"How I Mastered the Thai Language – NOT!"
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After three-years in Thailand, I can say:
Hello (M-sawadi krup, F-sawadi ka)
Thank you (M-khup khun krup, F-krup khun ka)
Itsy-bitsy-teeny-tiny (nitnoy)
Street (soi) – I'm now trying, with difficulty, to learn to say: soi 1, soi 2, soi 3
Thai International Airline (Thai International Airline)
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Not only does Thai has have a goofy-ass, squigly-squigly script, but the language is tonal:
บาร์ /baa/ (mid tone) = bar
บ้า /bâa/ (falling tone) = crazy
ป่า /pàa/ (low tone, unaspirated initial consonant) = jungle, forest
ป้า /pâa/ (falling tone, unaspirated initial consonant [the sound is like a hard b]) = aunt
พา /phaa/ (mid tone, aspirated initial consonant) = to bring/take (a person) with you
ผ้า /phâa/ (falling tone, aspirated initial consonant) = textiles, cloth
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"Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool" has a totally different meaning in Thai, depending on whether you say it with a (mid tone) or (falling tone).
And if you screw up, BIG TIME, and you use a (unaspirated initial consonant) instead of a (aspirated initial consonant), there's a very good chance a lady will, "Punch your lights out".
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I happen to believe the younger you are, the easier it is to learn a foreign language.
And, if you joined Eons BEFORE the 'Boom-Boom-Boom age change', and you want too learn Thai, fagetboutit!!
Because I learned English, Portuguese, Italian and Dutch, before I was nine; the speech teachers upon our return to the States, would refer to me as their, 'very special little student'.
Note: I lost my Portuguese, Italian and Dutch at about age 12.
The cliché, "use it, or lose it", is NOT a cliché.
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Postscript: a blog about my Portuguese, and how I tormented my poor Grandma.
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