How shocking is it?

Spend any amount of time talking with someone who has been to Thailand, lived in Thailand, or read about Thailand, and chances are you will be inundated with warnings and stories about how completely 180-degree different Thai culture is to our own. For every person you find that loved it “over there” you will probably find at least five others that will find something about it to complain about. For some reason, Westerners think that everywhere they go should be set up specifically to accommodate their big, clumsy, foreign ways.

As with any trip abroad, good planning is essential. More so than just making sure you pack your underwear (yeah, I forgot to do that once) having at the very least a cursory understanding of what to expect from a cultural perspective is paramount. And so when I came across the book Culture Shock! Thailand: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette, I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to learn a little bit more about my wife’s homeland and the place that fascinates me so much.

But the question lingers: does the book provide enough information for us hulking, loud, sweaty farang to navigate through the murky canals and seedy side streets without losing ourselves?

Let’s find out…

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Learning Thai? What to Buy?

If you are serious about learning any trade, craft, or hobby, you will find that each endeavor usually requires a standard set of must-have items; whether they be tools, equipment, books, DVDs, etc… every pursuit contains certain essential items that those who came before you feel you simply cannot live without.

As I have now spent a fairly good amount of time in the Thai language learning community, I feel that I’m now in a place where I can pass on my recommendations to those who are just starting out on this wondrous journey.

Here is a list of the products, materials, and resources I recommend that you have at your disposal for learning Thai.

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Not exactly what I had in mind...

Ahhh, yes. The wonderful and mysterious world of homophones and homographs. You know, it’s funny how I never spent nearly this much time in high school worrying about grammatical concepts. Interesting how I couldn’t care less about it back then, but now I can’t wait to dive in and discover something new. Time flies when you get old.

Anyway… I certainly can’t speak about all languages, but interestingly enough both Thai and English have homophones and homographs. I can tell your excited. Oh, wait! That’s not excitement; that’s the look of “what the hell are homophones and homographs?”

Okay, fine, how about we talk about what they are first and then work our way into some examples in Thai?
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I think I’m starting to sound like a broken record. I’m sure it will come as no shock to hear that the folks at Paiboon Publishing have, once again, set the standard for Thai language learning with the release of their Thai-English Talking dictionary for iPhone. Not content to rest on the success of their paper dictionary and PC software dictionary, PP’s addition to the ever-expanding list of Thai language iPhone apps proves once again how committed they are to putting out the highest quality products.

Okay, so I’m gushing a little bit, I admit. But you have to understand, I have about ten copies of their paper dictionary scattered throughout my house, car, and work backpack. It can be very tiring to have to look up every word I need a definition for (and I need a lot of them). With my iPod Touch, words come to me in a matter of a few seconds rather than minutes.

And so, I’m happy to offer this completely biased, fan-boy review of the Thai-English Talking Dictionary for iPhone.

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http://www.thai-rural-education.org/

As i think I mentioned a few posts ago, my wife has finally taken the plunge to help me with my Thai in a more formal, structured setting. Rather than just helping me when I ask her specific questions, she has taken the initiative to start teaching me Thai the way she learned in school. Obviously I have been studying Thai on my own for a few years now, but to be honest I haven’t had much success. I mean, I can read/pronounce Thai very well, but I am horrible at vocabulary. I can write Thai very well but I can’t necessarily tell you what I’m writing. I guess my wife got tired of watching me struggle so much and decided to show me how you’re really supposed to learn.

Our first lesson was centered around the alphabet; you can read about it here if you are feeling cocky about your own language ability. I had thought that once we started getting the consonants down again we would move onto the stuff that I have been doing on my own — translating Manee, for example. But I was given a rude awakening when she started pulling out some very simple, elementary school level exercises. It took me a little while to get over the ego aspect of completely starting from scratch, but then I realized that we’re talking about foundations here. We all know the adage of building a house on a poor foundation; learning a language is exactly the same.

So at the risk of sounding superior, I pose this question to you: are you strong enough, are you willing enough, to tear down your language house and rebuild your foundation by learning Thai the way the Thais learn Thai?

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All pictures used with Permission, Lanna Innovation

Thai food is a very strong bonding element in Thai culture. So much activity revolves around food and food culture that I’m hard pressed to think of a more popular method of socialization. I cannot tell you the number of times my wife and her friends have gotten together and basically cooked the entire day; cooking, eating, talking… all day long. But it’s almost as if the actual eating part is secondary to the event of cooking. Doggy bags and Tupperware bowls are required items to bring along. One only has to go into any Asian market to see hundreds of variations of Thai spices and food from Thailand to realize just how serious they are about food. I’m honestly surprised that the Food or Travel channels haven’t spent more time in Thailand showing off the wonderful culinary delights.

Even several of our American friends have commented to my wife and I about how much they love Thai food, wish they knew how to cook it, and jump at the chance to come over and eat it when we’re making it. Though I am surprised that it took this long, it’s not terribly surprising that a company would take the angle of teaching Thai through food. Be that as it may, Lanna Innovation has one again, well, innovated, with their latest set of flash cards; this time focusing on everyone’s favorite Thai culture subject — food.

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How well do you know your alphabet?

As I’m sure you have guessed by now, I’ve been away from my studies for a little while now. For the past few months I’ve been working on a large web development project and it has literally taken up all of my free time. I’m happy to say that the site has launched, and as a result of finally getting it out the door I am starting to get my sanity (and time) back. The timing could not have been better, either, as my wife has taken some initiative to help me with my studies.

Consistency is certainly the key, and if you’re not studying and practicing Thai on a very regular basis, you might as well not be studying or practicing at all.

In our first “lesson” back, we needed to set a baseline to determine exactly how much I remember, how much I need refreshing, and how much I just outright have no clue. And so, of course, the first place to start was with an alphabet quiz; or, more specifically, a consonant quiz.

And so my wife sat me down with a piece of paper that had 22 consonants showing and 22 consonants missing. My task? Fill in the blanks, of course.

How well do you think I did?

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