Thai Language — My first impressions and the very very basics
Learning about a new language is an amazing part of learning about a new culture
I expect to communicate in English for the majority of the time that I’ll be in Thailand but I can’t imagine myself going to another country without learning at least the basics of it’s language. It would feel weird to be incapable of at least saying “Hi” and “Thank You” in the local language of a country where I’m a visitor. At least I’ll feel more polite and respectful doing so.
I want to share here a little bit of what I learned so far about Thai language.
Worth noting that I’m far from a language expert so everything I write here is the perspective of a curious person who speaks Brazilian Portuguese natively.
How Thai language looks like
*Used google translate to generate the audios:
This is how it sounds:
And how it’s written :
ประเทศไทยมีชื่ออย่างเป็นทางการว่าราชอาณาจักรไทย
(translation: Thailand is officially named Kingdom of Thailand)
Thai seems to be hard at a first sight
So far, I know only a few very basic words and sentences in Thai. In my opinion, it seems to be a very hard language for probably anyone from western culture, including the Americas and Europe. The reason is that comparing to “western” languages like English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, etc, Thai has a very different origin, sound and writing as other "eastern" languages like Chinese or Japanese.
Honestly, the fact that is looks so different is also what makes it so interesting and rich. In the end, that is what traveling is all about, right? Learning the new and increasing one’s horizon!
Curious fact: Part of Thai language is originated from Pali and Sanscrit languages, which are, similarly to Latin, old languages used to write religious and other important texts like Buddhist scripts.
It’s probably much simpler than it appears to be
After starting some research, my current impression is that Thai is actually a simple language in its oral form (speaking and listening). It’s not too hard to get used to the language sound and the grammar is apparently simple without complex verb tenses and variations of pronouns, prepositions, etc. Portuguese seems to be way more complex !!
So far I can’t tell the same about writing and reading in Thai as I know absolutely nothing about it, and Thai alphabet is really different, but I hope to be able to read some words in the future.
The very very basic of Thai language
Here goes the first basic things about Thai language that I learned so far
Ka and Krab
Women finish the sentences with Ka and men finish sentences with Krab.
If you are a man you will says something like
Sa wa dee Krap
while if you are a woman you will say
Sa wa dee Ka
Curious about what that means ?? Keep reading !
The basics =)
Side note: I’m writing the words in the way it sounds for me, it’s far from a precise transliteration or transcription.
Hi/Hello — sa wa dee ka or sa wa dee krab
This is the basic greeting used in Thailand, and is frequently used with a wai. If you don’t know what is a wai, please, stop reading this now and go learn what is a thai wai and how to do it: https://www.google.com/search?q=thai+wai
….. pause for you to go learn about thai wai .…
…….
…………
ready ?
Now you know what is a wai. It seems an amazing and really respectful greeting for me. Can’t wait to learn how that is really used daily in Thailand.
Apologize — Ko thot krab/ka
Thank You — Kob kun krab/ka
I found a music that says “Kob Kun” many times— Worth listening while reading the lyrics, it’s from a Thai singer called Lula
By the way, this site — http://deungdutjai.com — seems to be a great reference for Thai lyrics with English translation.
Nevermind / You’re welcome / Do not worry— Mai pen rai krab/ka
ปิดทองหลังพระ — pid tong lang pra
The text in the image at the start of this post is a Thai proverb that can be translated as “Putting a gold leaf on the back of the Buddha image” and the meaning is “Doing something good without seeking for attention”.
Source: https://www.anjajonestranslation.co.uk/10-common-thai-proverbs-and-what-they-mean-in-english/
What do you think about Thai language ? Leave me a comment =)
