Since I have to go to the countryside for my job (where English is not often spoken), I've been trying to navigate the Thai language. Five tones, no similarities to English, and frequently getting laughed at for my mispronunciation has contributed to the struggle. But, I'm making progress and I guess that's what is important or some shit. Anyhoo, the books available for foreigners to learn Thai are in the 800-1600 baht range (25-50 bucks), but the books for Thais to learn English are only like 100-200 baht (3-6 bucks). Being a cheap bastard, you can guess which ones I pick up.
This one I bought yesterday is entitled ไวยากรณ์ อังกฤษ (wai-yaa-gawn Ang-Grit or English Grammar) However, I question the choice of icons for the English-speaking world used on this book's cover:
Uh, I guess the Eiffel Tower is in London now.
But, the cutesy cartoon characters in the margins of the lessons more than make up for this crass error:
06 September 2009
Learning Thai in the Big Mango
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5 comments:
Cute cover observation. I guess English is seen as the great co-opter.
are you practisiing with a thai person? there are some words(i wont say which) that are really bad if you say them with the wrong tone.
also those english thai pronunciations in the dictionaries sometimes are wrong.
example(my favorite)
sweaty cup= หวัดดีครับ = hello(for boys)
c
Wat(low)-dii(flat)-khrap(high)? Did I get that right? Not sure where sweaty cup comes from, but wat with high tone is a temple. So you could be saying "Nice temple". I've made the suai mistake only once (flat tone = bad luck, rising tone = your purty). Last time I do that.
haha yeah you got it right.. saying nice temple isn't too bad though
c
Good luck with the language, should be easier than nuke stuff.
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