The Thai Language’s Double อยู่…

To help you learn Thai, for the first Using High Frequency Thai Vocabulary post we wanted to start with something a little more interesting than simple subject + verb + object patterns so we chose something fun: The Double อยู่ construct.

The Double อยู่ construct is used to describe an unexpected or surprise action. Depending on how colorful you want to be, it’s interesting how this construct can be translated (or rather, interpreted) into English in so many ways.

The Double อยู่ pattern is usually:

อยู่ๆ … ก็ …

อยู่ๆ: อยู่ อยู่. It’s a doubling of the word อยู่ (one of the many Thai “to be” words). Hope you got the pun.

ๆ: Whenever you see the symbol ๆ (ไม้ยมก /mái-yá~mók/) the word preceding it is spoken twice.

ก็: then (in time), also

Examples:

อยู่ๆ เขา ก็ ร้องไห้
Out of nowhere she just started crying.

อยู่ๆ ตำรวจ ก็ เข้ามา
The policeman burst in unexpectedly.

อยู่ๆ ครู ก็ หยุด สอน
All of a sudden the teacher stopped teaching.

Below are some English enhancements to the same sentences that an interpreter would use to add color to the Double อยู่ construct.

อยู่ๆเขาก็ร้องไห้
I was just sitting around, minding my own business, when out of nowhere she just started crying.

อยู่ๆตำรวจก็เข้ามา
I was just doing my thing when out of the blue the policeman burst in unexpectedly.

อยู่ๆครูก็หยุดสอน
The students weren’t doing anything when all of a sudden the teacher stopped teaching.

High frequency Thai vocabulary used:

เขา: she, he, him, her, they
ร้องไห้: to cry, weep
ตำรวจ: police, policeman
เข้ามา: to enter
ครู: teacher
หยุด: to stop
สอน: to teach

Using the Double อยู่ patterns…

To use this pattern we will need some words from the High Frequency Thai Vocabulary List.

Note on using patterns: Look at the pattern and replace the word descriptions with words from the list. Besure to check that the sentence makes logical sense. And remember, the word lists in this post are only a fraction of the 3,000 words of the High Frequency Thai Vocabulary List.

After doing these exercises go to the original list and practice some more. Later, when the patterns are ingrained in your head, add words you come across in everyday situations.

Samples from the High Frequency Word List…

Pronouns:

ฉัน: I (female)
ผม: I (male speaker)
เธอ: you, she
พวกเขา: they, them
พวกนี้: these people
พวกเรา: we, they, us, them, all of us

People:

หัวหน้า: boss
เด็กผู้ชาย: boy
แฟน: boyfriend, girlfriend, husband,wife
เด็ก: child
ลูกค้า: customer
ลูกจ้าง: employee
นายจ้าง: employer
ทุกคน: everybody parts, everyone
คนต่างประเทศ: foreigner
เพื่อน: friend
เด็กผู้หญิง: girl
โจร: robber
แม่ค้า: salesperson (female)
วัยรุ่น: teenager
คนไทย: Thai person
นักท่องเที่ยว: tourist
คนงาน workman

Verbs:

พักผ่อน: to rest
พูด: to speak, talk, say
มา: to come
มาเยี่ยม: to come visit a person
มาหา: to come to see someone
ไม่เห็นด้วย: to disagree
ยอมให้: to permit, allow
ย้ายมาอยู่: to move (in)
เรียก: to call (out)
ลุกขึ้น: to rise, get up
ร้องไห้: to cry, weep
โทร: to phone, telephone

Creating complete Thai sentences using the Double อยู่ pattern…

Pattern:

อยู่ๆ + pronoun/person + ก็ + verb (phrase)

Examples:

อยู่ๆเขาก็ร้องไห้
She suddenly began to cry.

อยู่ๆหัวหน้าก็มาหา
Without notice the boss came to see me.

อยู่ๆเธอก็เรียก
With no warning she called (out to me).

How would you say the following in Thai? (Tip: the needed vocabulary can be found in the above lists).

1. I was just hanging out when he came to see me.
2. They came unexpectedly.
3. Unpredictably, the customer called (phoned).
4. My friend moved in without giving any notice.
5. The workman, without saying anything, took a break (rest).

Now go to the frequency list to see how many other logical phrases you can create using this pattern. And if you like, share them with us in the comments.

Interpreting Double อยู่ phrases…

How would you interpret the following? Be as colorful as you wish but please keep to the gist of the sentence.

อยู่ๆอากาศก็ร้อน
อยู่ๆนักเรียนก็กลับบ้าน
อยู่ๆหมาก็ตาย
อยู่ๆประธานก็ยิ้ม

Word List:

อากาศ: weather, climate, air, or atmosphere
กลับบ้าน: to go home
ยิ้ม: smile
ร้อน: hot (temperature)
หมา: dog
หัวเข่า: knee
ตาย: to die
นักเรียน: student
ประธาน: president, chairman
เจ็บ: to hurt, be hurt

Patterns to learn Thai…

Patterns are how words in a language are put together to make meaningful utterances. Becoming familiar with patterns is one of the basics to learning to communicate in any language. It’s especially so in learning Thai. In the future we will be exploring more patterns in Thai using the High Frequency Thai Vocabulary List. If you have a Thai language pattern that you would like to work with and learn more about, send it on to us and we will try to use it in one of our future posts.

Here’s the updated High Frequency Thai Vocabulary to download. The list has gone through many revisions but there’s still more to do. Mia from Learn2SpeakThai has generously offered to make suggestions and corrections. Thanks Mia!

Tip: The Double อยู่ followup post will include sound files. In the meantime, go to Does Your Computer Speak Thai? for instructions on how to get your computer reading Thai outloud.

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

FREE DRAW! James Higbies’ Essential Thai AND Thai Reference Grammar…

Someone is going to get lucky soon. Originally, the prize for this draw was to be a signed copy of Essential Thai by James Higbie. But when Jim and I got together over a beer he agreed to offer both Essential Thai AND Thai Reference Grammar. Kudos to Jim, that’s quite a healthy prize!

As before, to be included in the draw the rules are simple:

• You need to leave a comment(s) below.
• The comment(s) need to be reasonable.

Explanation: Each comment gets counted so please feel free to leave as many as you like. But here’s the thing… the comments must add to the conversation as well as pertain to this post.

How it works: Each time a relevant comment is made, I’ll write the name on a slip of paper. When I meet up with Jim over a beer, the papers will be stirred, shaken, whatever, for him to pick the winning name.

After it’s over: The draw will close on Saturday morning, July 6, 8am BKK time. The winner will be announced that very same day.

Thai Reference Grammar and Essential Thai..

Both Essential Thai and Thai Reference Grammar are on my ‘must have’ Thai book list. Essential Thai because it covers the basics in an easy to understand manner. And Thai Reference Grammar because when I need to know something grammar-wise, it’s easily found.

Thai Reference Grammar
Author: James Higbie
Paperback: 443 pages
Size: 9.4 x 6.9 x 1 inches
Published: July 10, 2006

Thai Reference Grammar has already been reviewed in Mark Hollow’s Review: A Guide to Thai Grammar Books, so I won’t cover it again.

Essential Thai
Author: James Higbie
Paperback + CD: 234 pages
Size: 7.8 x 0.5 x 9.8 inches
Published: 2012

Most of those interviewed in the Successful Thai Language Learners series have a favourite Thai course. Mine is Essential Thai. When I first started learning Thai I heard of the legendary but out of print Essential Thai. Cherished copies of copies were being passed around, but by then, even those had all but disappeared (I looked). Lucky for beginners, Jim reprinted Essential Thai in 2012.

Teach Yourself Thai and Thai for Beginners are also good, so why do I favour Essential Thai? Well, if you pinned me down for a reason I’d have to say that it’s because the lessons get straight to the point. When you first start studying a foreign language you often don’t remember long, detailed explanations. In Essential Thai, after a brief overview of the subject matter, you get a selection of vocabulary and useful sentence patterns to practice with. And then you move onto the next subject.

What the course doesn’t have is a quiz (I’m partial to testing). If that’s how you learn, you can get around it quite easily by following the suggestions in Using the Assimil Method with Essential Thai.

Essential Thai: table of contents…

I could spend hours extolling the virtues of Essential Thai but if I do this review will never happen. Just ask Jim (he’s been waiting for a year). Instead, here’s the robust table of contents that clearly includes everything a student of the Thai language needs to get started.

Introduction: pronunciation, numbers, colours.

First Things: greetings, going places, very/not at all, already, thank you/excuse me, do you understand, pronouns/I am, speaking politely, I don’t know, can you speak Thai?

Shopping, getting around: money and shopping, paying in restaurants, how many, bottles of water, food and drinks to go, buying clothes, getting change, bargaining, where is, asking for a restroom, traveling – basic questions.

Questions and expressions: what’s your name, how are you, where are you from, how old are you, have you eaten yet, have you been in Thailand long, goodbye/good luck, phrases for learning Thai common expressions, expressions from Thai culture.

Step by step conversation: basic sentences, to be, too (too hot), this/the, the same/not the same, comparing, like more than/like the most, possessive, this person/that person, who/which person, numbers of people, using verbs, yes/no questions, maybe/I might, go with verbs, I like to/I want to, have to/must, can/able to, I’d rather, I’ve/I’ve never, have you yet, not anymore/never again, so/shall, connecting words, request/commands, let/allow, there is/there are, somebody/nobody, many/a lot, a little, more/again, only, each other, together/myself, a different one/not this one, what kind/what style, particles, notes on vocabulary, compound words and prefixes.

Conversation topics: family, marriage, work, religion, asking Thais where they are from, foreign people and things, important cards and documents, children and adults, some people/most people, weather, talking about places, feelings, dialogues.

Time: days of the week, morning/afternoon/night, telling time, minutes/house/days/weeks/months/years, how long, times/occasions, time conjunctions, other time words, months and years.

Food: ordering, drinks, ingredients, friend rice and noodles, Thai dishes, vegetarian food, western food, fruit, buying foods on the market.

Transportation: kinds of vehicles, stations/airport/pier, city bus, city to city bus, driving instructions, renting a vehicle.

Hotels and bungalows: hotels, asking for things, beach bungalow.

Getting around town: places in town, directions, near/far, prepositions of location, inside/outside/above/below, which floor, bank, post office, tailor/dressmaker, invitations/appointments.

Medical, emergencies, phone: parts of the body, medical problems, medicine, emergencies, telephone.

Around Thailand: areas of Thailand, Bangkok, Central Thailand/the East, the North, the Northeast, the South, forest, ocean, countryside, a Thai temple, home, Thai culture.

And the rest: reading Thai, classifiers, Thai dictionary.

Where to buy Essential Thai and Thai Reference Grammar…

In Bangkok you can get both books at Kinokuniya’s bookstore in Paragon. As I don’t like fighting traffic, whenever possible I use DCO Books (online bookstore).

DCO: Essential Thai with CD by James Higbie
DCO: Thai Reference Grammar by James Higbie and Snea Thinsan

DCO offers a wonderful service. When I’m in a hurry Danny sends my order by motorcycle taxi (and I’m always in a hurry!) Note: I do not get a cut for mentioning DCO but please do say “hey” from me anyway.

Both amazon.com and amazon.co.uk also carry Essential Thai and Thai Reference Grammar.

FREE DRAW recap…

So there you have it. To enter the draw leave relevant comments below. As many as you can muster. The draw will end next Saturday morning. The results of the draw will appear sometime that same day (after I wobble back home from meeting with Jim). I hope you get lucky!

WINNER: James Higbies’ Essential Thai AND Thai Reference Grammar…

The lucky winner of Essential Thai and Thai Reference Grammar is …. Lawrence Michaels from Thailand Holiday Travel! Lawrence, if you send your address via email I’ll get these wonderful learning Thai resources to you asap or shortly after.

Jim, thank you for making this draw possible by donating the signed books. You’ve been very generous! And of course, meeting for lunch at the British Club so’s you can pull a winning name out of a beer mug was great fun too (we really must do it again sometime).

Interviewing Successful Thai Language Learners…

Name: David Fahey
Nationality: British
Age range: 30-40
Sex: Male
Location: UK
Profession: Management Consultant

What is your Thai level?

I can converse comfortably about most everyday things and watch and understand Thai soaps and films etc as long as they are set in the present in Bangkok so from that perspective, I consider myself fluent. An off the wall analogy perhaps, but anyone familiar with karate, for example, will know that students aspire to attain a black belt, but once there, that’s where the real learning begins as you focus your attention on moving through the “Dan” grades which come after the black belt. Where learning Thai is concerned  I’m a black belt but only a low ranking one with vast amounts left to learn.

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

I speak standard central Thai which is a product of the materials I started using when I began learning, that I lived in Nonthaburi and commuted into Bangkok for work and that my wife is from Samphran, Nakorn Pathom. My teenage street slag is a bit rusty now but at 37, I don’t worry too much about this! My Isaan is non-existent but we have a bit of land up in Chiang Mai where we plan to put a house one of these days so learning the northern dialect is on the cards at some stage.

What were your reasons for learning Thai?

When I was 22 having left university and gone straight to work, I decided on a bit of an adventure before the rat race consumed me. I took a teaching job in Bangkok – word of mouth, friend of a friend who knew someone sort of thing. I started to learn from a book a few weeks before travelling to Thailand so it was about survival and being keen to integrate as much as possible at first. Nowadays Thailand is very much a part of the fabric of my life so it seems only fitting I should speak the language. We also try as best as we can to bring the kids up in a bi-cultural environment so I try and set an example and we speak Thai at home a lot.

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

I lived in Thailand from 1998 to 2005. We visit for 6 weeks in the UK summer holidays every year and it is our intention to return to Thailand in the medium term. Our plan is to live out a “simpler” existence ad flit between bases in Nakorn Pathom and Chiang Mai.

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

Since 1998 and I am still very much a student – something I don’t expect will ever change.

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

I learned to read early on but had I been more consistent with my studies my Thai would have been stronger today. Learning for me has involved a series of plateaus where I have had to spend time consolidating what I already know. A two steps forward, one and a half steps back scenario.

Did you stick to a regular study schedule?

No. Not when I was living in Thailand, though I try to do now.

What Thai language learning methods did you try?

I have used a variety of books to supplement my learning over the years and these days I always have a subscription to a web-based resource. I’ve used Learn Thai Podcast and now I’m trying Thaipod 101 – both have their place, strengths and weaknesses but I am of the opinion as much exposure as possible from different sources is a good thing and it helps to recycle previously learned language in a different context. I also meet up with an ex (Thai) student of mine, now a good friend and who also has relocated to England, once a week where she pushes me conversationally for a couple of hours. However, my secret weapon is my long-suffering wife, Ple. She has a degree in education specialising in Thai from Chulalongkorn University and before we relocated to England she was the High School Thai language teacher at a well-known international school – ISB. One resource I do use is a magazine which I can get here in the UK called “Koo Sang Koo Som”. Whilst a light read for Thai native speakers and not the kind of thing I’d go in for in my own language, it provides me with sufficiently challenging material for my level at the moment. I try to read two to three articles a week, extracting new vocabulary etc and then discuss at least one of them with my wife.

Did one method stand out over all others?

This one is easy – Teach Yourself Thai by David Smyth. He presented the Thai reading system in bite-sized chunks in a logical manner. I still think it is the best starting point for those wanting to learn to read Thai and gives you a solid foundation to build on. I bought it before I went to Thailand and have had two or three copies since. Even though my level is beyond this book now, I think that is largely because of this book and I still have a copy on my shelf! I hope to meet Professor Smyth one day.

How soon did you tackle reading and writing Thai?

Straight away, again due to David Smyth’s book which gets learners to tackle the Thai alphabet early on. It made sense –  I thought that instead of learning a Romanised version I might as well focus my energy on the real thing. Also, Professor Smyth’s book made clear the tonal component of the language was implicit to the written system. The way this has evolved is quite elegant l really. My frustration now is being able to read everything but not understand everything – I still struggle with newspapers for example though that is down I think to certain stylistics which are characteristic of Thai tabloid journalism.

Did you find learning to read and write Thai difficult?

Not particularly. I am a scientist by training and look for patterns and logic in things and the Thai writing system has plenty of that in it.

What was your first ‘ah hah!’ moment?

Figuring out what was meant by a “rising tone” – it took me a while to be able to distinguish between some of them
.

How do you learn languages?

I have TEFL and NLP qualifications which I sort of reverse engineer into my own Thai learning. But I guess I do an number of things all of which add up to developing the four core skills through various types of intelligence – e.g. logical/linguistic, visual/spatial etc. so I might do gap/fills, free-writing, diagrams and charts etc because I’ve always subscribed to differentiated learning strategies like Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences. I have a conversation class which is meant to stretch me so these sessions always generate lots of new vocabulary which I try and weave in again and again during the course of the lesson. I take a note of these words and create a flashcard with each and drill them. This way the types of words I deal with are the words I have used myself in real conversation and will probably need to do again at some point. I also try and make up sentences or stories or diary entries using this vocabulary. Then I try to read something (aloud) in Thai, or listen to something in Thai everyday. If I manage to get a quiet half an hour, I try to “think” in Thai as well – this is incredibly useful and I can practise anywhere and anytime.

What are your strengths and weaknesses?

Weaknesses are vocabulary range for what I want to be able to do – I try and work on this everyday. Collocation too – Thai is a language of verbs and these often combine in a way they perhaps wouldn’t in English. The fourth (high) tone is also an effort for me – not words in isolation but within sentences, making that shift. My strengths are being able to read – it helps me take responsibility for my own learning more.

What is the biggest misconception for students learning Thai?

Not sure – perhaps that Romanising the Thai alphabet is in any way a good idea?

Can you make your way around any other languages?

No, none whatsoever.

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

I had a bash at Mandarin for a year or so but I struggled and also Khmer years ago as well but gave up – not enough opportunity for exposure to the language.

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

Learn to read as early as possible.

David Fahey,
Management Consultant

The Series: Interviewing Successful Thai Language Learners…

My personal thanks for this series goes to: David Fahey, Harlan Wolff, Philip Lattimore, 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.

Using High Frequency Thai Vocabulary: Double อยู่ Sounds…

As promised, the sound files to the Double อยู่ post….

Did you notice at the top of this post where it says “by Cat & Hugh”? Well, that’s because the previous post, where it says “by Hugh & Cat”, Hugh was in the driver’s seat. Now it’s my turn.

To recap, in Hugh’s Double อยู่ post he explained: “The Double อยู่ construct is used to describe an unexpected or surprise action. Depending on how colorful you want to be, it’s interesting how this construct can be translated (or rather, interpreted) into English in so many ways”.

And as promised, it’s now my turn to share the sound files to Hugh’s post as well as the sound files to any answers in the comments. I’ve also decided to come up with a few answers too.

To give myself some breathing room, I’ll start by adding sound files to the phrases Hugh has already given as samples:

อยู่ๆ เขาก็ร้องไห้

Out of nowhere she just started crying.
[See post to listen to audio]

อยู่ๆ ตำรวจก็เข้ามา

The policeman burst in unexpectedly.
[See post to listen to audio]

อยู่ๆ ครูก็หยุดสอน

All of a sudden the teacher stopped teaching.
[See post to listen to audio]

อยู่ๆ หัวหน้าก็มาหา

Without notice the boss came to see me.
[See post to listen to audio]

อยู่ๆ เธอก็เรียก

With no warning she called (out to me).
[See post to listen to audio]

How would you say the following in Thai?…

Keith picked up the gauntlet when Hugh asked, “how would you say the following in Thai?” And to keep him company, I joined in too (wish us luck!)

But before we start, here’s a tip from Hugh: “I find that in trying to solve most problems it is best to break them down into their constituent parts and solve the little parts first. That is how we wrote computer programs that were millions of lines long. It works that way with language too (as I learned teaching English). To show you what I mean, I’ve separated the first sentence for you.”

1) I was just hanging out when
2) he came
3) to see me

I was just hanging out when he came to see me.

Keith: อยู่ๆ เค้าก็มาหาผม
[See post to listen to audio]
Cat: อยู่ๆ เขาก็มาหาฉัน
[See post to listen to audio]

They came unexpectedly.

Keith: อยู่ๆ พวกเขาก็มาแล้ว
[See post to listen to audio]
Cat: อยู่ๆ เขาก็มา
[See post to listen to audio]

Unpredictably, the customer called (phoned).

Keith: อยู่ๆ ลูกค้าก็โทร.มา
Cat: อยู่ๆ ลูกค้าก็โทรมา
[See post to listen to audio]

My friend moved in without giving any notice.

Keith: อยู่ๆ เพื่อนผมก็ย้ายมาอยู่
[See post to listen to audio]
Cat: อยู่ๆ เพื่อนก็ย้ายมาอยู่(ด้วย)
[See post to listen to audio]

The workman, without saying anything, took a break (rest).

Cat: อยู่ๆ คนงานก็หยุดไปพัก
[See post to listen to audio]

How would you interpret the following?…

Interpreting was fun because Hugh made a point to mention, “be as colorful as you wish…”

อยู่ๆอากาศก็ร้อน
[See post to listen to audio]

Keith: All of a sudden, the weather is hot.
Cat: I don’t know what happened! (The weather went to hell in a handbasket).

อยู่ๆนักเรียนก็กลับบ้าน
[See post to listen to audio]

Keith: The students abruptly went home.
Cat: The students all ran away home! (Drat! I don’t know what I said to offend them).

อยู่ๆหมาก็ตาย
[See post to listen to audio]

Keith: The dog just up and died.
Cat: The dog just up and died on me.

อยู่ๆประธานก็ยิ้ม
[See post to listen to audio]

Keith: The chairman broke into a smile.
Cat: The president went from mean to smiling (and now I’m shaking in my boots).

What say you? Do you have a different interpretation?

Using the Double อยู่ patterns…

The Using High Frequency Thai Vocabulary posts will be all about taking us out of our Thai language comfort zone. I was reluctant at first but after I got started it was quite fun. Thanks Hugh.

Using the patterns, here’s a few phrases I put together:

อยู่ๆ แฟนเขาก็โทรมาหาฉัน
I’m not sure why, her boyfriend called me.
[See post to listen to audio]

อยู่ๆ ทุกคนก็ลุกขึ้น
Everybody stood up without a clear reason.
[See post to listen to audio]

อยู่ๆ นายจ้างก็ ยอมให้
Man oh man was I surprised, the boss agreed!
[See post to listen to audio]

อยู่ๆ หัวหน้าก็ไม่เห็นด้วย
I don’t understand why the leader didn’t agree (what’s going on?)
[See post to listen to audio]

อยู่ๆ ตำรวจก็เรียก นักท่องเที่ยว ให้มาหา
Uh oh. The policeman called the tourist over (what’s up?)
[See post to listen to audio]

And now to the comments…

When Keith brought up อยู่ดีๆ, Hugh replied, “อยู่ดีๆ is a good one. According to thai-language.com อยู่ดีๆ = everything was just going fine… (when suddenly and unexpectedly). อยู่ดีๆ can be used exactly like อยู่ๆ and means the same thing.

Then Mia from Learn2SpeakThai chimed in with, “now I couldn’t get rid of อยู่ดีๆ or อยู่ๆ off my head. This remind me of a lot of Thai songs worth listening and practicing the use of อยู่ดีๆ or อยู่ๆ”

Example: อยู่ดีๆ

อยู่ดีๆน้องหาว่าพี่โกหก รู้มั้ยน้ำตาพี่ไหลตก เสียอกเสียใจน้องไม่ฟังพี่
Out of the blue, you are accusing me of lying.

Example: อยู่ๆ

อยู่ๆก็หายไปทนไม่ได้หรอกเธอ
Suddenly you’re gone, I couldn’t bear it my dear.

Using the High Frequency Thai Vocabulary List…

The High Frequency Thai Vocabulary List is still on the second ‘official’ version, with more edits to come (thanks Mia). So for those who havent downloaded it yet, here you go: High Frequency Thai Vocabulary.

Before I sign off, a megga thanks goes to Hugh for the great อยู่ๆ post, as well as Mia and Keith everyone else who contributed in the comments!

Google Translate, the challenge…

Here we are, the fifth Google Translate Challenge! To recap: In 2009 I ran two sets of Thai phrases through Google Translate. I shared one list online and the other I kept to myself. Here’s the first set: 2009: The First Google Translate Challenge.

In 2010 I reran both sets of Thai phrases through Google Translate. I also created another set to keep to myself. The two sets can be found here: 2010: The Second Google Translate Challenge.

In 2011 I reran everything through Google Translate yet again: 2011: The Third Google Translate Challenge. Ditto in 2012: 2012: The Fourth Google Translate Challenge.

This year, 2013, I’ve added a few fun phrases plus the guts from a previous post, Thai Sentence Deconstruction.

As you’ll see below, a few of the sentences have settled, yet others are still evolving. A mystery. Question marks are still not being addressed and how they choose between female or male particles is unknown.

The results of the fifth Google Translate Challenge…

Be careful! There is swine flu!

2009: ระวัง! มีไข้สุกร!
rá-wang mee kâi sù-gon!

2010: โปรดระวัง มีสุกรไข้หวัดใหญ่เป็น!
bpròht rá-wang mee sù-gon kâi wàt yài bpen!

2011: โปรดใช้ความระมัดระวัง! มีไข้หวัดหมูเป็น!
bpròht chái kwaam rá mát rá wang mee kâi wàt mŏo bpen!

2012: ระวัง! มีไข้หวัดหมูเป็น!
rá-wang mee kâi wàt mŏo bpen!

2013: ระวัง! มีไข้หวัดหมูเป็น!
rá-wang mee kâi wàt mŏo bpen!

I have swine flu already, thanks!

2009: ฉันมีสุกรไข้หวัดใหญ่แล้วขอบคุณ! /chăn mee sù-gon kâi wàt yài láew kòp kun/
2010: ฉันมีไข้หวัดหมูแล้ว, thanks! /chăn mee kâi wàt mŏo láew thanks!/
2011: ฉันมีไข้หวัดหมูแล้ว, ขอบคุณ! /chăn mee kâi wàt mŏo láew, kòp kun!/
2012: ฉันมีไข้หวัดหมูแล้วครับ /chăn mee kâi wàt mŏo láew kráp/
2013: ฉันมีไข้หวัดหมูแล้วครับ! /chăn mee kâi wàt mŏo láew kráp!/

I don’t know! Why do you ask?

2009: ฉันไม่ทราบ!ทำไมเจ้าถาม? /chăn mâi sâap! tam-mai jâo tăam?/
2010: ไม่ทราบ! ทำไมคุณถาม? /mâi sâap! tam-mai kun tăam?/
2011: ผมไม่ทราบ! ทำไมคุณถาม? /pŏm mâi sâap! tam-mai kun tăam?/
2012: ผมไม่ทราบ! ทำไมคุณถาม? /pŏm mâi sâap! tam-mai kun tăam?/
2013: ผมไม่ทราบ! ทำไมคุณถาม? /pŏm mâi sâap! tam-mai kun tăam?/

Did you eat yet?

2009: คุณกินยัง? /kun gin yang?/
2010: คุณไม่กินหรือยัง /kun mâi gin rĕu yang/
2011: คุณไม่ได้กินหรือยัง /kun mâi dâai gin rĕu yang/
2012: คุณกินหรือยัง /kun gin rĕu yang/
2013: คุณไม่ได้กินยัง? /kun mâi dâai gin yang?/

Oh no! You’re a liar!

2009: แย่ละ!คุณเป็นคนพูดเท็จ! /yâe lá! kun bpen kon pôot tét!/
2010: Oh no! คุณโกหก! /Oh No! kun goh-hòk!/
2011: Oh No! คุณโกหก! /Oh No! kun goh-hòk!/
2012: โอ้ไม่! คุณโกหก! /ôh mâi! kun goh-hòk!/
2013: โอ้ไม่! คุณโกหก! /ôh mâi! kun goh-hòk!/

I don’t want to see your face again.

2009: ฉันไม่ต้องการดูหน้าของคุณอีกครั้ง
chăn mâi dtông gaan doo nâa kŏng kun èek kráng

2010: ฉันไม่อยากเห็นหน้าคุณอีกครั้ง
chăn mâi yàak hĕn nâa kun èek kráng

2011: ฉันไม่ต้องการที่จะเห็นใบหน้าของคุณอีกครั้ง
chăn mâi dtông gaan têe jà hĕn bai nâa kŏng kun èek kráng

2012: ฉันไม่ต้องการที่จะเห็นหน้าคุณอีกครั้ง
chăn mâi dtông gaan têe jà hĕn nâa kun èek kráng

2013: ฉันไม่ต้องการที่จะเห็นใบหน้าของคุณอีกครั้ง
chăn mâi dtông gaan têe jà hĕn bai nâa kŏng kun èek kráng

He is busy lighting a mosquito coil.

2009: พระองค์คือยุ่งแสงสว่างที่ยุงม้วน /prá ong keu yûng săeng sà-wàang têe yung múan/
2010: เขาเป็นไฟม้วนยุ่งยุง /kăo bpen fai múan yûng yung/
2011: พระองค์ทรงเป็นแสงยุ่งขดลวดยุง /prá ong song bpen săeng yûng kòt lûat yung/
2012: เขาเป็นแสงสว่างว่างม้วนยุง /kăo bpen săeng sà-wàang wâang múan yung/
2013: เขาเป็นแสงยุ่งยุงขดลวด /kăo bpen săeng yûng yung kòt lûat/

Don’t put any fish sauce on the rice. It stinks!

2009: โปรดอย่าวางใดน้ำปลาใน ข้าว. มัน stinks!
bpròht yàa waang dai nám bplaa nai kâao man stinks!

2010: ไม่ใส่น้ำปลาบนข้าว It stinks!
mâi sài nám bplaa bon kâao It stinks!

2011: ไม่ใส่น้ำปลาใด ๆ บนข้าว มัน stinks!
mâi sài nám bplaa dai dai bon kâao man stinks!

2012: ไม่ใส่น้ำปลาใด ๆ บนข้าว มันเหม็น!
mâi sài nám bplaa dai dai bon kâao man mĕn!

2013: ไม่ใส่น้ำปลาใด ๆ บนข้าว มัน stinks!
mâi sài nám bplaa dai dai bon kâao · man stinks!

The first Google Challenge control group…

I first ran these sentences through Google Translate in 2009 and 2010, but I didn’t post them until 2010. Reason? Due to the crowdsourcing aspects of Google Translate, I wanted to see if anything noticeable happened.

He tells me that he loves me with all his heart.

2009: เขาบอกผมว่าเขารักฉันกับหัวใจของเขาทั้งหมด
kăo bòk pŏm wâa kăo rák chăn gàp hŭa jai kŏng kăo táng mòt

2010: เขาบอกว่าเขารักฉันด้วยหัวใจทั้งหมดของเขา
kăo bòk wâa kăo rák chăn dûay hŭa jai táng mòt kŏng kăo

2011: เขาบอกผมว่าเขารักฉันด้วยหัวใจของเขา
kăo bòk pŏm wâa kăo rák chăn dûay hŭa jai kŏng kăo

2012: เขาบอกฉันว่าเขารักฉันด้วยหัวใจทั้งหมดของเขา
kăo bòk chăn wâa kăo rák chăn dûay hŭa jai táng mòt kŏng kăo

2013: เขาบอกฉันว่าเขารักฉันด้วยหัวใจทั้งหมดของเขา
kăo bòk chăn wâa kăo rák chăn dûay hŭa jai táng mòt kŏng kăo

Do you speak English?

2009: คุณพูดภาษาอังกฤษ? /kun pôot paa-săa ang-grìt/
2010: คุณพูดภาษาอังกฤษ /kun pôot paa-săa ang-grìt/
2011: คุณพูดภาษาอังกฤษ? /kun pôot paa-săa ang-grìt/
2012: คุณพูดภาษาอังกฤษ? /kun pôot paa-săa ang-grìt/
2013: คุณพูดภาษาอังกฤษได้ไหม /kun pôot paa-săa ang-grìt dâai măi/

What did the nurse say?

2009: อะไรได้พยาบาลกล่าว? /a-rai dâai pá-yaa-baan glàao?/
2010: พยาบาลพูดว่าอะไร? /pá-yaa-baan pôot wâa a-rai?/
2011: พยาบาลพูดว่าอะไร? /pá-yaa-baan pôot wâa a-rai?/
2012: พยาบาลพูดว่าอะไร? /pá-yaa-baan pôot wâa a-rai?/
2013: พยาบาลพูดว่าอะไร? /pá-yaa-baan pôot wâa a-rai?/

That water buffalo meat comes from the north.

2009: นั่นควายเนื้อมาจากทางเหนือ /nân kwaai néua maa jàak taang nĕua/
2010: ที่เนื้อควายมาจากภาคเหนือ /têe néua kwaai maa jàak pâak nĕua/
2011: ว่าเนื้อควายมาจากทางทิศเหนือ /wâa néua kwaai maa jàak taang tít nĕua/
2012: ว่าเนื้อควายมาจากทางทิศเหนือ /wâa néua kwaai maa jàak taang tít nĕua/
2013: ที่เนื้อควายมาจากทิศเหนือ /têe néua kwaai maa jàak tít nĕua/

Please give me a glass of orange juice.

2009: กรุณาให้ฉันหนึ่งแก้วน้ำส้ม /gà-rú-naa hâi chăn nèung gâew náam sôm/
2010: กรุณาให้แก้วน้ำสีส้ม /gà-rú-naa hâi gâew náam sĕe sôm/
2011: กรุณาให้ฉันแก้วน้ำสีส้ม /gà-rú-naa hâi chăn gâew náam sĕe sôm/
2012: กรุณาให้ฉันแก้วน้ำส้ม /gà-rú-naa hâi chăn gâew náam sôm/
2013: กรุณาให้ฉันแก้วน้ำส้ม /gà-rú-naa hâi chăn gâew náam sôm/

The turtle reaches the finish line before the rabbit.

2009: เต่าที่ครบตามเส้นชัยก่อนกระต่าย /dtào têe króp dtaam sên chai gòn grà-dtàai/
2010: เต่าถึงเส้นชัยก่อนกระต่าย /dtào tĕung sên chai gòn grà-dtàai/
2011: เต่าถึงเส้นชัยก่อนกระต่าย /dtào tĕung sên chai gòn grà-dtàai/
2012: เต่าถึงเส้นชัยก่อนกระต่าย /dtào tĕung sên chai gòn grà-dtàai/
2013: เต่าถึงเส้นชัยก่อนกระต่าย /dtào tĕung sên chai gòn grà-dtàai/

The 2010 Google Challenge control group…

These sentences were created in 2010 but kept under wraps until 2011.

How was last night?

2010: เมื่อคืนนี้นี้เป็นยังไงบ้างคะ /mêua keun née née bpen yang ngai bâang ká/
2011: วิธีการคืนสุดท้ายคืออะไร /wí-tee gaan keun sùt táai keu a-rai/
2012: วิธีการคืนสุดท้ายคือ? /wí-tee gaan keun sùt táai keu?/
2013: วิธีคืนที่ผ่านมา? /wí-tee keun têe pàan maa?/

Did anything exciting happen last night?

2010: เมื่อคืนนี้มีอะไรเกิดขึ้นบ้างตอนที่ฉันไม่อยู่
mêua keun née mee a-rai gèrt kêun bâang dton têe chăn mâi yòo

2011: สิ่งที่น่าตื่นเต้นเกิดขึ้นเมื่อคืน?
sìng têe nâa dtèun dtên gèrt kêun mêua keun?

2012: ทำอะไรที่น่าตื่นเต้นเกิดขึ้นเมื่อคืน?
tam a-rai têe nâa dtèun dtên gèrt kêun mêua keun?

2013: ทำอะไรที่น่าตื่นเต้นเกิดขึ้นเมื่อคืนที่ผ่าน?
tam a-rai têe nâa dtèun dtên gèrt kêun mêua keun têe pàan?

Sleep comfortably?

2010: หลับสบายไหมคะ /làp sà-baai măi ká/
2011: นอนหลับสบาย? /non làp sà-baai?/
2012: นอนหลับสบาย? /non làp sà-baai?/
2013: นอนหลับสบาย? /non làp sà-baai?/

So very tired today.

2010: วันนี้เหนื่อยมากเลย /wan née nèuay mâak loie/
2011: ดังนั้นวันนี้เหนื่อยมาก /dang nán wan née nèuay mâak/
2012: ดังนั้นวันนี้เหนื่อยมาก /dang nán wan née nèuay mâak/
2013: เหนื่อยมากในวันนี้ /nèuay mâak nai wan née/

Because last night you snored.

2010: เพราะ(ว่า)เมื่อคืนคุณกรน /prór(wâa) mêua keun kun gron/
2011: เพราะคืนสุดท้ายที่คุณ snored /prór keun sùt táai têe kun snored/
2012: เพราะคืนสุดท้ายที่คุณ snored /prór keun sùt táai têe kun snored/
2013: เพราะคืนสุดท้ายที่คุณกรน /prór keun sùt táai têe kun gron/

Google translate does have กรน /gron/ for snore and การกรน /gaa-rók ron/ for snoring/snore.

Thai sentence deconstruction…

Earlier this year I wrote a post on Thai Sentence Deconstruction. As you’ll read in the comments of that post, there was a 50/50 split on the usefulness of such a comparison. The reason I’m adding them here is because the simple sentence structures do show a bit of what’s going on with Google Translate.

The apple is red.

แอปเปิ้ลสีแดง /àep-bpêrn sĕe daeng/
2013: แอปเปิ้ลเป็นสีแดง /àep-bpêrn bpen sĕe daeng/

It is John’s apple.

มัน คือ/เป็น แอปเปิ้ลของจอห์น /man keu/bpen àep-bpêrn kŏng jon/
2013: มันเป็นของจอห์นแอปเปิ้ล /man bpen kŏng jon àep-bpêrn/

I give John the apple.

ฉัน/ผม เอาแอปเปิ้ลให้จอห์น /chăn/pŏm ao àep-bpêrn hâi jon/
2013: ฉันให้จอห์นแอปเปิ้ล /chăn hâi jon àep-bpêrn/

We give him the apple.

เราเอาแอปเปิ้ลให้เขา /rao ao àep-bpêrn hâi kăo/
2013: เราจะให้เขาแอปเปิ้ล /rao jà hâi kăo àep-bpêrn/

He gives it to John.

เขาเอามันให้จอห์น /kăo ao man hâi jon/
2013: เขาให้ไปให้จอห์น /kăo hâi bpai hâi jon/

She gives it to him.

เขาเอามันให้เขา /kăo ao man hâi kăo/
2013: เธอมอบให้ท่าน /ter môp hâi tâan/

I don’t give apples.

ฉัน/ผม ไม่ให้แอปเปิ้ล /chăn/pŏm mâi hâi àep-bpêrn/
2013: ฉันไม่ให้แอปเปิ้ล /chăn mâi hâi àep-bpêrn/

They don’t give apples.

(พวก)เขาไม่ให้แอปเปิ้ล /(pûak) kăo mâi hâi àep-bpêrn/
2013: พวกเขาไม่ให้แอปเปิ้ล /pûakkăo mâi hâi àep-bpêrn/

He doesn’t give apples.

เขาไม่ให้แอปเปิ้ล /kăo mâi hâi àep-bpêrn/
2013: เขาไม่ได้ให้แอปเปิ้ล /kăo mâi dâai hâi àep-bpêrn/

I gave John an apple yesterday.

ฉัน/ผม เอาแอปเปิ้ลให้จอห์นเมื่อวานนี้ /chăn/pŏm ao àep-bpêrn hâi jon mêua waan née/
2013: ฉันให้จอห์นแอปเปิ้ลเมื่อวานนี้ /chăn hâi jon àep-bpêrn mêua waan née/

She gave John an apple last week.

เขาเอาแอปเปิ้ลให้จอห์นอาทิตย์ที่แล้ว /kăo ao àep-bpêrn hâi jon aa-tít têe láew/
2013: เธอให้จอห์นแอปเปิ้ลเมื่อสัปดาห์ก่อน /ter hâi jon àep-bpêrn mêua sàp-daa gòn/

We’ll give John an apple tomorrow.

(พวก)เราจะเอาแอปเปิ้ลให้จอห์นพรุ่งนี้ /(pûak)rao jà ao àep-bpêrn hâi jon prûng-née/
2013: เราจะให้จอห์นแอปเปิ้ลในวันพรุ่งนี้ /rao jà hâi jon àep-bpêrn nai wan prûng-née/

Tomorrow we will give an apple to John.

พรุ่งนี้(พวก)เราจะเอาแอปเปิ้ลให้จอห์น /prûng-née (pûak)rao jà ao àep-bpêrn hâi jon/
2013: พรุ่งนี้เราจะให้แอปเปิ้ลกับจอห์น /prûng-née rao jà hâi àep-bpêrn gàp jon/

I must give it to him.

ฉัน/ผม ต้องเอามันให้เขา /chăn/pŏm dtông ao man hâi kăo/
2013: ฉันจะต้องให้มันกับเขา /chăn jà dtông hâi man gàp kăo/

I want to give it to her.

ฉัน/ผม ต้องการเอามันให้ เขา/เธอ /chăn/pŏm dtông-gaan ao man hâi kăo/ter/
2013: ฉันต้องการที่จะให้มันกับเธอ /chăn dtông gaan têe jà hâi man gàp ter/

More Google Translate…

I haven’t really been keeping up with Google translate this year but here are a few of my top finds:

• Google Translate’s Gender Problem (And Bing Translate’s, And Systran’s…)
• How Google understands language like a 10-year-old
• Never Forget a Useful Phrase Again – Introducing Phrasebook for Google Translate
• A Smarter Dictionary for Translation

Note: If you have additional sentence structures for me to follow in future posts, please leave them in the comment below.

Colloquial Thai Compound Words…

Word you know + Word you know = Word you probably don’t know!

It’s me again, Yuki Tachaya (from Pick up Thai), a professional private Thai teacher who loves to teach things that textbooks don’t teach. Last time I wrote an article on colloquial terms & expressions, if you’ve missed it, you can read it here: Colloquial Thai Terms and Expressions. This time, I’d like to share with you guys some useful Thai compound words that we do use frequently in everyday colloquial Thai! I am sure you have learned all those compound words that contain the word “ใจ” or “ขี้” – the classic sets! This article will show you something similar but new, exciting, interesting and useful!! Enjoy.

1. ทำตัว /tam tua/
ทำ to do, to make + ตัว body, self = ทำตัว to behave.

ถ้าทำตัวไม่ดี อดกินขนมนะ
If you don’t behave, you won’t get your treat.

2. หักหน้า /hàk nâa/
หัก to break + หน้า face = หักหน้า to make someone lose face, to embarrass someone.

เขาชอบหักหน้าเราต่อหน้าคนอื่น
He always makes me lose face in front of other people.

3. ไม่เอาไหน /mâi ao nǎi/
ไม่ negative particle + เอา to take, to get + ไหน which = ไม่เอาไหน terrible.

รสชาติไม่เอาไหนเลย วันหลังทำให้อร่อยกว่านี้หน่อยนะ
This tastes terrible. Make it more tasty next time!

4. เข้าท่า /kâo thâa/
เข้า to enter + ท่า posture, pose = เข้าท่า = good, appropriate.

ความคิดเข้าท่าดีนะ
That’s a good idea!

5. บอกใบ้ /bàwk bâi/
บอก to tell + ใบ้ mute = บอกใบ้ to give a hint.

ไม่รู้อ่ะ ช่วยบอกใบ้หน่อย
I don’t know. Give me a hint!

6. เล่นตัว /lên tua/
เล่น to play + ตัว body, self = เล่นตัว to play hard to get.

เขาชอบเล่นตัวอยู่นั่นแหล่ะ ผมชักจะเบื่อแล้ว
She keeps playing hard to get, I’m starting to get fed up.

7. ไม่เห็นหัว /mâi hěn hǔa/
ไม่ negative particle + เห็น to see + หัว head = ไม่เห็นหัว to not respect, to disregard.

เขาเจอใครก็ไม่ไหว้ ไม่เห็นหัวผู้ใหญ่เลย
This guy never bows his head to greet anyone he meets, he totally disregards the elders.

8. เรื่องมาก /reûang mâak/
เรื่อง story, affair + มาก many, a lot = เรื่องมาก picky, fussy.

เรื่องมากจัง แบบนี้เมื่อไหร่ก็ทำไม่เสร็จสักที
You’re so picky. You’ll never get it done if you don’t stop being like this!

9. ในหลวง /nai lǔang/
ใน in + หลวง royal = ในหลวง the informal term Thai people use to refer to the King.

คนไทยรักในหลวง
Thai people love their King.

10. เก็บตัว /gèp tua/
เก็บ to keep + ตัว body = เก็บตัว to isolate oneself, to introvert.

เขาชอบเก็บตัว ไม่ค่อยสุงสิงกับใคร
He likes to isolate himself and hardly ever interacts with other people.

11. ออกนอกเรื่อง /àwk nâwk reûang/
ออก to exit + นอก outside + เรื่อง story, affair = นอกเรื่อง to talk off topic, to derail.

คุยเรื่องนี้ให้รู้เรื่องก่อน อย่าเพิ่งออกนอกเรื่อง
Let’s settle this first. Don’t change the topic yet.

12. ใส่ความ /sài kwaam/
ใส่ to put + ความ matter, affair = ใส่ความ to slander.

ฉันไม่ได้ทำสักหน่อย อย่าใส่ความมั่ว
I didn’t do it. Don’t accuse me without knowing the truth!

13. มีหน้า /mii nâa/
มี to have + หน้า face = มีหน้า to not feel ashamed to do something shameful.

ผมทำให้เขาเสียใจ ผมไม่มีหน้าไปขอเขาแต่งงานหรอก
I caused her pain. I’d feel too ashamed to propose to her.

14. ลงตัว /long tua/
ลง to go down + ตัว body, self = ลงตัว arranged, settled.

ไว้ทุกอย่างลงตัวแล้วผมจะติดต่อไป
After everything is settled, I’ll contact you.

15. ให้ได้ /hâi dâai/
ให้ to give + ได้ to be able to = ให้ได้ definitely, no matter what.

ไม่ว่ายังไง ปีหน้าฉันก็จะไปลอนดอนให้ได้
Next year, I will go to London no matter what!

If you can’t get enough of Thai colloquial terms and expressions, visit my website, Pick Up Thai, and learn more cool stuff that textbooks don’t teach, like my Facebook page, PickUpThai, which I update almost every day. And don’t forget to check out my video lessons on my Youtube channel, PickUpThai, including the latest one on Popular Thai Slang.

Last but not least, learn how you can win a free private lesson with me on Skype at my Facebook page or my Twitter account.

Yuki Tachaya
Pick Up Thai | YouTube: PickUpThai | twitter: @PickupThai

The Farang Thai Song (aka The 5552)!…

Back in March there was that really cute YouTube video by Maggie Rosenberg, I Don’t Speak Thai But I Try. And now we have the pleasure of … [drum roll] … The Farang Thai Song, by Shimona Kee.

From Shimona: “Missing Thailand. SO. I wrote a song about learning to SPEAK THAI!”

The sweet Shimona can be found at the following locations:

YouTube Channel: simplyshimona
Twitter: @simplyshimona
Facebook: shimonakee

I’m kicking my heels up at the moment (living in Thailand is like that sometimes) but if I get a chance I’ll add the Thai bits to this post. Hopefully.

Thai Roots…

I am always looking for new ways to learn Thai vocabulary so that this ancient brain of mine can retain new words. I usually find that if I can learn a new word in some kind of context it makes it easier to remember.

Lots of Thai vocabulary use root words which are then combined with other words to build new compound ones. Example: If we take the root word โต๊ะ /dtó/ (table), and add กิน /gin/ (to eat), and ข้าว /kâao/ (rice), we get โต๊ะกินข้าว, which is dining table.

It is fun to learn a new “big” word and break it down into its constituent parts. That way we can learn lots of little words too.

I was browsing through a dictionary the other day (yes, I “have a life” but once in a while I do weird nerdy things like read dictionaries) and I came across some good root words that can help us learn lots of new vocab.

The two words we’ll play with today are quite simple and even most new learners will know them. Let’s see how many new words we can find which use these root words to build upon.

The root words are:

clock, watch, o’clock: นาฬิกา /naa-lí~gaa/
And
vehicle, auto, car, wagon, etc.: รถ /rót/

I’ll give you the root and the word’s constituent parts. See if you can figure out the meaning. Answers will be below.

นาฬิกา /naa-lí~gaa/

นาฬิกาข้อมือ /naa-lí~gaa-kɔ̂ɔ–mʉʉ/ = นาฬิกา + ข้อ + มือ
joint: ข้อ /kɔ̂ɔ-/
hand: มือ /kɔ̂mʉʉ/
wrist: ข้อมือ /kɔ̂ɔ–mʉʉ/

นาฬิกาจับเวลา /naa-lí~gaa-jàp-wee-laa/ = นาฬิกา + จับ+ เวลา
to get, grab: จับ /jàp/
time: เวลา /way-laa/
to keep time: จับเวลา /jàp-wee-laa/

นาฬิกาแดด /naa-lí~gaa-dɛ̀ɛt/ = นาฬิกา + แดด
sunlight: แดด /-dɛ̀ɛt/

นาฬิกาทราย /naa-lí~gaa-saai/ = นาฬิกา + ทราย
sand: ทราย /saai/

นาฬิกาบันทึกเวลาทำงาน /naa-lí~gaa-ban-tʉ́k-wee-laa-tam-ngaan/
= นาฬิกา + บันทึก + เวลา + ทำงาน
to record: บันทึก /ban-téuk/
time: เวลา /way-laa/
to work: ทำงาน /tam-ngaan/

นาฬิกาปลุก /naa-lí~gaa-bplùk/ = นาฬิกา + ปลุก
to wake (someone up): ปลุก /bplùk/

นาฬิกาลูกตุ้ม /naa-lí-gaa-lûuk-dtûm/ = นาฬิกา + ลูก + ตุ้ม
a classifier for round objects: ลูก /lûuk/
ตุ้ม /dtûm/ = a hanging object
ลูกตุ้ม /lûuk-dtûm/ = pendulum

Answers for นาฬิกา:
นาฬิกาข้อมือ /naa-lí~gaa-kɔ̂ɔ-mʉʉ/ = wristwatch
นาฬิกาจับเวลา /naa-lí~gaa-jàp-wee-laa/ = stopwatch
นาฬิกาแดด /naa-lí~gaa-dɛ̀ɛt/ = sundial
นาฬิกาทราย /naa-lí~gaa-saai/ = hourglass
นาฬิกาบันทึกเวลาทำงาน /naa-lí~gaa-ban-tʉ́k-wee-laa-tam-ngaan/ = time clock
นาฬิกาปลุก /naa-lí~gaa-bplùk/ = alarm clock
นาฬิกาลูกตุ้ม /naa-lí-gaa-lûuk-dtûm/ = grandfather clock

รถ /rót/ There are lots and lots of compound words using รถ as their root. We’ll just give a sample here:

รถยนต์ /rót-yon/ = รถ + ยนต์
machine: ยนต์ /yon/

รถกวาดหิมะ /rót-gwàat-hì-má/ = รถ + กวาด + หิมะ
to sweep: กวาด /gwàat/
snow: หิมะ /hì-má/

รถพ่วง /rót-pûuang/ = รถ + พ่วง
to tow: พ่วง /pûuang/

รถเก๋ง /rót-gěng/ = รถ + เก๋ง
cab (of a truck), sedan: เก๋ง /gěng/

รถขุด /rót-kùt/ = รถ + ขุด
to dig (with a tool): ขุด /kùt/

รถเข็น /rót-kěn/ = รถ + เข็น
to push: เข็น /kěn/

รถเข็นเด็ก /rót-kěn-dèk/ = รถ + เข็น + เด็ก
to push: เข็น /kěn/
child: เด็ก /dèk/

รถแข่ง /rót-kɛ̀ng/ = รถ + แข่ง
to compete, race: แข่ง /kɛ̀ng/

รถเช่า /rót-châo/ = รถ + เช่า
to rent: เช่า /châo/

รถดับเพลิง /rót-dàp-pləəng/ = รถ + ดับ + เพลิง
to extinguish: ดับ /dàp/
fire: เพลิง /pləəng/

รถไถนา /rót-tǎi-naa/ = รถ + ไถ + นา
to plough: ไถ /tǎi/
field, rice field: นา /naa/

Answers for รถ:
รถยนต์ /rót-yon/ = automobile
รถกวาดหิมะ /rót-gwàat-hì-má/ = snowplow
รถพ่วง /rót-pûuang/ = trailer
รถเก๋ง /rót-gěng/ = car; sedan (saloon car)
ถขุด /rót-kùt/ = backhoe; excavator
รถเข็น /rót-kěn/ = barrow; shopping; pushcart; wheelbarrow
รถเข็นเด็ก /rót-kěn-dèk/ = baby buggy; baby carriage
รถแข่ง /rót-kɛ̀ng/ = race car
รถเช่า /rót-châo/ = rental car
รถดับเพลิง /rót-dàp-pləəng/ = fire engine; fire truck
รถไถนา /rót-tǎi-naa/ = tractor

Now try finding a Thai root word and using a dictionary to look up all the words that are built upon it. Here is a suggestion,
start with น้ำ /nám/ (fluid, water).

Here is a word we found using น้ำ:
น้ำมัน /nám-man/ = น้ำ + มัน
fat, grease: มัน /man/
oil, fuel, petrol: น้ำมัน /nám-man/

The word น้ำมัน /nám-man/ (oil) itself can also act as a root word. Back to the dictionary we find an example:
น้ำมันพืช /nám-man-pʉ̂ʉt/ = น้ำมัน + พืช
plant, vegetation: พืช /pʉ̂ʉt/
vegetable oil: น้ำมันพืช /nám-man-pʉ̂ʉt/

Who knows; try doing these exercises a few times and you might find yourself reading the dictionary in your free time too.

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

Taking Private Lessons? Who Should Your Teacher Be?…

After noticing a survey that declared that Swedes are the best learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL), Catherine asked me for my perspective on why Swedes are so successful. Though there are many points to consider, one aspect of EFL in Sweden and other countries known for good English is that teachers there are generally non-native speakers of English and that all speak the local language. In the English teaching industry here in Thailand and in other developing countries, non-native speakers are considered unsuitable teachers of English. However, if the proficiency of English is high, it can be argued that a non-native speaker would generally make a better teacher since he/she shares the learning experiences and culture of the students and is the best possible model of a successful learner.

That Swedes are such successful learners of EFL may of course also depend on several factors unrelated to the use of non-native speaker teachers:

• Swedish is closely related to English.
• Much of the Swedish TV programming is in English with near perfect subtitles.
• Swedes listen to a lot of English language music.
• Swedes are frequent travellers, and few non-Swedes speak Swedish.

In these respects, people in Sweden learning English are quite different from Thais learning English or native speakers of English learning foreign languages in their home countries. Successful learners in other Scandinavian countries and The Netherlands have the same advantages.

Though linguistic closeness high exposure to English, and strong motivation to learn may seem sufficient explanation of why Swedes are so good at English, the use of non-native speakers to teach EFL puts Sweden and other successful EFL countries (including India) in direct conflict with the idea that native speakers are by default the best teachers of a language.

Unsurprisingly, in an industry dominated by native speakers the reliance on native speakers to teach English is strongly advocated and many international schools request teachers with experience of the UK or US educational systems. However, teaching of foreign languages in the UK is notorious for producing very poor results indeed. The same might be said about the US. If, teaching in the countries which are best at English as a Foreign Language is done by non-native speaker teachers of English, shouldn’t that suggest that they are better at teaching foreign languages than Americans and Brits? Indeed, it seems inescapable to conclude that being a language teacher from the UK or other native speaker countries is not a suitable criterion for selecting a good language teacher.

In the global English teaching industry, native speakers are held in high regard, with teaching positions often reserved exclusively for them. However, the faith in native speaker teaching abilities is based on theories on language learning that have been largely debunked; people do not learn a foreign language as they learn a native language and native speakers of a language are not necessarily the best teachers of it. Indeed, many native speakers have poor grammar and accents which are ineffective for international communication, which makes them unsuitable models to emulate. Non-native speakers with high levels of English proficiency (especially if they have same native language as their students) generally have deeper insight into the learning process and are more relevant models to emulate than even skilled native speaker counterparts.

So, if non-native speakers make better learning models, why aren’t they universally sought after as the best teachers? Well, the sad truth is that even though non-native speakers CAN be wonderful models of successful language learners with insight of what it takes to learn a foreign language, many non-native speaker teachers of English are poor models to emulate since their grasp of the English language is sadly limited. Even though specifying that teachers ought to be from certain countries does guarantee a certain minimum level of language proficiency (fluency of speech in particular), some non-native speakers may have outstanding proficiency and accents very suitable for successful international communication. Therefore, the exclusion of them from teaching jobs constitutes indefensible discrimination. Sadly, this discrimination is based not only on nationality, but also on race. The native speaker stereotype is Caucasian, and native speakers ‘of color’ are discriminated against because of factors unrelated to their competency as teachers just as surely as non-native speakers are.

For the readers of Women Learn Thai, this has bearing on whether hiring a native speaker of Thai is a must. Simply put, it isn’t. However, high proficiency in the target language is fairly rare amongst non-native speakers, which means that going to a Thai national for help is understandable, especially if one is only out to reach conversational fluency. For me personally, the implications for the highly discriminatory policies of English teaching institutions in Thailand are paramount.

In short, this is some of what we must consider when hiring someone to teach a language: Language proficiency and teaching skill are better predictors of suitability than any passport. When selecting a teacher, assess his/her ability to lead you to the level of proficiency you desire and do not dismiss anyone based on nationality or ethnicity.

If anyone wishes for further documentation supporting what I have written above (that the theories of Krashen were never supported by empirical evidence and have in fact been contradicted by such, that there is institutionalized national and racial discrimination in the English teaching industry, and that non-native speaker teachers may in fact be generally better suited to teach EFL), I will gladly forward my dissertation and other academic papers from my studies in Edinburgh.

Be well and keep on learning,

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

List of Thai Learning Apps for Your iPhone, iPad and iPod…

Welcome to my addiction – iOS apps for learning Thai. I started collecting iOS apps back in 2009, when I bought my first iPhone 3G. By 2010 there were enough Thai apps for a series that included Thai Language Phrase books, Thai Alphabet and Vocabulary and iPhone apps: English Thai Dictionaries.

Each year the apps kept updating, multiplying, or disappearing off the market. Back in 2010 there were around 15 Thai phrase books. Three years later, there are over 70. Past time (story of my life) to step up to the plate with a follow up series. And oh. What a plate it is.

The number of available apps is so GINORMOUS, two weeks ago (give or take) I felt compelled to create an Excel spreadsheet to wrap my head around what’s out there. And just incase I missed any (Thai apps are difficult to locate) this week I asked fellow iOS addicts Michel and Bernard if they had any more. They did.

After showing the newly updated list to Keith Williams, he came back with: As they say in London “Cor blimey guvnor”. You will really have to do what Ringo Starr sang about “I’ll get by with a little help from my friends”.

And he’s right. This list is bigger than I can handle. HUMONGOUS even.

In order to get this series out in a timely manner, I’ll need help with:

• Apps I’m not familiar with (flashcard creators, translators, and OCRs).
• Suggestions on which apps go under what section.
• Pointing out apps that are mostly for the Thai market.
• And… I’d very much like to get opinions other than my own.

If you’d like to help out you don’t want to break the bank by acquiring them all, like I did. As you’ll see below, there are plenty of FREE apps available to choose from.

Oh. And if you come across apps I don’t have, please send them over.

Please note that not all apps will be included in the review. I won’t share any apps that have been discontinued (obviously), Filthy Thai (I don’t go there), ripped apps, and apps for learning Thai in languages other than English. But I will include apps for Thais learning English.

One more favour. As I mentioned, Thai apps keep disappearing off the market. Is there a way I can program an alert linked to the apps on this page? From what I can tell, iTunes alerts apps that update but does nothing about discontinued apps (other than redirecting their urls). As I intend to keep the spreadsheet up to date, getting an auto alert would save a lot of time.

There will be much much more on the subject later on, but here you go: The MEGGA list of Thai learning apps for your iOS.

Thai Dictionaries: English Market…

Audio Collins Mini Gem Thai-Eng Eng-Thai Dictionary: $9.99
ClickThai Dictionary Thai/English: $26.99
Collins Gem Thai Dictionary: $9.99
English Thai dictionary: $5.99
English Thai Dictionary: FREE
English Thai Dictionary Pro: $2.99
English Thai: $2.99
EnThai Dictionary: $4.99
Longdo Dict: FREE
Longdo Dict HD: FREE
MyLex English Thai Dictionary: FREE
Talking Thai–English–Thai Dictionary: $24.99
Thai Dictionary: $4.99
Thai Dictionary Free: FREE
Thai SL Dictionary: $0.99
thaienglish: $1.99
ThaiPro Dictionary: $0.99
ThaiPro Dictionary Free: FREE
VocabMate: FREE
YourWords English Thai English travel and learning dictionary: $2.99

Thai Dictionaries: Thai Market…

@Dict: FREE
@Dict Lite: FREE
CM Thai Dictionary Lite: FREE
CM Thai Dictionary Pro: $2.99
Dict Thai: FREE
Dict Thai +: $2.99
Dict Thai for iPad: FREE
Dict Thai PRO: $2.99
Dictionary English Thai: FREE
Dr Wit’s Desk Edition (Thai-En Eng-Thai Thai-Thai): $5.99
Dr Wit’s Pocket Edition (Thai-En Eng-Thai Thai-Thai): $3.99
Dr. Wit’s Library Edition (Thai-En Eng-Thai Thai-Thai): $17.99
English Dictionary Pro: $2.99
English – Thai: FREE
English English Thai Dictionary: $4.99
English Thai – Thai English Dict: $5.99
English Thai (My Dict): FREE
English Thai English Dictionary: $3.99
English Thai Free: FREE
English-Thai Talking Dictionary: $19.99
First Dictionary for Kids 1: $1.99
First Dictionary for Kids 2: $1.99
First Dictionary for Kids Lite: FREE
HEdictionary English Thai: $2.99
HEdictionary English Thai HD: $2.99
Jonathan’s Thai Dictionary: $1.99
Multilingual Dictionary South East Asia: $12.99
Plaewa: FREE
Proford English Thai Dictionary: $15.99
QuickDict Thai-English: $1.99
Thai: FREE +
Thai Dict: FREE
Thai Dictionary Box พจนานุกรม: FREE
Thai Fast Dictionary: FREE
Thai Fast Dictionary HD: FREE

Thai Alphabet…

ABC Thai Kids: $1.99
ABC ThaiKids HD: $1.99
Akson Thai Lite – Thai alphabet flashcards: FREE
Akson Thai Pro – Thai alphabet flashcards: $1.99
Easy Learn Thai Alphabets for iPad: $1.99
Easy Learn Thai Alphabets for iPhone and iPod Touch: $1.99
Easy Thai Script: $2.99
I Know My Thai Alphabet: FREE
iSeeThailand: Thai Alphabets: $1.99
iStudy: Thai Alphabet: $1.99
Kids Thai Alphabets HD: $1.99
Kids Thai Alphabets: $0.99
Kor Kai Game: $0.99
Kor Kai Game Lite: FREE
korkaikhai: FREE
Learn Thai From a White Guy: $4.99
Learn Thai Writing: $1.99
Letter Fall Thailand: FREE
Read Thai: $1.99
Read Thai Alphabet: $0.99
Reading Thai: $4.99
Tap AlphaBet Thai: $0.99
TH-Write: FREE
TH-Write HD: $1.99
Thai Alphabet: $0.99
Thai Alphabet: FREE
Thai Alphabet App: $0.99
Thai Alphabet for iPhone: FREE
Thai Alphabet Game: $1.99
Thai Alphabet Game U: $1.99
Thai Alphabet QuickRef: FREE
Thai Alphabet Tap & Speak Thai: $0.99
Thai Flash: $1.99
thai language “Koh-kai”: $0.99
Thai Language character Mechanism: $0.99
Thai Letter: $1.99
Thai Tiles: $0.99
ThaiAlphabets (คัดอักษรไทย): FREE
Tiny Thai: $1.99
TK Thai Alphabet: $0.99
Trace Thai for iPhone and iPod touch: $0.99
Write Thai: FREE
write thai letter: $0.99

Thai Alphabet: Thai Market…

iRead Thai: Final Consonants: $1.99
iRead Thai: Tone Marks: $1.99
iRead Thai: Vowel: $1.99
MattraThai: FREE
Read Thai Alphabet: FREE
Smart Thai: FREE
Thai Alphabets for Kids: $0.99

Thai Vocabulary…

Basic 1,000 Words & Sentence EN/TH Lite: FREE
ClickThai Vocabulary Trainer EN: $12.99
HXP Pasa Thai: FREE
Hxp Pasa Thai HD: FREE
Instant Thai: $1.99
iStudy: Thai Vocabulary: $1.99
iVocabulary – Your flexible vocabulary trainer: $5.99
iVocabulary Lite – Your flexible vocabulary trainer: FREE
Jourist Vocabulary Builder Asia: $9.99
Learn Beginner Thai Vocabulary: $9.99
Learn Free Thai Vocabulary with Gengo Audio Flashcards: FREE
Learn Thai – Free WordPower: FREE
Learn Thai – WordPower: $9.99
Learn Thai Vocabulary with Gengo audio flashcards: $5.99
Learn Thai with TicTic: FREE
MyWords – Learn Thai Vocabulary: $9.99
Thai Word of the Day: FREE
Thai Word of the Day!: $0.99
Who Makes These Sounds?: $1.99

Thai Vocabulary: Thai Market…

Basic 1,000 Words & Sentence EN/TH: $2.99
English Vocab Builder for Thai: $1.99
WordTrainer Thai – Learn English: $0.99

Thai Phrasebooks…

Blighty: Travel Pal: FREE
Collins Phrasebook: FREE
Collins Thai Phrasebook: $3.99
Collins Thai<->English Phrasebook: $12.99
EasyPiecy Thai: FREE
English-Thai Talking Travel Phrases: $4.99
FirstThai: $4.99
FirstThai LITE: FREE
Fodor’s Travel Phrases: Phrasebook for 22 languages: FREE
Free Thai Phrases by Nemo: FREE
IEMG – International Emergency medical guide: $3.99
iParrot Phrase English-Thai: $4.99
iParrot Phrase Thai-English: $4.99
iParrot Talking PhraseBook (Multi-language): $4.99
iPoodThai: $2.99
ITS4Thai – Learn Thai Language Phrasebook and Flashcards: $0.99
Learn Thai – Phrasebook for Travel in Thailand: FREE
Learn Thai HD – Phrasebook for travel in Thailand: $4.99
Learn&Play Thai ~ easier & fun!: $3.99
Learn&Play Thai Free ~ easier & fun!: FREE
Lingopal Thai – talking phrasebook: $0.99
Lingopal Thai LITE – talking phrasebook: FREE
LingoWorld – Learn the basics of 11 languages: FREE
Lonely Planet Thai Phrasebook: $5.99
Nemo Thai Complete: $9.99
PhasaThai: $7.99
PhasaThai Free: FREE
Speak Thai: $1.99
Speak Thai (6 Languages): FREE
Speak Thai (EN): FREE
Speak Thai by Click Thailand: FREE
Speak Thai Phrasebook Lite: FREE
Speak Thai Phrases: $2.99
Speak Thai Sanuk: $2.99
Speak Thai Sanuk for iPad: $2.99
Speak Thai Slang: $2.99
SpeakinThai: $0.99
Survival Thai for English: $4.99
Talking Translations: FREE
Tap & Say – Speak Phrase Book: FREE
Thai – Icon for Traveler in Thailand: $4.99
Thai – Talking English to Thai Translator and Phrasebook: $7.99
Thai App – Perfect Travel App: Learn Thai and Thailand app: FREE
Thai Beginner Survival Phrases for iPad: $19.99
Thai Buddy: FREE
thai conversation master: FREE
Thai For Travelers: $0.99
Thai Language Guide & Audio – World Nomads: FREE
Thai LH Lite: $0.99
Thai Medical Thai: FREE
Thai Phrasebook – Travel in Thailand with ease: FREE
Thai Speaker for iPad: $2.99
Thai Speaker For iPad Lite: FREE
Thai Speaker for iPhone: $0.99
Thai Speaker for iPhone Lite: FREE
Thai TalkBoard: $1.99
Thai Video Teacher: $2.99
Thai Video Teacher For iPad: $0.99
Thai Video Teacher For iPad Free: FREE
Thai Video Teacher Free: FREE
ThaiSupasit: FREE
ThaiTalk: $0.99
ผมพูด – Talking Thai to English translator and phrasebook: $8.99

Thai Phrasebooks: Thai Market…

2,000 English Sentences: FREE
English Conversation for Everyday Usage: FREE
English Conversations: FREE
Frequently Used English Questions and Answers in Daily Life: FREE
Hello Career English – Thai: FREE
Thai to English Sentences: FREE
นักแปลของฉัน นักแปลของฉัน: $0.99
พูดอังกฤษ 2,000 ประโยค – พูดได้: FREE

Thai Courses…

Advanced Thai for iPad: $9.99
book2 learn 40 languages: FREE
Byki Thai: $7.99
High Tech Thai vocabulary trainer: $2.99
Introduction to Thai language and culture for iPad: $9.99
iSpeak Thai: $4.99
iSpeak Thai Lite: FREE
ITS4Thai – Conversation and Vocabulary Lessons: $0.99+
ITS4Thai – Learn to Read and Write: $0.99+
L-Lingo Learn Thai: FREE
L-Lingo Learn Thai HD Free: FREE
Learn Thai: $1.99
Learn Thai: FREE+
Learn Thai – Language Teacher: $19.99
Learn Thai (Speak & Write): $2.99
Learn Thai with Video for iPad: $14.99
Reading Thai – Words & Sentences: $4.99
Speaking Thai in a Flash for iPad: $5.99
Speaking Thai in a Flash FREE: FREE
Sulantra: FREE+
SurvivalPhrases – Thai: $19.99
Thai for Beginners: $19.99
uTalk: FREE
uTalk Thai: $9.99
WordUP Thai: $4.99
WordUP Thai LITE: FREE

Thai Courses: Thai Market…

Conversations in Daily Life 1: FREE
Conversations in Daily Life 2: FREE
English for Beginners: FREE
Speak English 99 Hours: FREE
Speak English in 140 Hours: FREE
Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing: FREE

Thai Books…

Aesop Collection: FREE
Aesop’s Fables: Series 1: $1.99
ebooks.in.th: FREE
FairHDLite: FREE
Kid’s Song: Nursery Rhyme: $1.99
LittleAngel: $0.99
LittleAngelHD: $0.99
LittleAngelHDLite: FREE
Mother Hen Mother Duck: $1.99
Noo Nid Didn’t Like to Brush Her Teeth: $1.99
Noo Nid Didn’t Like Vegetables: $1.99
Noo Nid Didn’t Want to Go to School: $1.99
Pra-Payom Cartoon: FREE
Rabbit & Turtle’s Tale (Thai version): $0.99
Sailing Sailing: $0.99
SailingLite: FREE
Thai Dinosaurs AR Book HD: FREE
TheHare: FREE

Thai Flashcards…

English-Thai Flashcards: FREE
Far East Language Revision: $1.99
FlashCards Thai Lesson: FREE
iCards: $0.99
iCards Lite: FREE

Thai Games…

Thai Bubble Bath: $2.99
Thai Bubble Bath Lite: FREE
Thai Jigsaw – Animal LITE: FREE

Thai Keyboards…

My Thai Keyboard: FREE
Thai Language Input: $0.99
Thai PaniniKeypad: $1.99
Thai Typing: $2.99
ThaiType: FREE
ThaiTyping BUScience

Thai Pronunciation…

Thai pronunciation analysis Copy Paste: $0.99
Thai Speech 01: $1.99
Thai Speech Tab: $4.99
Thai Tones: FREE

Thai Quiz…

Kids Quiz (3-4): FREE
ThaiFunQuiz 2: FREE

Thai Spelling…

Thai Spell Cube: $0.99
Thai Spelling Ball – Animal: $0.99
Thai Spelling Ball – Animal LITE: FREE

Online Thai Entertainment…

Dooeii for iPad: $9.99
Jaidee TV: FREE
Thai Live TV & Radio: FREE
Thai PBS for iPhone: FREE
Thai TV & Radio Pro: $0.99
Thai TV+: FREE
Thailand Radio + Alarm Clock: $0.99
ThaiTV Live: FREE
ThaiTV3 for iPad: FREE
TNN 24: FREE
TrueMusic: FREE
TrueMusic HD: FREE
Voice TV: FREE

Online Thai Newspapers and Magazines…

Thairath for iPad: FREE
Thairath LITE: FREE
Post Today for iPad: FREE
Thai Mag: $0.99
Thai News: $0.99

Telling Thai Time…

Thai Calendar: FREE
Thai Clock: $0.99
Thai Times: $0.99

Thai Extras…

BookStart for Kids : Colors: $0.99
FAIL SNAP: FREE
kid first write thai: FREE
Learn Thai Numbers, Fast! เรียนนับเลข: FREE
SimSimi: FREE
Thai Email Editor (Color, size, and format) Keyboard: $0.99
Thai Language Note: $0.99
Thai SL: FREE
Thai Talking Food Menu: $2.99
Thai Talking Food Menu Lite: $0.99
ThaiKID EN: FREE
Trueplookpanya.com: FREE
Memrise – Learn languages for free: FREE

Language Exchange…

bini2bini: $0.99
BLING W – Real Native: FREE
Global Citizen languageXchange: FREE
HelloTalk Language Exchange: FREE
italki Messenger: FREE
Lext Talk – Language Exchange Made Easy: FREE
Link – Language Exchange: FREE
PeopleHunt: FREE
plan P: FREE
Skype for iPhone: FREE
Tandem Finder: FREE

Learning Styles…

Language Learning Aptitude Test: FREE
Learning Style Test Executive Version: $1.99
Learning Type Test: $0.99

Translators for Thai – English…

CEMA Interpreter(To Thai): $9.99
English Thai Translator: $0.99
iTranslate with Text to Speech THAI to English: $0.99
PARTY Thai Speech-to-Text: FREE
Thai-Laos Transcription: FREE
The Thai Translator: $9.99
The Thai Translator Lite: FREE
Translate Thai and English: FREE

Translators…

babel fish: $0.99
CEMA Interpreter: $99.99
CEMA Translation: $99.99
Communilator free – Universal Translator: FREE
Communilator Pro – Universal Translator: $0.99
Email Translator: $0.99
Free Translator: FREE
Google Translate: FREE
gTranslate: FREE
iHandy Translator free: FREE
iHandy Translator Pro: $1.99
iLingo Translator Pro: $1.99
iStone Travel Translation App : FREE +
iTranslate – free translator & dictionary: FREE
iTranslate Voice: $1.99
iTranslate+: FREE
iTranslator: FREE
Jibbigo Translator: FREE +
Language Translator: FREE
Languages Assistant – speak into microphone: $2.99
OneWorld Translator: $1.99
QTranslator – the ultimate translator: $1.99
SayHi Translate: $0.99
SpeechTrans: $4.99 +
TableTop Translator: $2.99
Translate Professional: FREE +
Translate Text ~ myLanguage Free translator: FREE
Translate Text into spoken voice ~ myLanguage Translator Pro: $4.99
Translate well: $0.99
Translator ~ translate with voice: $2.99
Translator with Voice: $2.99
Travel Voice Translator Linguatec: $0.99
VoiceTra+: FREE
Dragon Dictation: FREE

OCR…

iSignTranslate: FREE +
OCR Scanner – Images & documents to text: FREE
Ocrtool: $4.99
Pixter Scanner OCR: $0.99
Prizmo – Scanning, OCR, and Speech: $4.99
TextGrabber + Translator: $5.99

Flashcard Creators…

A+ Flashcards Deluxe: $0.99
AnkiMobile Flashcards: $24.99
Brainscape: FREE
Easy Flash Cards: $0.99
Eductic ~ Learn vocabulary efficiently using flashcards: FREE
Flash My Brain Flashcards: $5.99
Flashcard Elite: proven memory algorithm for flashcards: FREE +
Flashcard Touch: $0.99
Flashcards: $1.99
Flashcards Deluxe: $3.99
Flashcards Deluxe Lite: FREE
Flashcards Study Helper: $3.99
Flashcards*: FREE
Flashcards+: FREE +
FlashCards++: FREE
FlashCardSets: FREE
FlashCardz: $0.99
Flipcards: $0.99
FREE Exam Vocabulary Builder: FREE
FREE Flashcards Study Helper: FREE
gFlash+ Flashcards & Tests: FREE +
gFlashPro – Flashcards & Tests: $3.99 +
iFlash: $14.99
iFlash Touch: FREE +
iFlashCardPro: $1.99
iFlashCardPro Lite: FREE
iFlipr Flashcards: $4.99
iKnowIt: $1.99
iLearnFast: Flash Card Studying: $2.99
iMCards Lite – Flash Cards (I don’t own the full version yet): FREE
iRevise: $1.99
Lexicon: $9.99
Mental Case 2: FREE +
Quizlet: FREE
Repetitions for iPhone and iPod Touch: $4.99
Repetitions Free for iPhone and iPod Touch: FREE
StickyStudy: Flash! (Quizlet and Flashcard Exchange): $3.99
StickyStudy: Flash! Lite (Quizlet and Flashcard Exchange): FREE
Study & Me: $0.99
Study Flash: $1.99
STUDYBLUE: FREE
StudyCards: $3.99
Touchcards 2 – Flashcard learning system, import free cards: $1.99

Quizmakers…

Quiz Creator: $0.99
Quizicards: $0.99
RapidLearn: $3.99

Extras – Generic…

iReadFast for iPhone: $4.99
Repeater: FREE
SpeedUpTV: $2.99
Unicode Map: $1.99
Unicode Map Free: FREE

Pictures (vocabulary)…

ICOON global picture dictionary: $0.99
Show it!: $0.99
ShowMe: FREE

Thai Learning Apps for the iPhone, iPad and iPod…

Note: This list will continue to be updated and tweaked. I won’t change the prices, but the location of the apps will change. When I created this list my aim was to quickly lump apps under headings. As I figure out their main focus, some will need to be elsewhere. Something like that.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy cruising the iOS apps on this list as much as I do!

Using High Frequency Thai Vocabulary: Adjective Patterns…

Adjectives are words that describe nouns. Thai and English treat adjectives a bit differently. The word order is different. English uses adjective + noun as in “big dog”, and “white rabbit”. The Thai word order is the opposite, noun + adjective, as in “หมาใหญ่” and “กระต่ายสีขาว”.

Thai adjectives also do not use the “be” verb as English ones do as in “the dog is big.” But use the simple noun + adjective pattern as in “หมาใหญ่”. Thai adjectives in fact act very much like Thai verbs do.

There are many adjective patterns in Thai. The following are six common patterns. Simple examples are given here. You can use the vocabulary below to substitute in the patterns to make your own phrases and sentences. To get sound files recorded for your sentences, please put them in the comments of this post.

All the vocabulary needed is listed below in the samples from the High Frequency Vocabulary List (you can download the list here).

Pattern 1…

The first pattern is a simple noun with a describing adjective.

Noun + adjective
หมา + ใหญ่

Examples:

หมาใหญ่
A big dog.

หมาสีขาว
A white dog.

หมาดุ
A vicious dog.

Pattern 1a…

All adjective patterns can also be negative.

Noun + not + adjective
หมา + ไม่ +ใหญ่

Examples:

หมาไม่ใหญ่
The dog isn’t big.

หมาไม่สีขาว
The dog isn’t white.

หมาไม่ดุ
The dog isn’t vicious.

Pattern 2…

All Thai nouns have classifiers. These are usually used when counting nouns but can also be used when describing them. They aren’t required and if left out carry the same meaning as Pattern 1.

Noun + classifier + adjective
หมา + ตัว + ใหญ่

Examples:

หมาตัวใหญ่
The big dog.

หมาตัวสีขาว
The white dog.

หมาตัวดุ
The vicious dog.

Pattern 3…

The verb “be” is usually not used with Thai adjectives but can be used in sentences.

Pronoun/noun + be + noun + (classifier) + adjective
มัน + เป็น + หมา + (ตัว) + ใหญ่

Examples:

มันเป็นหมาตัวใหญ่
It’s a big dog.

มันเป็นหมาตัวสีขาว
It’s a white dog.

หมา(โน่น)เป็นหมาตัวสีขาว
That dog (over there) is a white dog.

มันเป็นหมาดุ
It’s a vicious dog.

Pattern 4…

Other verbs can be used in sentences with adjectives also.

Pronoun/noun + verb + noun + (classifier) + adjective
ผม + ชอบ + หมา + (ตัว) + ใหญ่

Examples:

ผมชอบหมาตัวใหญ่
I like big dogs.

ผมชอบหมาตัวสีขาว
I like white dogs.

ผมไม่ชอบหมาดุ
I don’t like vicious dogs.

Pattern 5…

Thai can also use the equivalent of which/that when describing nouns.

Noun + ที่ + (classifier) + adjective (+ phrase)
หมา + ที่ + (ตัว) + ใหญ่ (+ อยู่ที่วัด)

Examples:

(the following can be read “dog” or “dogs”)

หมาที่ตัวใหญ่อยู่ที่วัด
The dog, which is big, is at the temple.

หมาที่ตัวสีขาวอยู่ที่วัด
The white dog is at the temple.

หมาที่ตัวดุอยู่ที่วัด
The vicious dog is at the temple.

Pattern 6…

Thai adjectives all have “intensifiers”, words that make the adjective stronger. English has words like “very”, and “really”, and other general-use intensifiers. Thai also has general intensifiers (มาก, จริงๆ) as well as at least one specific intensifier for each adjective.

Sometimes there are two Thai adjectives that have the same meaning. When said together they also intensify the meaning (ดุร้าย is “quite fierce, vicious”; อ้วนท้วน is “truly fat, plump”).

One more way adjectives can be intensified is simply by repeating them (ใหญ่ ใหญ่, or ใหญ่ๆ).

Listen to how a native Thai speaker says repeated adjectives and you will find something interesting. Each one is said with a different tone. This is a case where the written tone rules don’t apply. It is why listening to a native speaker is the only way to get it right.

Noun + adjective + intensifier
หมา + ใหญ่ + มาก

Examples:

หมาใหญ่มาก
A very big dog (general intensifier).

หมาใหญ่จริงๆ
A really big dog (general intensifier).

หมาใหญ่เบ้อเร่อ
A huge dog (specific intensifier for “ใหญ่”).

หมาดุร้าย
An incredibly vicious dog (a double adjective).

หมาใหญ่ๆ
A truly big dog (repeating the adjective).

Exercise: Interpreting adjective patterns (answers below):

How would you interpret the following?

ฉันต้องการบ้านหลังใหญ่มาก
มันเป็นวัดสีขาว
หมาน่าเกลียด
รถของพวกเขาเป็นรถที่ช้า
ห้องนี้ไม่แพง ห้องนี้ถูก

Exercise: Creating complete Thai sentences (answers below):

Render the following into Thai.

She has a white dog.
I want a big room.
That car is really fast.
The tree isn’t green.
She bought some red flowers.
The temple is huge.
That is a small rabbit.
It a green snake.
She has an expensive house.
The red car is expensive

Challenge question:

Translate the following. Listen to your inner voice and create a sentence that feels right. There are probably lots of ways to say this. I’ll give my try below.

The big, white, vicious dog is hungry.

Samples from the High Frequency Vocabulary List:

Nouns (classifiers):

dog: หมา, สุนัข (ตัว)
rabbit: กระต่าย (ตัว)
temple: วัด (วัด)
house: บ้าน (หลัง)
car: รถ, รถยนต์ (คัน)
tree: ต้นไม้ (ต้น)
flower: ดอกไม้ (ดอก)
woman: ผู้หญิง (คน)
snake: งู (ตัว)
room: ห้อง (ห้อง)

Pronouns:

it: มัน
I (female)
: ฉัน
I (male speaker)
: ผม
you, she
: คุณ
they: พวกเขา

Verbs:

like: ชอบ
want: อยากได้, ต้องการ
have: มี:
buy: ซื้อ
sell: ขาย
belong to: ของ

Adjectives:

Color (all color words begin with สี, which itself means “color”, but the word สี is not required and can be left out).

white: สีขาว
black: สีดำ
green: สีเขียว
red: สีแดง
yellow: สีเหลือง
blue: สีฟ้า

Quality:

big: ใหญ่
small: เล็ก
vicious: ร้าย, ดุร้าย
kind: ใจดี
fast: เร็ว
slow: ช้า
tall: สูง
short: เตี้ย
expensive: แพง
cheap: ถูก
cute: น่ารัก
beautiful: สวย
ugly: น่าเกลียด
hungry: หิว

Answers to “interpreting adjective patterns”:

I want a very big house.
It is a white temple.
It is an ugly dog.
Their car is slow.
This room is inexpensive. It is cheap.

Answers to “creating complete Thai sentences”:

เธอมีสุนัขสีขาว
ฉันต้องการห้องใหญ่
รถเร็วจริงๆ
ต้นไม้ไม่ใช่สีเขียว
เธอซื้อดอกไม้สีแดง
วัดใหญ่จริงๆ
มันเป็นกระต่ายตัวเล็ก
มันเป็นงูเขียว
เธอมีบ้านแพง
รถสีแดงแพง

Below is my attempt at the challenge sentence: “The big, white, vicious dog is hungry”. Please add yours in the comments below.

หมาตัวใหญ่สีขาวดุร้ายและหิว

Here’s the High Frequency Thai Vocabulary download. The sound files for this post, along with any pertinent Thai sentences added in the comments below, will be in the followup post.

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

Please Vote to add the Thai Language to LingQ…

We need your help getting Thai on LingQ. At present, LingQ supports about 10 languages including Japanese, Chinese, and Korean, but not Thai. The first step to getting Thai on LingQ is to get 1000 votes for Thai to be added as a beta language.

To vote Thai, go to LingQ’s Facebook page: What language should we add next?

So, what’s LingQ all about?…

If you are unfamiliar with LingQ, watch this video:

Why do we want Thai on LingQ?…

Last week Scott contacted me about rousting everyone to convince LingQ to add Thai. I looked into LingQ several years back but was unable to generate much interest for Thai, so moved on to supporting other resources for learning Thai. But since then, there’s been a marked increase in the numbers of students learning Thai, so hopefully this time our votes will make a difference.

As I don’t have recent experience with LingQ I asked Scott to step in to explain:

Scott: I’ve been using LingQ to learn Russian for a few months and I think the biggest benefit is its versatility. If you like extensive reading you can just read and use the dictionary if you get stuck. If you want to do intensive reading then you can create “LingQs” for your unknown words and review them by doing basic flashcards, cloze deletions, dictation, or multiple choice.

All lessons have audio so you can practice any combination of listening, reading, shadowing, etc. For the fully supported languages, it has tons of material ranging from beginner dialogues up to complete radio programs. It is also easy to add your own material and has apps for Android and iOS which allow you to review your lessons on the go. It is the best language learning tool I’ve found and it would be a huge help to my Thai studies if it was added.

Scott in turn asked polyglot Wulfgar to expound even further:

Wulfgar: I’m glad that there is an effort to make Thai a supported language on LingQ. I have been using LingQ for about a year to study 4 different languages – French, Russian, Japanese and Mandarin. It’s an excellent tool. There are many different ways to use it, and it has a variety of functions, but let me tell you what I use it for. There is a stage in my studies when I am trying to accumulate enough vocabulary to read native material. This can be a really intensive and grueling experience with a book, for example. I used to trudge through a book, page by page, looking up words in a paper dictionary, setting aside unknown words for memorization. Difficult, time consuming, but it works. An improvement to this was mouse-over dictionaries. These allowed me to quickly see the definition, and some would even build a list of words that I looked up.

LingQ has gone several steps further. It has a mouse over dictionary which keeps track of unknown words, of course. It highlights unknown words blue, and previously looked up words yellow, which I find very helpful when reading. It has flashcards, or an export function that will let you use your own flashcard software. There is a library full of material of different levels, most of which has audio. I really like to read material that also has audio – the reading and listening reinforce each other. It’s very convenient being able to go to the library to get material; no more searching all over the place to find it. And because it keeps track of your known words, you can tell how difficult a lesson will be for you (how many unknown words per minute for example) and chose appropriately.

As I mentioned earlier, I use it to study 4 languages. Having a single location for all of these saves a lot of time. I often create my own lessons, uploading material into LingQ. For example, I’m reading the Count of Monte Cristo in French, which is publicly available online, so I load a chapter at a time when I want to read. Sometimes I pull something difficult into LingQ just to see how hard it really is – I check the unknown word count. I’ve put in subtitles of movies, letters from friends, etc.

I’m a big believer in Krashen’s i+1 theory, or something similar to it. I believe one acquires language most efficiently at a level (i+1) slightly above their current state of language proficiency (i). Consistently using lingQ lessons which have low levels of new words (less that 10 per minute for me) is an excellent way to follow this theory. Making difficult material more comprehensible, or knocking it down to the i+1 level, accomplishes this also. For example, listening to the same material that you read, memorizing unknown words with flashcards, etc. There are many ways to accomplish this, and LingQ can be a big help.

Back to Thai. I’m currently learning Thai, and I’m at the point where I want to become a reader of native material. There are some nice tools for Thai, but they aren’t as useful or convenient as what LingQ would offer. There is an effort to gather lots of existing lessons together to fill the library, and a standing offer from an individual to create many new lessons something like Thai Recordings, but mostly dialogue based. LingQ would offer a mouse-over dictionary, which would parse something like the bulk lookup in Thai Notes, which is imo the best free online parser by far. There are some who say it’s impossible to parse Thai, but I disagree because it’s already been done, and without forcing spaces between words.

In summary, I hope you all will vote for LingQ to implement Thai. It’s a great tool that can be used in many ways, and will dramatically improve the resources to study this beautiful language.

Again, please help us add Thai to LingQ by voting. Go ahead, send your brothers, your mothers, your husbands and lovers to all vote Thai!: What language should we add next?

Interviewing Successful Thai Language Learners…

Name: Ruedi Seiler
Nationality: Swiss
Age: 29
Sex: male
Location: Switzerland/Thailand
Profession: Scientist (Geography, Dendrochronology), Diving professional
YouTube channel: Ruedskins
 
What is your Thai level?

The very first question is already hard to answer, since in Thai, there does not seem to be any classification or degree like in English for instance.

I would consider myself fluent in Thai, that is true for oral as well as my writing skills. By fluent I mean that I am able to communicate and understand. It depends a lot on the subject of discussion as well.

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

I do not actively use street or colloquial Thai when talking to people. Standard Bangkok Thai, as it is tought at schools is what I speak. When I talk to Thais they sometimes say that my Thai would be very correct much like it is in books. The reason for that, obvioulely is, that I learnt Thai mostly with books; but more on that later.

What were your reasons for learning Thai?
 

Whenever I went for vacation as a child, I would always start to learn a little bit of the language. That was true for Greek, Spanish, the English and Tibetan. However, when I went to Thailand for the first time in my life I told myself that this time I will not do that. The reason being, I just wanted to enjoy my vacation.

Astonishingly, Thailand, it’s people, culture and it’s friendliness convinced me to start learning Thai. In that moment I realized that Thailand would play a major role in my life. People who live in a foreign country should be able to speak the language the locals speak, that is my opinion.

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

At the time being I am located in Switzerland. Before I had lived in Thailand for a couple of years and at the end of March 2013 I returned to Switzerland. Until now, I cannot exactly tell you when I will move back to Thailand.

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

I first started learning Thai in 2009 when I took a Thai language course at the university of Zurich. That course took two semesters and gave me the basic knowledge that still prooves to be very useful now. In between I hade some phases when I did not really have that much time to keep learning Thai. I do, however, up until now write down words I don’t know and watch Thai-TV, read books and so on.

2009-2011: intensive learning at the University and during a language exchange in Thailand
2011-2013: sporadically learning on my own using audio, video, books…

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

Fortunately, after having started to learn, my motivation to keep learning grew even further and within the first two year there was no way I could have lost focus about where I wanted to go with my Thai-learning whatsoever.

 
Did you stick to a regular study schedule?
 

The university course with which I started off, took place twice a week (2 hours each session) and then there was some homework to do. But there was no single day that I didn’t learn Thai. I guess in my last two years at the university I spent more time on learning Thai than on my actual subject I graduated in :-)

 
What Thai language learning methods did you try?
 

As already mentioned I started by taking the university course. In the course we used Everyday Thai for Beginners which I still regard as one of the best bookes for learning Thai, as well as Khian Thai. The first we utilized to learn the use of the language and the latter for learning to read and write.

After that I went to a Thai-school in Thailand where I spent two months doing an intensive language course (that was 5 hours a day + homework).
 
Then I learnt by myself using books etc. It was very difficult to find useful materials for advanced learners. Even now, I have difficulties keep on learning effectively.

Did one method stand out over all others?

The best way to start learning Thai is learning with a NON-native speaker; and then of course it is an absolute must to learn the writing system right away. It might be hard at the beginning but it is the solid foundation to learning Thai.

 
How soon did you tackle reading and writing Thai?
 

Maybe I was able to more or less read and write after about three to four months, but now and then I still encounter words that I don’t know and which I have a hard time reading. By the way, I am not a very fast lerner. The process of learning never comes to an end, but the basic skills can be learned very quickly.

 
Did you find learning to read and write Thai difficult?
 

Never have I looked at Thai as being a difficult language to learn. It took time, of course, but it was a lot of fun. Therefore I was motivated all the time and found it rather challenging than difficult.

I mean, honestly, every Thai can speak Thai so it cannot be difficult, right?

 
What was your first “aha” moment?
 

When I realized for the first time, how the combination of consonants and vowels in order to create syllables and words works. That was a very rewarding experience.

 
How do you learn languages?

Since I am grown up now, I prefer to grasp an understanding of the language structure first, rather than just learn  like a child (listening and speaking), which is a very new trend in “language-learning” nowadays.

Then of course, I prefer to listen to native speaker dialogues and also learn as many words as possible. After I master the basics i enjoy “learning by doing”, which means to use the language as often as possible.

 
What are your strengths and weaknesses?

For quite some time my strength was writing and typing Thai and my spoken Thai wasn’t at the same level. However, I feel like that has changed over the time when I was living in Thailand, since I spoke a lot more and did not write that often anymore.

The biggest weakness at the time is to keep my motivation to learn Thai.

 
What is the biggest misconception for students learning Thai?

Wow, that is not easy to answer. I guess there is not a general misconception which is true for everybody. What I have observed often times is that people think it is too hard to learn Thai, just because the letters do not look familiar to us. Prejudice might be the biggest and also the first hurdle to take on a very rewarding adventure that is learning Thai.

 
Can you make your way around any other languages?

My mother tongue is Swiss german and of course I speak German too. Further, I speak English and Thai to a certain extent. At school I learnt French and Spanish, two languages that I still understand but have difficulties speaking. At high school level I also took Latin.

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

No, I wasn’t but in a way I wish I were. I had the impression that whilst learning Thai my skills in Spanish and especially French, both languages I was able to speak pretty well, kind of got lost. The better my Thai got, the more I forgot about these other languages and I did not really care about that. I guess it had to do with me being so focused on Thai. Whenever I tried to speak another language Thai words kept popping up in my mind.

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

There are five major considerations:
 

1. Learn the Thai letters first.
   You will not be successful if you do not learn how to read and write. When you build a house you do not start by building the roof first; you lay the foundation first. Thai alphabet is the foundation of your future Thai. Why would anyone waste time and effort on something that is not solid enough to last – trust me.

 

2. Pay close attention towards aspiration and pronunciation.
   The difference between aspirated and unaspirated consonants as well as the pronunciation decides not only if you can speak Thai or not, but it is also necessary to correctly understand. Since Thai is a tonal language incorrect pronunciation cannot be labled as “accent”, like in English for instance.

 

3. Try to find a non native Thai speaker when starting to learn.
   Learning with somebody who had to learn Thai himself in the same way you are learning it now. Such a teacher can provide much more detailed information, explanations and advise than a native speaker can. The biggest mistake in nowadays language teaching industry is hiring native speakers to teach beginners. That is my believe! How often do you see: “Wanted: English Teacher – Native speaker only” that is just stupid. Language learning (for beginners!!!) needs explanations that non-native speakers are able to provide in a much better way.

 

4. Talk with and listen to native speakers often.
   Once you are able to speak and understand a little bit, it is, of course, important to use the language as often as you can. I always talked to myself in Thai trying to utter whatever I could come up with.

 

5. Read books – learn words.
   Reading books will have you passively practice the letters, tones, tone-marks and pronunciation over and over again. It will also help you to grasp the structure of language and you get a better idea of how Thai is used.  The best way is to read out loud. You could also record what you are reading and then listen to it afterwards trying to compare your language to the way Thais speak. Reading out loud is much more difficult because you need to actually speak the words including the tones and everything. When you catch yourself reading mistakes, do not just go on but repeat it.
    
   Write down the words you do not understand. Does the same word appear several times you look it up, it might be important. In order to learn and memorize the noted words try to inclued them into sentences so you can memorize them more quickly.

   Focused reading with looking up words frequently is very hard, so sometimes I enjoyed just reading out loud without paying attention towards the content – also a nice practice ;-)

Ruedi Seiler,
YouTube channel: Ruedskins

The Series: Interviewing Successful Thai Language Learners…

My personal thanks for this series goes to: Ruedi Seiler, David Fahey, Harlan Wolff, Philip Lattimore, 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.

Do Thais Want Me to Speak Thai?…

Since I have been submitting a bit of grammar in the series Using High Frequency Thai Vocabulary, I thought it was time to comment a little more on the cultural side of living and attempting to communicate here in Thailand, especially as this series is called Thai Language Thai Culture. So today I would like to tackle a cross cultural misunderstanding that I have observed for a long time now – and luckily in describing it we can come up with a language lesson.

The Misunderstanding…

The Thais don’t want me to learn how to speak Thai! Every time I try speaking Thai to them, they tune me out, or switch to talking to me in their broken English.

First of all I have a few general comments about the above complaint. Whenever you hear someone say “Thais” do this, or “Thais” do that, be aware that there are over 65 million Thais and the person speaking probably has only met a few of them, so his knowledge of what they ALL do is limited. It is quite difficult to stereotype Thais when dozens of languages and dialects are spoken, and when many cultures and sub-cultures are represented.

Also, I wonder if the same percentage of people who feel this way (that Thais don’t want them to learn Thai), are the same people who tell us that it really isn’t necessary to learn Thai tones. I would bet the correlation is high.

I have found that if it is a language misunderstanding, then 95% of the time it is because I am either saying something incorrectly, or more likely, I have gotten my tones, vowels, or consonants completely bungled.

Thais really don’t want me to speak Thai?…

We can maybe find the answer in this short anecdote.

I was at the golf course the other day, at the 19th hole having a cold drink, when two Farang golfers went up to the desk and asked for some soft drinks. Here is how the interchange went:

Serving girl: กี่ขวดคะ /gèe kùat ká/
Golfer: ซ่อง /sông/

The girl looked at him strangely, and in fact took a step back with a confused and fearful look on her face.

So the Farang golfer, getting a little annoyed at her reluctance to understand what he was saying, shouted back at her:

Golfer: ซ่อง, ซ่อง /sông, sông/

Finally, obviously irritated, he raised two fingers. It was only then that the girl knew what he wanted, so got him the two drinks he was supposedly asking for.

I am sure this is a situation which would make someone think that the girl just didn’t want to understand a person speaking perfectly understandable Thai – and in the context of ordering drinks she should have figured out what he wanted. Right?

Except, here is the translation of what was said:

Serving girl: How many bottles would you like?
Golfer: Brothel.
Golfer: Whorehouse! WHOREHOUSE!

You see, the Thai word used by the golfer was ซ่อง /sông/ (falling tone) meaning “brothel”. Or if shouted angrily as he did, it would be more like “whorehouse”. Our golfer wanted to say the number “two”, สอง /sǒng/ (rising tone) in Thai. Instead, he sounded more like crazy Hamlet yelling at the equally crazy Ophelia, “get thee to a nunnery!” – nunnery being an Elizabethan slang for “whorehouse”.

Let’s put ourselves in the serving girl’s place. First off, when answering the question of how many bottles of the soft drink he would like, the customer replies “brothel”, confusing you a bit. And then he follows up by angrily shouting “whorehouse” at you. Is he pulling a Hamlet, telling me I should get myself to a whorehouse? Even in the context of ordering soft drinks wouldn’t you be a bit perplexed at someone yelling “whorehouse” at you?

I have found that when we are communicating with someone using their language (doesn’t matter which language), and they do not understand us, then we are probably not saying it correctly. The onus is on us.

Our listener really does want to understand us, but when gibberish comes out of our mouths then he/she sometimes go out of their way to try using their own limited skills in our language to make the communication happen.

The Silly Farang…

Here is another example. A silly Farang wants to ask the shop owner for his business card.

Silly Farang: มีนามบาทมั้ย /mee naam-bàat mái/
Businessman: Same confused look as the serving girl above.

Silly Farang: นามบาท นามบาท /naam-bàat, naam-bàat/
Businessman: No change in expression.

Silly Farang: มีชื่อ บ้านเลขที่ บอร์โทรศัพท์ /chêu bâan-lâyk-têe ber-toh-rá~sàp/
Businessman: Oh! นามบัตร naam-bàt

Here is the translation:

Silly Farang: Do you have a name baht (long “aa”, บาท = “baht”, currency)
Businessman: (To himself: “What the hell is a name baht?”)

Silly Farang: Name baht, Name baht
Businessman: (To himself: Please let this crazy man leave my shop!)

Silly Farang: It has your name, address, telephone number.
Businessman: Oh! A “business card”. (short “a”, บัตร = “card”)

And BTW, that silly Farang getting his vowels all wrong was yours truly, and it happened to me just last week. So I still know, and probably will forever, how it feels to make a fool of myself in Thai.

Advice: If you say something in Thai and everyone either looks confused or begins to burst out laughing at you, then at best you got the tone, vowel, or consonant wrong. Or worse, the mistakes you made have turned what you wanted to say into something off color or ridiculous. Or even worse, you’ve insulted the listener’s family or his manhood. When this happens, don’t blame the listener.

Don’t think they don’t want you to speak Thai. They just want you to speak intelligible Thai. There are so many variables in producing a Thai word, tones, vowels, consonants, that any one of them being just a little off will cause you to produce a completely different word than the one you wanted to. Hey, no one said this was going to be easy.

So when you make a mistake and everyone is laughing, just smile (I myself do a big belly laugh when this happens) and throw up your hands and say, “I’m just a silly Farang” and laugh along with them. And everything will be fine.

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

FLTR + Thai Text Reader…

Goodness have we ever been busy. As soon as the post Please Vote to add Thai Language to LingQ! hit the stands, Scott Smith, programmer Rick Bradford, and myself starting discussing other (free) possibilities for reading Thai.

Both Learning With Texts (LWT) and Foreign Language Text Reader (FLTR) were in the running. Due to ease of use, FLTR was selected. If you’d like to know more about FLTR, read Andrej’s post, FLTR: The Foreign Language Text Reader.

A mere 21 days later, and mostly thanks to Rick, we give you: Thai Text Reader (TTR).

In a nutshell: TTR hosts the parser and Thai dictionary created by Rick that makes FLTR work with the Thai language. Also on the site are files to download (pdf’s and mp3′s), as well as other resources where you’ll find even more Thai reading materials.

Now here’s the thing. This project could be better. At the moment users have to paste Thai into the parser, parse, copy the results, open FLTR, and then drop in the parsed materials. To take out extra steps, coding them into one program is doable … but …

Rick Bradford: There are some minor improvements in the pipeline to do with the dictionary and some context help via mouse-over, but as this is a volunteer project, the ultimate goal of an integrated FLTR clone would probably only be implemented if there was serious interest from the user community.

So if you are serious about being able to use a FLTR clone to work with Thai, please contact Rick: parser@thaitextreader.com

Giving thanks for the generous donations to TTR…

The aim of TTR is to make your life easier with a Thai parser, dedicated dictionary, and materials for download. To help get this project started four sites quickly stepped up to contribute materials: Bangkok Post, Paknam Web, Thai Recordings, and the newly updated Self Study Thai. Time was extremely short and they delivered. My thanks goes to all.

You can locate the downloadable files in the downloads folder on TTR. Below are the direct links to the materials:

Bangkok Post
Paknam: Gor’s World
Self Study Thai
Thai Recordings

More downloads are in the pipeline but as this project demanded a fast turnaround, there wasn’t enough time to get them compiled before the soft launch.

If you’d like to donate materials to Thai Text Reader the details can be found here: Donating materials. If you know of more decent resources for reading Thai, do contact us.

A recap…

I would LOVE an FLTR clone to work with Thai. Seriously. If you do too, please contact Rick at parser@thaitextreader.com to let him know.

Sample Sentences in Thai Dictionaries…

While reviewing Thai dictionary apps for my series, iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch Apps, I came across a subject that needed clarification: sample sentences in dictionaries.

As 
Chris Pirazzi already answered my question about the LEXiTRON dictionary database (developed by NECTEC) in a previous post, Backstage View into the Process of Creating a Thai Dictionary, I knew he was the person to ask.

So before I post my review, please take the time to read Chris’ valuable insights into sentence samples found in Thai dictionaries.

Chris Pirazzi on Sample Sentences in Thai Dictionaries…

I’m really glad you mentioned sample sentences. We may indeed add sample sentences at some point, but sample sentences are an area where there is a LOT of misunderstanding and mis-set customer expectations, and you could really help a lot of people in your review by helping to head off these mis-set expectations before the customer gets disappointed.

First of all, customers should be aware that the quality of sample sentences varies wildly between apps, so customers should be sure to look at more than just quantity. Most apps actually get their sample sentences by having a computer program crawl through huge, freely available, error-ridden bilingual datasets available on the internet with no human intervention or editing. In many cases, the sample sentences contain errors, or even more often, they do not even demonstrate the meaning of the word being defined at all. For example, an entry for “หก” with the English translation “The number 6″ may contain many sample sentences for the other meaning of หก, “to spill (a liquid).” The sample sentences in these cases are at best confusing and possibly misleading. With some apps (and I never could figure out why) you will even see sample sentences for a Thai word that don’t even contain the Thai word! Typically, if an app boasts a huge number of sample sentences (like, tens of thousands or more), that is a major red flag that the sentences are crap. Doing sample sentences properly requires humans to edit the sentences of each entry for relevance, and that takes almost as much work as creating the dictionary dataset in the first place. Almost no vendor is willing to take this time for editing.

Secondly, and even more importantly, challenge your reader to ask why they want sample sentences.  There may be other ways of getting what they want that are simpler and more direct. Let me explain.

Sample sentences are a little like transcription: at first, when looking for Thai learning materials, Thai learners always ask for a transcription system that is as “English-Like” as possible, and they may even choose their app by that criterion. It isn’t until much later that they realize that due to the unavoidable reality of Thai language and how its sounds differ from English, the goal of being “English-like” is not only impossible but it may actually damage their ability to learn Thai sounds properly (e.g., transcription systems which over-simplify Thai sounds so that ส้ม and ซ่อม are written the same way, or เป็ด and เผ็ด are written the same way), or at the very least the goal of being “English-Like” may actually make the transcription system more complicated and make it more hard for them to learn Thai than they could with other systems. I talk about that at length in Slice of Thai: Pronunciation Guide Systems for Thai.

At first, customers also ask for sample sentences, but sample sentences can lead the customer to a similar dilemma. When we were beginning our multi-year dictionary production process, we asked ourselves why it is that people ask for sample sentences. The answer is that it helps give more information about a given translation, for example:

• for a given translation from language 1 to language 2, which SENSE of the word is being translated?  For example, if there is an English entry for “glass” that shows a Thai word, then is that the Thai word for “drinking glass” or the word for “pane of glass?”
• what prepositions and other linking words need to be used along with a given word?  For example, when I want to say “wait for him”, I can see that there is a Thai word “รอ,” but what (if any) preposition should I put in in place of “for”?
• what level of formality (e.g. slang, formal) does the word have?
• what are the word’s classifiers, if it is a noun?

Typically, bilingual dictionaries will try to answer these questions by providing sample sentences. 

But even if the sample sentences are carefully hand-crafted and hand-edited by humans (and so far I have never seen an iOS/Android app where they are), sample sentences are a very poor way to answer the questions above, because the reader has to read the sentence, understand its parts, and then think backwards to get the answer to the original question they really wanted answered.

We decided that it’s much better to spend our effort answering the important questions for the user directly. We are the only Thai-English English-Thai dictionary that we are aware of that was designed from the ground up to help English speakers who are learning Thai in this way.

When giving definitions, we provide glosses to clarify shades of meaning (e.g. “glass (drinking)” vs. “glass (pane)”), as shown on our website at Designed for English Speakers.

We have specifically designed our headwords to solve the preposition/extra word problem. For example, we include a transitive verb entry “wait for” that translates to “รอ,” and this is a specific, explicit cue to the user that they do not need to insert a Thai word corresponding to “for” when using the Thai verb รอ. We talk more about how this works in our application Help under “Speaking and Listening” then “Verbs, Objects, and Prepositions.”

We specifically notate the register (slang, formal, …) of each word using symbols, rather than trying to make the user guess from sample sentences. You can click on “Word Register” in our app Help to get the details.

And of course we explicitly notate classifiers too.

There are still cases where sample sentences can be handy, but we feel we’ve delivered a much, much greater bang for the buck by spending our finite development time by going right for the information that Thai learners need.  We may still add sample sentences as well. No matter what, we will continue to listen to our customers’ requests for what information they want in each entry and provide that in the most direct and useful form we can.

Chris Pirazzi,
Word in the Hand: Talking Thai-English-Thai Dictionary | Slice of Thai | Thailand Fever

Written Sound: Onomatopoeic words in the Thai language…

Learning about onomatopoeic words in the Thai language has been quite the experience. It all started when ‏@babla tweeted a link to the video Bow Wow Meow – Animal Sounds in Different Languages. After quickly responding, “in Thai a dog says hong hong”, off I went googling to find out more.

The first jewel of a resource I came across was wikipedia’s post, Cross-linguistic Onomatopoeias. Onomatopoeia. A mouthful, yes?

askdefine.com: onomatopoeia: Onomatopoeia (occasionally spelled onomateopoeia or onomatopœia, from Greek ονοματοποιία) is a word or a grouping of words that imitates the sound it is describing, suggesting its source object, such as “click,” “bunk”, “clang,” “buzz,” or animal noises such as “oink”, “slurp”, or “meow”.

ASAP I called up Khun Phairo and said, “have I got a day planned for you!” Heh. Before KP arrived I sourced other Thai onomatopoeic words, dropping them into a tidy spreadsheet (as organised people tend to do).

The bulk of the words are from wikipedia (Cross-linguistic Onomatopoeias), Weirdvibrations.com (The Language of Sound in Thai), learningthai.com (Animal Sounds), Thai-language.com (Onomatopoeia), and a pdf download from Chula Uni (The Symbolization of Sounds in Thai onomatopoeic Words).

After culling and editing entries, we spent hours coming up with other Thai onomatopoeic words. And to make this a truly rounded experience, I recorded KP speaking each and every one.

Thai onomatopoeic words plus audio…

The audio files are all-in-one because it’s easier to listen to an unbroken list of dtúks, klùks, hèungs, and bréun bréuns (saves you having to click click click).

[See post to listen to audio]

approval, joy: เฮ /hay/
auto rickshaw (named after sound): ตุ๊ก ๆ /dtúk dtúk/
baby crying: อุแว้ ๆ /u-wáe u-wáe/, แง้ ๆ /ngáe ngáe/
ball rolling: ขลุก ๆ /klùk klùk/
balloon or bubble bursting: โป๊ะ /bpó/, ปั้ง /bpâng/
Banded Bullfrog singing: อึ่งอาง ๆ /èung-aang èung-aang/
bee or mosquito buzzing, a whirring sound: หึ่ง /hèung/
bird singing: จิ๊บ ๆๆ /jíp jíp jíp jíp jíp/
“boom”, explosion, cannon firing: ตูม /dtoom/
breaking plate: เพล้ง /pláyng/
burping: เอิ่ก /èrk/
camera shutter: แชะ /cháe/
car engine revving: บรื๊น ๆ /bréun bréun/
car horn honking: ปี๊น ๆ /bpéen bpéen/
car putting on brakes: เอี๊ยด /íat/
cat hissing: ฟู่ ๆ /fôo fôo/
cat meowing: เมี้ยว ๆ /míeow míeow/
chatter: จ๊อกแจ๊ก /jòk-jáek/
chewing: แจ๊บ ๆ /jáep jáep/
chicken clucking: เอ้กอี๊เอ้กเอ้ก /âyk-ée ây gà-âyk/
chicken clucking: กุ๊ก ๆ ก๊อก ๆ /gúk gúk gók gók/
Ching Chap Tour (named after sound): ฉิง่ฉับ /cheng-chàp/
clock ticking: ติ๊กต็อก ๆ /dtík-dtòk dtík-dtòk/
clunking: ต๊อกแต๊ก /dòk-dtáek/
collision: กึก /gèuk/
collision, “crash!”, “bang!”, something heavy falling: โครม /krohm/, ปัง /bpang/
Common Koel (named after sound): กาเหว่า /gaawâow gaawâow/
console, comfort someone: โอ๋ /ŏh/
coughing: แค๊ก ๆ /káek káek/
cow mooing: มอ /mor/
cracking (fire): เปรี๊ยะ /bpría/
crow cawing, crow (named after sound – อีกา): กา ๆๆ /gaa gaa gaa/
crowd expressing joy (usually preceded by สรวลเส): เฮฮา ๆ /hay-haa hay-haa/
crying: แง ๆๆ /ngae ngae ngae/, ว้าก /wáak/, โฮ /hoh/
crying, groaning, grieving: ฮือ ๆ /heu heu/
cutting a tree branch: ฉับ ๆ /chàp chàp/
cymbal (named after sound): ฉ ฉิ่ง /chor-ching/
dog barking, howling: โฮ่ง ๆ /hôhng hôhng/, บ๊อก ๆ /bòk bòk/
door bell ringing: ติ๊งต็อง /dtíng-dtong/
door or floor creaking: แอ๊ด /áet/
dove cooing: จุ๊กกรู้ ๆ /júg-króo júg-króo/
dragging something: ครืด /krêut/
dripping water: ติ๋ง ๆ /dtĭng dtĭng/
drum, 7pm – 11pm (named after the drum): ทุ่ม /tûm/
duck quacking: ก้าบ ๆ /gâap gâap/
eating spicy food: ซี้ด ๆ /séet séet/
receiving electric shock: ฟรึ้บ /fréup/
elephant trumpeting: แปร๋น ๆ /bpraen bpraen/
elephant trumpeting: แป๊น ๆ /bpáen bpáen/
exclamation: เอ๊ะ /eh/
explosion, “bang!”: บึ้ม /bêum/
farting: ปู้ด /bpôot/
fighting, wrestling, stomping, be noisy: ตึงตัง /dteung dtang/
food being eaten: ง่ำ ๆ /ngâm ngâm/, อัม ๆ /am am/
footsteps: ตึง ๆ /dteung dteung/, ตึบ ๆ /dtèup dtèup/
frog croaking: อ๊บ ๆๆ /op op op op/
frog (named after the sound): กบ /gòp/
furniture being moved: กึงกัง ๆๆ /geung gang geung gang geung gang/
gaffawing: ฮ่าฮ่าฮ่า /hâa hâa hâa hâa/
gargling: ขรุก กลั้วปาก /kà-rùk glûa-bpàak/
gibbon crying: ผัว ๆ /pŭa pŭa/
gorilla chattering: เจี๊ยกคร่อก ๆ /jaik-kròk jaik-kròk/
grinding teeth: กรอด /gròt/
growling, “grrrrr”: กรรรร /grrrr/, แฮ่ /hâe/
grumbling, muttering: พึมพำ ๆ /peum-pam peum-pam/
gunshot: ปัง ๆ /bpang bpang/
hammering: โป๊ก ๆ /bpóhk bpóhk/
hawking (to spit): ขาก /kàak/
heart beating: ตุ้บ ๆ /dtûp dtûp/, ตึ้ก ๆ /dtêuk dtêuk/
“heh”: เฮอะ ๆ /haya haya/
“hooray!”, “cheers!”, “hip hip hooray!”: ไชโย /chai-yoh/
horse trotting, dog walking: กุบกับ ๆ /gùp-gàp gùp-gàp/, ก๊อน ๆ /gón gón/
horse whinnying: ฮี้ ๆ /hée hée/
house lizard (named after the sound): จิ้งจก /jîng-jòk/
hushing: จุ๊ ๆๆ /jú jú jú/, ชู่ /chôo/
injured dog whimpering: เอ๋ง /ăyng/
jingling, rattling, bell tinkling: กรุ๊งกริ๊ง /grung-kríng/
keyboard striking: ก้อกแก้ก /gòk-gâek/
kissing: จุ๊บ /júp/, จ๊วบ /júap/
knocking: ก๊อก ๆ /gók gók/
laughing: เอิก๊ อ๊าก /ak áak/
laughing softly: คิก้ ๆๆ /kek kek kek kek kek/
laughter (555 ): ฮ่า ๆๆ /hâa hâa hâa hâa/
lion, tiger roaring: โิฮก ๆ /hok hok/
liquid being drunk:เอื้อก /uaòk/
monkey chatting: เจี๊ยก ๆ /jaik jaik/
owl hooting: ฮูก /hôok/
Pakcha (named after the sound “chàa”): ผัดฉ่า /pàt-chàa/
Papaya salad (named after sound): ป๊อก ๆๆ /bpòk bpòk bpòk bpòk/
pig grunting: อู๊ด ๆๆ /óot óot óot óot óot/, ครอก ๆๆ /krôk krôk krôk/
pushy, uncouth, rash, imprudent: บุ่มบ่าม /bùm-bàam/
rain flowing: ซู่ /sôo/
rain on roof, clapping: กราว /graao/
rat squeaking: จี๊ด ๆ /jéet jéet/
ringing bell: เหง่งหง่าง ๆ /ngeng-ngaang ngeng-ngaang/
ripping clothes: ควาก /kwâak/, แควก /kae wók/
rock thrown into a pond: จุ๋ม /jŭm/, ป๋อม /bpŏm/
screaming, shrieking: โอ๊ย /ói/, อ๊าก /áak/, อ๊าย /áai/
sensations of cold, “brr!”: บรื๋อ /bà-rĕu/
sheep or goat bleating: แบะ ๆๆ /bàe bàe bàe bàe/
shrieking: วิ้ดว้าด /wít-wáat/, กรีด /grèet/
sighing: เฮ่อ /hâa/
siren wailing: ปี๊ป่อ ๆ /bpée-bpòr bpée-bpòr/, วี้หว่อ ๆ /wée-wòr wée-wòr/
slap or a whipping: ผัวะ /pùa/
slapping face: เพี้ยะ /phia/, ฉาด /chàat/
small drum (named after sound): ป๋องแป๋ง ๆ /bpŏng-bpăeng bpŏng-bpăeng/
snake hissing: ฟ่อ ๆ /fôr fôr/
sneezing: ฮัดเช่ย /hát-chôie/, ฮัดชิ่ว /hát-chîw/
snoring: ครอกฟี้ /krôk-fée/, ครอก ๆ /krôk krôk/
soft things falling: เผละ /plè/
something hitting floor: กึง /geung/
something hollow being hit: โกรง ๆ /grohng grohng/
speaking softly: กระจุ๋งกระจิ๋ง /grà-jŭng grà-jĭng/
squeaking, stairs creaking: เอียดอาด ๆๆ /ìat-àat ìat-àat ìat-àat/
stalling for time (when talking): เอ้อ /êr/, อ้า /âa/
stomach growling: โครกคราก /krôhk-krâak krôhk-krâak/
stone falling into the water, “plop”: ต๋อม /dtom/
stutter: กระอ้อม /grà-ôm/
telephone ringing: กริ๊ง ๆ /gríng gríng/
throat swallowing: อึก ๆ /èuk èuk/
“thud”: ปึ่ก /bpèuk/
thunder, explosion: เปรี้ยงปร้าง /bprîang-bprâang/
thunder, thud, collision, gun fire: เปรี้ยง ๆๆ /bprîang bprîang bprîang/, ครึ้น ๆ /kréun kréun/
toilet flushing: ชักโครก /chák-krôhk/
Tokay (named after sound): ตุ๊กแก /dtúk-gae/
train whistle, whistling: ปู๊น ๆ /bpóon bpóon/
warning (used after หนอย): แน่ะ /nâe/
waves flowing: ฟิ้ว ๆ /fíw fíw/
whistling: หวูด /wòot/
wind blowing: วิ้ว ๆ /wíw wíw/
woman screaming in surprise: กรี๊ด /gréet/
yawning: ฮ่าว /hâao/
“yuk”: แหวะ /wàe/, ยี้ /yée/

Even more onomatopoeic Thai words…

After we recoded the list, I asked on Facebook and twitter if anyone knew of even more onomatopoeic Thai words.

Did you know that ทวิตเตอร์ /tá-wíd dtêr/ (twitter) and ทวีต /tá-wít/ (tweet) could also be English onomatopoeic loan-words? Check out: tweet – twitter – onomatopoeia. What do you think?

On Facebook, Adissapong Praphantanathorn mentioned an oldie, ป๋องแป๋ง /bpong-pang/. A gem, it’s the sound made when old men came to dye your clothes.

Also on FB, Alex Szécsényi asked me to check out buzz, ha-ha, honk, vroom vroom, bang, click, beep, and zip. Of the ones I don’t have (click, vroom, beep, and zip) I did manage to find zip, ซิป /síp/. Zip lead me to ซิบ /síp/ (drip, ooze, trickle) and ซิบ ๆ /síp síp/ (drizzly).

Nils Bastedo shared the very descriptive อึ /èu/ (to defecate). And I’ll have to agree with Nils that the sound is spot on!

I did ask about bling (ปิ๊ง /bpíng/) but I’m not quite sure if it’s onomatopoeic or not. Or if I even found the correct Thai word.

It wasn’t until I searched through my photos to create the banner for this post that I found another onomatopoeic word, ฟลิปฟลอป /flíp-flôp/. It’s an English onomatopoeic loan-word but it still counts.

Switching my search to loan-words, in Kaewmala’s Thinglish Slang: English Loanwords in Thai I snabbed ติงต๊อง /dting-dtóng/ (crazy, not very bright) and ปิงปอง /bping-bpong/ (ping pong).

And when I asked on twitter, Sylvie von Duuglas (@_ittu) introduced onomatopoeic English verbs ซูม /soom/ (zoom), and สแนป /sa-nap/ (snap).

Not to be left out, Thai-language.com’s list of English loan-words to Thai coughed up สเปรย์ /sà-bpray/ (spray).

Not finished yet, I found a healthy list of English onomatopoeic words at Written Sounds. It does make me wonder just how many more English onomatopoeic words [slash] loan-words there are in Thai.

Asking for Directions in Thailand…

After my last post, Do Thais Want Me to Speak Thai?, I received an interesting link to a posting on ThaiVisa.com, Speaking Thai in Thailand is Useless.

The poster says that he speaks “pretty good Thai including tones etc. phood chart”. I believe he means พูดชัด /pûut chát/ (speaks clearly). But even though he speaks Thai so well:

“It hasnt (sic) really helped at all as when I am in a restaurant or venue and order in what I think is perfect Thai they just look at me with the look of a Phnom Phenn Motorcycle Taxi driver, then look at the Thai I am with for confirmation. She/he says exactly the same thing as I just said then everything is ok.”

If you have read my last post then you already probably know my take on this: Your Thai friend speaks “perfect Thai”, you, on the other hand, maybe not so “perfect”. BTW, I was once in Phnom Penn and met a taxi driver who did speak perfect Thai – but I digress.

It’s the comments on the forum post that I was interested in. They contain some of the generalizations that are so prevalent in the Farang community in Thailand. You know, they always start out with “Thais …”. In this case the generalizations have to do with asking for directions in Thailand.

Here are a few of the top generalizations:

• Most of us know that back home if you need directions or some local knowledge you just as (sic) a local, not here.
• Thais are reluctant to ask for directions.
• Thais are not so good with directions.
• It is not uncommon that Thais ask another Thai for directions to somewhere and then are confused by the answer.
• Normally if you follow their directions they are wrong.
• Face, some think by asking for directions it makes them lose face by appearing to be ignorant.
• Never ask them for directions.

I never cease to be amazed at the depth at which visitors to Thailand understand the workings of the Thai culture and Thai psyche. But since it appears that so many people are having trouble asking for directions (a problem everyone, especially men I have to admit, have everywhere in the world – see below) I thought that maybe a short primer on Thai direction words and phrases might help you get where you’re going.

For our purposes let’s say we are looking for วัดดอยคำ /wát doi kam/, Wat Doi Kham, “the temple on the golden hill”.

Asking for directions…

Note: They are often used with the Thai “be” word อยู่ /yùu/

Where: ที่ไหน /tîi-nǎi/

[See post to listen to audio]

วัดดอยคำอยู่ที่ไหน
wát doi kam yùu tîi-nǎi
Where is the Doi Kham Temple?

[See post to listen to audio]

Which way (direction): ตรงไหน /dtrong nǎi/

[See post to listen to audio]

วัดดอยคำอยู่ตรงไหน
wát doi kam yùu dtrong nǎi
Which way to Doi Kham Temple?

[See post to listen to audio]

Far: ไกล /glai/

[See post to listen to audio]

วัดดอยคำอยู่ไกลมั้ย
wát doi kam yùu glai mái
Is the Doi Kham Temple far (from here)?

[See post to listen to audio]

Close: ใกล้ glâi

[See post to listen to audio]

วัดดอยคำอยู่ใกล้มั้ย
wát doi kam yùu glâi mái
Is the Doi Kham Temple close (to here)?

[See post to listen to audio]

How far: ไกลเท่าไหร่ /glai tâo-rài/

[See post to listen to audio]

วัดดอยคำอยู่ไกลเท่าไหร่
wát doi kam yùu glai tâo-rài
How far is Doi Kham Temple (from here)?

[See post to listen to audio]

How many: กี่ /gèe/ (kilos – กิโล /gì-loh/); (meters – เมตร méet)

[See post to listen to audio]

วัดดอยคำอยู่กี่กิโล(จากที่นี่)
wát doi kam yùu gèe gì-loh (jàak têe-nêe)
How many kilos is Doi Kham Temple (from here)?

[See post to listen to audio]

How long (will it take to get there from here): เท่าไร /tâo-rai/

[See post to listen to audio]

จะใช้นานเท่าไร
jà chái naan tâo-rai
How long will it take (to get there)?

[See post to listen to audio]

Giving directions…

ตรงไป(ข้างหน้า)
dtrong bpai (kâang nâa)
Straight (ahead).

[See post to listen to audio]

เลี้ยวซ้าย
líeow sáai
Turn left.

[See post to listen to audio]

เลี้ยวขวา
líeow kwăa
Turn right.

[See post to listen to audio]

อยู่ 10 กิโลเมตรจากที่นี่
yòo 10 gì-loh méet jàak têe nêe
It’s (10 kilos) from here.

[See post to listen to audio]

อยู่ใกล้
yòo glâi
It is close.

[See post to listen to audio]

อยู่ไกล
yòo glai
It is far.

[See post to listen to audio]

อยู่ข้างๆ
yòo kâang-kâang
Next to.

[See post to listen to audio]

อยู่ข้างหลัง
yòo kâang lăng
Behind.

[See post to listen to audio]

อยู่ด้านหน้า
yòo dâan nâa
In front of.

[See post to listen to audio]

And when nothing else works I have often been the grateful recipient of a local person’s kind assistance.

ผมจะพาคุณไป
pǒm jà paa kun bpai
I will take you there.

[See post to listen to audio]

This just happened…

I was out trimming my Bougainvillea hedges when a car pulled up and a woman asked me for directions (so much for Thais not willing to ask for directions). She said

บ้านสัปเหร่ออยู่ที่ไหน
bâan sàp-bpà-rèr yùu tîi-nǎi
Where is the “sup-er-er’s” house?

[See post to listen to audio]

Now I knew I had heard the word สัปเหร่อ /sàp-bpà-rèr/ before and I remembered it had something to do with death. Since there was a crematorium just up the road I figured that was what she wanted so I smiled and being the helpful soul that I am I pointed out the crematorium and said

อยู่ที่นี่เอง
yùu tîi nîi eeng
It’s right here.

[See post to listen to audio]

แค่ร้อยเมตร
kâe rói méet
Only about 100 meters.

[See post to listen to audio]

อยู่ข้างขวา
yùu kâang-kwǎa
On the right.

[See post to listen to audio]

But as it turned out I was giving her completely wrong directions.

You see the common Thai word for “crematorium”, which is what was down the road, is สุสาน /sù-sǎan/ or ป่าช้า /bpàa-cháa/ which are words that originally meant cemetery but modern usage includes a place to cremate bodies. The sign in front of the one down our road uses the word สุสาน /sù-sǎan/.

crematorium: สุสาน /sù-sǎan/ or ป่าช้า /bpàa-cháa/

[See post to listen to audio]

But the woman had asked directions for บ้านสัปเหร่อ or the “undertaker’s house”. The word สัปเหร่อ /sàp-bpà-rèr/ means “undertaker’. Not the same thing.

undertaker’s house: บ้านสัปเหร่อ

[See post to listen to audio]

Right after she drove on I remembered all this. I was in the ballpark, I got the “death” thing right, but no cigar. As I saw her drive into the cemetery, and not the undertaker’s house where she really wanted to go, I slowly closed my gate and slunk back home so she wouldn’t see me. I know there is usually only one reason to look for บ้านสัปเหร่อ and I felt sorry for her. I hope she eventually found what she was looking for.

Here’s the audio files for the ‘Asking for Directions in Thailand’ post: download

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

Music for studying foreign languages…

Listening to Baroque music has long been touted as cure-all for studying languages. Some even go as far as to say that listening to Mozart improves the quality of your health and well-being. From my personal experience, both statements are reaching a fair bit.

It’s a no brainer that listening to Mozart won’t make you smarter. Because if that were true, I’d be a genius by now. And while I do enjoy Baroque music on occasion, a nootropics stack washed down by a hefty dose of caffeine seems to garner more immediate results. Or perhaps just different… I’ll have to get back to you on that.

I won’t go as far as to say that the Mozart Effect Doesn’t Work at all, because anything that helps my frame of mind while I study is a benefit. But I’ve yet to try listening to Stephen King!

BBC: Does listening to Mozart really boost your brainpower?… One study found that listening to Schubert was just as good, and so was hearing a passage read out aloud from a Stephen King novel. But only if you enjoyed it. So, perhaps enjoyment and engagement are key, rather than the exact notes you hear.

My interest in using music while studying languages is purely for the feel-good factor. It’s a simple concept really. If I’m in a good mood then I’ll study longer. And if I relate good moods with studying, then I’ll look forward to my next study session. The result? Studying for longer and more often will (hopefully) mean that I’ll be learning more.

Awhile back I became impatient with the Mozart Effect and Baroque music. After one or two songs I was done. I’ve long known that I needed to source new music to listen to while studying languages but it wasn’t until now that I made it a priority. So the need to come up with interesting posts for WLT does indeed have its perks. Well. Interesting to me, that is.

My updated music collection for studying languages…

Some of the music resources (below) have been on my iTunes for years but most are new. And even though jazz is on the list, I’m not 100% sure about longterm results. Have you ever listened to jazz when studying? Is it just ok? More than bearable? The bee’s knees?

What you will notice is that the majority of the songs have no lyrics. Some students don’t find lyrics distracting but I do. Enormously. And there’s a logical reason for this.

University of Phoenix: … listening to music with lyrics is an especially bad idea when studying languages, because lyrics affect the same parts of the brain that comprehend language.

“You think you’re focused on your Spanish lesson,” Axford says, “but your brain is also hearing — and is distracted by — the words to the song playing in the background.”

I also discovered that I can’t listen to instrumentals of songs (especially the Beatles) because I’m forever singing along. Distracting.

What I was chuffed to find is that there’s an actual Study Music Project, thanks to the hard work and talents of Dennis Kuo. If you are interested in cheering Dennis on or even offering suggestions, follow him on his Facebook page: Study Music Project.

iTunes: Study Music Project: Music for the Mind
iTunes: Study Music Project 2: Cram Session

Below is even more music purchased from iTunes. Some have been created especially with the student in mind. It’s early days but I can see how a music industry specifically for studying can only grow and improve.

iTunes: Exam Study Soft Jazz Music Collective

iTunes: Concentration Music – Classical Music to Study to

iTunes: Beethoven Music for Your Mind

iTunes: 100 Jazz Songs (background music)

iTunes: Sensual Soft Jazz Instrumentals

iTunes: Soft Sexy Jazz (Sax)

iTunes: La Scala Concert 03 03 03 (Ludovico Einaudi)

iTunes: 50 Revision Classics by Classic FM

iTunes: The Best of Baroque Music

iTunes: Relax with the Classics Volume 1
iTunes: Relax with the Classics Volume 2

iTunes: The Piano Guys

I only have one study playlist from YouTube to share with you. I guess that’s because when I’m studying, I don’t pay attention to visuals. There are sure to be many more so I’ll source them later (when I have more time … time … so rare these days).

YouTube playlist: BEST Study Music Playlist

I barely managed to dip into last.fm and 8tracks.com but the potential is there. But beware of the lyrics in songs. I found several study compilations where they’ve added soft background voices. Even at a soft level voices soon become distracting.

last.fm: Beautiful Minds – Best Study Music, Music for Concentration

8tracks.com: study time
8tracks.com: audible adderall xxxr
8tracks.com: EDM Study Buddy
8tracks.com: Study With Accompaniment II
iTunes iOS app: 8tracks Radio

And here’s a compilation I’ve been hooked on from the beginning of my search: The Journey: StellarDrone Schumann Mix.

The Schumann Resonances are electromagnetic waves that exist in the space between the surface of the Earth and the Ionosphere – 7.83, 14.3, 20.8, 27.3 and 33.8 Hz. They are said to be the heartbeat of mother earth.

When a person’s brain waves resonate with 7.83 Hz, it has been shown in scientific studies to be an essential requirement for physical and psychological health. Laboratory research has also shown that exposing living cells to the Schumann Resonance had the effect of increasing their immune protection.

Do I believe the hype? Um, honestly, I just like his music. If you are interested, there’s more at Stellardrone (name your price) or pay for Light Years and Echoes at iTunes. I did.

Note: I’ve left out other Brainwave/Binaural/Ambient type compilations on purpose. I do own a collection (most are on iOS apps). If you do use them with success, I’d be interested in any benefits you’ve found.

Even more study music resources to wade through…

classicfm: Music For Studying

Lifehacker: Ask the Readers: Best music for studying?
Lifehacker: Get Productive to Groove Salad
ExamTime: Music for Studying: 10 Tips to Pick the Best Study Music

So, what music do you listen to during your language studies? Bach, Beethoven, rock? Curious minds want to know!