Book Review: Language is Music

Susanna Zaraysky and Language is Music… I’ve read a number of books about learning languages. Some are made up of information that anyone...

Book Review: Language is Music

Why Learning the Thai Language Needs To Be More Than a Study of Words and Grammar

“Mai pen rai” means “no problem” or “no worries”… All languages are pointers...

Why Learning the Thai Language Needs To Be More Than a Study of Words and Grammar

Thai Virtual Keyboard from Google

Google goes virtual with Thai keyboards… If you look under my resources nav at the top of WLT, you’ll find a new page: Thai Keyboard...

Thai Virtual Keyboard from Google

Habits of Highly Effective Expats

Expat Guide on twitter, tweets… Today, Sharon Gilor (expatsguide), tweeted Glen’s Seven Habits of Highly Ineffective Expats. I have...

Habits of Highly Effective Expats
Book Review: Language is Music

Book Review: Language is Music

Susanna Zaraysky and Language is Music…
I’ve read a number of books about learning languages. Some are made up of information that anyone can find on their own with a google or two. Others are written by thoughtful people sharing actual experiences of their own. Susanna is such a thoughtful person and Language is Music is [...]

Why Learning the Thai Language Needs To Be More Than a Study of Words and Grammar

Why Learning the Thai Language Needs To Be More Than a Study of Words and Grammar

“Mai pen rai” means “no problem” or “no worries”…
All languages are pointers to understanding the culture of a country or nation, and the Thai language is an excellent example of this. However, it is important to understand that an awareness of the culture, is also essential in understanding how to interpret the language. The [...]

Interviewing Myke Hawke: Quick and Dirty Guide to Learning Languages Fast

Interviewing Myke Hawke: Quick and Dirty Guide to Learning Languages Fast

The power of learning languages…
Before I start the interview, I’d like to share a quote Myke has in the prefaces of The Quick and Dirty Guide to Learning Languages Fast.
“He who learns another language earns another soul”
When I first read the quote, my heart glowed. And then I grinned. Wow.
Now, just sit back and think [...]

Pictures: When They Can't Speak Thai...

Pictures: When They Can’t Speak Thai…

What to do with your guests, lah?…
When guests arrive for a few days of sightseeing in Thailand, what do you do?
Knowing that not everyone has been created equal in the foreign language department, do you…

Shove them out the door and hope for the best.
Send them off with an English speaking taxi driver.
Fill their backpack [...]

Chris Pirazzi at Slice-of-thai.com

Chris Pirazzi at Slice-of-thai.com

Naming names in Thai language learning…
When I first started learning Thai, the same names kept coming up: Mary Haas, Shoichi Iwasaki, Preeya Ingkaphirom, David Smyth, James Higbie, J. Marvin Brown, John Moore, Joe Cummings, Stuart Campbell, Denis Segaller, Chuan Shaweevongs, Christopher G. Moore, Dr. Paul Pimsleur, Benjawan Poomsan Becker, and Rikker (the guy I [...]

Google Books: Thai Learning Resources

Google Books: Thai Learning Resources

Thai resources on Google Books…
As what usually happens when blogging, one subject leads to another. For instance, this week I posted about Mary Haas Thai-English Student’s Dictionary in Bangkok. And then, after a suggestion made in the comments (thanks Aksara Anwa Akson Thai), I was led to create a post on Thai learning resources found [...]

The Streak-eared Bulbul in Bangkok

The Streak-eared Bulbul in Bangkok

Baby bird watching and the Streak-eared Bulbul…
Following on from my previous post: Baby Bird Watching in Bangkok…
I don’t know my birds - Thai birds or otherwise - so I asked on the local Thai forum. Rather quickly, someone in the know responded that it was a Streak-eared Bulbul. As there isn’t much information on [...]

Bangkok Taxi Drivers: Die, No Problem

Bangkok Taxi Drivers: Die, No Problem

Bangkok Taxi Drivers…
Just so’s you don’t have to wade to the bottom of this post to see… I have a fondness for (most) Bangkok taxi drivers.
I mean, just recently I was driven around for 300 bht worth and had a thrill of a time.
Here’s what happened…
Two girlfriends plus myself went out to a private [...]

Happy Birthday Celebrations: Thai Temple Style

Happy Birthday Celebrations: Thai Temple Style

Look, there’s a temple, and another, and oh, there’s more…
First thing on Thursday I left a rainy Bangkok to head south for a rainy Samut Songkhram Province, known for its heavy concentration of Thai temples.
Taking a trip to the provinces so soon after my return from an intense two-week off-station stint was actually a [...]

Lost Boy: Top 100 Thailand blogs

Lost Boy: Top 100 Thailand blogs

The top 100 Thailand blogs: accept no imitation…
Matt Crook, formerly of Thailand and now of East Timor, is the writer/blogger for The Lost Boy.
One lost boy wandering aimlessly, fighting the tanks, looking at the ladyboys, running round the city. This is a 24-year-old expat’s take of life in the City of Angels, with more [...]

Habits of Highly Effective Expats

Habits of Highly Effective Expats

Expat Guide on twitter, tweets…
Today, Sharon Gilor (expatsguide), tweeted Glen’s Seven Habits of Highly Ineffective Expats.
I have noticed in strangers, friends, and yes, even myself, seven habits that I think make you a very ineffective expat. My rookie year in China is nearing a close, so I plan on making a New Year’s resolution [...]

Using Thai Phrase Books

Using Thai Phrase Books

Yeah! You are on your way to Thailand!…
You purchased a Thai language phrase book, shoved it into the bottom of your backpack or luggage, and off you went to Thailand.
So wrong.
In Travelling with Thai Phrase Books, I learned a simple lesson, which is: you get out of phrase books what you put in.
Seriously.
Look [...]

Book Review: Language is Music

Language is Music

Susanna Zaraysky and Language is Music

I’ve read a number of books about learning languages. Some are made up of information that anyone can find on their own with a google or two. Others are written by thoughtful people sharing actual experiences of their own. Susanna is such a thoughtful person and Language is Music is such a book.

A child of Soviet immigrants struggling with English, Susanna Zaraysky grew up in California, then went on to study ten languages and speak seven languages fluently. Susanna’s language skills paved the way for her to live in nine countries and travel to fifty. Impressive.

In her new book, Language is Music, Susanna teaches you how to immerse yourself in your target language; to make learning languages a part of your daily living.

While reading Dr. Oliver Sacks’ book Musicophilia, about the neurological aspects of music, I became inspired to write about how music helped me learn foreign languages.

After solving my personal mystery about why I was so dexterous in learning foreign languages, I developed fun tricks and lessons to enable others to be successful.

In Language is Music, I share these listening methods so that anyone can have fun learning any language. The book has over 70 tips and 90 free or low-cost Internet resources that teach enthusiasts how to use daily activities, such as watching T.V. or listening to music; conversation partners; and attendance at cultural events to become masterful speakers of any tongue.

Language is Music table of contents…

  1. Conductor’s Notes
    Tips on how to think of language as music.
  2. Listen, Listen, Listen
    Suggestions for listening to music in your target language.
  3. Concert Time
    Play your instrument by speaking.
  4. Radio Time
    Tune into a new frequency online or off.
  5. Television for Homework
    Learn to speak by watching TV.
  6. Films to Fluency
    Learn languages from the stars.
  7. Be Part of the Symphony
    Speak with others in your target language.
  8. Day-to-Day
    Exercises to ingrain the language into your brain with daily rhythms.

While Susanna shares many tips to help you get over your language learning hump, the tip below spoke to me personally.

Give up your ego. If you are a perfectionist, you need to take on an alter-ego of a fearless person who makes mistakes in your new language.

My father was a producer of musicals when I was growing up. I was a painfully shy young thing, but the inevitable happened - he put me in one of his plays. And then another.

I discovered that if I was playing a part, I was no longer the shy me. I was whoever I needed to be at that time.

So I can see how this very same trick can be used for language learners who are either shy or perfectionist, or both. As I have nothing to lose, I’ll certainly give it a try.

Susanna can be found at Susan’s Word and Create Your World Books.

You can purchase Language is Music here.

Enjoy…

Why Learning the Thai Language Needs To Be More Than a Study of Words and Grammar

Lanta International Language School

“Mai pen rai” means “no problem” or “no worries”…

All languages are pointers to understanding the culture of a country or nation, and the Thai language is an excellent example of this. However, it is important to understand that an awareness of the culture, is also essential in understanding how to interpret the language. The two are twined together.

Let’s take a classic phrase in the Thai language as an example. Most visitors to Thailand leave with the familiar ring of “mai pen rai” in their minds. Literally translated this means “no problem” or “no worries”, and it is common for first time visitors to Thailand to think something along the lines of, “Wow, these people are amazing, nothing is a problem to them! They are so laid back, nothing worries them!”

On the face of it, this is, in many ways, true. The Thai people see intense emotions such as anger as a weakness, and do not like to lose face. It is important to them to be able to cope with situations calmly, and many would say this is an excellent asset, and indeed an element of the Thai culture which visitors find extremely appealing. Yet in truth, it is important to realise that sometimes there is a problem, and sometimes it’s a big one.

Thai people can be really angry and upset, even though they say “mai pen rai”. You can find out weeks later that what they really meant was something different. This can give rise to many misunderstandings when westerners react by saying “but you said so”, or, “but you told me that it didn’t matter”, when the Thai person has obviously grown furious.

For accurate interpretation of the Thai language, it is important to understand that it is a “HIGH CONTEXT” language, whereas Western languages tend to be of “LOW CONTEXT”.

In a high context language true meaning of what is being communicated can be established not just by the words and their meaning (as in low context languages), but also by the body language of the speaker, by what is NOT being said, and what should be understood without mentioning it (in this context) etc.

In the situation described above, the Thai person will have very clearly expressed what he/she wanted or meant, but not with words. A Thai counterpart would have understood, but as westerners listen more to the words than the context, a big misunderstanding may well have occurred, even though both people were correct according to their own culture.

To understand the Thai language, look deeper…

In order to gain a sound grasp of the Thai language it is essential to look deeper into the culture, and into the way things are said. You may learn from a book that “mai pen rai” literally means “no problem”, however holding conversations with Thai people, listening to Thai people, watching Thai people, reading between the lines, and being advised on cultural differences will provide you with a greater ability to understand what a Thai person really means. Or, to put it simply, if a Thai person is not smiling when they say “mai pen rai”, then generally there IS a problem….

Tina Gibbons
Lanta International Language School

Thai Virtual Keyboard from Google

Thai Virtual Keyboard

Google goes virtual with Thai keyboards…

If you look under my resources nav at the top of WLT, you’ll find a new page: Thai Keyboard Input.

The Thai keyboard is all thanks to the coders at Google, with their AJAX Language API.

As you can see, they have all sorts of programming bits on offer: Translation, transliteration, language detection and more.

And if you scroll way down at the bottom of that page, you’ll see this one: AJAX Language API for Virtual Keyboard.

And that’s what I’ve included on WLT’s resources: Thai Keyboard Input. Not because I need a Thai keyboard (my Mac comes with Thai keys) but because I wanted to see how it works.

Go ahead and play around with it. You’ll see it works just fine.

When I sent Google’s API page over to Jay saying ‘I want one of these too!’, she asked ‘where, in your comments?’

Now, that’s a thought. Because apparently, you can code a keyboard into a blog’s comment area for visitors who don’t have a Thai keyboard handy.

But it sort of freaked me out as it then meant that people might feel obligated to start typing all sorts of stuff in the comments. In Thai. Or faux Thai even.

And I don’t believe this site is ready for that.

More free Thai keyboards…

Article on WLT: Thai Typing Tutors: aTypeTrainer4Mac.

aTypeTrainer4Mac
A fantastic multilingual typing tutor for the Mac.

Mister Kwai - Virtual Thai Keyboard
Note: check out the Thai-English-Thai dictionary (editable), along with the quizz generator (uses the dictionary).

PPA Thai Keyboard
Virtual Thai Keyboard.

Thai Typing Tutor
Windows version.

Thai Typing Tutor V1.04c
Windows version.

Typing in Thai advice…

Mnemonics for the Kedmanee Keyboard
Logic for learning the Thai keyboard.

Thai Typing - The Key to A Hidden World
Tips on typing in Thai from Stuart Jay Raj.

Typing with Non-English Keyboards
Advice for typing in a foreign language.

These free Thai keyboard resources can be found at Learn Thai for FREE. Along with a zillion other free Thai resources.

Enjoy…

Habits of Highly Effective Expats

Ineffective Expats

Expat Guide on twitter, tweets…

Today, Sharon Gilor (expatsguide), tweeted Glen’s Seven Habits of Highly Ineffective Expats.

I have noticed in strangers, friends, and yes, even myself, seven habits that I think make you a very ineffective expat. My rookie year in China is nearing a close, so I plan on making a New Year’s resolution of sorts to break these bad habits that I know I have, and I sure to not be alone in them.

Habits of Highly Ineffective Expats: 6) Decadence…

“Don’t worry about spilling anything, the ayi will clean it”
“I don’t cook anymore, eating out is so cheap”

Number six is why I’m responding with a post and not in Glen’s comments.

While this is part of the attraction for a lot of people, I hope that you ask yourself what you think of the people who have that sort of a lifestyle back home.

What would I think? Well, I think kudos to them for attaining such a high standard of living.

Life is too short to waste doing what you don’t want to do, while avoiding what you do what to do. So go! Do! Live your life to the fullest! After all, it is your life.

When I left home as a teen, it was not long before I was fed up with having to do all of the washing, ironing, and cleaning. I even disliked the process of paying bills. And while I loved to cook intricate, fiddly meals (I still do), I found the daily grind of having to cook tedious.

Fast forward several years… after being married for a few months I knew exactly what I wanted.

I really really wanted wife…

That’s right. I wanted a wife.

I wanted someone else to pick up MY socks, iron MY clothes, and cook MY dinners too!

And when I moved to Borneo, I did just that. I got myself a ‘wife’. And it was grand.

I had nine years in Borneo with a live in who washed, ironed, cooked, cleaned, and even handled the weedwacker chap and occasional workmen.

But when I moved to Thailand I decided to forgo a full-time ‘wife’.

Why? Because during those nine years I discovered what men already knew.

Wives are a lot of work.

With a full-time wife you sometimes have to deal with a rolling litany of personal issues. Issues you might prefer to do without.

So now I don’t have a full-time wife. I have a Wednesday wife.

While she does not cook, she does wash, iron, clean my house, water the plants, and take my clothes for mending. She bosses the workmen and delivery men around. She even runs to 7 to pay my bills.

The habits of highly effective expats…

Face it. One of the big pluses of being an expat is the fantastic lifestyle! And a given, it is all up to you. Your choice.

I don’t choose to have all of the sinful pleasures that are available to expats living in Thailand. But there is a simple reason for that. Not everything suits me personally.

Just like I don’t choose to have a full-time maid, I don’t choose to have a car and driver either. I made this choice after waiting in too many lobbies, at too many store fronts, and on too many street corners for the driver to show. And yeah, paeng mâak!

So instead of the extra expense of a car and driver, I keep a few Bangkok taxis on speed dial for the long-hauls, and stick my arm out for the rest.

Oh, and I’m really really big on getting everything delivered. Everything I possibly can anyway.

Sometimes I order in on a Friday night because I don’t want to fight Bangkok traffic.

But wait! I’m not finished with the delivery angle. Because if Bangkok does something really well, it’s delivery.

Bangkok does indeed deliver. My vet does house calls. My Thai teacher does too. When I find the books I want, I contact Danny at DCO, who sends them over by motorcycle taxi (saves me money on taxis). And if I lose my head at Villa (which does not happen often), they send my groceries around after me.

I haven’t figured out Paragon. Yet.

And I travel. Extensively. But not ott. Flights are cheaper from SE Asia than from the West so I can. But a given, I also travel inside Thailand.

I know you didn’t ask for it, but… in my opinion, when given the opportunity, skipping the chance to see the world we live in would be the biggest sin of all. Italy, here I come…

Does all of this make me an ineffective Expat?

Heck no! It makes me a highly effective expat. For sure.

Ok, but does it make me a decadent expat? Hmmm…

Bottoms up…