Women Learning Thai… and some men too ;-)

You are browsing the archives of Learn Thai language.

Thai Tales: Bananas, Papayas, and Angry Thai Feet… Last week I introduced a new section, Thai Tales. The first story introduced Mangoes, Mangosteen and Angry Thai Feet. In the comments Carsten pointed us to the full version, ทำไมกล้วยจึงเรียก Banana มะละกอจึงเรียก Papaya (megga thanks Carsten). As Carsten’s version went into more detail I took a stab [...]

The Common Koel and why I’d make a lousy Buddhist… Around November of last year a longtime member of my neighbourhood bird community, the Common Koel (lovingly known for his stealth gliding through the trees), transformed his pleasant warbling into an incessant, high-pitched shrill. Right outside my bedroom window. All of my windows actually. And [...]

Thai Tales: Mangoes, Mangosteen and Angry Thai Feet… My good friend Khun Phairoh, giggling away, told me a cute story this weekend and I just had to share it with you. Here you go… (and may there be many more). A tourist in Bangkok stops at a fruit stall along a crowded footpath. Wanting to [...]

Interviewing Successful Thai Language Learners… Name: Stephen Thomas “ไกร” Nationality: British Age range: 40-50 Sex: Male Location: Bangkok Profession: Actor Web presence: Facebook: Stephen Thomas | Stephen Thomas and People On Wheels What is your Thai level? Intermediate. Do you speak more street Thai, Issan Thai, or professional Thai? Probably more street Thai. Professional Thai [...]

Happy New Year 2012!… Happy New Year everyone! 2012. Wow. That went fast. Are you ready for a new year? I’m not. Not really. And forget about the backlog of posts from the pre-flood days, when you scan through the holes in my longstanding Thai language wish list, you’ll agree that I’m running terribly behind. [...]

Outing the Energy – Thai Learning Techniques… As I promised last time, today I want to share exercises I use to improve my reading and writing. If you haven’t gotten around to studying reading and writing yet I know exactly how you feel. I went for about 20 years thinking that simply speaking Thai was [...]

Interviewing Successful Thai Language Learners… Name: James Higbie Nationality: American Age range: 60+ Sex: Male Location: Sierra Leone Profession: Work for NGO in Education Development Thai level: Intermediate to Advanced Website: Thai Language / Lao Language Books: From Orchid Press: Thai Reference Grammar, Essential Thai, Let’s Speak Thai, Let’s Speak Lao; From Hippocrene Books: Dictionary [...]

Interviewing Successful Thai Language Learners… Name: Mark Hollow Nationality: British Age: mid-30′s Sex: Male Location: Bangkok Profession: Formerly an IT project manager, currently just studying. Twitter: @hmmbug What is your Thai level? I can speak reasonably well, although my ability and confidence varies according to the subject but can usually find my way around most [...]

Outing the Energy – Thai Learning Techniques… Unless you are someone who picks up languages by simply breathing, like the famed English explorer Sir Richard Burton, then your journey to becoming fluent in Thai will be a long, hard (but in my opinion, enjoyable) struggle. Wikipedia tells us that By the end of his life, [...]

Saying adieu to Bangkok Podcast… Yup. A shocker-roonie. The wonderful Thai language resource Bangkok Podcast is closing its doors (for now). But even though Bangkok Podcast will not be updated in the near future, it will continue to be available for students of Thai. And that’s a good thing from my end, because I haven’t [...]

John Brown’s Body. Thai Style… When Chula University’s marching video (shown below) hit twitter I was gobsmacked. My initial response was: “Words can’t describe how I feel watching that video…” I guess I just wasn’t sure if the parody was intentional or not. On first impression I thought of the powerful USSR propaganda posters. But… [...]

Interview: Terry Clayton is getting by in Thai… Name: Terry Clayton Nationality: Canadian Age range: 59 Sex: Male Location: Udon Thani Profession: Science Writer / Teacher / Farmer Web: Red Plough Getting by in Thai… What is your Thai level? Intermediate / Intermediate + / Intermediate ++ Speaking: probably lower intermediate. Listening: Beginner. Pathetic given [...]

Look Tewada: Child of an Angel? Spoilt brat?… My Thai posts are usually well-researched (as much as I can do, anyway). But, with Thailand’s Children of God: Look Tewada ลูกเทวดา, I took a shortcut. I was slim on time so I quickly checked ลูกเทวดา /lôok tay-wá-daa/ in Thai dictionaries and threw it out for a [...]

Interviewing Successful Thai Language Learners… Name: Marc Spiegel Nationality: American Sex: Male Location: Bangkok Profession: Management Website: Linkedin:marcspiegel What is your Thai level? Intermediate. Do you speak more street Thai, Issan Thai, or professional Thai? Professional Thai. What were your reasons for learning Thai? I believe that if you are going to live and work [...]