learning the thai language

Post by **FrazeeDK** » February 17, 2014, 8:24 pm

A new change to Thailand's National language policy highlights regional dialects to include Issan Thai-Lao.. Khon Kean University had added "Thai-Noi" script to its main sign post on the Friendship Highway.. (To me the "Thai-Noi" looks remarkably like modern Lao)... http://www.nationmultimedia.com/nationa ... 26965.html

Post by **parrot** » February 19, 2014, 6:59 pm

I was browsing Landmark yesterday, saw the sign below looking for workers. Sexphone professinal (sic)........sounds like a work-at-home sort of deal......10,000-20,000 baht per month for talking dirty? Or not.

Anyway, I've done some business in that shop....and the girls have always been very professinal (sic). After further reading the sign, I figured I wouldn't qualify, no matter how dirty I can talk.

The store has been in business since Landmark opened......second floor, in the corner above Starbucks.

Post by **parrot** » February 25, 2014, 4:17 pm

Browsing Central today, this book title caught my eye. It may be the best example of why transliterated Thai doesn't appeal to me. I suspect her nickname is ปู......but if I were marketing her book, I'd probably have used her real name in the title, "Cooking with Saiyuud". Sounds more appealing.

Post by **parrot** » March 4, 2014, 8:49 pm

I have a hard enough time trying to remember day-to-day words....so I'm not much for idioms. But in Sunday's Bangkok Post...gardening section...there was a mention of using parsley as a window dressing......ผักชีโรยหน้า
You could use the saying to describe the front of Platinum 168 or the facade of Landmark....but I wouldn't use it to describe the front of Central - since the inside of the mall deserves some outer window dressing.

Post by **parrot** » March 12, 2014, 12:36 pm

I've been using some of the volume II lessons from the Foreign Service Institute in my weekly Thai class......to hammer in unfamiliar/difficult sentence patterns. I can't think of another Thai language program....especially free....that is as thorough as the FSI program. It's free.....volume 1 and 2, pdfs and mp3s. The lessons follow the patterns that the Defense Language Institute used in their language training for the military.

Most any educated Thai can follow along the lessons, if you want, to help you with your pronunciation.
All available.....for free....http://thailanguagewiki.com/index.php?title=Main_Page

Post by **parrot** » April 4, 2014, 7:22 pm

A month or so ago I was at a friend's funeral (from the UK) and snapped a photo of one of the attendees wearing a black t-shirt that had the words "Fxxxin' Magic" in large letters on the back (along with a marijuana leaf and the words, 'you can't be down when you're high' written below in smaller letters).
I've convinced myself that most Thais who I've seen wear t-shirts like this don't really understand what's written on them....I could be waaaay off the mark! But at least I'm reasonably sure that the very young girl I once saw in a downtown store with her yai didn't know that her t-shirt said 'Sassy Bxxch' across the front of her chest. I could be wrong on that one as well.
So today, I got to wondering whether the foreigner wearing the t-shirt that had "ตอแหล" written in large block letters on the back knew what the words said......or perhaps the t-shirt was a gift from someone he thought he knew.

Post by **FrazeeDK** » April 4, 2014, 7:53 pm

lie, fib, nonsense.... Would dtor lae as a stand alone word be correct?? or would it be khon dtor lae to make it "liar, fibber, bullshitter"?? I'd reckon that many beer swillin' farang might find it amusing to wear such a T-Shirt much the same as Thais wearing "ahem" rather inappropriate T-Shirts in English.. My worst observation of such a T-Shirt was seeing a rather stunning obviously upper middle class Thai late teen/early 20's wearing one that said, "Do you want to FXXX?" This was in Central World Mall in BKK....

http://www.thai2english.com/online/

Post by **FrazeeDK** » April 4, 2014, 7:54 pm

by the by Mr. Parrot thanks for the FSI Thai language link, I've never seen that before... Nicely structured although I detest their made up English representations of Thai words.. To use them you've got to learn their method...

Post by **parrot** » April 16, 2014, 12:51 pm

If you've learned how to read standard thai script and want to learn a form of written (printed) script, the thai rath newspaper offers a daily 3 frame cartoon that might help break the ice. I spent a few months trying to decipher the cartoons for my thai homework.........at first a big challenge because of the script, but then you discover spending much less time on the script and more time on understanding the cartoon itself.
Today's cartoon is one of many that start out with "good news, bad news"
Any takers?

Post by **parrot** » April 22, 2014, 9:02 pm

I think the last time I counted, I had about 932 (+- a few) reasons why learning a little bit goes a long way. Today I added another.

At the traffic light near the new Ngeesoon, the garland lady was wearing a hat that said "วันนี้วันพระ" written across the top. You'll see a variety of flower sellers around town sporting the same sign. And that got me to thinking that one of the first things a single newcomer to the country might want to learn before heading out on the town would be:
วันนี้วันพระหรือเปล่า
at least judging by some of the comments at http://www.udonmap.com/udonthaniforum/b ... 33174.html

Post by **parrot** » October 20, 2014, 3:31 am

Having learned enough (but still way not enough) Thai language to be dangerous, I've been more in fear of forgetting what I've learned....especially while I'm away from the day to day opportunity for immersion. So......a gardening article in today's Bangkok Post presents an opportunity to look at a word some of us hear from time to time:
ฝรั่งข๊้นก farang khi nok
The article in the Post describes the word in relationship to a guava tree:
"People who grew the original form of guava did not have to spend much time caring for them, and if they got some ripe fruit to eat before the thieving animals got to them, they considered themselves lucky. The birds were experts at stealing the fruit, and many guava trees grew from the seeds in their droppings. The fruit on these trees was small and astringent, and people referred to them as farang khee nok — "birds**t guavas".
http://www.bangkokpost.com/lifestyle/fo ... dden-fruit.

But the website at http://thai-language.com/id/209313 has a different take on the word, describing it as an idiom for "a Thai follower of European of American customs; a Thai who puts on airs as if he or she was a Westerner; a Thai who apes Westerners

I question the validity of the thai-language description.....but welcome any other's input that might support it. My wife and I often joke about Thais (like my wife, from time to time), who like to follow American customs or styles but still have a longing for the essentials of Thailand......a good bucket of fermented fish (ปลาร้า) or shrimp paste (กะปิ).....or might like to strut her stuff downtown with the latest in Coach or Dooney and Bourke but curls up in bed with her favorite sarong (โสร่ง). The idiom that seems to fit is: แหม่มกะปิ (maem ga bpi).....literally "ma'am shrimp paste'.

I found a discussion supporting the meaning behind 'ma'am shrimp paste' at http://www2.manager.co.th/mwebboard/pri ... MBrowse=11
"คุณพี่อูด .. คำว่า"แหม่มกะปิ" ไม่ได้หมายถึงผู้หญิงฝรั่ง(ที่เราเรียกว่าแหม่ม)มีกลิ่นกะปิหรอกครับ .. แต่หมายถึงผู้หญิงไทยนี่แหละ พวกที่ชอบทำตัวเลียนแบบผู้หญิงฝรั่ง ทั้ง ๆ ที่ตัวเองยังกินกะปิ มีกลิ่นกะปิติดตัว .. ผู้หญิงไทยที่ทำกริยาท่าทางเป็นฝรั่ง เลยได้ฉายาว่า แหม่มกะปิ...."

Anyone else want to weigh in?

Post by **parrot** » November 17, 2014, 8:50 am

There's an article in today's newspaper that discusses the announcement shown below in the photo. It's a good case of 't.i.t.'........surely not something you'd see in the US or probably most other western countries. But I guess when auto companies can advertise for 'pretties'......females, age 24-32, height xxx cm..... the wording of the sign shouldn't come as much of a surprise.
If you can read Thai, most of the words are commonly used. Treat it as a crossword puzzle and give yourself a pat on the back if you can solve it.
If you can't solve it yourself, look in the paper for hints (sorry, that's the last hint I'll give).

Post by **Shado** » November 17, 2014, 2:01 pm

I'm still just reading letters and trying to make words out of them. I recognize a few words but when not in context as a shop sign or traffic sign would be, it takes me a while. I also have to check the dictionary for some words to see if I'm even close.

The best I can make out, the announcement is a notice that from the 31st of last month until 31st of December of next year female employees must practice birth control and if they do happen to get pregnant they will be terminated.

I'm not real sure about that because of the specified time. It seems odd that such a notice would have defined start and stop dates.

I could be way out in left field on this one.

Post by **parrot** » November 18, 2014, 7:18 am

Shado wrote:I'm still just reading letters and trying to make words out of them. I recognize a few words but when not in context as a shop sign or traffic sign would be, it takes me a while. I also have to check the dictionary for some words to see if I'm even close.

The best I can make out, the announcement is a notice that from the 31st of last month until 31st of December of next year female employees must practice birth control and if they do happen to get pregnant they will be terminated.

I'm not real sure about that because of the specified time. It seems odd that such a notice would have defined start and stop dates.

I could be way out in left field on this one.

Well done, Shado. First, you can thank Andrew Biggs, Bangkok Post, for the article that mentioned this announcement (http://www.bangkokpost.com/lifestyle/so ... nant-pause). He provided the translation in his article as well......and yours is right on the mark.
If you take the announcement apart, you'll find many words that you'll see in/around town on a daily basis:
ประกาศ - announcment/notice (you'll see this word at the top of signs along the street announcing scheduled road work, or on shop windows announcing the need for employees, among many other places)
ตั้งแต่ - from/since/between.....you'll hear/see this word everyday
ต.ค. and ธ.ค. are abbreviations for Oct and December - all the months with 31 days end in คม and the abbreviation is ..ค.

เจ้าหน้าที่ - gov. official
ผู้หญิง - female
ทุกท่าน - all/everyone
ให้กิน - must take
ยา - medicine (hundreds of signs in town for pharmacies ขาย (sell) ยา
คุม - to control/protect
กำเนิด - birth
ห้าม - banned/prohibit/don't
ท้อง - pregnant

ถ้า - if
ท้อง - pregnant
ให้ลาออกไปเลย - you'll be released/fired

Hat's off to another excellent article from Andrew Biggs on life in Thailand. Nice work, Shado.

Post by **redwolf** » November 18, 2014, 7:24 am

aw shucks I missed this one.

great stuff gents.

I'll keep an eye out for the next one.

RW

Post by **Shado** » November 18, 2014, 8:51 am

The word กำเนิด (kamnoet) tripped me up. I only knew the word เกิด (geert) for birth. I had a hard time sussing that one. I also had to put ให้ลาออกไปเลย (hai laa aawk bpai leeuy) into context to make any sense of it. I'm still guessing as much as reading.

Post by **parrot** » February 4, 2015, 2:32 pm

The red sign above the lady uses only 8 words.......most are common with the exception of the first (key) word, แกะ. The word can mean "sheep", but in this case, it means something else. The sign says:
แกะ ป้าย ด้วย เครื่อง
รอ รับ ได้ เลย

The first word is pronounced gat......like 'bat' only with a g.

Post by **parrot** » February 15, 2015, 1:30 pm

Sometimes it helps (me) to understand the ridiculousness of transliterated Thai......so I don't pop a vein next time I mispronounce a Thai word transcribed into English letters. While there's supposed to be an 'official' system of transliteration, it seems even various government offices can't agree on what that system is.
Tell that taxi driver to take you to Su-Var-Na-Phu-Mi airport, and he'll look at you cross-eyed. Or Ra-Ma 4 road......likewise, he'll probably have no clue.
Andrew Biggs, probably as fluent as a foreigner can be in Thai, helps explain the unexplainable....
http://www.bangkokpost.com/lifestyle/so ... -sometimes

Post by **FrazeeDK** » February 15, 2015, 8:20 pm

The commie Lao fixed a lot of that mess in the 70's dropping a lot of consonants and vowels to simplify the written Lao language.. I doubt that would ever happen here..

Post by **parrot** » February 18, 2015, 3:13 pm

I'd like to say I could read a Thai newspaper.......but, despite years of learning the language, I can't. In some articles, I can get a good gist of what the article is about......but many others, not much of a clue. I do try to read the two cartoons in Thai Rath each day, though.....it gives me practice reading hand written (for the cartoon) Thai, and often times, the vocab is more within my reach.......or I need to only look up a few words to get a good understanding.
For some time now, both the daily cartoons in that newspaper.......circulation 'reportedly' 800,000 a day........have been critical of the current political situation in the country..........or critical of the criticism from a widening number of countries about the current political situation.
Today's cartoon almost needs no explanation.....or ability to read Thai.....to understand: