'Falang' or 'farang'?

[patrick]

Yes I've noticed the Thais often fall down on their "r"s

[stogie bear]

I rather think that it's the uneducated/ lazy Thais who...

That's the kind of Thai you should be learning.

By the way - learning Thai from a book or tape or from someplace other than Thailand is going to be of limited practical value when you actually get here.

[EyeMahk]

(si geena @ Mar. 06 2008,12:34) I'm learning some basic Thai right now so it doesn't gel with what I'm learning.

In the Thai alphabet, there's a clear distinction between the "r" and the "l" sounds, there are 2 consonants per sound. I rather think that it's the uneducated/ lazy Thais who lapse into the usage of "l" when it should be a rolling "r" or even displace it altogether.

....

Of course, if you want to break ice with a go-go girl, it's not too friendly to sound all-too haughty with accurate Thai. A bit of code-switch would be better.

We'll agree to disagree on this. The "r" and the "l" sounds your are speaking about in Thai are not exactly the same as the sounds in English. When you learn through transliteration (spelling Thai words with English letters), you are being lazy by conforming your English-speaking brain to equate a Thai word to your 26 letters, and you will say words incorrectly.

For example, โรงแรม is the Thai word for hotel. It has two sounds that are kind of like an "r" in English. The first one is sort of a rolling one and the second one is the one that can be heard by a Thai is "l" or "r" (what I was referring to in my post). If you "think it" and say it as โรงแรม, you will pronounce it correctly (but maybe with a slight English or American or Australian or whatever accent). If you "think it" and say it "rohng raem" then you will likely pronounce it incorrectly.

Using transliteration is the easiest way to learn some new words, but it will not help you to pronounce words correctly. But for having fun in bars and hanging out with girls and LBs who, for the most part, have Thai as their second language, it does just fine. Learning Thai without any transliteration is much more accurate, albeit much more work.

kow jai bor?

[si geena]

kao jai nit noi.

The script for the "r" and the "l" sounds are unique and different. It doesn't take an English-educated mind to see the difference. Many a time, a Thai may make a mistake of leaving out a "l" in the speech but when checked, makes the correction himself. For example, a box, "khlong" is often said as "khong", but if you ask him "khlong" or "khong", he will say "khlong".

I agree that transliteration isn't the best way forward, so I'm learning my way through the Thai script. It's hard-going but it's also fun at the same time. Probably the hardest for most Farangs would be the "ng" sound. It rhymes with neither nor, with a more nasal pitch.

Luckily, I know some cantonese and teochew, so it's much easier.

Of course, it mayn't be a lazy/ uneducated thing. Language is a interesting subject. For example, in Singapore, we speak a very fast-paced, mono-tone English. Words like "Three" and "Tree" are often said the same. "Can't and "Cunt".

[thaibound]

i'll consider myself to have mastered the thai language once i stop calling beautiful ladyboys "unlucky"!

[olekunde]

Likewise for "khon kai dtua" - depending on the tones, it means someone who sells tickets or a prostitute.

kai-dtua means actually sell body. so-pee-nee is a prostitute.
another distinction is "khon suai mak". when suai pronounced hard so-ai(and not soo-ai), it means something like cast
a bad spell on the person you talking to, or something in that vain.

but there are alot of fun to be had with thai lingo too, when mixed with english:
take for example the rock band linkin park - when pronounced "ling gin pak" - which means "monkey eats vegetable(s)".

and a riddle: which bts station is the smelliest one in bangkok?

[jimslim]

(stogie bear @ Mar. 06 2008,13:42) By the way - learning Thai from a book or tape or from someplace other than Thailand is going to be of limited practical value when you actually get here.

Very true , I went through a lingaphone 4 CD course about a year ago , and was quite confident I had a basic grasp of the Thai language .

All kinda handy if you wanna know where the bus station is or buy a newspaper , but when you actually listen to Thai people talk at speed with dialects , pronunciations etc you find its all pretty useless , in fact I felt pretty foolish and lost confidence incase my pronunciation was wrong .

I gave up and got lazy after that , but I was always keen to learn a phrase that was cheeky or rude in Thai , I wonder why  

[bigmick22]

so out of character

[jimslim]

Me Ling Noi baa

[si geena]

Crazy little monkey?

[Socrates999]

The Thais do some clever language things, I think they are called Spoonerisms in English, where you switch around the first letter(s) in some words.

Example: If you see a girl wearing a teddy bear pendant (or teddy bear anything), you can comment "hen mee (I see a bear). However, only do this in very friendly company, as all Thais will recognize it as a variation of "men hee", an extremely vulgar phrase, roughly translating to something like "stinking cunt"

Use at your own risk!

[jimslim]

(si geena @ Mar. 10 2008,11:25) Crazy little monkey?

Yep , I got christened ling noi baa a few years back and it kinda stuck
not really sure if it was meant as a term of endearment or not , but I liked it