Language barrier (1)

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Language barrier (1)

Thai people often used the word ซีร็อกซ์ (Xerox) for photocopy. All Thai people think that the word ซีร็อกซ์ (Xerox) comes from the word “copy” or “photocopy” but it is actually the brand of a photocopy machine called “Fiji Xerox” 

Joke (language barrier)

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Joke (language barrier) 
หมี (Me) means “bear”

A: Hello.
B: Hello. What’s your name?
A: หมี (Me)
B: Yes, I mean you
A: หมี (Me)
B: Yeah, can you tell me your name?
A: หมี (Me)
B: Do you understand English?
A: หมี (Me)
B: Forget it

Maybe next time Mr. หมี (Me) have to introduce himself as “polar bear” instead of หมี (Me) “bear” so people wouldn't get confused

Trial lessons 02 : Mango sticky rice

บ้านนอก

Countryside 
บ้านนอก
“bânn nôrk”

The word “bann nork” means the countryside the area outside the city limits. It also has another negative meaning often calling someone “bann nork” to insult them. This means the person lives away from a developed place and do not keep up with the latest trends and gadgets. So please use this word carefully.

ไทยมุง

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Thai crowding
ไทยมุง
"Tai Moong"

Thai people like to know what is happening and the word “Tai Moong” or Thai crowding occurs. For example if there is a car accident you will see a lot of Thai people crowding around and look at what happened.

Trial lesson 01: What happened

Let's listen to our first trial lessons, please subscribe for daily update.

หัวแข็ง

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Hard headed
หัวแข็ง
Hǔa Khǎeng

Yesterday we have talked about “Hǔa Oòn” or “soft minded” now we are going to learn about the opposite of “Hǔa Oòn” and that is “Hǔa Khǎeng”

“Hua Khǎeng” or the direct translation is “ard headed” meaning unwelling to listen to other people’s options and is a very stubborn person. Maybe have a high level of self esteem therefore felt their options are the best.

หัวอ่อน

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Soft headed
หัวอ่อน
Hǔa Oòn 

“you have a soft head, you learn things quickly” 

The word “hua oon” or it means “soft head” have two meanings. The positive meaning is having the ability to understand and learn new things. The negative meaning is to not being able to keep up with other people and being inexperienced at dealing with people.

ตีนแมว

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ตีนแมว
“Tin Maeo” 

The word “teen maew” which literately means “cat’s feet” is used for theifs and burgulars. Burgualries happens usually at night time when everyone is asleep, therefore the burgulars have to walk around the house quietly like a cat, so no one can hear. 

สยาม

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Siam
สยาม
(Sà yam)

Do you know that Thailand was once called Siam?

Siam is a land and group of people who lived in Thailand in history. Since this land had many tribes and rich natural resources so we have finally named this land of plenty “Siam” for this land to be a place of peace for everyone who lived here. The name Siam was later changed to “Thailand” on 24th June 1939.

ธงไตรรงค์

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ธงไตรรงค์
(Thong Trairong)

The Thai National Flag or it is offically called The Thong Trairong is a rectangular cloth. There are three main colors on the flag, these colors are red, white and dark blue. 

Each color on the flag represent a meaning.
Red=Nation
White=Religion
Dark Blue=The Royal Family.

Therefore the three colors came to the name “Trairong Flag.”
 Trai=Three and Rong=Colors. 

ร้านข้าวราดแกง

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Curry Shop 
ร้านข้าวราดแกง
(Rán Khâo Rât Kaeng)

Curry shop comes from the tradition of making and eating food at home. In the olden days Thai people like to eat simple foods and curry dishes are the most simple form of Thai food. First curry shops were opened to satisfy people working in the markets. As more and more people started to work away from home, more and more curry shops are opened to feed these hungry workers who wants a quick tasty meal without having to pay too much money for each meal.

Ice cubes

Why do we have to put ice cubes in our drinks ?

Thailand’s weather is very hot, and the best way to relief the heat is to drink cold beverages. The problem is cold water doesn’t last very long because of the hot weather in Thailand. To solve this problem we put in ice cubes into our drinks to make it cold for longer.

ชุดสีดำ(2)

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Black clothings (2)
ชุดสีดำ(2) 
(Chút Sǐ Dam)

Wearing black clothing to visit a paitnet is a no no! 

From yesterday’s post, the color black is what people wear to the funeral. From the belief of the olden days until now, you are not allowed to wear black clothings to visit patients in hospital because wearing black is showing grief towards a dead person. 

Therefore wearing black to visit a patient is like cursing the person to die quickly.

ชุดสีดำ

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Black Clothing 
ชุดสีดำ (Chút Sǐ Dam)

When someone is wearing black clothing to show grief and respect towards a dead person at the funeral. 

But why does it have to black? 

Archeologists had came up with the theory that in prehistoric times, the people will paint themselves black to differentiate themselves from the living and the dead. This was the prevent any ghosts from haunting them.

Mother’s day

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Mother’s day
สุขสันต์วันแม่ (Suk Sǎn Wan Mâe)

Today is mother’s day and also a public holiday in Thailand. Thai people celebrate the mother’s day on 12th August every year. 

This date was seleceted because it is the same date as our queen Sirikit’s birthday. Thai children usually give their mother jasmine flowers ดอกมะลิ(Dok-Má-li). Jasmne flower is representations of the Thai Mother’s day.

สุขสันต์วันแม่ครับทุกคน

ภาษาถิ่น

ภาษาถิ่น 
(Phasa Thìn) 

ภาษาถิ่น is local dialect where people from specific region speak certain dialect apart from Thai. In Thailand we have North Eastern dialect, Southern dialect and Northern dialect or what it is often known as ล้านนา (Lád-nar) dialect. These dialects are different from Thai language because many of the words are pronounced differently. Taking for example รัก (rak) which means “love” in Northern dialect is ฮัก (hak)

Thai National Animal

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ช้าง (cháng) is the Thai National Animal this animal has a long history in Thailand.

In history Thai people would use elephants a main form of transportation for the generals and the king when we go into war. Apart from war, we also use elephants to carry and drag heavy loads such as timber. The elephant before use to appear on the Thai National Flag. Now a days when Thailand is no longer threatened by war elephants are now left to roam free in the wild. If you are interested in meeting his majestic creatures you can travel to the North of Thailand where you can ride and enjoy their cuteness and intelligence.

The Spirit Festival

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สารทจีน (Sǎt Chin)

The Spirit Festival happens on 15th night of the seventh month on the Chinese calendar. This day is very important for the Chinese blooded Thais to show their loyalty and dedication towards their ancestors. At this time the gate of heaven and hell opens for the spirits to roam free on earth and it is that time when our ancestors who has passed away can come back to meet the living. It is up to us to prepare food and clothing for our ancestors. It is believed if our ancestors is satisfied with our offerings, they will, in return bless us with good wishes and will protect us all through the year. Why do we want you to know about the Chinese culture? It is because most of the Thai’s have Chinese ancestors, although we are no longer in China we still keep to this traditions until this very day. 

หูเบา

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Gullible
หูเบา 
(Hubao) 

หูเบา means gullible. Whenever someone say something they believe in them instantly without thinking it over first. 

Being หูเบา can cause major problems in business interactions which you can easily be gypped. If you ever received any news or information from someone, it is best to think it over first before you take action.

สวัสดี

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Hello
สวัสดี
(sawàtdii) 

สวัสดี means hello
but in Thai "สวัสดี" a deeper meaning it means “may all the goodness and beauty come to you.” This word is used to greet someone as well as wishing them well at the same time. 

When we say สวัสดี (sawàtdii) we often put our hands together in a preying position, resting it on our chest and then bowing our head. The hand position represents the shape of the lotus flower. 
In Thai a lotus flower means “something that is holy and should be respected” because when Thai people go to the temple we will use this flower to prey to the Buddha, the Holy Spirit and monks. Finally the hand resting on the chest near to our heart means that our good wishes came from our heart.

สรรพนาม

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"Pronoun" 

"สรรพนาม" (Sapphanam)

In the English language only has “I” and “you” but in Thai we have so many ฉัน(chǔn)-เธอ(tur) , เรา(rao)-แก(gae) , ข้า(kâr)-เอ็ง(lêng) , ผม(phǒm)-คุณ(khun) just to name a few. The ways to call our self and others changes depending on different situations. If you are talking to your parents you might call yourself “หนู” (hnoo.) If you are talking to your younger brother or sister then you can call yourself as ฉัน (chǔn) and if you are talking to your friends then you will change again and call yourself เรา (rao.) 

Why do Thai people have so many words for “I” and “you”? You can find out at iStudyThai. 

555+

Thai people like to type 5555 because the sound of the number five is “ห้า” (hâr) sounds a lot like “ha” which is a laughing sound. So when a Thai person typed 5555 it just means “hahahaha.” We often used this slang when are chatting with friends and on social networks. We got used it so much that we often used it with our foreign friends who was of course confused by this.

แกะดำ

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Black sheep 
แกะดำ (Kae Dam)
“You are the black sheep” or “คุณคือ แกะดำ” 
is a negative phrase used in Thai. Being the black sheep implies being different from everyone else. You think so differently and act so differently that you are unable to get along with anyone else in the group. Your thoughts and ways maybe even looked at as crazy or weird by many people.

If you don’t want to be the “black sheep” of the group come and have fun with us at iStudyThai!

เพลงชาติไทย

Thai National Anthem
เพลงชาติไทย (Phleng Chat Thai)

Have you ever heard the Thai National Anthem when the clock strike 8am and 6pm everyday? 

Don’t be confused when everyone stop what they are doing and stand still on the streets, every time the Thai National Anthem comes up. We are just taking a moment to pay respect to our ancestors and the royal family who made what Thailand is today. 

ทุเรศ

"ทุเรศ" 
(Thu Ret)

The word ”ทุเรศ” was created when westerners came to live and work in Thailand, where the westerners are bosses and Thai people like us at workers. 

At one workplace a Thai worker always came late to work and was constantly told off by his boss about his lateness.

At that time, Thai people barely know any English. Therefore “you are too late,” that Thai worker never understood what he said and this word “too late” was interpreted to become a new word meaning “awful” or “shameful” in Thai. 
So too late = ทุเรศ

A piece of cake

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A piece of cake in Thai language.

“This kind of work it’s a piece of cake!” 

The word “กล้วยๆ” which means “banana banana” is a phrase used in the Thai language and it simply means “easy” or “very easy.” Like peeling banana and putting it in your mouth. Some Thai people also use the phrase “หมูๆ,” “piggy piggy” which also means the same thing!

So studying Thai is
“กล้วยๆ” (banana, banana) (Kluâi Kluâi)
or
“หมูๆ” (piggy, piggy) (Mǔ Mǔ)