What does “fluent in Thai” mean to you? …

When people start talk about learning Thai I often hear the word “fluent” bandied about. A couple of forums are talking about just this sorta thing (google). So what exactly is the definition of “fluent”? Being an American, I’ll use the Merriam Webster dictionary.

flu·ent adjective \ˈflü-ənt\

Definition of FLUENT
1
a : capable of flowing : fluid
b : capable of moving with ease and grace

2
a : capable of using a language easily and accurately [fluentin Spanish] [a fluent writer]
b : effortlessly smooth and flowing : polished [a fluentperformance] [spoke in fluent English]
c : having or showing mastery of a subject or skill [fluent in mathematics]

I’ve met more foreigners than I care to count who’ve told me they know someone who’s fluent in Thai. My question to them is, “how do you know if your friend is fluent if you can’t even speak Thai?” I’ve since met some of their friends and when I ask them to “bust out with it”, seems they are anything but fluent.

I’ve also had conversations with a guy who makes no bones about his fluency in Thai, and the fact that every foreigner he’s taught is also fluent in Thai. Now, in his defense, he is a clear, concise foreign speaker of Thai. His rhythm and cadence are what makes him so easily understood by Thais.

I’d learn Thai from him in a second (he’s that good) excepting he’s set a maximum age limit and in his opinion, I’m well past my “sale by date”. And darn it, on top of all that, and for reasons beyond my understanding, I seemed to have rubbed him the wrong way.

Anyone who’s listened to Thai knows it’s spoken with a definite rhythm. For myself, the more I emulate the distinctive tempo of spoken Thai, the better Thais understand even my quirky version of Thai.

Awhile back I started a post asking about comma words in Thai. Written Thai is bereft of commas so comma words are where you pause either before or after a word. I asked about comma words because when it came to my turn in the reading aloud portion of Thai class, the teacher would often be in tears either from tryin’ not to laugh or from the sheer anguish of havin’ to endure my reading. I now know that what I was doing wrong was pausing to take a breath in the middle of compound words, or at the wrong place in a sentence. So unless someone was following along with the written text it was hard to understand what I was saying.

In my own defense I’ve gotten much much better but that’s the direct result of reading books aloud for hours on end while a Thai friend lounged around my house half listening and then yelling corrections whenever I messed up. It hasn’t made it into my spoken Thai (yet) but at least my oral reading skills are doing okay. Not that I do a lot of that, come to think of it…

But let’s get back to the topic of fluency. What is fluency and what makes a person fluent? I read somewhere that being able to ask about the meaning of a word you don’t know in your target language demonstrates fluency. To a degree, I believe this is true because I routinely do the same so experience the value.

I also read somewhere that being fluent is having a conversation in the target language without breaking into your mother tongue. Dunno about that one as it’s a pretty broad interpretation of fluency. I talk to taxi drivers and never have to fall back on English. However, I’m using the same ‘ole predictable taxi driver conversation that anyone who speaks even marginal Thai gets into. Not exactly fluent. And seeing as in taxi situations you are usually just answering questions, or maybe even elaborating on the topics a little, it’s not a big stretch language-wise.

Now, if you were to talk to the taxi drivers about, oh, let’s say the recent law where you can report a taxi driver who declines to take you somewhere. And let’s say you start chatting about your personal feelings, that it’s not a fair law because: 1) taxis are rented and hafta be returned at specific times, 2) taxis run low on petrol and maybe where the customer wants to go will drain the tank, 3) that there’s just nothing but a parking lot where that someone want to go, and 4) the meter for fares haven’t increased in Bangkok for almost 10 years, etc. Well, all of that might constitute being a little more fluent than the run-of-the-mill Thai taxi chatter.

As far as I’m concerned, there is a huge difference in fluency between you driving a conversation topic-wise or participating in one where they are in the driver’s seat. Keeping a conversation in Thai on a topic you’re comfortable with can seem to demonstrate fluency. That is, until it strays off script, leaving you all of a sudden floundering around without a word to say in response.

Fluency can also be broken down into a myriad of subjects: politics, religion, business, or any specialty trade lingo, casual conversation, conversations with superiors/subordinates, giving presentations at meetings, etc.

I recently worked for a Thai company on a consultancy gig and I had NO business Thai vocab to fall back on. I was woefully behind the curve on projections, sales, training, and basic office and managerial lingo Thai. It was vocabulary I’ve never needed to know before. So again, depending on what you need to communicate, fluency can be rated based on different criteria.

On a sidetone: At the beginning of the consultancy gig my casual (and very coarse) direct, no frills way of speaking Thai didn’t really play that well with the people sporting impressive titles. But thankfully, they’re now dialed into Todz-Thai and realize that’s just how I speak.

I think what I’m trying to get at is that for most of us it’s better if we just chuck the idea of fluency out the window. Seems that when it comes to speaking Thai, we put way too much time and effort on attaining this mythical fluent rating. And really, in the big picture it doesn’t always mean that much of anything.

If you’re gonna go for something, go for fluidity instead (another meaning for fluent):

• Pause where Thais pause.
• Say things more like Thais do.
• Speak with the rhythm and cadence Thais use.

And if you live in Thailand these Thai traits can be gleaned just by listening to the Thais around you.

Talking Thai to Thais ain’t a grammar or structure test by any means. No one’s grading your ability to converse. And the Thais I know don’t give two hoots if I make an attempt to speak perfectly constructed Thai or stick with the half-assed version of Thai I speak. What they do care about is being able to understand what I’m saying.

And here’s another thing. You shouldn’t be speaking Thai to impress anyone. And if you are, IMHO, you’re learning Thai for all the wrong reasons. Because at the end of the day, aren’t we merely trying to connect with Thais in their language?

To finalize: Don’t take this language or yourself too seriously. Don’t let other people bring you down. Oh, and if your opinion differs from mine, that’s fine. What I’m not is a Thai language pundit. I’m just someone who’s struggled for over four years to get a working semblance of Thai under my belt in order to communicate with Thais.

Now, because I’m considered “old” by some, I could very well be a slow learner because “old people can’t learn”. But I’m gonna prove that fallacy wrong. Not to impress anyone, but to prove that old dogs can learn new tricks. Because you know what? This old dog still hunts! Yeah.

Tod Daniels | toddaniels at gmail dot com

Six beautiful words in the Thai language…

Several times a month I jump into a taxi to roam around Thailand with a Thai friend. There is usually a plan, but we always end up goodness knows where. And after I let go of my western penchant for sticking to the plan, “goodness knows where” became fun.

On trips around Thailand I take a special black Moleskin to jot down what interests me. Sometimes it’s the name of a Wat or town. Sometimes a Thai word or phrase. But oftentimes I’m taking down notes for future posts on WLT.

On one trip I asked Khun Phairo and KP (the taxi driver) what their most beautiful Thai words were. They were both dumbfounded at my question and couldn’t come up with a single one.

Going at it from another angle, I then asked which Thai words sounded good tripping off their tongues. Thai words (or word combos even) they enjoyed saying.

Bingo. We were then on a roll with words for lovers, words used with kids, and words for fun.

And excellent for us, all can be found on YouTube. And because the YouTube files take up loads of room, I’m posting this section separate from a coming post: The most beautiful words in the Thai language.

สบายๆ /sabai sabai/…

Everyone who knows Thai knows สบายๆ /sabai sabai/. Sabai Sabai means “happy, comfortable, feeling fine, take it easy”. When someone asks you “sabai dee mai?” then you reply “sabai sabai” or “mai sabai”. And if you are panicking, someone might comfort you by saying “sabai sabai”.

The song of the same name is by ธงไชย แมคอินไตย์ Thongchai “Bird” McIntyre. The original song came out in 1987 with later versions being cut by Bird and Sek Loso.

Btw: In Lao they say สบาย /sabai/ instead of สวัสดี /sà-wàt-dee/ or หวัดดี /wàt-dee/.

เป็นไปไม่ได้ /bpen bpai mâi dâai/…

เป็นไปไม่ได้ /bpen bpai mâi dâai/ means “it’s impossible” in Thai. Perry Como recorded the hit song It’s Impossible back in 1970 but this version is Thailand’s very own. It’s not a translation of the American song, but a love song of the same name. It’s sung by เศรษฐา (Sayt-Taa), who is wishing for the impossible: ten faces, ten hands, etc.

จิ๊บจ๊อย /jíp-jói/…

จิ๊บจ๊อย /jíp-jói/ means “it’s a little thing, not a big deal”. จิ๊บจ๊อย is similar to ไม่เป็นไร /mâi bpen rai/ “it’s nothing, never mind”. The Thai song จิ๊บจ๊อย /jíp-jói/ is by flamboyant Country singer ดาว มยุรีย์ (Dao Mayuree). The lyrics start off with: “It’s not a big deal if we break up…”

หน่อมแน้ม /nòm-náem/…

หน่อมแน้ม /nòm-náem/ is slang for being “childish, innocent, naïve”. The cute Thai song หน่อมแน้มไปหน่อย /nòm-náem bpai nòi/ is sang by บิลลี่ โอแกน /bin-lêe oh-gaen/ (Billy XOXO).

เรื่อยๆ /rêuay rêuay/…

เรื่อยๆ /rêuay rêuay/ means “let it go, chill out”. The gist of the song is, “we’ll keep going like this until we get old”. Love it (I’ve added this song to my Thai songsn to learn list).

จุ๊บๆ /júp júp/…

Thais use จุ๊บๆ /júp júp/ for the sound that a kiss makes. You can say “kiss kiss” to your cat, your mom, your lover, your baby or spouse. But not your boss.

รักนะจุ๊บๆ /rák ná júp júp/ is “I love you, kiss kiss!”

Buddhist Temples of Thailand…

Hey, hey, it’s Christmas! This being December and all, and discovering free time before hauling my be-hinie off to other lands, I spent a day waggling my camera at the ten Bangkok temples listed in Joe Cummings and Dan White’s Buddhist Temples of Thailand.

Buddhist Temples of Thailand: A Visual Journey Through Thailand’s 40 Most Historic Wats – the first illustrated title to cover the key temples in all of the kingdom’s regions – explores the Buddhist temple’s historical position in Thai culture and the dynamic role it continues to play in everyday life. Thailand’s best-known sites and rare gems, such as Wat Phra Kaew in Bangkok and Wat Phumin in Nan, are brought to life through expert text and more than 200 commissioned photographs.

There isn’t a record for hitting the most Thai temples in one day, is there? There should be, because I’m writing this the day after and I’m STILL shagged out.

The temples I visited, in order:

Wat Benchamabophit (วัดเบญจมบพิตรดุสิตวนารามราชวรวิหาร)
Wat Saket (วัดสระเกศราชวรมหาวิหาร)
Wat Suthat (วัดสุทัศนเทพวราราม)
Wat Pho (วัดโพธิ์)
Wat Phra Kaew (วัดพระแก้ว)
Wat Daowadeungsaram (วัดดาวดึงส์)
Wat Dusitaram (วัดดุสิตาราม)
Wat Arun (วัดอรุณ)
Wat Molilokayaram (วัดโมลีโลกยาราม)
Wat Suan Phlu (วัดสวนพลู)

It turned out to be quite a day. Even though I’ve managed to see quite a few temples during the time I’ve lived in Bangkok, some were new to me (and there were a few I mistakenly thought I’d seen before, but hadn’t). Wat Benchamabophit (the Marble Temple) and Wat Saket I intend to see again. Only much slower, next time.

What I learned from the experience:

• All of the Bangkok maps I have at my disposal (including Google Maps) are wrong.
• Ten Bangkok temples in one day are one too many (you only get credit for nine).
• Buddhist Temples of Thailand should be savored, not gobbled in one go…
• …and would make an excellent Xmas gift for those living in Thailand, visiting Thailand, or budding photographers in either category.

Instead of saturating this post with photos, here’s what I posted on Facebook: Buddhist Temples of Thailand: Bangok.

If you are insane enough to follow in my footsteps, here’s the Google Map I created: Buddhist Temples of Thailand (Bangkok)

Warning. The locations are not exact. When I presented the map to my taxi driver he laughed and asked for the names of the temples instead. He was right. I still don’t know where Wat Dusitaram is exactly (the blue pin is only a sort of location).

Breaking Through to Fluency…

Every Xmas, when struggling to buy ‘the’ gift for the people in my life, I end up with stuff for myself. Yeah! I like stuff. Especially stuff about language learning. This week, after downloading the Kindle version of Breaking Through to Fluency (how to naturally learn a new language with the right teacher), I thought of someone besides myself. You.

No, I’m not going to gift the ebook via a free giveaway. No need. At a mere $0.99 it’s affordable (and I can save my pennies for another day). So could my title possibly be misleading? Not really. I’m working on the assumption that you too buy yourself stuff at Xmas.

What impressed me about Joshua Smith’s ebook is 1) it takes us through his language struggles, and 2) a free audio book is included, and 3) it has an AH HA worth knowing about.

Breaking Through to Fluency: If you’d like to learn another language wisely, and thus more efficiently, then this book is for you.

The last 10 years of my life’s journey has been spent learning new languages and teaching people – over 200 in the last 6 years – to become fluent. These 200+ people were just like me: they had studied in schools, traveled abroad, etc., without achieving the fluency they had always dreamed of.

This booklet tells my story. It took me more than 3 years to finally experience a substantial breakthrough speaking a second language. Although I was sometimes humiliated in the process the first time around, following my discovery, I used the same method to learn a 3rd language with greater focus and ease. Now it’s time to share this process with you. I call it ‘natural conversation’.

Having plans to incorporate Joshua’s AH HA into my own language studies, I contacted him with a few questions.

Breaking Through to Fluency: Question one…

How can students find a teacher who will give them time to speak?

I think these points will give someone the best chance; of course, we’ll never really know, until after we start working with the person.

1. Independent teachers. This way the teacher is their own boss. Thus they create or collect the curriculum and can use the teaching style (natural conversation) they want. Plus they have the liberty to change things, even in real time, if something isn’t working well.

If you go to a chain school, the teacher has to use the curriculum and style that the school administrator says: book 1, book 2, unit 1, unit 2, etc.

2. Private classes. When we’re just starting to speak another language, our vocabulary is much smaller than our native language. So we need time to think creatively how we can express ourselves with the vocabulary we have. With private classes, the student pays a little more for the class, but doesn’t have to share that time with other people. Thus the student has all the time in the world, or that class, to formulate and express their ideas. In group classes, there are all sorts of other issues that take place in the dynamics of the group class: shyness, students ahead of other students, etc., all of which are eliminated with the private classes.

I have found that one group class per month is good to practice listening to other accents and the group class dynamics, which are important.

3. Interview. Make an interview or meeting with the teacher before starting the course. If the teacher doesn’t give you an opportunity to speak during the meeting, there’s a good chance that they won’t in the classes. This one is difficult for the teacher, because they’ll want to show you how good they are, as they want to get a new student. Naturally they’ll anxiously speak a lot, but when the student tries to ask a question or speak, does the teacher just keep speaking, or does he/she pass the microphone?

Other thoughts:

• The teacher must really care about the success of their student(s).

• I know without a shadow of a doubt that the system – natural conversation – is one of the most efficient, if not the most efficient to improve fluency. I know/understand that who needs to speak most of the class time is my student, not me. Therefore, I am patient and ask question after question about their weekend, work, hobbies, etc. making them paint me a Picasso, until I know every last little detail. If they ask about my weekend, I sum it up in a few sentences. Depending on the student, and how long we’ve been working together, I might give them more information, but I certainly won’t take more than 5 min of their class time to talk about me.

• Sometimes the teacher is so concerned about “teaching”, that they teach (blah, blah, blah) the whole class, or most of it anyway. Who needs to speak or blah, blah, blah is the student to develop fluency. Does your language teacher understand this?

• I have heard many people say that you have to think in your new language. How in the hell can you think in your new language when you’ve just started learning it, and probably only have a few hundred word vocabulary? …You can’t. Of course, we’re going to translate when we begin. After we learn some of the differences in the languages, then we can start trying to think in our new language. When we are rolling along pretty good, then we start thinking in our new language.

Breaking Through to Fluency: Question two…

Do you generally ask for X amount of experience in a language before taking on a student with your method? Or do you give the student a set of phrases/vocab to begin with?

No I don’t ask for x amount of experience to use my method. If a student is starting from zero, I’ll just ask the same questions in their native language, limiting this conversation to 5 min. Next I’ll ask them which verbs they used: for the weekend example they will be go, buy, eat, etc. Then I need to teach them the basics. Obviously, with someone that’s only had a few classes, the conversation will be very short. The next class, I’ll ask them the same questions in the same sequence: how was your weekend, what did you do?

I tell them that next class I’m going to ask them the same questions, so they can prepare the vocabulary before the class.

Breaking Through to Fluency: Question three…

What advice would you give teachers who’d like to use your method? The reason I’m asking is that I have a group of Thai Skype teachers just who might be interested in implementing it.

Advice for teachers is just to be patient. As long as the student is working to formulate sentences and speaking then you can continue with the conversation. If there is just silence, and the student doesn’t have anything more to say or can’t say any more, then the teacher can start the lesson they’ve prepared.

Best tip: Let the conversation go as long as you can keep the student speaking. If that is the whole class, fantastic! The teacher can use the lesson he/she prepared in the next class.

Obviously, if you want to learn more about the AH HA, you’ll have to get your own copy of Breaking Through to Fluency. Go on. You deserve it. Oh. And before I forget… “Ho Ho Ho and Merry Xmas to all!”

The most beautiful words in the Thai Language…

There are Thai words that I love to say just because of the singsong melody they impart. I’m not sure if they can be called beautiful, but from pure enjoyment alone, they are to me.

When I came up with sourcing the most beautiful 100 words in the Thai language I thought it would a dawdle. I wasn’t 100% wrong. At 75 words – shared below – I was mostly right.

Oh, and a MEGGA thanks from me to all who participated.

Ajarn Pasa…

These ones I like because of the beauty of the meaning:

ปัญญา /bpan-yaa/ wisdom
สติ /sà-dtì/ consciousness
ใจ /jai/ mind/heart
สันติสุข /săn-dtì sùk/ tranquility

These are the ones for which I like the sonority/onomatopoeia:

จบ /jòp/ finish (it just sounds so final and therefore reflects its meaning very well)
บุคลิกภาพ /bùk-ká-lík pâap/ personality (I love the rhythm of this word)

Ajarn Pasa
Tweet Yourself Thai
Twitter: @AjarnPasa

Benjawan Poomsan Becker…

ฉกาจฉกรรจ์ /chà-gàat chà-gan/ brave, fearless
สัพเพเหระ /sàp-pay-hăy-rá/ odds and ends, miscellaneous, trivial
ละมุนละม่อม /lá-mun lá-môm/ gentle, soft in manners
พิลึกกึกกือ /pí-léuk gèuk-geu/ odd, weird, abnormal
เก็บหอมรอมริบ /gèp hŏm rom ríp/ to save up
ข้าวยากหมากแพง /kâao yâak màak paeng/ shortage of food, scarcity
จองหองพองขน /jong-hŏng pong kŏn/ supercilious, haughty
เจ็บปวดรวดร้าว /jèp bpùat rûat ráao/ to anguish, to be in pain
ชายจริงหญิงแท้ /chaai jing yĭng táe/ straight person (not gay), heterosexual
วงศาคณาญาติ /wong-săa-ká-naa-yâat/ relatives, kinship
ว่านอนสอนง่าย /wâa non sŏn ngâai/ obedient, teachable

These words rhyme or have some sounds that are repetitive and make the words beautiful. The words sounds poetic or literary. You can use them when you want to sound eloquent. They are used in many Thai sayings. Learn more about them from Speak Like A Thai Volume 3: Thai Proverbs and Sayings.

Benjawan Poomsan Becker,
Paiboon Publishing

Hugh Leong…

ราตรีสวัสดิ์ /raa-dtree-sà~wàt/ good night
- ราตรี /raa-dtree/ evening.

อรุณสวัสดิ์ /à~run-sà~wàt/ good morning
- อรุณ /à~run/ morning or dawn as in Wat Arun, the Temple of the Dawn.

Both of these are rarely if ever used in real conversations but heard often on TV, especially really romantic soap operas.

กรุณา /gà~rú~naa/ please (very formal)
It’s also used to describe a persons character, benevolent, merciful, kind. Similar to เมตตา /mâyt-dtaa/. มีกรุณา /mee gà-rú-naa/ and มีเมตตา /mee mâyt-dtaa/ are used to say that a person is kind and compassionate. Sometimes they are put together as in มีเมตตากรุณา /mee mâyt-dtaa gà-rú-naa/ which is “kind, merciful”.

เสน่ห์ /sà~này/ charm, มีเสน่ห์ /mee-sà~này/ charming
This can be said about a person or a place.

นุ่มนวล /nûm nuan/ gentle; delicate; graceful
Both นุ่ม /nûm/ and นวล /nuan/ alone mean “soft”. Together they take on a different meaning.

วาสนา /wâa-sà~nǎa/ Good fortune (because of past good deeds), also luck.
วาสนา /wâa-sà~nǎa/ is a very good thing to have and is usually said about people who are lucky in life. I just heard on a Thai soap opera a woman complaining about her life and saying that she ไม่มีวาสนา “I just can’t get a break in life.”

สุวรรณภูมิ /sù-wan-ná~poom/ Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport, meaning “Golden Land”. One of the worst cases of transcription in a language noted for its terrible transcriptions. But when pronounced correctly it has a very nice sound. I would have spelled it “Suwana-Poom”.

เทวดา /tay-wá~daa/ an angel (male). One of the many Thai words for angel, this one being the most melodic.

The following don’t sound as tuneful but they are words I used very often when my children were small, so they are beautiful to me.

อุ้ม /ûm/ to carry in ones arms (as carrying a child, อุ้มลูก)

หม่ำ /màm/ to eat
Usually used with infant children encouraging them to eat. Most often said by the mother feeding her child as หม่ำฯ /màm màm/ and quite often are the first words a Thai child will learn how to say.

Hugh Leong
Retire 2 Thailand
Retire 2 Thailand: Blog
eBooks in Thailand

Jessi Cotterill…

จั้กกะแร้ /jak-gra-rae/, I think this word has such beautiful sound, and its sound is too beautiful for its meaning. There are words that have similar sounds to จั้กกระแร้ /jak-gra-rae/, for examples, จักรภพ /jak-gra-pop/ and จักรวาล /jak-gra-waan/, and their meanings are so grand, so grand as it means world, and the later means universe.

However, it’s hard to believe that จั้กกะแร้ /jak-gra-rae/, which has almost the same sound /jak-gra-…/ as the Thai words for world and universe, means armpit. Nobody wants to be under anybody’s armpit like everyone is happy to be in จักรภพ /jak-gra-pop/ or จักรวาล /jak-gra-waan/.

However, if you twist your armpit (imagine that your armpit can be twisted), you can have ปวดร้าว /bpuat raao/. ปวดร้าว /bpuat raao/ doesn’t mean only pain, but when you say ปวดร้าว /bpuat raao/ it’s like you’re having a long strip of pain. It could be from your armpit to your ทรวงอก /suang-ok/, which is another beautiful word to look at here.

Both men and women have ทรวงอก /suang-ok/, but you can’t really see anybody’s or your own ทรวงอก /suang-ok/. You can tell it’s position which is in the middle of your chest, but it’s actually imaginary.

Think for example somebody says เจ็บในทรวง /jep-nai-suang/. Do you think they really have pain inside their chests? I don’t think so. It’s more like your feeling is being hurt. เจ็บในทรวง /jep-nai-suang/ is a beautiful word to say, but not to feel, because it explains a lot how pain you’re having.

However, what if you really have pain in your chest? It’s possible that you’re having a heart disease. If you have to be admitted to the hospital, then you’re ร่อแร่ /ror-rae/, life and death are almost in the same line on the monitor. Try pronouncing ร่อแร่ /ror-rae/. Do you feel beautiful on your tongue when you say it? I do.

Now that you have ร่อแร่ /ror-rae/ for human beings, you also have รุ่งริ่ง /rung-ring/ for describing what you wear. If your clothes are รุ่งริ่ง /rung-ring/, it means you could have a hard time fixing the clothe because it’s tattered, just like it’s hard to fix somebody who is ร่อแร่ /ror-rae/.

Try reading ร่อแร่ /ror-rae/ and รุ่งริ่ง /rung-ring/. Can you find the beauty of their sounds? I do, again. Either you have a ร่อแร่ /ror-rae/ person with you or you have a รุ่งริ่ง /rung-ring/ clothe, you might have to สรรหา /san-haa/ somebody to fix it.

สรรหา /san-haa/ doesn’t only mean to look for, but to selectively and carefully look for something or someone to satisfy your need. Anyway, in order to prevent you from being ร่อแร่ /ror-rae/, I suggest you stop or limit your eating of ของหวาน /kong-waan/.

I love eating ของหวาน /kong-waan/, but I’m still young and living in a non-stressed environment. So, I think I still have a few more years to enjoy eating sweet things. Let me ask you what pictures come up in your mind when you say ของหวาน? (OK.. some of you might have to translate it into your language first.) Are those pictures beautiful? So, can I say ของหวาน /kong-waan/ has such a beautiful meaning for sweet lovers?

Jessica Cotterill
jessi cotterill

Khun Narisa Naropakorn…

Thai words with nice sounds:

เรื่อยๆ /rêuay rêuay/ (adverb)
1. To keep doing something (as a suggestion or softened request)

Sample:
ทำไปเรื่อยๆ ไม่ต้องเร่ง
tam bpai rêuay rêuay mâI dtông râyng
Keep on, no need to rush.

เรื่อยๆ /rêuay rêuay/ (adjective, adverb)
2. So-so

Sample:
SR: Cat เป็นยังไงบ้างครับ
SR: Cat bpen yang ngai bâang kráp
SR: Cat, how are you doing?

Cat: เรื่อยๆค่ะ
Cat: rêuay rêuay kâ
Cat: So-so (nothing exciting is going on)

ราวๆ /raao raao/ (adverb)
About, approximately

Sample:
เจอกันราวๆ สิบโมงเช้า
jer gan raao raao sìp mohng cháo
(we’ll) meet around 10am.

นิดๆหน่อยๆ /nít nít nòi nòi/ (noun)
A tiny little bit

Sample:
ภรรยา: คุณไปช่วยเขา วันหยุด ไม่เหนื่อยเหรอ
pan-rá-yaa: kun bpai chûay kăo wan yùt mâi nèuay rĕr
Wife: Aren’t you too tired to do him a favour on your holiday?

สามี: ไม่เป็นไรหรอก นิดๆหน่อยๆ
săa-mee: mâi bpen rai ròk nít nít nòi nòi
Husband: It’s ok. It’s just a tiny little bit (of my time/brain/energy).

เล็กๆน้อยๆ /lék lék nói nóI/ (noun)
Tiny little bit (focus on size/amount)

Sample:
Even though I’ll hire a maid,
I’ll still need to do some small things myself.
ถึง(ฉัน)จะจ้างแม่บ้าน แต่ฉันก็ยังต้องทำงาน*เล็กๆน้อยๆ*เอง
tĕung (chăn) jà jâang mâe bâan dtàe chăn gôr yang dtông tam ngaan lék lék nói nói ayng

คิดว่า /kít wâa/ (verb)
(to) think that

Sample:
(ฉัน)คิดว่า วันนี้ฝนน่าจะตก
(chăn) kít wâa wan née fŏn nâa jà dtòk
I think that today the rain will fall.

Thai words with nice meanings:

ไว้ใจ /wái jai/ (verb)
(to) trust
keep + heart

Sample:
(ฉัน)ไว้ใจเขา
(chăn) wái jai kăo
I keep my heart with him/her.
(I have faith in him/her).

Sample:
(ฉัน)ไม่ไว้ใจเขา
(chăn) mâi wái jai kăo
I don’t keep my heart with him/her.
(I don’t have faith in him/her).

Khun Narisa Naropakorn,
Thai Skype teacher

Mia Rongsiaw…

ถูถูไถไถ /tŏo tŏo tăi tăi/ (two ถ ถุง in a row)
- ถู /tŏo/ to scrub
- ไถ /tăi/to plow

Meaning: scrape by on, to get by, to rub along

Example:

A: Hey B, how is your life in Thailand?
B: พอถูถูไถไถ /por tŏo tŏo tăi tăi/ enough to get by

บาดตาบาดใจ /bàat dtaa bàat jai/
- บาด /bàat/ to cut
- ตา /dtaa/ eye
- ใจ /jai/ heart

Meaning: Imagine that you see your ex with a new boyfriend or girlfriend… and “it hurts like a knife cut through the eyes and the heart”.

Example:

เห็นเค้ากับคนรักใหม่ มันบาดตาบาดใจที่สุด
hěn káo gàb kon mài man bàat dtaa bàat jai tîi sòod

See him/her with the new bf/gf, it hurts (like a knife cut through the eyes and the heart.)

ครอบครัว /krôp krua/
- ครอบ/ krôp/ to cover
- ครัว/ krua/ kitchen

Meaning: family

What is so beautiful about this word? Each word has such a deep meaning, which shows how Thais value the family. “Kitchen” is the center/heart/stomach of the family.

เอื้ออาทร /ěua aa-ton/
- เอื้อ /ěua/ [to] be charitable to; be kind to; help
- อาทร /aa-ton/ care; concern; regard

Meaning: to help each other

บ้านเอื้ออาทร /bâan ěua aa-ton/
บ้าน /bâan/ house
เอื้ออาทร /ěua aa-ton/ help each other; aid; do (one) a favour

Meaning: Government housing provided by the community to love income people.

From Five Beautiful Words: ชิวชิว /chiw chiw/ means chill, chill out (these days young Thais use it instead of สบายๆ /sabai sabai/)

Mia Rongsiaw
Learn2SpeakThai
Facebook: Learn2SpeakThai
Twitter: @learn2speakthai
YouTube: Learn2SpeakThai

Mod…

จินตนาการ /jin-dtà-naa-gaan/ imagination
I like this word for both how it sounds and the meaning.

สวัสดี /sà-wàt-dee/ Hello
Whenever I am away from Thailand and the first word I hear when I return to my homeland and it makes me feel warm every time I hear it.

วิลิศมาหรา /wí-rít-sà-maa-răa/ deluxe, luxurious
พิรี้พิไร /pí-rée-pí-rai/ sluggishly
วิจารณญาณ /wí-jaa-rá-ná-yaan/ thoughtfulness, discretion

Mod
Learn Thai with Mod
Facebook: Learn Thai with Mod
Twitter: @thaiwithmod
YouTube: LearnThaiwithMod

Paul Garrigan…

เบื่อ /bèua/ means bored or boring. When Thai people say น่าเบื่อ /nâa bèua/ it really does sound like something you want to avoid at all costs. If you think that you might be the cause of this เบื่อ /bèua/ the word can even sound quite accusatory. When our toddler is really starting to wear my wife’s patience down she will give a plaintive น่าเบื่อ /nâa bèua/ and I know it is time for me to intervene.

สบู่ /sà-bòo/ is another simple Thai word meaning soap that I like because of its sound. There is just something soapy sounding about the word สบู่ /sà-bòo/.

อนิจจา /a-nít-jaa/ is probably my favourite word in Thai and it means impermanent or unstable. One of my motivations for learning Thai in the early days was that I wanted to be able to read the exact words of some of the Thai forest monks like Ajahn Chah. I have been interested in Buddhism since my teens and so when I started reading Thai this was the type of material I focused on. อนิจจา is one of the three most importance concepts in Buddhism. It is also a word that brings me comfort when I’m having a stressful day – nothing is permanent. It originates from the Pali word Anicca. You will also see this same word written as อนิจจัง.

สัตว์ประหลาด /sàt bprà-làat/ means monster and this is another fun word that I like. It is actually made up of two words สัตว์ meaning animal and ประหลาด which means weird or strange.

โกหก /goh-hòk/ is a word that I like because of the sound and it reminds me of when I first moved to Thailand – it means to lie or deceive. During my first year there was a song out by Bird Thongchai called แฟนจ๋า /faen jăa/ and in the chorus of this they would sing, “ขี้หก บบี้ อ๊ะ ขี้หก ตาลาลา” /kêe hòk bà-bêe a kêe hòk dtaa laa laa/ This song seemed to be played everywhere in Thailand at the time, and it got stuck in my head. The word โกหก /goh-hòk/always reminds me of then even though they don’t actually say “โกหก” in the song; for a long time I thought they did.

เบาหวาน /bao wăan/ means diabetes and it is another word I like because of the sound and because of memories associated with it. I previously thought health studies in a Thai secondary school and the first time I used this word the students didn’t have a clue what I was on about. I had to do a bit of improvised miming. Eventually they got it though and the whole class shouted back at me ‘bao waan’. I had been saying something more like ‘bawan’. I often think of the look of exasperation in those kids faces when I hear the word เบาหวาน /bao wăan/. It also gave me a more realistic appraisal of my Thai language skills at the time.

สมาธิ /sà-maa-tí/ refers to a type of concentration meditation although many Thais seem to use it to refer to meditation in general. It is related to the Pali word Samadhi. One reason I like the word สมาธิ /sà-maa-tí/ is that it sort of sounds like the chocolate treat Smarties.

ศิลปิน /sĭn-lá-bpin/ means artist and this is another word that I just like because of the sound.

สนับสนุน /sà-nàp-sà-nŭn/ means to sponsor or support and it seems to be something I hear a lot on Thai TV – usually to say who is supporting a particular show.

ชีวิตชีวา /chee-wít chee-waa/ means full of life or energetic. It is made up of two words ชีวิต /chee-wít/ which means life and ชีวา /chee-waa/ which means lively. I just think that there is something so lively about the words ชีวิตชีวา; like somebody is tickling somebody else.

Paul Garrigan
paulgarrigan.com

Scott Earle…

The one that always pops to the forefront of my brain is กรุณา /gà-rú-naa/. It has all the hallmarks of a lovely word:

1. It is a Pali loanword.
2. It contains a ‘nice’ uncommonly-used letter.
3. Its pronunciation is irregular, having a hidden ‘-a’
4. Its meaning is one of peace, benevolance, compassion, as well as pleasantly requesting assistance.
5. It even looks pretty, especially when written in one of the โบราณ scripts.

Secondly, and I just used it – the word โบราณ /boh-raan/ itself is also up there, carrying with it as it does the ancient traditions of time goes by. Also from Pali, also using the same uncommon letter – and its meaning has a feeling of nostalgia.

Do they get any better than that? Those are my top two ‘most beautiful’ Thai words.

Scott
Scott Earle

And now from twitter, Facebook, and the comments…

Keith McDaniel

And กาญจนบุรี /gaanjànábùrii/ and สุวรรณภูมิ /sùwannápuum/ are also nice. From what I gather, they mean almost the same thing: golden province and golden land, respectively.

Mark Hollow @hmmbug

ใบ /bai/ as classifier for flat objects, including the world e.g. โลกใบนี้
คำ /kam/ as a noun means “word” but also is a classifier for a mouthful e.g. ผมจะกินคำเดียว

Nikon G. @Helaku33

ทัศนคติ /tus-sa-na-ka-ti/ attitude
คำคม /kum-kom/ inspirational quote

Michael Holland @MichaelBKK

แมว /maew/ cat (I always thought แมว was the most perfectly appropriate word in any language ;-)

Stuart Kelly

แล้ว /láew/ already
เลย /loie/ completely, entirely

Elena Borodina

เอกสาร /àyk-gà-săan/ document, paper

Gaby Doman

คลอง /klong/ canal, waterway, watercourse

Jørgen Nilsen

ระยิบระยับ /rá-yíp rá-yáp/ brilliant, glitteringly, sparkling – Jørgen Nilsen Facebook
ธรรมดาๆ /tam-má-daa tam-má-daa/ ordinary, common, usual, regular
ประสีประสา /bprà-sĕe-bprà-săa/ know, be sensible, know the ways of the world
เบ้อเร่อ /bêr-rêr/ very big, huge, large, gigantic, enormous, immense, massive
งดงาม /ngót ngaam/ be beautiful, be excellent, be wonderful, be artistic, be pleasing
ธรรมชาติ /tam-má-châat/ nature, natural, creation

For me, most of the words I suggested are not necessarily beautiful in the true sense, but I think they sound funny when you pronounce them, and I associate them with something. So for example, ระยิบระยับ is a word a learned from reading a cartoon. Because I thought it sounded funny, I can still remember the scene from the cartoon when I learned it. The same is true for most of the other words I suggested, so I guess it is a highly subjective point of view Except maybe งดงาม which I think means beautiful, but its a more poetic expression if I remember correctly from the dictionary.

One hundred of the most beautiful Thai words…

Ok. Here’s the thing. So far there are 84 wonderful Thai words on the list. Care to add more?

Women Learn Thai: Best of 2012…

Happy New Year 2013 everyone! Wow. 2012 went by fast. Looking back over the year I can tell that it’s going to take me a fair bit of 2013 to catch up (more on that later).

Thanks to WLT’s guest writers, there were a whopping 106 posts in 2012. On my count, that’s roughly 10 a month. And, from what I’ve been told, a couple of posts a week is a decent enough pace. What say you?

Apparently there are more than a few ways to list popular posts. The two I’ve chosen are by comments (separated into two sections: learning Thai and expat living), and Google Analytics.

2012: Most commented on learning Thai posts…

Below are the most commented on posts. There’s a secret to attracting a zillion comments, and truthfully, I don’t know what it is. Ok, if you upset readers enough you’ll get tons of outrage, but that’s not what WLT is about. Very simply, WLT aims to offer original content helpful to those learning about the Thai culture and Thai language. Sounds stuffy and all, but hey, it’s all good ;-)

Some readers are comfortable asking questions about learning Thai in the comments, but many would rather email. Because of this, I field a lot of emails (as do the guest writers). Emails are well and good but there’s a downside. Emails benefit the few, while comments serve a wider audience. To rectify this, in the future there will be the odd post covering questions coming in via email.

Pssssst… WLT’s comments are left open so feel free to add yours to the most commented on posts below, or in others found in the Tidy Archives.

1) Nootropics Update: Smart Drugs and Language Learning

2) Thai Language Thai Culture: Some Thoughts on Learning Thai Tones

3) Thai Language Thai Culture: Questions on Thai and Thai Usage
3) Thai Language Thai Culture: Why Thai is Not a Monosyllabic Language

4) ITS4Thai DRAW + iPhone and iPad Review

5) Thai Language School Review: Thai Language Station

6) Thai Movies: A Relaxing Way to Study Thai

7) Android and iPhone: Talking Thai-English-Thai Dictionary Review

8) Kaewmala’s Thinglish Slang: English Loanwords in Thai

9) Breaking Down the Wall ‘O Whyz When Learning Thai

10) FLTR: The Foreign Language Text Reader

11) Rikker: Linguist’s View of the Thai Language
11) Review: GoldList Method for Long-term Memory

12) Thai Tales: Mangoes, Mangosteen and Angry Thai Feet

13) Thai Language Thai Culture: So Many Excuses
13) Thai Language Thai Culture: Thai Legalese
13) Learn Thai by Speaking Your Language
13) Christy Gibson: If There Were No Men Left in This World
13) Interview Compilation: Did You Stick to a Regular Thai Language Study Schedule?

14) Thai Language Thai Culture: Learning Thai Later in Life
14) The Magical Tipping Point in Thai
14) Thai Language School Review: Rak Thai
14) Thai Language Amongst World’s Sexiest Accents
14) 2012: The Fourth Google Translate Challenge

15) Questions… Questions… Lani and Mia from Thai Girl Talk
15) How Audio-based Language Learning Trumps the Textbook

2012: Most commented on Thai expat posts…

Commenting on expat posts can be fun (less fear perhaps). I’m told that I don’t write about expat living enough so in 2012 I’ll make more of an effort. And as I absolutely love running around Thailand and neighboring countries, it won’t be a hardship.

As you can see I only picked the top five scores for the expat focus. But it’s just me writing on the subject, so I figured that nine posts were enough to show how my year went (oh dear).

Yes. Oh dear. 2012 was a bit of a weird year for me, so here’s to a snafu-less 2013!

1) Siem Reap. Cambodia. Again. Part One
1) Locating Hong Kong Dim Sum in Bangkok’s Chinatown

2) Bangkok’s Top 50 Street Food Stalls. Food Poisoning. Bleeeech.
2) The Common Koel & Why I’d Make a Lousy Buddhist

3) Rules of Songkran 2012: No Drink Walking. No Talcum Powder.

4) Songkran 2012: Siam Square: On Day Two 
4) Trains, Cars and Phi Ta Khon (Thai Ghost Festival)

5) Thai Chili Pepper Scale: A Spicy Secret to Ordering Thai Food
5) Siem Reap. Cambodia. Again. Part Three.

2012: Most visited posts and pages…

Another way to figure out top posts is to use Google Analytics. Playing around with the options I found that the below posts (and pages) were the most popular with search engines and other sites for not just 2012, but for all time. I also discovered that there is no crossover between the most commented on posts (above) and the ones from Google Analytics (below). Odd.

1) Learn Thai for FREE (page)
2) Learn Thai Online for FREE… the Mother of all Resources
3) An Easy Way to Learn Foreign Languages: Part One
4) Thai Keyboard Input (page)
5) Loi Krathong Song Lyrics
6) Thai Translation: Google Translation & Thai Dictionaries
7) Thai Sex Talk for St Valentine’s Day
8) The Easy Way for Beginners to Read and Write Thai
9) An Easy Way to Learn Foreign Languages: Part Two
10) Reviewing Thai Language Schools in Bangkok
11) Thai Language Cheat Sheets
12) Top Thai Language Learning Resources
13) iPhone Apps: Thai Language Phrase books
14) FREE: Quick & Dirty Thai Vocabulary Download
15) The Thai Alphabet Poem

Note: The Learn Thai for FREE (page) is updated on a regular basis (when I can get to it, anyway). In 2013 I’ll also be updating Thai Language Cheat Sheets, Top Thai Language Learning Resources, iPhone Apps: Thai Language Phrase books, and the Quick & Dirty Thai Vocabulary Download (sound will be added as well). And that’s a promise.

And now on to 2013…

As per my comment above, “I can tell that it’s going to take me a fair bit of 2013 to catch up”, in 2012 my life was a whirl of busy so please bear with me while I wrap up partially finished series and fulfill promises I’ve made.

Before I go I’d like to thank WLT’s guest writers for all their wonderful posts. Without their expertise this site would be so much less. I’d also like to thank you for stopping by as your support does indeed mean a lot to me.

Happy New Year everyone… and now on to 2013!

Interviewing Successful Thai Language Learners…

Name: Mark Kent
Nationality: British
Age range: 40-50
Sex: Male
Location: Bangkok
Profession: Diplomat
Web: www.ukinthailand.fco.gov.uk | Twitter: @KentBKK

What is your Thai level?

A bit of a mixture really. Certain subjects I am pretty fluent in (e.g. politics, economics, official vocabulary). In others I am lacking vocabulary. So while watching or listening to the news is not a problem, I quickly get lost with Thai soap operas!

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

Professional Thai.

What were your reasons for learning Thai?

Work.

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

Yes I live in Bangkok. I arrived in Thailand in Aug 2011.

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

Since December 2010 (about two years).

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

I started learning Thai in the UK. This was interrupted for a little while when I helped out on the FCO crisis reaction to events such as the Arab Spring and Japanese tsunami. I started again in Thailand in August 2011.

Did you stick to a regular study schedule?

Yes I had lessons most days and homework plus self study. Now I study 2 to 3 hours a week, mainly at the weekend.

What Thai language learning methods did you try?

I tried a variety of different courses, books and CDs. I tried fairly early on to watch Thai TV, including on the Internet. Now I try to practice my Thai most days with my Thai colleagues, as well as listening to Thai radio on my MP3 when I exercise or go running. I also try to watch Thai news programmes on the days that I do not have evening commitments.

Did one method stand out over all others?

Not really. It was a question of continued practice and making mistakes!

How soon did you tackle reading and writing Thai?

After about a month – prior to that I was learning the Thai alphabet in parallel with reading phonetics.

Did you find learning to read and write Thai difficult?

I have found learning to write correctly more difficult than to read. I guess this is because when reading it is easier to get the gist of a passage rather than to write completely correctly.

What was your first ‘ah hah!’ moment?

When I realized that there was little point in writing Thai in phonetics, as the only Thai people who would understand “Sawasdee krub” or “Korb khun mahk” were those who could read and pronounce English. So use proper Thai script or English!

How do you learn languages?

More slowly with each year! It’s generally a question of continuing to practice.

What are your strengths and weaknesses?

My official work-related Thai is probably okay. I need to improve my informal Thai and also my Royal Thai vocabulary. I would also like to tweet more in Thai but I get a bit nervous in case I make some faux pas – which has already happened a few times! Generally I can understand and read Thai better than I can speak or write it. But I think that is the same for most languages.

What is the biggest misconception for students learning Thai?

It took me a bit of time to learn about the structure of Thai. In particular that it was different from the Western languages I have learned. You cannot directly translate Thai into English in the same way that you can translate between French and English. Instead you have to read the whole passage to understand the concepts and ideas being talked about and then put that into English. I think having some understanding of Thai culture, history and society also helps with understanding of the language. Relationships are very important in Thailand and the language reflects this.

Can you make your way around any other languages?

Yes. I studied French Spanish Portuguese Dutch German and Vietnamese previously. But while I can still speak some of them fluently, such as French, I will need time to readapt to others. Often now when I try to speak another language I find Thai words coming into my head first. I have tried to avoid speaking any Vietnamese because that would interfere too much with some of my Thai vocabulary. And while I studied German at school, I haven’t really used it since so that has gone completely.

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

No. Learning one language at a time is the limit of my capability now!

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

Keep practising, look for as many opportunities to speak as you can and don’t be afraid of making mistakes. Also try to write, even if it is very difficult. I found that by writing it helped me memorise Thai sentence structure and pronunciation better.

Mark Kent,
Twitter: @KentBKK | www.ukinthailand.fco.gov.uk

The Series: Interviewing Successful Thai Language Learners…

My personal thanks for this series goes to: Mark Kent, Dr. Larry Dinkins, Don Sena, Scott Earle, John Boegehold, Justin Travis Mair, Stephen Thomas, James (Jim) Higbie, Mark Hollow, Marc Spiegel, Daniel B Fraser, Rick Bradford, Adam Bradshaw, Fabian Blandford, Luke Cassady-Dorion, Nils Bastedo, Grace Robinson, Aaron Le Boutillier, 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, Paul Garrigan, Marcel Barang, Larry Daks, 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.

Introducing Philip Lyons…

Throughout my time in Thailand I’ve tried a number of different Thai classes, private teachers and self-studying. However, one major hurdle for me was always that I simply wasn’t diligent enough to progress anywhere near the rate of advancement I was hoping for. Thus, I decided to take some time off from work (and having free time), to take the most intensive, demanding and unforgiving Thai class I could possibly find. And boy did I get what I asked for.

Below you’ll find my review of the Intensive Thai Class offered by Chulalongkorn University, which I attended for a basic class (‘Basic 2′) in 2007 and an intermediate one (‘Thai 6′) in 2012.

Review: Intensive Thai at Chulalongkorn University…

The School: Intensive Thai is offered by the Faculty of Arts at the Chulalongkorn University. The website of the course appears to be offline at the time of writing, but you can find their contact details here. The university is easy to reach by BTS (Siam) and MRT (Sam Yan).

Teachers: Chula prides itself on being an academic institution and thus tends to have a more academic focus in their contents. This means all the teachers have majored in linguistics or a related subject.

Schedule: A class consists of 30 lessons, taught either entirely in the morning (9am to 12am) or in the afternoon (1pm to 4pm), Mondays to Fridays, over roughly six weeks. New classes start several times a year and are on a fixed schedule. You might need to wait several weeks until a class for your Thai level becomes available. For people who’ve already studied some Thai, in order to cut down on possible waiting time, check to see if there’s the option to start at a slightly more advanced level.

Contents: The very first level, Thai 1, uses a phonetic system and not the Thai alphabet. While the basic class (‘Basic 2′ which is now called ‘Thai 2′) focuses on teaching students how to read and write Thai, build up general vocabulary and learn basic grammar. Regular dictation sessions make sure you review new vocabulary.

The more advanced class focuses on teaching how to read newspapers. Contents range from crime reports, religious events, and entertainment news to politics and economics. Aside from reading newspaper articles in class (and studying the vocab as homework), students also give presentations. The presentations consist of students presenting a news piece of their choosing (from a Thai newspaper or news website), in front of the class, all in Thai.

The original lesson plan for the most advanced classes (Thai 7 to 9) focus on language, culture and society. At the time of this writing there are plans to have at least one class focused on ‘Thai for business’. Personally I prefer a more pragmatic and business-related class (especially in the advanced levels). However, if your study focus is on linguistic or culture-related, this class would be a perfect fit. Expect a fair share of Buddhism-related vocabulary.

Language Levels and Course Structure: The first time I took the class they still had their old system of Basic 1 to 3, followed by Intermediate 1 to 3 and finally Advanced 1 to 3. This system changed in 2012. Now there’s Thai 1 to 6 (which covers the old basic and intermediate levels) and elective courses Thai 7, 8 and 9 (the old advanced classes). Thai 1 doesn’t include Thai writing and uses a phonetic script to teach language basics. Actual Thai writing is taught within Thai 2.

The three upper levels (advanced classes) aren’t required to be taken in any specific order. Each only has Thai 6 as a requirement. However, these courses have yet to start (these details have been provided by the faculty).

Placement and Advancement: You can either start at Thai 1 or take a placement test (THB 500) to qualify for a higher level. At the end of each level there is an exam. If you pass it successfully, you also qualify for the next level. I haven’t heard of anyone who was interested in continuing their studies failing the exam. Grading is a bit confusing with attendance and other factors playing a role, so I suspect they tend to pass people as long as an effort has been made.

Class Size and Composition: A class is usually about 10 people in size. Basic classes might be a little bigger with a very diverse crowd of people in terms of nationality and age. The more advanced classes tend to be smaller and younger with often half of the participants being Japanese.

Chula Intensive Thai: Overview…

Pros:

• It’s intensive. I haven’t seen another method to advance this fast in Thai. The workload is so massive that you’re forced to study hard (or drop out).
• You receive a certificate from a well-known institution. Chulalongkorn University has offered this class for close to three decades and itself has a very good reputation in Thailand. You’ll receive a certificate for completing the 3rd, the 6th and the 9th level of the language class. Please note that the last one requires you to take level 7 and 8 as well in order to qualify for the certificate.
• It’s fast. If you aren’t long-term in the country, this is a way to quickly gain Thai language skills. A single class takes no longer than six weeks.

Cons:

• Intensive works both ways. Totalling up classes, studying, homework, and excluding your commute, calculate about 30 hours per week.
• Considering the price and the reputation of the university, the scripts and handouts are not up to par in quality with what you’d expect. However, compared to what I’ve seen at other schools in Thailand, the overall standards don’t seem to be that high either. So relatively speaking, Chula’s materials would qualify as ‘decent’.
• Quality of grammar teaching is somewhat lacking, but again, this is something that’s shared with other schools in Thailand. My personal recommendation would be to pick up Thai Reference Grammar by James Higbie. It blows any self-made publication by this and any other language school out of the water.
• It’s an institution, so flexibility and service is somewhat limited. For example, placement tests are often offered only once a month on a single morning. Also, there’s no soap in any of the bathrooms (eww…).
• According to a friend of mine, in his experience a lot of Thai language schools tend to help you out with the paperwork for getting an education visa. While you qualify for an education visa with a Chula class, that ‘service’ isn’t considered part of their job so you’ll have to handle it yourself.
• Expenses: THB 25,000 per six week course, which comes down to a little less than THB 300 per hour. If you take all classes from start to finish, you’ll spend THB 225,000 for a one-year course in tuition alone. For many Europeans it might be cheaper to live and study the Thai language back home without tuition fees.

Other Opinions: A friend I met during my first stint at Chula in 2007 put up his own review on ThaiVisa. He decided to quit the program after Advanced 2 and has described his reasons and insights in that post. It’s already been a few years; I hope the more advanced classes are now more pragmatic and goal-focused.

My overall take on the program: If you asked me to describe this class in one word it would be ‘intensive’. With few exceptions everyone who studies here, does so full-time during the course. With three hours of daily classes Monday to Friday and a similar amount of hours for review of vocabulary, home work, preparations and mandatory extra-curricular activities, it doesn’t leave much time for a full-time job.

On the plus side, it yields corresponding results. Reading the newspaper is something that’s taught in an ‘intermediate’ class. Within a year, you can reach a level at which point you can write speeches in Thai. In the past, the final exam of the last course was to write an eight page essay in Thai. Language-buffs aside, the people I met at these classes were some of the most fluent I encountered during my years in Thailand.

Philip Lyons
Cupid’s Library
Domain Raccoon

The ALG Crosstalk Project…

Make new friends – learn a language – develop relationships – really communicate

Imagine for a moment that you are in a far away land. You recently received a job offer to work in a distant city, far from family and friends. Your new city is strange and foreign to you. You have never been there before, have not previously met anyone, and don’t speak the local tongue. Yet, after about a month or so, you are starting to find your bearings. Housing and food are no longer an issue, but is something else missing? Perhaps you wish to learn to communicate with the locals, find some new friends, or even make contacts in the diverse expatriate community there? Maybe you can pick up a few survival phrases as you go? Or would a language course be more useful?

Communicating Abroad…

Many people dream of learning to communicate in a new environment. They arrive in a new place and work to pick up enough survival vocabulary to get by on a day-to-day basis.

They are focused on using words, focused on language.

Over the years, as I’ve seen foreigners trying to use Thai with pre-packaged phrases or patched together words, the realization has grown that there are usually much easier ways to get the point across. I like the story of my very heavy American friend (350 lbs. ~ 159 kg). He had traveled to Seoul, South Korea and needed a laxative. Not only did he not know any Korean language, he was out in the city and didn’t know how to find a pharmacy. He wound up walking down the street until he found what looked like a pharmacy and, walking in, began to ‘demonstrate’ that he was unable to have a bowel movement by squatting in the middle of this store and grunting and groaning! Immediately, the pharmacist understood, left, and in a minute returned with a small packet of pills. He showed my friend to eat a pill, and pointing at his watch, counted 1, 2 and then ran to the toilet! They both communicated, to the great enjoyment of themselves and everyone else in the store, perfectly! Not a word of Korean was needed. In fact, it’s not very difficult to imagine that trying to use words would have really gotten in the way.

It seems to me that the point is this: They were able to easily communicate because they both were focused on communicating rather than focused on trying to use words or sentences. It’s easy to confuse language with communication. But the key here is that communicating opens the door to everything we learn language for. Our tendency to focus on another person’s language may be the very thing that stops us from being effective communicators.

Communication is not about the language…

I’ve been watching my two year old daughter. She has been exposed to Thai, English, Chinese and Khmer since she was born. She apparently never sees someone and thinks, what language should I use here. She simply communicates. And she’s an effective communicator. The only people who have a difficult time are those adults who think that the key to understanding is in the words. While she talks (non-stop, in fact), she is always showing, pointing, giving expressions, and body language that say perfectly whatever it is she wishes to communicate. Tune in and it’s easy. Focus on the sounds coming out of her mouth and it can be quite difficult at times!

We’ve seen the same thing with adults. When we focus on communication, we’re able to communicate, even when we don’t know others’ languages. The ALG Crosstalk Project is designed to assist people to get back in touch with the tools of communication that work and help them to rediscover the fun in communicating with almost anyone – naturally.

Crosstalk gets language out of the way…

One of my first experiments using Crosstalk was with visitors to Thailand who were planning to spend one-to-three months here, working as volunteers with Thai people. Out of all those who came here, the most successful at developing relationships were those who got out and played football, or were somehow engaged with people in real activities where communication was necessary. Normally, the Thais didn’t understand much English, and the foreigners understood no more than a few words of Thai. Context was the important thing, and as people got involved in their activities, communication at times became spontaneous and natural. Each person was ‘speaking’ in their own language, and what everyone was ‘doing’ made communication possible. One really great thing is that, in using Crosstalk, participants get the sort of language input they need to acquire the language naturally!

The ALG Crosstalk Project launched in October 2012 and is set up to enable people to do that very thing, only on purpose. It’s natural and fun. The idea is simple. We are attracting people in Bangkok of different languages and cultures who want to 1) learn a new language or 2) connect with someone of another language. They are passed through a basic skills session and entered into the network. We then work to connect them with partners, much like a dating network.

It is a project designed to enable individuals to make friends, develop language ability, or deepen relationships, all without needing to know the other person’s language. It includes the following components: members, a network, a website, training, and resources. The basic idea of this project is to develop and make available the means to empower individuals to create contexts whereby they will make new friends, acquire a second language, and develop relationships .

Crosstalk allows participants to engage in authentic conversation with speakers of another language immediately, without waiting to become fluent in their language. Crosstalk techniques can be used for storytelling to a group, interactive storytelling involving two or more participants, or as an addition to conversation to help understanding. Crosstalk uses communication strategies we are all familiar with and utilizes them in such a way that very high degrees of understanding, involvement, and interest are maintained.

It’s free to be involved and to participate. If you’re interested send the following information to: crosstalk@algworld.com

1. name (what you’d like us to call you)
2. email address
3. mobile phone number
4. native language

We will then notify you whenever there’s an introduction session coming up.

Like us on Facebook: ALG Crosstalk Project
Subscribe to our newsletter: ALG Newsletter
YouTube: ALG Crosstalk Demonstration

David Long
AUA Thai | AUA Thai blog | YouTube: ALG World

Are you stuck in a Thai language rote rut? Try eavesdropping…

While touring Thai language schools in Bangkok I’ve met some fairly adept parrots of Thai. By the term “parrots” I mean someone who’s memorized (or been taught) conversational dialog by rote.

And if you remember, in The “I’m Good Enough at Thai to Know I Suck” Stage I mentioned a foreigner who speaks super clear Thai. Yet the minute Thais didn’t respond on script, his ability to comprehend what was said back to him failed. That’s rote learning.

Here’s an example almost every English speaker in Thailand has experienced. If you say, “how are you today?” to a Thai, there’s a 99.9999% chance they will respond back with, “I am fine thank you, and you?” That’s rote learning.

I admit I too was stuck in a rote rut for a while, back when I learned outta Benjawan’s Thai language materials. I couldn’t understand what was said the minute they didn’t answer back with what I’d been programmed to believe the response would be. I finally pushed thru by going into what I call my “second silent phase”. This is where I stopped speaking Thai completely. Instead, I started listening to Thais talk to each other. In fact, it was almost a year before I started speaking to Thais in their language again.

During my silent phase I hung around groups of Thais, eavesdropping on their conversations, trying to work out how they spoke to each other in everyday situations. In most cases I just listened. I wasn’t a part of the conversation or even of the group. I was the proverbial farang… err… fly on the wall.

Passive listening increased my comprehension of Thai spoken by native speakers at top speed. It wasn’t the slow, over enunciated, over toned, carefully couched version of Thai taught at Thai language schools. Instead, it was real, honest-to-goodness Thai, spoken by Thais.

In the real world that’s the version of Thai you’re gonna be exposed to when out and about in Thailand. Well, unless you can get a Thai to understand that your grasp of the language is tenuous at best. But then they oftentimes speak to you like you’re a retard. At one point I got tired of asking Thais to speak slower, that I finally resorted to saying “เฮ้ย พูดช้า ๆซี่ เราเป็นคนปัญญาอ่อน” (hey, speak slowly, I’m a retard).

Seeing as there’re close to 65+ million native speakers to eavesdrop on, anyone studying the Thai language while actually in Thailand has a giant advantage. Now, before someone points out that only about 25 million have Central Thai as their native tongue, believe me, I’ve been from Chiang Rai to Hat Yai, Kanchanaburi to Chantaburi, Trat to Trang, Surin to Songkla, yet never came across a single Thai who, if push came to shove, couldn’t speak and understand Central Thai.

Here are a few eavesdropping suggestions for those living in Thailand:

• On the BTS or MRT, listen to Thais talking on the phone, etc.
• In 7/11 listen to Thais interact with each other and the sales staff.
• At a Thai food court listen to the banter of the sellers and buyers.
• Pick a table near a group of Thais and just listen, listen, listen.

No surprise, in Thailand there are hundreds of opportunities to listen to Thais speaking Thai. The trick is to see this opportunity as a free learning Thai resource rather than background noise.

The added bonus is that some Thais believe we can’t understand them, so they don’t alter how they speak. Or at least, Thais don’t seem to be that dialed into changing registers of spoken Thai when I get near ‘em. This is almost directly opposite compared to Thai teens getting within earshot of older Thais. The teens immediately alter how they speak, just in case they are overheard by the older generation.

Oh. One other thing I don’t do is play the “I can speak and understand Thai card” too soon. I rarely bust out with Thai when I meet Thais for the first time. Instead, l speak English in a slow, clear manner. It lets me gauge their English comprehension and I get hear what they say to each other first.

Now, if they get over the top in their observations – Thais can make some of the most blunt, downright hurtful observations about people – you can always throw in a snarky “เฮ้ย พูดยังนี้ทำไม บักสีดานี้ มันเข้าใจไทยได้ ” (hey, why are you speaking like this? This guava understands Thai!) That reins them in (while using the Isaan word for guava too). That phrase is a real ice breaker and conversation starter as well. Okay, maybe not for you, but it works for me…

The other thing passive listening does is get your ears dialed into hearing the subtle intonation differences in real spoken Thai (as opposed to that over toned sugar-coated stuff they speak in language schools). It gets you familiar with the cadence and rhythm of spoken Thai.

To me Thai doesn’t have a musical quality but it does have a distinct cadence when it’s spoken. So when you do start speaking Thai, try to dial back the over toned version you were taught in class. And to sound more Thai, leave out the ผม’s ดิฉัน’s and ชั้น‘s when speaking in the first person. Put your eavedropping to good use. Focus on getting the cadence of what you’re saying to sound just like Thais do in the real world. And don’t forget to use what I call “pause and think words”: ก็, แล้วก็, ว่า and แบบ <- if you're a teenager (seeing as that's the Thai version of "like" when they speak; it's like = มันแบบ, lol).

It's not nearly as hard being understood by Thais as it’s made it out to be. It just takes time, patience, and the willingness to practice, develop, and then hone your Thai language skills.

Please note that I’m not trying to tell people how to learn or speak Thai. I’ll leave that for the those more learned. I’m only sharing what works for me.

As I always say, I ain’t the sharpest tool in the shed. But, if I can get Thais to listen to my American accented, poorly pronounced Thai, anyone who really tries can do it too.

Good luck in your learning Thai endeavors.

Tod Daniels | toddaniels at gmail dot com

Thai Money Vocabulary…

One thing that might make living in a foreign country a bit easier is to know lots of words on the subject of money. It seems I can’t go more than an hour or so before I have to either use, or talk about money. So, I thought some Thai vocabulary about this stuff we’re constantly concerned with might be helpful. Money subjects below are broken down into topics we all need to deal with.

Money…

The general Thai word for “money” is เงิน /ngern/. It may or may not be historically significant (linguistically, that is) but เงิน /ngern/ is also the same Thai word for “silver”.

เขามีเงินเยอะ
kăo mee ngern yúh
He has lots of money.

ฉันไม่มีเงินเลย
chăn mâi mee ngern loie
I don’t have any money.

The Thai unit of currency is บาท /​bàat/ or เงินบาท /ngern-​bàat/. Originally the baht was a unit of measurement (about 15 grams). Today this unit of weight is used almost exclusively in the measurement of gold.

ข้าวผัดราคาสามสิบบาท
kâao pàt raa-kaa săam sìp bàat
Fried rice is 30 baht.

เขามีสร้อยทองคำ น้ำหนัก 2 บาท
kăo mee sôi tong kam nám nàk 2 bàat
He has a gold necklace weighing 2 baht.

Another word that is used to mean “money” is ตังค์ /dtang/. It is the short form of สตางค์ /sà~​dtaang/ which originally was a small coin, 100th of a baht.

ผมไม่มีตังค์
pŏm mâi mee dtang
I have no money (I don’t have a penny).

พ่อ ขอตังค์หน่อย
pôr kŏr dtang nòi
Dad, can I have some money?

Personal Finances…

The word for “income” or “salary” is เงินเดือน /ngern-​deuan/. It uses the Thai word for “money” เงิน /ngern/ along with the word for “month” เดือน /deuan/. This comes from the fact that in Thailand most paydays come on the last day of the month, so your salary is defined as your “monthly income”.

ฉันได้เงินเดือนแล้ว
chăn dâai ngern deuan láew
I got paid.

เขาได้เงินเดือนขึ้น
kăo dâai ngern deuan kêun
He got a raise (in salary).

On the 29th or so of each month, with their salary almost gone (sound familiar?), most people will be “broke” ถังแตก /tǎng-​dtàek/. This is an idiom, made from the Thai words for “bucket” or “container” ถัง /tǎng/ and the word for “broken” แตก /​dtàek/. So if you say that “your bucket is broken” then you are clean out of cash. Another idiom used to say you are broke is หมดตัว /mòt-​dtua/ which is made up of the words หมด /mòt/ “to run out of” and ตัว /​dtua/ “body” or “one self”.

ฉันไม่สามารถซื้ออะไร ฉันถังแตก (ฉันหมดตัว)
chăn mâi săa-mâat séu a-rai chăn tăng dtàek (chăn mòt dtua)
I can’t buy anything. I’m broke.

Taxes…

The dreaded Thai word for “tax” is ภาษี /paa-​sěe/. To “pay tax” is เสียภาษี /sǐa paa-​sěe/. It is probably just a coincidence that the word เสีย /sǐa/ not only means “to pay” as in taxes, but it also means “out of order”, “broken”, “spoiled”, “to lose”, “to waste”, and interestingly enough “to die” (as Ben Franklyn told us, the only other thing in life besides taxes that we can be sure of).

ภาษีไทยน้อยกว่าภาษีอเมริกัน
paa-sĕe tai nói gwàa paa-sĕe a-may-rí-gan
Thai taxes are lower than American taxes.

It is hard to find anything funny about taxes but there is an amusing idiom using ภาษี /paa-​sěe/. It is ภาษีสังคม /paa-​sěe-​sǎng-​kom/ which uses the word for “tax” along with the Thai word for “community” or “society”, สังคม /​sǎng-​kom/. This idiom is used when we have to make obligatory donations or gifts to friends and family, as in wedding presents or donations at funerals. These are taxes we have to pay if we want to be part of a community or family.

ถ้าเราไปงานศพ เราต้องเสียภาษีสังคม
tâa rao bpai ngaan sòp rao dtông sĭa paa-sĕe săng-kom
If we go to a funeral we need to make a donation.

Investment…

For various reasons some foreigners think investing ลงทุน /long-​tun/ in Thailand is a good idea. For those, I hope that they will make a profit กำไร /gam-​rai/ and not lose their money เสียเงิน /sǐa ngern/, and go “broke” ถังแตก /tǎng-​dtàek/.

Banking…

Going to a “bank” ธนาคาร /tá~​naa-​kaan/ in Thailand and “opening” /เปิด/ an “account” /บัญชี/ is fairly simple. But it is difficult to get a good “rate” อัตรา /àt-dtraa/ of “interest” ดอกเบี้ย /dòk-​bîa/. You can “change” แลกเปลี่ยน /lâek-​bplìan/ money there and hopefully you will get a good “exchange rate” อัตราแลกเปลี่ยน /àt-​dtraa-​lâek-​bplìan/.

P.S. If you are interested in learning more about banking and money in Thailand you can check out my blog post: Banking and Money in Thailand.

Another Faux Pas…

On vacation with Thai friends, sitting in a long-tail canoe on a beautiful lake waiting to take off, I asked if Noi was going with us. Our friends on the shore yelled out เธอไม่ชอบเคลื่อนไหว /ter mâi chôp klêuan wăi/. Now, that sounded very much like “Noi doesn’t like waves” (คลื่น /klêun/ “wave”). I mean context – I’m sitting in a boat in the water, aren’t I? And water has waves, doesn’t it? So I yelled out, วันนี้ไม่มีคลื่น /wan née mâi mee klêun/ “There are no waves today.” น้ำนิ่ง /nám nîng/. “The water is calm.”

And of course I knew I made a faux pas right away because everybody on the shore burst out laughing. “She not like MOVE” they called out in unison, stressing the last word. You see, เธอไม่ชอบ /ter mâi chôp/, “she doesn’t like”, was followed by เคลื่อนไหว /klêuan-​wǎi/, the Thai word for “to move” – not “wave” คลื่น /klêun/.

They were playing a little joke on Noi by saying she doesn’t like to move around, a humorous way to say that she is “lazy”. I got the words เคลื่อน(ไหว) klêuan(​wǎi) “to move” and คลื่น /klêun/ “wave” mixed up. Both words have vowels that don’t appear anywhere in English, so no wonder I got them mixed up. But my Thai friends, besides having some fun with Noi, had another belly laugh at my expense. And that’s what faux pas are for, aren’t they?

BTW: If you would like to hear yours truly speaking Thai (you might just be curious) I was recently interviewed by the lovely bloggers Khun Mia and Lani for their Thai Girl Talk podcast. I hope I didn’t embarrass myself too much.

May all our readers have a good, happy, and healthy 2013. And hopefully there will be a lot more vocabulary words in your Thai language war chest.

Hugh Leong
Retire 2 Thailand
Retire 2 Thailand: Blog
eBooks in Thailand

Free Podcasts in the Thai Language…

For language learners who learn from abroad, podcasts can be a convenient way to access native media in the language they’re learning, directed at native speakers. If you’re learning French or a language of similar status, you’re spoilt for choice; there are scores of podcasts on offer, catering to every taste and interest. Unfortunately, the situation is very different for us Thai learners. This post summarizes the few podcasts I know that publish episodes on a regular basis (as of January 2013). If you know any other podcasts directed at native Thai speakers, please add them in the comments!

Voice of America’s daily news round-up: Monday to Friday, VoA publishes a 30 minute program with global, US and Asian news, and reports on health, science, entertainment, technology as well as the occasional interview. It has quite a good mix of topics, and Thai news are covered to some extent. It’s clearly the number one news podcast in Thai.

VoA has also a good website, and there are transcripts (or close transcripts) for many of the reports they broadcast. VoA also has a weekend program on iTunes, as well as an alternative version of its weekday program. Mike from Self Study Thai offers VoA audio and transcripts in a convenient format with English translations.

NHK Japan’s daily news program: NHK publishes a daily 14 minute (Monday to Friday) or 9 minute (Saturday, Sunday) news podcast in Thai. They bring almost exclusively news related to Japan, with very little coverage of world news and almost no coverage of Thai news. It’s very Japanese, formal and boring. The Thai they use is beautiful, though.

SBS Australia: SBS publishes short news clips on a regular basis, about 2-5 per week. The clips are directed at Thais living in Australia. A few of this year’s topics were: bush fires, rip current safety tips, natural gas development divides Queensland, Assad’s speech, coal industry. I spent some time working in Australia and enjoy listening to news from down under, but if you have no connection to Australia, their selection of topics might not mean much to you.

There are some more podcasts on iTunes to be found, like Thai Mac Talk, pod.in.thai or คุยกับหมาป่า, but they don’t add episodes anymore. There’s nothing from Thai broadcasters as far as I’m aware of.

Andrej,
Thai Recordings

Using Anki 2 To Study Thai…

When I first heard about a program called Anki, I wasn’t too interested. It sounded like a digital flash card program – something my friends did as little programming exercises in 8th grade. It didn’t strike me as if their finished creations had a major impact on their French exam results. That appeared to be in line with my belief that technology doesn’t solve laziness. Or so I thought.

The basics…

Anki actually comes in different versions – it’s available for PC, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android and even as a web application that you can open in most mobile or desktop browsers. The idea of the program in a nutshell is for you to create digital flash cards. You can then practice them like traditional flash cards, but with a twist: The cards to review will be selected automatically and shown to you in ever increasing time-frames as long as you get them right (and reset once you get them wrong). You can also download ready-made set of study cards for free, but let’s get back to that later.

How it works…

Anki uses so-called notes, that have different fields (e.g. the front and back of a flash card). You can even have more than two fields (e.g. ‘English’, ‘Thai’ and ‘Thai Abbreviation’ – very useful if you want to study commonly abbreviated terms). Anki doesn’t limit you to text entries. You can use even use sound files or images. Personally I never bothered with anything but text, but if you need to practice pronunciation or can’t read Thai, this can come in quite helpful.

Anki displays one side of a ‘card’ to you and you have to guess the answer. If you’re so inclined, you can even activate a setting that forces you to type it in. After that you can choose whether you got it wrong (the card goes right back in the virtual to-review stack) or whether you got it right (the card won’t be shown right away again) or whether it was easy (the next showing of the card will be heavily delayed). This system is usually referred to as spaced repetition).

The actual delays with which the cards are shown depend on how often you got them right in a row. The first time it will show it again the next day, then in 3 days, then in 7, then in a month and so on. If you select that an answer was easy, it’s similar to skipping the next review.

If during review you keep failing a card too often after the initial learning phase (think 15+ times, but the setting can be customized), it gets marked as ‘leech’ and won’t be shown for review anymore. The idea being that some words you sometimes just can’t remember for the life of it and instead of taking up review time, they get suspended. Of course you can undo that, but the software is trying to help you avoid road blocks.

The PC Client…

Anki’s desktop clients are free to download. While I only ever used the PC version, to my knowledge the Mac and Linux versions don’t differ too much. The interface of the PC version comes with a lot of functionality, but can be a bit confusing at first.

Personally I liked the little details that show the thought that went into the app. A good example is if you enter data in fields in English and Thai (using actual Thai writing – as you should). The software remembers which one you used for which, so you don’t constantly have to switch keyboard settings back and forth between Thai and English.

The Mobile Client…

Having Anki on your phone is what makes or breaks it in my opinion. An Android client, AnkiDroid, is free. One for iOS will set you back $24.99 – ouch! However, considering the value you get out of it, it’s still a steal I think: You can practice while on the subway, waiting for an elevator or in the Big C checkout line on a Saturday morning. So yes, it costs a bit more than your average ‘Angry Birds’ app, but considering that you can get hundreds of extra hours of practice out of it, that price tag is easily justified. Alternatively you can always use AnkiWeb which runs in your mobile browser and is completely free.

It still means you’ll need to make the effort to practice Thai on the subway instead of following your friends’ latest Facebook updates. However, you’ll quickly turn ‘waiting time’ into productive ‘Thai learning time’. Maybe the focus on using time more efficiently is the German shining through in me. However, being able to improve your Thai while not having to cut down on free time or work holds a lot of attraction for me.

Why you should use both applications…

As a general guideline I recommend using a PC or Mac version to enter new data into Anki, simply due to typing speed. The iOS or Android apps are perfect for reviews. This switching of apps works like a charm because Anki can automatically synchronize your mobile and your desktop devices remotely via their own server. Every time you finish entering data (or complete reviews), your device can sync the updated status with Anki’s central server (via Wifi/3G/etc.). So yes, you can create new entries on your PC and then review those same entries on your phone right after without having to connect your phone to your PC.

Using ready-made sets…

Anki has a tremendous amount of freely shared ready-made card sets available. You can even download them from Anki’s central server within the application at no extra charge. I have to admit, that most of the time this isn’t too enticing. The problem is that you tend to be better off entering words and phrases on your own, to which you know the context and which you are most likely to repeatedly use. A ready-made set often doesn’t have that kind of overlap.

But there are exceptions to this: One is a ready-made set of flash cards for the first Harry Potter book. If you’re planning to read the book in Thai, a lot of the vocabulary is already ready to review, allowing you to study the English meaning of used words and read the book in Thai at the same time.

There’s also some help if you already have your own ready-made deck of cards. Anki 2.0 offers an option to import sets from earlier versions as well as from Mnemosyne 2.0 or Supermemo. Theoretically there’s also the option to export from other programs to standardized text files and import those into Anki, but you probably want to Google for your specific software to see if that’s a workable option.

In summary…

Anki’s combination of a desktop and a mobile client allows you to efficiently create your own set of cards on your PC that you can then easily practice every day during your commute. When using it with whole sentences instead of single words, you can easily improve vocabulary, grammar and language feeling during everyday downtime.

Anki isn’t the only SRS out there, but it’s the only I’ve tried and so far I haven’t seen a reason to switch to any others. I’d be happy to hear from others who are using other solutions and hear how it works out for you. Leave a comment and let us know!

Philip Lyons
cupidslibrary.com
domrainraccoon.com

Interviewing Successful Thai Language Learners…

Name: Antonio Graceffo
Nationality: American
Age range: 40-50
Sex: Male
Location: Shanghai, China
Profession: University lecturer/author
Website: Speaking Adventure

What is your Thai level?

Upper Intermediate (Listening and speaking only).

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

Standard Thai (Bangkok).

What were your reasons for learning Thai?

I lived in a monastery, studying with monks and I wanted to understand them.

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

I live in China now, but I have lived in Thailand a total of about 2.5 years, spread out from 2003-2008 and frequently go there for work, up to a month at a time.

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

I studied at AUA for a total of about three months. 2007 for 2 months and one month in 2009.

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

When I lived in the monastery I didn’t have any classes, so I just had to acquire the language naturally. When I attended AUA, I learned by listening only.

I stayed in the monastery for three months, improving but without proper lessons, it was hard to learn. Then I worked in Thailand, on and off, as a journalist, where I had to use the language to conduct interviews. Later, in 2007, I moved to Bangkok for the express purpose of learning Thai in school. I remained in AUA for about 2 or 3 months, then went into the field in Cambodia for work for several months. I came back to Thailand in September of that year and began working in Burma, based out of Chiang Mai. So I was speaking Thai every day, but was no longer studying. I went back to AUA for classes again in 2009. By then, my Thai was at a pretty good level and I really felt relaxed and happy in class. Unfortunately, my work took me to Malaysia and then Hanoi, and I don’t think I have studied Thai again since then. But, I was back in the field in 2011, on Burma border, conducting interviews in Thai language.

Did you stick to a regular study schedule?

No not at all.

What Thai language learning methods did you try?

ALG Automatic Language Growth which is a listening based, natural language acquisition theory. I use it for Chinese and am not writing a masters thesis about it. The world expert on ALG is David Long, and you can study in his program at AUA in Bangkok (Chamchuri Square Office Tower on Rama IV Rd).

Did one method stand out over all others?

Yes, I took ALG with me to China. Now I am preparing for HSK national Chinese exam and I primarily study by ALG, watching 4 hours of TV per day. I log my hours. So far, I have listened to over 500 hours of Chinese. In Thailand, I logged 250 hours of Thai in class, but didn’t watch any TV or movies. I also didn’t know how to count the hours I spent in the field, doing interviews. If I went back to Thailand to finish studying Thai, which I may do, I will use ALG and watch a lot of TV and movies.

How soon did you tackle reading and writing Thai?

Never.

What was your first ‘ah hah!’ moment?

After being in AUA, I went into the field and during a very long weekend of interviews, on a mountain top in Burma, it suddenly hit me that I was functioning largely without my translator. According to ALG, you learn by listening, but your learning needs to be activated. Activation happens naturally, as your mind needs time to process what you have learned. So, I guess that is a semi-scientific explanation of the aha moment. The aha moment comes when your brain is done processing.

When I studied Vietnamese intensely in Saigon, I got dengue fever and was in a delirium for several days. During that time, I dreamed only in Vietnamese, when I woke up, my level had jumped dramatically. I guess my brain was processing. Probably, you process better when you aren’t doing other things and when you aren’t studying the language. For most of us, this probably happens only when we are sleeping or maybe if you are a long distance runner or swimmer, your brain will process your language learning while you are exercising. But I have read of other people awaking from a fever with a brilliant idea or a level jump.

How do you learn languages?

Until I came to Asia, I always used a combination of core novel method, which means just reading novels, countless hours per day, never using a dictionary and never taking notes. You just read and read and eventually you learn. I used this method, plus watching TV. When I got to Asia, I found I couldn’t use core novel method because the script is different and really hard to read. I also couldn’t watch TV and movies, because I hated local TV and movies. So, I used traditional language learning, with books and tutors, always private lessons, and lots of contact with locals, till I found AUA. After that, I always tried to create listening based input situations for myself. In China, I walk around with headphones in nearly all day, listening to Chinese soaps. At home, I only watch Chinese TV.

What are your strengths and weaknesses?

The strength of natural language learning is that you learn good pronunciation and native usage. The downside is that you don’t learn to read, write, or translate. I have a translation background, so I sometimes war with myself about ALG. Any of the natural language acquisition methods help you develop a set of foreign vocabulary and usage which is completely separate from English. This reduces native tongue interference, but it makes translation impossible. You will understand everything being said, but stammer if you try to translate it to English, because your brain isn’t trained that way. The two languages co-exist in your brain, with no connection between them.

What is the biggest misconception for students learning Thai?

There are so many. Where to begin? It is a myth that children learn faster than adults. If adults and children are given the same amount of input they learn at the same rate or adults learn faster because they are smarter. If you follow ex-pat families, if the kids go to international school, which is taught in English, at the end of a year in Thailand they may speak literally zero Thai. Obviously, if you put the kids in a Thai school they will learn Thai, but that’s not because they are younger. It’s because they are getting more input.

Another misconception is that it is somehow beneficial to hangout with locals. This is a myth. It is true that you need input to learn a language. But if you hang out with locals, are you speaking English or Thai? If you havng out with them for 3 hours, are you actually getting 3 hours of exposure to the language? If you are allegedly having conversations, are you just answering the same tired questions again and again (Where you come from? How long you stay Thailand?). If you attend 3 hours of ALG classes, you get 3 hours of comprehensible input. If you watch 3 hours of TV, you get three hours of input.

No matter how bad your Thai is, Thai people will tell you speak Thai well. But ask yourself, honestly, can you have the same level of conversation in Thai that you have in your native tongue? Can you walk into a conversation between two native speakers, and jump in without derailing their conversation? Can you understand two native speakers talking behind you on the sky train?

One of the largest myths is that people severely overestimate their own ability in a foreign language.

Can you make your way around any other languages?

I am fluent, at native speaker level, in English and German. I am a non-strict native speaker of Spanish and was raised non-strict native speaker of Italian. I have attended university in both Spain and Costa Rica but never taken Italian classes, so my Italian is not nearly as good, even though I was raised with all three languages. I attended four years of applied linguistics education at University of Mainz in Germany, all taught in German. I studied at Social Science University in Saigon for one semester, Vietnamese language. Right now, I am preparing HSK level 4 exam for Chinese, here in Shanghai. I studied at Dong A University in Busan, South Korea for 7 months and passed both a Chinese and Korean language exam to be accepted to grad school there. I have since forgotten nearly all of my Korean and Vietnamese. To get into university in Germany I had to have four years of French, but I don’t claim to speak it. I also speak Khmer and frequently was in the field doing interviews in Cambodia without a translator or with a Chinese-Khmer or French-Khmer or Thai-Khmer translator.

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

No, but I was shooting off to Cambodia and other countries to work and conduct interviews. Also, I took huge breaks from Thailand, where I would live in other countries, studying other languages. But even in Thailand I use Chinese nearly every day.

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

Input! You need comprehensible input. Output so much less important. Don’t talk till you really have something to say. Until then, just listen. Listen to your teachers, TV, movies, podcasts… ride the skytrain and eavesdrop on conversations, anything, but just listen.

The ALG Thai program calls for 800 hours listening, followed by 2,500 hours of a mix of all four skills. National Language Services and Defense Language Institute both rate Thai as a category 3 language and require about 2,000 hours to learn it.

There are no shortcuts.

Antonio Graceffo,
Speaking Adventure

The Series: Interviewing Successful Thai Language Learners…

My personal thanks for this series goes to: Antonio Graceffo, Mark Kent, Dr. Larry Dinkins, Don Sena, Scott Earle, John Boegehold, Justin Travis Mair, Stephen Thomas, James (Jim) Higbie, Mark Hollow, Marc Spiegel, Daniel B Fraser, Rick Bradford, Adam Bradshaw, Fabian Blandford, Luke Cassady-Dorion, Nils Bastedo, Grace Robinson, Aaron Le Boutillier, 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, Paul Garrigan, Marcel Barang, Larry Daks, 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.

Learning Thai with Rossetta Stone spoof…

Recently in the news Thais protested about Buddha artwork on public toilets in the Netherlands. Result? The Dutch apologised for the Buddha toilet images and promised to take them down.

Shortly after that, this IKEA ad offended Transgenders in Thailand. I’m still waiting to see how that one turns out.

Then, only this morning, I received a lighthearted email from Benjawan Becker of Paiboon Publishing. In it she shared a YouTube vidoe featuring a Saturday Night Live spoof on learning Thai with Rossetta Stone.

For those who aren’t quite sure what a spoof is, here you go:

Dictionary.com: spoof [spoof] noun
1. a mocking imitation of someone or something, usually light and good-humored; lampoon or parody: The show was a spoof of college life.

The joke focuses on male tourists preparing for trips to Thailand. But will this spoof on learning Thai become the focus of the next Thai protest?

PLEASE NOTE: snarly comments will be deleted.

Learning Styles and Language Learning…

Not long ago I was asked to write a post about language learning styles for Women Learning Thai. Having recently received my Master Degree and in the process of looking for a job, it seemed like the perfect time to engage with such a project. Even though I am not an expert in the neuropsychology involved in language learning, I figured I might reference my experience as a teacher and language learner to contribute something on the topic of how theories on learning styles can be applied by teachers and learners of Thai in the hope that it might stimulate the comments of other, more knowledgeable authors.

Learning is Variable…

As learners and/or teachers of foreign languages, we have tried different learning methods with varied degrees of success. Not only does what works for one person not always work for another, but the success of a single method may vary for the same person, possibly since no two learning situations are identical and the mind is ever changing.

By reading the stories of successful Thai learners on this site, thinking of how we learn ourselves, and observing the world around us, we can see how some learn by studying theory, some by listening, some by jumping in and doing, some by working by a computer, etc. Although no two situations are identical, it is commonly believed that there are different types of learners and that that a language student will pick materials up more efficiently if he/she is given the opportunity to use the learning style that fits him/her best. Today, this theory is a part of many, if not all, teacher educations.

The Proof is in the Pudding…

Though intuitively appealing, it has not been empirically shown that identifying a student’s learning style and teaching in order to accommodate that learning style will optimize learning outcomes. Not only has the efficacy of tailoring teaching to fit each individual student not been proven, but the categorization of different learning styles is anything but straightforward; suggested categories vary from model to model and take into account both internal and external factors related to leaning outcomes. Understandably, the possibilities for categorization are therefore quite a few.

That individual students learn differently is a theory that I personally do not doubt at all. The question for me is not which or how many learning styles there are, but rather how the realization that learning is quite complex and varied can be used to improve myself as a teacher and learner of languages.

How can theories on Learning Styles be applied?…

When it comes to understanding learning styles, I am primarily influenced by my own experiences of learning languages and by the training I went through to become a certified instructor of Songahm Taekwondo. The learning styles we studied during that training were Visual, Auditory/Aural, and Kinetic (VAK). In order to accommodate different types of learners, we were not taught to evaluate each individual student. Instead, we were taught to teach the same materials using multiple methods, thereby making the classes more varied and fun whilst giving students with different learning styles the opportunity to learn without dividing them into sub-groups based on learner type. Even today I believe that varying the method of instruction is the best way to incorporate knowledge of different learning styles into one’s classes.

When reading of different definitions of learning styles, it quickly becomes apparent that they differ depending on the source. Therefore, adopting a single definition as the ultimate truth is not advocable. However, even though the definitions may vary, they may all have merit and one can get ideas on how to vary the learning process by studying all the proposed definitions – the more the merrier – and trying to create learning situations based on them (individual vs. group exercises, written exercises vs. aural, translation vs. listening, etc.). All styles can appropriate, and the learning environment will be more stimulating with variation.

Identifying one’s learning style may help every language learner select the most useful types of input and exercises. I have even heard examples of people learning a language well by using a single method. However, I do not believe that one should limit oneself exclusively to one type of learning since other types of learning may provide new perspectives and increase retention, develop deeper understanding, prevent boredom and even work better in specific learning situations or as one’s mind develops.

Other Teaching Tips…

Other instruction skills I transferred from Taekwondo into the language classroom include setting direct goals, referring to the students by name, using positive yet realistic correction and reinforcement rather than criticism, building confidence, teaching the concept of personal victory, and having fun. As a very experienced instructor of PPCT (Pressure Point Control Tactics) once told me, ‘breaking things down into easily mastered components and giving the students an early experience of success increases retention and motivation’. Having witnessed such an approach being successful on numerous occasions, I am a strong believer in breaking even complex topics down into smaller segments that are easier to master and then letting the students experience success with the component parts, building confidence and enthusiasm, before combining them again.

Developing Oneself…

An additional resource or challenge is related to the concept of ‘learning how to learn’. Many students may not have been exposed to multiple methods of language learning; while an unfamiliar method may be difficult at first, they may become better at using it with added exposure and a person’s preferred learning style may evolve over time. The changeable and varied process of language learning supports my belief that using different methods is a useful strategy to develop language skills. Other advantages are that multiple learning methods will reduce the chance of boredom and stagnation and that varied input may improve overall brain function or prevent degeneration for those of us who are approaching old age.

Concluding Recommendations…

Taking the lack of evidence that teaching according to learning styles improves learning and that individual learning patterns are complex and varying into account, the advice I would give to those who wish to learn Thai is as follows:

• Use a variety of approaches. Enter different environments, work alone, work in groups, use dictionaries, immerse yourself, etc. Sometimes, the penny may drop when you least expect it to. You will find the ways that work best for you and stimulate mental development by experimenting. It will also reduce the risk of boredom that so often interferes with continuous learning efforts.
• Set limited goals so that you may experience success quickly and build confidence and enthusiasm by tracking specific improvements.
• When finding suitable people to help you, use their ability to break language down into understandable and manageable components that don’t seem overwhelming so that you can focus on a few items at a time and build from a strong foundation.

Oh yes, most importantly… Don’t be afraid of mistakes and try to get feedback from people who aren’t afraid to point out things that you can improve, especially ones who can explain how and why. In Thailand, pointing out that someone is making mistakes is often considered rude, and people are generally very supportive. However, if your intent is to do better than simply getting a message across, you need to find out what and how to improve. People who do not want to point out that what you are saying sounds bad are doing you a disservice. If you get positive feedback even when making mistakes, habits will form which may prove hard to break later on, hindering your progress and possibly preventing you from reaching your full potential as a language learner.

I look forward to reading the comments to this article and deepening my own understanding of this topic.

Nils Bastedo
M.Sc. TESOL, Edinburgh University
Author of Tenses for Thais
Founder and Chief Instructor of Lunds Songahm Taekwondo Klubb

Video: How to Learn a Language in a Foreign Country…

In David Mansaray’s latest video he asks interpreter and translater Robert Bigler for his views on learning a language in a foreign country. In the video, Robert also discussed how he actively studies languages.

In my opinion, this is one of the best advice videos on learning languages. It’s that good. Actually, this video is what I’ve come to expect from David. David’s How to Use Motivation Effectively video is brilliant.

How to learn a language in a foreign country…

Not everyone will sit still to listen to videos – I often don’t – so I extracted the main talking points for you. Btw… if you want to listen to the interview via audio, here’s the Mp3: How to learn a language in a foreign country.

My original intention was to share only the bare basics, but I found so MUCH good stuff I asked David for permission to post the full list. Thank you for your generosity David!

And while I’m handing out thanks, thank you for introducing us to Robert too. He’s a jewel :-)

If you enjoyed the video as much as I did, please leave comments on David’s YouTube channel: How to Learn a Language in a Foreign Country.

In the interview Robert gives advice on learning resources. I’ve added top favourites for learning Thai to the post below. I could easily add more but I ran out of time. If you have other suggestions, please do share them in the comments.

For even more resources for learning Thai, go to WLTs FREE Thai language learning resources. If you want to read about the resources, check out WLTs Tidy Archives.

Talking points: How to Learn a Language in a Foreign Country…

Prepare yourself: get as much information about the country as possible, acquire enough of the language to have a basic conversation, be open-minded and interested in the language as well as the culture and people.

Learning resources…

The bare essentials: a good dictionary with sample sentences, basic grammar book, self-study course with dialogs, a good phrase book.

Instead of buying ten books and merely glancing at each, take one small book to focus on.

Dictionaries with phrases:
Domnern Sathienpong Thai-English dictionary (hardcopy with CD)
New Model English-Thai Dictionary ฉบับห้องสมุด (Set) (ปกแข็ง) (hardcopy)
P. Sethaputra English-Thai Dictionary of Contemporary Usage (paperback)
Thai-language.com dictionary (online)
Thai2English dictionary (online)

Grammar books:
Thai: An Essential Grammar (hardcopy) and Kindle edition
Thai Reference Grammar: The Structure of Spoken Thai (hard copy)

WLT: Review: A Guide to Thai Grammar Books

Self-Study courses:
Essential Thai (hard copy)
FSI Materials: Thai Language Wiki
ITS4Thai online and iOS apps
Teach Yourself Thai Complete (hard copy)
Thai for Beginners (hard copy) and iPhone, iPod Touch & iPad App
Thai language products at Paiboon Publishing
Learn Thai Podcast (online and iTunes)
L-Lingo Thai (online) and iOS iPad

WLT: David Smyth Updates Teach Yourself Thai
WLT: ITS4Thai DRAW + iPhone and iPad Review
WLT: Thai for Beginners iPhone App
WLT: Review: Learn Thai Podcast Relaunches!
WLT: Using the Assimil Method with Essential Thai

Phrasebooks:
WLT: iPhone Apps: Thai Language Phrase books
WLT: Thai Language Phrase Books: A Mega Review

Natural materials…

Start with natural material as soon as possible: radio programs, newspaper articles, magazines, on subjects you are interested in.

Radio:
Surf Music: Thailand
Thailand Radio Stations
Radio Thailand and Thai TV & Radio Pro (iOS apps)

Newspapers:
Onlinenewspapers.com: Thailand
Learn how to read Thai newspapers at Paknam Forums
Learning from the news > Learn Thai from the Bangkok Post

WLT: Free Download: Advanced Thai Reading and Vocabulary Building
WLT: Learn Thai from the Bangkok Post

Thai TV:
FukDuK
Thai TV, Thai tv Online, ThaiTVonline.tv.

WLT: FuKDuK.tv + ALG = Speed Metal Thai?!?!
WLT: Krungthepkaki: Inaki’s Thai TV YouTube Channel

Frequency lists…

Use frequency lists. The same 3-4000 words come up all the time. Learn them. Work with them. If you don’t understand something, ask people to explain.

Chula University: 5000 word frequency list.

You’ll notice that Chula’s list is all in Thai. When I asked Mark Hollow (programmer) about the English he graciously created several versions for download. The subject is too big for this post so I’ll share vocabulary and frequency lists in a coming post (Thursday or Friday).

Words, phrases, conversations…

Learn phrases you’ll use in discussions pertinent to your life: who you are, where you are from, what you do, how old you are, etc.

Have a basic set of structures: how to say what happened in the past, what is going on right now, what’s going to happen in the future.

Anticipate likely conversations, prepare your replies, talk to yourself in the foreign language, rehearse as if you are on stage.

When preparing for conversations on certain subjects write down repeatedly used words and expressions. Go through them. The words you lacked in previous conversations are the words you need to focus on.

If you hear a nice expression use it in your next sentence. Make sentences out of the words you’ve just heard.

When you have problems with expressing yourself, immediately look it up. If there is something you cannot say because you don’t know the word, look up that word.

Don’t learn words on their own without context. If you learn them in context you will get exposure to the words and structures. Exposure is the key.

You don’t need a lot of material but you have to be able to reproduce them automatically so it’s essential to actually speak the language. You need to get used to talking. Your muscles need to be trained.

How to listen…

Be a good listener. You will benefit from the wealth of knowledge received from the person you are talking to.

To get into the flow of the language listen to audio. Get a lot of exposure by listening. Listening helps to practice the language passively. Listen carefully and attentively. Don’t listen in the background.

Audio:
Self Study Thai: Audio, transcripts, English translations and flashcards from VOA
Thai Recordings: Five minute audio clips with transcripts for intermediate learners of Thai

WLT: Free Podcasts in the Thai Language
WLT: ดึงดูดใจ: Thai Lyrics and Translations

Create a natural environment…

Create a natural environment by getting involved in discussions of interest on TV and radio. Sitcoms are a great way to get use to structures that come up in everyday conversation. If you lack the words to get your point across in your fake conversation, look them up. Keep talking. Say something like, “I’m sorry I have to look up the word”.

Thai videos on YouTube:
Andrew Biggs on YouTube
Andrew Bigs: Easy English
Adam Bradshaw’s YouTube Channel
AUA: Learn Thai Language Videos
ฝรั่งป๊อก ป๊อก Farang Pok Pok (search for other episodes)

WLT: AUA Thai Videos on YouTube
WLT: Thai Movies: A Relaxing Way to Study Thai

Tips on reading, writing, speaking…

Writing and reading is the whole package. When it comes to internalising grammatical structures and vocabulary, writing does a lot.

Write by hand, not by using the computer.

Copy books. Look at the words. Really get involved. Read the sentences out loud. Write them. Look at them. Get embedded in the language environment.

Speak it. You need to speak it. Read it aloud. If you feel uncomfortable taking to yourself, read an article you are interested in.

Speaking and reading:
AUA Thai: Reading and Writing videos
Learn2SpeakThai: Learn Thai with Maanii Books
Slice of Thai: Voice Viewer
Thai Reader Project

WLT: Andrew Biggs is Tongue Thai’d on YouTube
WLT: AUA Thai: FREE Reading and Writing Videos
WLT: Download 12 FREE Manee Books
WLT: Free Online Thai Readers
WLT: FREE Resource: Thai Reader Project
WLT: Thai-English Readers with Mp3s
WLT: The Easy Way for Beginners to Read and Write Thai

Language exchange…

For language exchange using email, you both choose the topics you are interested in. Each prepares text. Each corrects the other’s. You have the time to work with whatever tool you feel comfortable with (a dictionary, sentences from books, etc).

Language/Culture Exchange: Thailand
ALG Crosstalk Project: Bangkok

WLT: Café Dīcō: Talk • Share • Learn
WLT: How to Learn Thai via Skype: The Series
WLT: Online Language Exchange Partners

Meeting native speakers…

When going abroad for an extended period of time, try to meet people by: joining clubs, fitness clubs, playing sports, and doing volunteer work.

Volunteer work is the best way to actually live with the people and not just beside them or next to them.

Be honest enough to tell people that you appreciate being corrected. Encourage people to correct you. Ask them to help you out. But also ask them not to judge you. There is a major difference between correcting somebody and judging somebody.

But it’s not the mistakes you should be worrying about. It is not being told about your mistakes.

It’s very important, especially in the beginning stages, that you meet someone you feel comfortable with to talk to.

When you get to the stage where you are open enough to actually learn from others without feeling bad for making mistakes, then you will be really successful.

Making progress is why it’s very important to have somebody around you who is understanding, but is also honest enough to actually tell you what you are saying wrong.

How to deal with communication snafus…

There will be moments of frustration, even when you believe that you are well-prepared. When this happens, don’t give up. Keep practicing.

You will make a lot of mistakes and at first might not understand much of what they are saying. When you make mistakes ask people to help you out.

When you struggle in conversation, once back at home get out your dictionary and turn to the subject at hand.

A final word from David Mansaray…

When it comes to spoken language people are willing to let some things go, but when it comes to writing people are a lot more sensitive to mistakes. They are going to be a lot more honest when correcting your mistakes. Writing is a great tool for the shy because you don’t have to immediately deal with that confrontation, you can look at your own mistakes to see where to improve.

It’s really important to have someone that you trust to help you with your language. Who you practice language with is also very important. When going through the stages you can be physiologically fragile. If you are not corrected in a friendly way then you can lose confidence in yourself, and that can make you retreat.

Where to find David and Robert…

David Mansaray:

Web: David Mansaray
YouTube Channel: davidmansaray
twitter: @DavidMansaray

Robert Bigler:

YouTube Channel: sprachbegeistert
The Polyglot Project Podcast: Robert Bigler

YouTube: My personal language learning experience
YouTube: My way of learning languages I
YouTube: My way of learning languages I

Please join me in congratulating David and Robert on their fabulous video at: How to Learn a Language in a Foreign Country.

Review: Domnern Sathienpong Thai-English Dictionary…

Title: Domnern Sathienpong Thai English Dictionary 4th Edition
Authors: G. Domnern, W. Sathienpong
ISBN: 9789742129200
Pages: 800
Price: 395baht (hardbound CD and larger font) 255 baht (paperback)
Availability: Just about anywhere which sells Thai books, Se-Ed, B2S, Asia Books, Kinokunia, Chula Books, etc.

I normally write reviews about Thai language schools and articles about my trials and tribulations in learning Thai. This is my first book review, so please bear with me.

I have several English-Thai dictionaries scattered around the house. Before I could really read Thai to any degree of proficiency I relied on them heavily. Problem is, looking up English words to find the Thai equivalent is often a hit or miss endeavor. True, you’ll get whatever the author of the dictionary thinks the appropriate Thai word or words for the English word, but what you won’t get is usage, example sentences, and compound words the word is tied to. And you often won’t get critical information about the word as far as if it is colloquial, formal, official, or used primarily in written Thai. And this is information a non-native speaker of Thai needs to use new vocabulary. These shortcomings had me giving away my English Thai dictionaries to Thai friends.

While browsing the dictionary section at B2S (the bookstore chain of Central Group) I happened across the bright blue cover of the Domnern Sathienpong Thai-English Dictionary. Now, at that time I could read Thai fairly well, meaning I could read something and mostly comprehend what it was saying. After I looked through the paperback edition I immediately bought it. Once I got it home I started reading it. I know, reading a dictionary doesn’t seem like an edge of your seat thing to do, but the way this dictionary presents information makes it quite an interesting read.

After a couple of days reading the paperback edition I realized that saving the 140 baht between the cost of the paperback and the hardback edition was short-sighted. The print in the paperback is noticeably smaller and often I couldn’t tell which vowel was which. A trip back to B2S to purchase the hardback edition solved and I was good to go.

The hardback version comes with a CD. I immediately installed it on my PC with disastrous results! It totally changed the entire desktop to the Windows default of giant icons, oversized printing, etc. An uninstall and system restore took care of the problem and I now use the CD as a coffee table coaster.

Some things I’ve found of interest in this dictionary are: the Thai word กระ, which can mean freckle, liver spot, or tortoise shell as a stand-alone word, is also the prefix for about 10 pages worth of words! Similarly the prefix ประ, which can mean to strike, touch, add, attack or pat on has nearly 9 pages worth of words.

What I like most about this dictionary is the use of example sentences in many of the definitions. I also like that the authors delineate slang from formal words, and seem to have no reticence in providing example sentences for some pretty coarse slang words. Now, granted, the slang is quite dated and not that much contemporary (ภาษาวัยรุ่น is included). Still, at 54 years old, it’s more age appropriate slang for me.

Another thing I really like is the incorporation of compound words related to a base word. I can’t begin to tell you the times I’ve looked up a word and then found myself reading the dictionary for 5 or 10 minutes. And all because there were so many compounds that can be made from the single word I was looking up. The dictionary has 71 listings for word compounds which start with ใจ and 36 for words which in which ใจ is used as a suffix.

In the back of the dictionary are appendices devoted to: birds, mammals, reptiles, insects, plants, aquatic life, geographical names, Thai dishes and ingredients, military and police ranks, Thai governmental, state, financial institutions, public universities and abbreviations. These are also very interesting to read thru, especially the section about police/military rank and the abbreviations. You can’t begin to read a Thai newspaper without a sizeable vocabulary in Thai abbreviations so this indeed is a helpful section.

Another asset, this dictionary is captioned with icons to denote polite, formal, slang, royal, etc.

Some of the downsides to the dictionary…

There is no Thai pronunciation for words, so you’re left to your own devices on whether a particular word has a double functioning consonant (used as a final and then again as a stand-alone sound too). Even if they’d included the pronunciation Thais are used to reading, it would have been an improvement, especially for a non-native reader/speaker.

I’ll relate a pronunciation fox-paw (faux-pas) I had 6 or so months ago in Thai language class. Now I’d learned the word อวยพร by looking it up in the dictionary when I was reading a teen romance novel, but I’d never spoken it aloud. In the lesson at school during the read aloud part, I unfortunately got stuck with a passage that had the word อวยพร in it. I pronounced it as อะ-วะ-ยะ-พน. The teacher who was in the process of taking a drink from a bottle of water almost blew it out her nose at my horrific mangling of the word. Honestly, if there had been a Thai pronunciation in the dictionary when I first looked up the word, I’da never made a fool out of myself like that. Still, hardly anyone else in class knew I mispronounced it so badly, until the teacher (after composing herself) pointed it out to everyone. We had a good laugh and I took it in stride. But really, sometimes you just don’t know how to pronounce an unfamiliar Thai word and a pronunciation guide would be a valuable addition.

They also have the irritating penchant for listing a word, but instead of providing the definition saying “see such and such other word”. I mean come on, how hard would it have been to put the definition in two places?

As I said earlier, that CD is a disaster waiting to happen so DON’T load it into your PC. I did Google around for a fix but came up empty. Also, it won’t display Thai font correctly on Windows 7, so using it as a coaster to set drinks on is probably the best you’ll get out of it.

Those are minor shortcomings and certainly shouldn’t stop anyone who can even read Thai marginally from getting this dictionary. I’ve found I’m about as fast (sometimes faster) looking up words with it than some technophiles are using the Thai-English dictionary app on their smart phones. It certainly gets you dialed in to the order of the Thai alphabet (which I still can’t recite BTW), and the progression of Thai vowels in a dictionary format. While I can’t recite the Thai consonant alphabet in order, I can look at the dictionary and guess pretty accurately what letter is what by the thickness of the sections.

Who will get use out of the dictionary…

I’ve recommended this dictionary to foreigners learning Thai almost any time I run into one. Truth be told, I’ve even bought copies to give them out to people studying Thai. Recently I ran into one foreigner I’d given a copy to months before. He promptly took 400 baht out of his pocket and gave it to me, saying it was the best thing he’d come across to help build his Thai vocabulary. I mean, how cool is that?

Cat wanted me to include some of my favorite words and example sentences in this review. However, my version of spoken Thai is coarse, blunt, direct, littered with profanity and far from suitable for a website like this. I think readers should invest in the dictionary and find their own pearls of wisdom rather than me providing examples (which might not be viewer appropriate).

I hope this review was of interest. If I continue to review books I’m certain to get better…

Tod Daniels | toddaniels at gmail dot com

How I Learn Thai…

A reader asked me recently if I would write about how I went about learning Thai. It was a great question because in fact I had never even thought about that before. So I started thinking back on how I went about trying to learn this ridiculously difficult language, and I came up with the following thoughts.

First, some of the most frequently asked questions I have come across about learning Thai:

1. What textbook do you recommend?
2. Which Thai grammar is the best?
3. How do you remember all the written tone rules?
4. What’s the best language school?
5. What language learning method do you use?

Here are my answers:

1. I have never used a textbook.
2. I have never even opened a Thai grammar and couldn’t tell you any Thai grammar rules.
3. I have never learned the written tone rules. I have tried a few times but each time I try my eyes glaze over about 15 seconds into reading them and I just give up. I got further trying to read James Joyce’s Ulysses.
4. I have never attended a language school.
5. Method? I have thought hard about this question and the only answer I can come up with is to coin the phrase: The “work-your-a$$-off” method.

So let me elaborate a bit and walk through some of my language learning history. Note that I don’t recommend any specific Thai learning methodology. You’ll need to find the method that works for you. But I think that “working-your-a$$-off” would probably benefit you whatever method you employ.

The beginning…

I first was introduced to the Thai language during Peace Corps training. This was an intensive 3 months, 6 hours a day, 6 days a week course. At the time we used the Audio-Lingual method which was all the rage. This is where you listen and repeat, ad infinitum, even when you have no idea what you are saying. Some of us were heard repeating Thai language substitution drills in our sleep.

BTW, another popular term for the Audio-Lingual method is the Oral-Aural method. The interesting thing about this is that the words “Oral” (speaking) and “Aural” (listening) are a special pair of English words in that they are spelled very differently but are pronounced exactly the same, and they mean the opposite of each other. I always loved this pair because of that.

Our Thai teachers never once used an English word in the classroom. So a lot of the time we didn’t even know the meaning of the things we were saying. What I got out of the training was

1. Familiarity with hearing and differentiating the 5 Thai tones, and the ability to mimic them after hearing them.
2. Knowledge of basic Thai language patterns that I could build on – simple subject/verb/object, present/past/future tenses, use of adjectives, asking questions, simple answers. Really, to get by in everyday life, that’s all you need to know.

After the training most of us could say a few pat phrases but were nowhere able to hold a real conversation. But we did have the basics down, tones and patterns. We were taught to continually add to our basic knowledge, which I still try to do today.

Besides those three months I never took another formal class again.

Further Studies…

Later I hired a teacher to come to my home a few times a week to help tutor me. Basically I would have a set of questions for him (i.e. How do you say …?, What does … mean?, etc.). Being a language teacher it was easy for me to make up my own lesson plan for him to follow. That way everything we covered had specific meaning for me and I could put to use right away. He would answer my questions and I would try to repeat exactly what he said.

I made sure that my teacher was very strict with me and if I made any mistakes, especially in tones or pronunciation, that he would have to correct me. He must have said, “No, repeat again.” at least 10,000 times, for which I remain eternally grateful. After 40+ years my tutor, now a director of a big NGO, is still a close friend. And whenever I introduce him to someone I say, “This is the guy who taught me to speak Thai.”

If you get a tutor he/she must be a really good linguistic informant. That means they have to be able to explain the “what” of the language. The “why” was never important to me and it never was, and still isn’t, a question I asked. (For example: Try answering the question, “Why are ‘oral’ and ‘aural’ pronounced the same, and why do they mean the opposite of each other?” See how far you get.)

I studied with my tutor for about a year, after which I never took another lesson. But the one rule I still keep is that I don’t ever say anything I haven’t already heard a native Thai speaker say. So now everyone is my teacher.

Later I began to learn how to read. I did this on my own and considered learning the alphabet and putting it all together as sort of fun puzzle solving. Because I knew a lot of vocabulary already, reading came easier. So I think it is a good idea to learn how to read after building up some basics in the language. I try to read a little every day now and as I did before, when I don’t know a word or term, which is almost all the time, I go to the handy dictionary and I write down the answer.

Observations…

Many may disagree with these next observations of mine, and if you do please add a comment below. There are lots of ways to skin a cat.

1. I feel that the exchanging of language lessons, “You teach me Thai/I teach you English”, is a huge waste of time for everyone (unless you have a non-linguistic agenda of course – read #2 below to see why that might be a bad idea too). I have never seen the lesson-exchanging system work for anyone – the English learner or the Thai learner. Both parties usually quit after only a few meetings.
2. Learning Thai from your girlfriend/boyfriend, wife/husband is worse. I have always said that if you want to stay together never try to teach your partner anything (especially driving a car, playing golf, or speaking a language). I should know. My wife was a Thai teacher for 15 years. She has always been there to answer my questions but I never took a lesson from her. That, and the fact that I hired someone to teach her how to drive, is the major reason why we just celebrated our 41st anniversary.
3. The best language teacher is one you pay.

Here’s what works for me…

I study Thai every day, still do. Early on I would note any time I wanted to say something in Thai and couldn’t find the right word, or any time I heard a Thai word I didn’t understand. I would write it down in a notebook and then off I’d go to a good dictionary, or to a person who would be able to help.

For example, if I were in a hardware store and wanted to buy screws I would hold up a screw, show it to the clerk and say “What do you call this in Thai?” เรียกว่าอะไรภาษาไทย /rîak wâa a-rai paa-săa tai/. Then I would write the answer down in my ever present notebook. (Answer: ตะปูเกลียว /dtà~bpoo-glieow/ “nail with threads”).

If someone said something I didn’t understand, something like ไม่สะดวก /mâi-sà~dùak/ I would write that down phonetically (“my sa do uk”) and then find someone who knew enough English and repeat it to him/her and say, “What does this mean in English?” ภาษาอังกฤษ “my sa do uk” แปลว่าอะไร /paa-sǎa-ang-grìt “my sa do uk” bplae wâa à~rai/ (Answer: inconvenient).

Some other thoughts…

(Again, many will disagree with these)

1. I think that learning Thai written tone rules helps one know what a tone is supposed to be. It doesn’t help you say the tone correctly. The only way to do that is to hear a native Thai say it and then repeat it exactly as they do.
2. Reading is great and I have benefitted from it very much. But it probably should not be the first thing one does when learning a language. I don’t think I know of anyone who says that they learned their first language by reading first and then speaking later. It is my opinion that learning a second language is probably the same.
   Reading is a passive activity whereas speaking is actively doing. They are so different as to not even share the same hemisphere. It’s the same difference as watching golf on TV and playing yourself. On TV you can sit back and choose which club the golfer should use and whether he should lay up or not. When you are playing, then you are the one who is doing. Sitting back and reading is a pretty safe activity. Putting yourself out there in the real world and speaking, that’s the real doing.
3. It is my opinion that studying grammar is “learning about a language”, not “learning the language”. It is a great way to become more fluent, not a great way to begin your studies.
4. I use basic patterns and substitute appropriate vocabulary as I learn them. The basic patterns often come first and are as important as the vocabulary that goes into them.
5. I say only what I have heard a native speaker say. Probably using the sentence or phrase in the same context that the native speaker did would also be a good idea.
6. I make as many mistakes as I possibly can so that I can learn from them. Making mistakes is probably the best way to learn just about anything.

As an example of #6 I’ll conclude with my latest Thai language faux pas.

Another Faux Pas…

We had taken one of our rabbits to the veterinarian. She (the rabbit, not the vet) had a common skin condition that was treated and she got well very quickly. But on our first visit I wanted to describe one of the symptoms to her (the vet not the rabbit). The front paws sometimes were trembling. So I said to the vet that our rabbit had ขาสั้น /kǎa sân/. Everyone in the office looked at me with those “you have made a very strange statement” looks that indicate that I have again said something stupid.

I learned later that the word I used สั้น /sân/ should have been สั่น /sàn/, low tone instead of falling tone. ขาสั่น /kǎa sàn/, with the low tone means “shaking or trembling leg”. What I said, ขาสั้น /kǎa sân/, with the falling tone means “short leg”. No wonder the vet and everyone else at the clinic stared at me funny. I was complaining that my rabbit had short legs.

Looks like I still have a long way to go. I guess that I will need to continue to “work-my-a$$-off” trying to learn Thai. I know I’ll be fine though since I am sure there will be lots more faux pas to come.

Hugh Leong
Retire 2 Thailand
Retire 2 Thailand: Blog
eBooks in Thailand

Thai frequency lists with English definitions…

In How to Learn a Language in a Foreign Country Robert Bigler mentioned the importance of using frequency lists.

The same 3-4000 words come up all the time. Learn them. Work with them. If you don’t understand something, ask people to explain.

Students of the Thai language have been in search of a decent frequency list for years. Back in 2006, Rikker Dockum (Thai 101) posted Doug’s 1000 Thai word frequency collection on TV: List Of 3000 Most Common Thai Words.

Rikker pointed out that the best list in Doug’s materials came from the legendary Mary Haas. And for good reason. Unlike Mary’s, many lists include technical and highly formal words. Not exactly words to learn at the beginning of your Thai language journey.

After collecting Thai vocabulary lists (below) another problem I ran into is that many don’t include English definitions. To rectify this, Mark Hollow (programmar extraordinaire) whipped up a program to add English from three dictionaries: Lexitron, Volubilis, and the Royal Institute (all Thai). Thanks Mark!

Not all words made it through, so if someone wants to take on that chore, please contact me.

From Mark: Each zip file contains the original files, csv or one-word-per-line plain text files and csv + excel versions with the English & Thai definitions. The LEX, VOL, LEX+VOL and RID file extensions denote the dictionaries used for the definitions in each file.

Thai frequency lists with English definitions…

Doug’s 1000 Word Thai Frequency List:
Posted on TV by Rikker, the list includes: Mary Haas, McFarland, Orchid, and Tax.

Doug’s 1000: download

Chula university top 5000 Thai words:
Chula’s list seems to be drawn from academic publications.

Chula 5000: download

SEAlang Lab Thai Vocabulary Lists:
A collection of vocabulary lists compiled by SEAlang sorted by origin, web rank, and subject: Vocabulary: Thai AWl, AUA Reader, BYKI and SEAlang.

SEAlang: download

Thai vocabulary lists with English definitions…

McFarland:
In the 1940′s George Bradley McFarland used thirty different sources to compile the top 1000+ Thai words for his Thai-English dictionary. McFarland’s list has weird quirks and omissions. And while the list is included in Doug’s contribution, this download notes both the old-fashioned words and their modern equivalent (reason why I’m sharing it here).

Thai-language.com uses McFarland’s list as a base for their Common words of the Thai Language.

McFarland: download

Fundamentals of the Thai language:
This list comes from the out-of-date but still wonderful Fundamentals of the Thai language. Being a Thai language resources junkie, the actual hardcopy (5th Edition) sits in a place of honour in my bookcase.

Updated sections can also be found at Thai-language.com: Fundamentals of the Thai Language.

Fundamentals: download

Paiboon Publishing:
I found Benjawan Becker’s vocabulary lists online (apologies, but I’ve forgotten where). When asked, Benjawan gave her permission to share them in this post. Thanks Benjawan!

Thai for Beginners, Intermediate, Advanced: download

FSI Vocabulary:
This list comes from the FSI materials found on the Thai Language Wiki (still in the process of being updated).

FSI Vocab: download

Karn TV:
Karn.TV is a web site for kids’ learning materials. There are three word lists for primary 1-3 grades. Included are cultural words such as basic royal and religious terms.

Karn Vocab: download

Manii Reader Vocabulary:
The Manii books are classics with Thais and students of the Thai language. Mani lessons can be found at Learn2SpeakThai Learn to read Thai with Maanee, Learning Thai, and SEAsite.

Manii 1 & 2: download

Quick & Dirty Thai Vocabulary Download:
From the post of the same name, the Quick & Dirty Thai Vocabulary download is a work in progress.

Quick & Dirty Thai Vocabulary: download

Stopwords…

The Apache Lucene project is an open source search engine program. It has a Thai language module complete with stopwords and is released under a free license.

Lucene stopwords: download

Chula university also has a stopword list. It’s ready to share but so far we’ve been unable to get permission.

Online Thai vocabulary lists…

Thai Word Lists:
Mark Hollow’s list includes around 5000 Thai words with translations. While there, download the ThaiReadingWritingSummary.pdf from the about page.

Thailand Bangkok Mission: 1000 Thai words:
Ben Crowder from Riverglen Press has a 1000 Thai Vocabulary list used at the Thailand Bangkok Mission. Download it from his site.

ClickThai Vocabulary Trainer…

If you don’t have the time to create vocabulary lists with flashcards and sound, the ClickThai Vocabulary Trainer is the top smart phone app with a graduated vocabulary list. From what I’ve seen, the others have a datadump (common and uncommon words come at you in no certain order).

For a review, read: Increase Your Thai Vocabulary: Word Brain & ClickThai Vocabulary Trainer.

Vocabulary posts on WLT…

Just incase you aren’t listed out, here are a few WLT posts discussing Thai vocabulary lists:

The Top 39 Thai Words You Must Know
A Top 100 Thai Word List Created from Phrases
Top 100 Thai Vocabulary List

And for a rolling litany of new vocabulary, read most anything by Hugh Leong: Thai Language Thai Culture.