting around, asking questions, etc. It’s presented in a straightforward manner. The more advanced classes have discussions about topics relevant to the material being covered. Their advanced classes discuss articles from Thai newspapers.

Teachers: The teacher I had was more than capable insofar as teaching a foreigner the Thai language. She obviously knew the materials. In fact, she was so adept at teaching she was even able to write both English AND Thai upside down and backwards (so it would read right side up for me) as we sat across the table from one another! (I give her kudos for that feat in and of itself). I tried it after I got home and it’s definitely a skill-set which takes practice to pull off proficiently.

I spoke to a student who who sat the Thai proficiency exam after attending Baan Aksorn. He said teachers in all levels were more than competent and able to explain the “whyz-in-Thai” versus “that’s just how it is in Thai”.

Classes: Baan Aksorn offers group classes but only for those at comparable levels of Thai. However, I definitely got the feeling that they really prefer to teach private 1-on-1 lessons. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I’ve sat group classes in many Thai language schools where the disparity of knowledge between students compels the teacher to teach either to the slowest student, holding back the faster ones, or to the fastest student, dragging the other ones along. As this can create bad feelings, some schools prefer to give private lessons.

ED Visa: Baan Aksorn offers education visas for students who enroll in a year long Thai program. It’s operated pretty much like all private Thai language schools registered with the Ministry of Education. Once students have paid their tuition, the school supplies support documentation for a Thai Embassy or Consulate (in a neighboring country), and secure a single entry 90 day ED visa. This is extended every 90 days at Thai Immigrations with additional documentation supplied by the school.

Bang-4-The-Baht: I rate this school quite high on the ‘bang-4-the-baht’ scale in terms of real value versus cost. They have some of the most contemporary and error free material I’ve seen. Their books are all written in-house, instead of being 5th generation copies of the oh-so dated Union Method material still in use by some Thai schools. They put a lot of time and effort into coming up with a solid curriculum of material for students to learn to speak, read and write Thai.

I’d recommend Baan Aksorn to anyone serious about undertaking Thai. You aren’t going to show up for the Ministry of Education’s stated minimum class time of 4 hours a week and suddenly start speaking Thai like a Thai. And you aren’t going to coast thru a class parroting material like a mynah bird (as is done in a school which shall remain nameless). This school will challenge you to learn Thai, but more than that, it will teach you the necessary skill-set to meet that challenge.

After perusing Baan Aksorn’s material I realised that I was quite remiss in my earlier dismissal of this school. And if I was still looking to attend a Thai language school, I’d certainly put them very near the top of the list.

Hope you found this review of value. As always I rate schools on what I’ve found works for me. This may or may not work for you. I urge ANYONE contemplating enrolling in or attending a private Thai language school to check out as many as you can BEFORE you pay a single satang of your hard earned baht.

Good Luck.

Tod Daniels | toddaniels at gmail dot com
Reviewing Thai Language Schools in Bangkok
(BTW: Tod is NOT affiliated with any Thai language school)

The Common Koel & Why I’d Make a Lousy Buddhist

Catherine — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 04:48:53 +0000

The Common Koel and why I’d make a lousy Buddhist…

Around November of last year a longtime member of my neighbourhood bird community, the Common Koel (lovingly known for his stealth gliding through the trees), transformed his pleasant warbling into an incessant, high-pitched shrill. Right outside my bedroom window. All of my windows actually. And all day and all night.

Throughout the day and 11pm, 12pm, 1am, 2am, 3am (especially 3am), this is what I hear:

[See post to listen to audio]

The Koel’s mating calls started in November, ran through the month of December, and now here we are at the end of January. That’s stamina. It’s also crazy making (for insomniacs especially).

Earphones didn’t work to cut the noise so drugs (of some sort) were up next. And Nootropics are said to fit the bill. Remember those?

I first tried Melatonin. A mistake. I now know that Melatonin is great for switching timezones but if you are too enthusiastic, you’ll start waking up in the early hours. And stay up. My up lasted two weeks plus.

I then dipped into even more Nootropics and found a (hopefully) permanent fix. So if you too are the recipient of the Common Koel’s randy call, here’s my personal mix:

At around 9pm I quiet my body and mind with Bacopa Extract. Three to four pills does it for me. Around 10-11pm I down 500 mgs of L-Tryptophan. After the L-Tryptophan, sleep comes fast.

Once I got my sleep sorted I went looking for information about the Common Koel in Thailand. My Thai friends all professed a love for the blasted thing (as I once did and will again) but after three months of radically disturbed sleep I was ready to kill. Or at the very least, singe his feathers with one of those super duper lazer pens easily acquired in Thailand.

So there you have it. The proof that I’ll never ever make anything but a lousy Buddhist. Because yeah, it’s not over ’till it’s over and it’s clearly not over yet.

Anywaaaaay, in a nutshell, the Common Koel is an oversized member of the Cuckoo family. Brood parasites, the momma Koels turf eggs from the nests of black birds and others, laying their own eggs in place. Once the Koel chicks have been nurtured by the host parents and are ready to fly, the Koel(s) come back and off they go (this last point I’m not 100% sure of).

Thai Poetry: The Common Koel, the Black Crow, and motherhood…

Not ready to give up on knowing more about the Common Koel and Thailand, I found an old Thai lullaby that briefly touches on the Koel’s attributes. The poem (with translation and transliteration) is below. As is a YouTube video. Note: the singing style is not to my taste but it has to be someone’s. Enjoy.

Except for knowing what type of Thai poem this is (อาขยาน /aa-kà-yaan/ – a narration of sorts) I know little else. I do know that in Thai poetry words are added to make the words flow. Personally, I found that the unnecessary words made translation difficult so only the gist of the poem is below. And yes yes yes, I had to yell, scream, and holler for help.

Overview of the poem: A Common Koel lays an egg in a crow’s nest. The crow hatches the egg, taking care of the baby bird as her own. The momma crow feeds the baby and then takes it for an outing along a river. After eating, the crow and the baby fly back, landing on a nearby tree. A hunter spots the birds, bagging the mother crow for dinner. End of story.

The Common Koel …
กาเหว่า เอย
gaa-hăy-wâa oie

leaves an egg for the mother crow to hatch.
ไข่ ไว้ ให้ แม่ กา ฟัก
kài wái hâi mâe gaa fák

The mother crow falls in love (with the chick).
แม่ กา ก็ หลงรัก
mâe gaa gôr lŏng rák

She believes the egg came from her belly.
คิดว่า ลูก ใน อุทร
kít-wâa look nai u-ton

Carries food in her mouth.
คาบ เอา ข้าว มา เผื่อ
kâap ao kâao maa pèua

Carries food to feed (the chick).
ไป คาบ เอา เหยื่อ มา ป้อน
bpai kâap ao yèua maa bpôn

Takes care of the baby in the nest.
ถนอม ไว้ ใน รัง นอน
tà-nŏm wái nai rang non

Works hard getting food.
ซ่อน เหยื่อ มา ให้ กิน
sôn yèua maa hâi gin

The chick’s wings are still weak.
ปีก เจ้า ยัง อ่อน คลอ แคล
bpèek jâo yang òn klor kaen

It’s not time yet for the chick to fly.
ท้อแท้ จะ สอน บิน
tór-táe jà sŏn bin

Mother takes the chick to look for food.
แม่ กา พาไป กิน
mâe gaa paa-bpai gin

At the mouth of the river …
ที่ ปากน้ำ พระ คงคา
têe bpàak-náam prá kong-kaa

the baby steps on algae …
ตีน เจ้า เหยียบ สาหร่าย
dteen jâo yìap săa-ràai

and uses her mouth to catch fish.
ปาก ก็ ไซ้ หาปลา
bpàak gôr sái hăa-bplaa

Eats shrimp and mantis shrimp.
กิน กุ้ง แล กิน กั้ง
gin gung lae gin gâng

Eats shellfish and horseshoe crab.
กิน หอย กระทั้ง แมงดา
gin hŏi gràtang maeng-daa

After eating they fly to …
กิน แล้วก็ โผ มา
gin láew-gôr pŏh maa

a Jambolan tree.
จับ ที่ ต้นหว้า โพธิ์ทอง
jàp têe dtôn-wâa poh-tong

Yet there is a hunter.
ยัง มี นายพราน
yang mee naai-praan

He’s out looking, stalking.
เที่ยว เยี่ยม เยี่ยม มอง มอง
tîeow yîam yîam mong mong

He lifts his rifle.
ยก เอา ปืน ขึ้น ส่อง
yók ao bpeun kêun sòng

Aims at the mother crow.
จ้อง เอา แม่ กาดำ
jông ao mâe gaa dam

He’s thinking of boiling one of them.
ตัว หนึ่ง ว่า จะ ต้ม
dtua nèung wâa jà dtôm

The other to make into a salad.
อีก ตัว ว่า จะ ยำ
èek dtua wâa jà yam

Eat the mother crow …
กิน นาง แม่ กาดำ
gin naang mâe gaa-dam

tonight. Sad for mother crow.
ค่ำ วันนี้ อุ แม่ นา
kâm wan-née u mâe naa

There are a few iffy spots in the translation so please don’t be shy; go ahead and share corrections in the comments below. Also, as per usual, there’s a moral to this lullaby. Do you know what it is?

Thai Tales: Mangoes, Mangosteen and Angry Thai Feet

Catherine — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 03:14:01 +0000

Thai Tales: Mangoes, Mangosteen and Angry Thai Feet…

My good friend Khun Phairoh, giggling away, told me a cute story this weekend and I just had to share it with you. Here you go… (and may there be many more).

A tourist in Bangkok stops at a fruit stall along a crowded footpath. Wanting to try out his limited Thai skills, he asks the female fruit seller about one of the items.

Tourist: What is this?
นี่ อะไร ครับ /nêe a-rai kráp/

Fruit seller: It’s called mangosteen.
เรียกว่า มังคุด /rîak-wâa mang-kút/

Tourist: Mango?

Fruit seller: No it’s not… this is mangosteen!
ไม่ใช่… นี่ มังคุด! /mâi-châi… nêe mang-kút/

Tourist: Mango?

Fruit seller: I said mangosteen!!
บอก ว่า มังคุด!! /bòk wâa mang-kút/

Tourist: Mango?

Fruit seller: Mango, Mango… feet!
Mango, Mango… ส้นตีน!!! /sôn-dteen/

Tourist: Oh! I see! Mangosteen!

So, what’s this feet thing?…

As you might know, I don’t make a habit of sharing cuss words in Thai. But as the story made me laugh I went to Hugh Leong for advice.

The word ส้นตีน /sôn-dteen/ is not a curse word as we think of it – four letter words, f-words, etc – but it is quite vulgar. It is a really gross way of referring to the foot, especially when used with a person, like, “I stick my foot at you, you uncouth character”.

If we were referring to an animal the word ตีน /dteen/ is used for foot. ตีนเป็ด /dteen bpèt/ means duck foot but can also mean webbed foot (as used with frogs).

So don’t refer to your foot as ตีน /dteen/ but use the regular เท้า /táo/.

Oh, and when we do talk about our feet (or shoes or socks, etc) we usually ask forgiveness first, as in ขอโทษ /kŏr-tôht/ (excuse me) followed by the reason.

Sample: ขอโทษเท้าเจ็บ /kŏr-tôht táo jèp/
Excuse me, my feet hurt.

KP also reminded me that in polite Thai, if you need to touch someone’s head for any reason, you would first say ขอโทษ /kŏr-tôht/ then state the reason (or not).

Sample: ขอโทษค่ะ มีใบไม้บนหัวคุณ /kŏr-tôht kâ mee bai-máai bon hŭa kun/
Excuse me, you have a leaf on your head.

Useful vocabulary to know…

ตีน feet, foot (rude)
เท้า /táo/ feet, foot (polite)
ส้น heel

footpath: ทางเท้า /taang táo/
stall: แผง /păeng/
fruit: ผลไม้: /pŏn-lá-máai/
female fruit seller: แม่ ค้า ขาย ผลไม้ /mâe káa kăai pŏn-lá-máai/

this: นี่ /nêe/
what: อะไร /a-rai/
it’s called: เรียกว่า /rîak-wâa/
mangosteen: มังคุด /mang-kút/
no (it’s not): ไม่ใช่ /mâi-châi/
I said: บอก ว่า /bòk wâa/

duck feet: ตีนเป็ด /dteen bpèt/
excuse me: ขอโทษ /kŏr-tôht/
have: มี /mee/
leaf: ใบไม้ /bai-máai/
on: บน /bon/
head: หัว /hŭa/
you: คุณ /kun/

polite particle (m): ครับ /kráp/
polite particle (f): ค่ะ /kâ/

A megga thanks goes from me to Khun Phairoh and Hugh!

Successful Thai Language Learner: Stephen Thomas

Catherine — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:00:05 +0000

Interviewing Successful Thai Language Learners…

Name: Stephen Thomas “ไกร”
Nationality: British
Age range: 40-50
Sex: Male
Location: Bangkok
Profession: Actor
Web presence: Facebook: Stephen Thomas | Stephen Thomas and People On Wheels

What is your Thai level?

Intermediate.

Do you speak more street Thai, Issan Thai, or professional Thai?

Probably more street Thai. Professional Thai has a lot more complicated and redundant grammar, though it can be useful if I am having trouble getting my point across. It’s important to know the proper rules of any language I think. I see and hear grammatical catastrophes in English all the time which people have just come to accept and don’t even know they are wrong. I don’t really want to sound like that in Thai but of course I’m late out of the gate and racing to catch up.

I do use some Isaan language. I have several Isaan friends and a lot of the vendors I go to regularly are Isaan or Lao. It’s also a good way to show that I’m not just a tourist who learned a few phrases, especially when going into touristy areas. It’s a fun and friendly dialect, and whenever people call me “Farang” I tell them I’m “Bak Seeda.”

What were your reasons for learning Thai?

At first, communication, obviously. The first time I visited Thailand in 2006 I was going to be staying with a friend who I knew couldn’t speak English, though she could read and write English. We’d been friends for a few years through instant messaging and e-mail and she offered me a place to stay. I picked up a book and CD set from Teach Yourself and began getting a basic foundation. Good thing, too! It turned out she lived in Ormnoi in Samut Sakhon where practically nobody spoke English. That was a great way to really learn the Thai way of life and to quickly hone language skills.

Do you live in Thailand? If so, when did you arrive?

Yes, I came here in September 2009, ostensibly for another holiday after a particularly hard year. I’d been wanting to return since spending 3 months in Thailand in 2006, and I finally decided I wasn’t going to wait any longer. I planned to be here for 3 – 5 months, and a year later I realised I was still here!

I’d met and become friends with an up-and-coming film director named Pakphum Wongjinda in 2006, and when I came back I got in touch with him. He was starting work on a film for Baa-Ram-Ewe and invited me to visit the set. One day he called me up and asked if I would be interested in doing one scene for the film. I said yes and it turned out to be a scene with one of Thailand’s top actresses Sinjai Plengphanich. He then asked me to play in a short film for Channel 3 with Bank Pavarit that would be shown on Boxing Day 2006.

In February the first film reached #1 opening week and my scene was well received by audiences and critics. He then invited me to be in the first movie in a new series of Sunday afternoon films for Channel 3. It wasn’t until I showed photos of the shoot to a friend of mine that I realised how big this production was. It was a huge hit and we’ve done a sequel already and a third one is planned. I’ve continued to do films for him in the series as well as branch out into other films, a huge stage musical (Rak Ther Samer) and even opera!

How long have you been a student of the Thai language?

Officially for 14 months. Before that I was picking it up in the street and off of friends, that started in 2006, but when I returned to New York I didn’t really continue until over a year later when I began to meet a group of Thai friends who were working in the states. I was still chatting with friends in Thailand over the internet and meeting more and more through Myspace which I was using to promote my music. Once I began blogging about my experiences in Thailand I became friends with more Thais who were interested in what I was saying. I probably picked up a few more words during that time as well, but it wasn’t until I came back that I really started learning again.

Did you learn Thai right away, or was it a many-pronged approach?

Many prongs, many starts… The very first Thai words I learned were from a guy I used to work with in an office in Hackensack. I actually had no idea Thailand would play a part in my future at that time, though my cousins had told me I should visit. I learned hello, goodbye, thank you and monkey which I always think are important words to know in any language.

The next was start was in preparation for my first trip to Thailand in February 2006. That was with the book and CD set from Teach Yourself which I got less than half-way through. A great advantage to that lesson set is that it taught you how to read and write Thai as well. When I arrived in Bangkok my friend wanted to show off my skill. She’d point at a sign and say, “Read!” and I’d stumble through it. Then another one, a little harder. Finally she pointed at a sign with a simplified font and I simply could not make head or tail of it. Every day I would watch store signs and billboards with various fonts go by on the bus, and after about 3 weeks I was finally able to decipher them. It made me aware of how varied the same set of letters can really be. And if you consider the Latin alphabet has uppercase, lowercase, and both cursive and block writing, then all the various fonts… It’s quite amazing how our brains recognise letters.

During that trip my friend arranged for another friend to stay with us as well. She was studying English and would show me around Bangkok while my other friend was at work. I learned a lot of Thai words from her, probably asking for the same word more than once on some occasions, but every day my vocabulary built up bit by bit. I tried to speak as much Thai as I could and use words I’d learned to make them stick. The way a child babbles when they’re learning to speak, I’m sure!

By the evening I would usually be exhausted by the time my friend got off work so I would barely be able to communicate with her. I did, however listen to them talking and started picking up repeated words and phrases.

We would also watch Ching Roy Ching Lan and Mum Show on TV and I can remember suddenly be able to understand something being said, so I used to tell people I learned Thai from watching Mum Jokmok!

I began exploring Thailand on my own and anywhere I stayed I would talk to the staff. I don’t mean the people at the desk, I mean the cleaners, the gardeners… It was during the emergency elections when protesters were gathering in Sanam Luang so everyone was discussing politics. I couldn’t get into deep conversation, but people enjoyed telling me their opinions and asking me what I felt about it, and each day I think I learned another word.

As soon as I got back to New York I knew I would return to Thailand and meant to study Thai language. That didn’t happen, and for about a year I really didn’t expand at all on the small foundation I had.

In 2008 I became friends with a group of Thais working in Westchester County in New York and soon began spending considerable time with them. Most of them were Isaan and I began picking up a couple of Lao words. I would try to speak Thai when I could, and other than the cold weather I would often forget what continent we were actually on. That was when I realised that my heart really wasn’t where I was. I was working in video and film production and as soon as the projects I was working on were finished I came back to Thailand.

Right away I began talking with the vendors and people in my neighbourhood and picking up language from them. I also began visiting the set of a film my friend was making for Baa-Ram-Ewe Studio. A film set being like a second home to me I was able to connect what people were saying to a meaning I already knew. I also began acting for this director and with each script I would learn more words.

I was given one script with very formal dialogue, not like I’d had to speak before. I spent a lot of time learning it, reading it over and over, getting the meaning of each word. Unfortunately when I got in front of the camera I realised that my brain knew the words, but my tongue did not. Reading and speaking are two very different tricks. It was miserable. Afterwards I vowed to never let that happen again.

I enrolled at Walen School in Times Square near Asok. While it’s not an intensive course, its schedule is such that I can have time to go off and do films or plays, though when I’m not working I do wish I could spend more time studying.

I’ve also resumed the Teach Yourself book, though I find I’ve since learnt most of the words that were remaining. It is good to get a mix of grammar though as one book may teach this way to say something and another book will teach another way. There’s also the tried and true method that we all hated as school kids, writing down vocabulary words 10 or 20 times. I’ve been doing that recently for the words that just haven’t been sticking, and it actually does work.

There’s a fun and informative series on Youtube by BonOnstage called Learn Thai The Bon Way. I found out about her from friends watching her character based comedy bits, but she created a series of short Thai language lessons that’s really quite helpful.

Another method was working as an acting coach. Sometimes we had classes or else were performing workshops in schools, where the students didn’t speak English. We had an interpreter with us and I learned just as much from that as anything else. And of course continued total immersion. It is the ONLY way to develop listening skills and is important for pronunciation.

14 months after that disastrous day on the film set I got a phone call from Grammy, completely in Thai, asking me to go in and meet with them about playing a small part in a lakorn on Channel 5. I went down there and they gave me a script with 2 scenes to read, and I passed the audition. That really made me feel like I’d accomplished something.

Did you stick to a regular study schedule?

Once I started classes, yes, I have a regular schedule of 2 nights a week, which really isn’t enough, but it allows me to go off and do films or plays, then come back. The class continues through the book until you’re ready to move onto the next level.

What Thai language learning methods did you try?

The first method I used was the book and CD set Teach Yourself which I think does a very good job, though I’ve been told some of what I learned is “old fashioned”. One thing I think is invaluable in that book is that it teaches you to read and write Thai which is vital for correct pronunciation.

The next method was picking it up in the streets or at work which will give you listening skills, teach you which words people actually use, rather than the overly formal words you often find in phrase books, and you’ll learn words they wouldn’t necessarily print in language books. :) However, a pitfall here is that you can pick up the wrong pronunciation or else use a rude word in the wrong setting.

Finally I went to Walen School which uses Thai script and teaches vocabulary with question and answer exercises. The teachers are entertaining and will stray from the book to show other uses of the word or to teach other words that could mean the same thing. Conversation is best way to learn a language, and I often converse with the teachers outside of class also.

Did one method stand out over all others?

Once I started taking classes at Walen my friends told me my Thai was improving drastically.

How soon did you tackle reading and writing Thai?

Right away. The Teach Yourself system has it’s own Romanisation (which actually makes more sense than most) but encourages you to learn to read Thai and prints the dialogues side by side in both formats.

The reading/writing lessons in Teach Yourself broke the alphabet down into about 10 characters per lesson, between consonants and vowels. The method was to write each character while saying the sound, “Dor… Dor… Dor…” over and over. Once they’d taught enough letters they began building up short sentences one word at a time to get you used to the lack of spaces between words. Then the book showed you some of the more complicated spelling rules, like those for words borrowed from Khmer.

The two things I didn’t like about Teach Yourself’s method is that it didn’t give you the names of the letters, which I have since learned at Walen, and it didn’t teach the alphabetical order, which I still don’t know and would really like to. Walen has an alphabet class that all students start out in, but I went straight into Book 2 when I enrolled.

Did you find learning to read and write Thai difficult?

I seem to remember it being fairly quick to learn, though I’ve always been fond of alphabets anyway. It took me a few weeks before I started recognising Thai letters in different fonts and longer before I could read handwritten Thai.

I’ve built up my reading speed by trying to read the signs on buses to see where they go. Now sometimes when I’m at the movies my eyes will pick up the Thai subtitles. On a slower song I can sometimes read along the Thai words on a karaoke machine, but I wouldn’t put bets on it!

What was your first ‘ah hah!’ moment?

There have been a few. The first I recall was when I was watching Mum on TV and understood something he said. I don’t remember what it was now, but that was definitely a moment comparable to waving a bone in front of The Monolith.

I also recall going into the Omyai market to buy some fruit one morning and the vendor eyeing me with trepidation. When I asked for papaya in Thai she called out to someone, “Hey, this farang speaks Thai!” I responded and she said even more surprised, “He understands Thai too!”

More recently and on a higher level we were rehearsing a show to perform in front of hundreds of very young school kids. We came up with the idea of a kind of choose-it-yourself adventure where we’d let the kids decide between 2 possible routes during each scene. One outcome led to a wizard who would then transform us into animals of the children’s choosing. During rehearsal someone called out, “Maa” which depending on the tone could mean horse or dog. My partner in this endeavour was luk kreung and has much more experience with Thai than I do, so when I saw him act like a dog I thought, “Damn, I was sure he said horse.” The actor playing the wizard watched us prancing about, barking an yapping, and said casually, “Actually, I said horse.” That was a breakthrough moment for me.

How do you learn languages?

In English we have different words that mean the same thing which you might use in different circumstances. Learning a language is just learning another word for the same thing. Though I know that’s not physically true. I think they’ve done EEGs that show multi-linguists use different parts of their brains for different languages, unless I’m mistaken about that.

I know a little Burmese girl about 2 or 3 years old in the market and she has been picking up Thai language by imitating people around. Sometimes she’ll say things and this one Burmese friend of mine says she doesn’t know what language she’s speaking, but I can hear that she’s mixing the two languages. I think that’s normal at that age for children growing up around multiple languages, but at some point they do separate them and speak wholly in one or the other. I had a friend in the states whose wife was French and he’d learnt French as well. His son wouldn’t speak English to him, though if anyone came to visit he would speak English fluently.

Language is very complex because it’s an important part of human evolution. Our brains are largely built for that purpose and we use so much of our senses and utilities in order to communicate. How often do we have miscommunication on the telephone because we can’t see the person who is talking. And how often do you see people gesturing and nodding their head when talking on the telephone? We use our eyes and ears and then process that through deep analytical functions to make sense of it all at an alarmingly fast pace!

I saw a programme about 3 different species of monkeys who lived in the same area. Not only did they have their own calls for different types of threats, they knew the calls of the other monkeys as well. They also discovered grammar syntax in the calls so that by stringing calls together in a different order they would convey a different meaning.

What are your strengths and weaknesses?

I used to dread having to speak Thai on the telephone. It’s still more difficult, though not as bad as before. I have a hard time with telephones in general. After all this time you’d think they would improve the sound. I know it’s possible because when people talk on Viber it’s 1,000 times clearer. Even in English you can’t discern between S and Th or V and F on the telephone. You only know because of you know what the words are supposed to be, same as speaking to someone with a lisp or speaking in spoonerisms.

The lackadaisical habit of substituting ล for ร or dropping ล after ก has led to my confusion on more than one occasion. I love Joey Cheuancheun’s routine about Ror Reua is Ror Reua and Lor Ling is Lor Ling. But it’s the same as americans substituting D for T or the New York and London use of glottal stops or substituting N for Ng at the end of verbs. That’s why learning in the street is so important.

I hate forgetting vocabulary that I don’t use as often, but again this happens in English too, only you usually have another word to fall back on in that case.

As for strengths, the only strength I can really say is that I’m not afraid to make mistakes. I’ll try out a new way to say something or make a joke, and if it works great, if not then I learn from that.

What is the biggest misconception for students learning Thai?

That you can get by using Romanisation. There are consonant and vowel sounds that appear in Thai that we simply don’t have in English. Plus the vowels we use pull double and triple duty. In Thai a vowel is that vowel sound only, with the exception of a few vowel combinations which are considered separate diphthongs in their own right. The letter A on its own is used to represent 4 different Thai vowels. In English I can substitute one A sound for another in a word and you recognise that it’s the same letter, but to a Thai person you’ve completely changed the spelling. Also some vowels in Thai are held longer than others but we don’t have a way of noting that in The Latin Alphabet which leads to putting the stress on the wrong syllable which again results in a completely different spelling.

Whenever I see a name or a place written in Roman letters I look for the Thai in order to see how it’s really pronounced. Some assistant directors have offered me “karaoke” scripts and I tell them no.

Can you make your way around any other languages?

Not to the extent that I can Thai. I took Latin in high school and that along with having a large English vocabulary to begin with, I can often make some sense out of reading bits of French. Our languages are so closely related. Probably Italians and Spaniards make jokes about English and French being one and the same!

I began to learn Cantonese in the mid-1990s but didn’t have anyone to practice with so I gave up on it. That wound up being helpful to Thai because it introduced me to tones and also some of the vowel and consonant sounds, in particular the initial Ng sound which westerners have such a hard time with.

I’ve always enjoyed learning words in other languages and have made it a point to be able to say hello and thank you. Growing up around New York City you naturally know a few words of Spanish, but not enough to have conversation.

Are you a computer programmer, or do you have programming experience?

I used to do Basic computer programming in the 1980s. During the Myspace era I was using css to customise my page. I started using the internet back when you had to type some Unix in order to get anywhere, this was before graphical browsers, but I never got deeply into coding.

Do you have a passion for music?

“Absolutely. I have 2 albums on iTunes and various other online outlets,” he said taking the opportunity to shamelessly promote himself. “Stephen Thomas and People On Wheels: The Story So Far, and Stephen Thomas & The Reptiles: INANUTSHELL. I also co-produced an album with Incomplete Denial called Our Existence Is An Accident and used to have a band with my brother Paul Damon Thomas and friend Doug Freed, called Sigmund Boo. I’ve been talking to some people in Thailand about recording songs in Thai which could become the next very exciting project for me.”

I’ve performed with Opera Siam, and last September we took our production of Mae Naak to London. I have friends ranging from pop singers to jazz musicians to classical Thai musicians. One of the things I love about living in Bangkok is the great cultural diversity. There really is a lot going on in this city, though it’s not always easy to find out about.

Were you learning another language at the same time as Thai?

No, not really. Some Lao/Isaan words, but not to the point that I would say I’m studying Lao. One comedian I’ve worked with wanted me to learn Northern Thai, but I told him one language at a time!

What advice would you give to students of the Thai language?

Find people who don’t speak English and talk to them. I hear foreigners say in Bangkok they don’t have to use Thai. I’m not sure where they go, but I can easily go outside and find many people who can’t speak a word of English. Start out by buying your morning coffee from a street vendor instead of Starbucks. Strike up a simple conversation. It will be slow at first but after a month you’ll realise how much you improved and you will have met other people in the neighbourhood who will want to talk to you too.

Learning songs is also a great way to learn, and one that I haven’t been doing to be honest. The couple of times I have learned a song I’ve seen how much faster it sinks in. Again I think it’s to do with the evolutionary mechanisms of our brain. That’s why songs are so important to us and why you can still remember songs from your childhood from historical lessons to toy commercials!

Stephen Thomas “ไกร”
Facebook: Stephen Thomas | Stephen Thomas and People On Wheels

The Series: Interviewing Successful Thai Language Learners…

My personal thanks for this series goes to: Stephen Thomas, James (Jim) Higbie, Mark Hollow, Marc Spiegel, Adam Bradshaw, Fabian Blandford, Luke Cassady-Dorion, Nils Bastedo, Grace Robinson, Ryan Zander, Joe Cummings, Hamish Chalmers, Andrew Biggs, Ian Fereday, Doug, Gareth Marshall, Martin Clutterbuck, Stuart (Stu) Jay Raj, Herb Purnell, Celia Chessin-Yudin, Stickman, Thomas Lamosse, Vern Lovic, Colin Cotterill, Jonathan Thames, Hardie Karges, Peter Montalbano, Jonas Anderson and Christy Gibson, Daniel T. Murphy, Paul Garrigan, Marcel Barang, Chris Baker, Hugh Leong, Terry Fredrickson, Glenn Slayden, Rikker Dockum, David Smyth, Tom Parker, David Long, Aaron Handel, and Chris Pirazzi.

If you are a successful Thai language learner and would like to share your experiences, please contact me. I’d love to hear from you.