I've been using my leisure time in Bkk to recover from jet lag and work on the Thai language. Thai is tonal so a word spelled the same way can have five different meanings depending upon the tone. ( On the other hand I often don't spell the same word the same way twice.) Learning Thai would be easier for me if I didn't have a tin ear.
Thai doesn't have an equivalent to "a" "an" or "the". So we would say "This radio doesn't work." They would say "Radio broken." The noun followed by an adjective. As they learn to speak English they often use that form when they speak. Easy enough to understand.
Thai uses a form of Sanskrit for writing. That makes learning more difficult because I don't recognize any words. When Lisa lived in Cambodia and was learning Khmer she mastered the alphabet, much like Thai, as an aid in learning the language.
Now I'm of to Ayutthaya to teach the English. I plan to enlist the students help in learning Thai.
1 comment:
that reminds me of when we were in Russia. One cold morning on the way to the orphanage I asked our driver to turn up the heat in the van. Although he spoke English fairly well he didn't know what I was talking about. When it finally clicked he told me I should have said "cold in car". Straight to the point.
Post a Comment