Darrel and I are still trying to learn the Thai language - not just speaking and understanding it, but reading and writing it as well.
This learning curve is very steep. We started our lessons in June 2010 and have tried to put in one hour a day – with down time, of course. By my calculations, we have put roughly 500 hours into the effort. It has definitely been an uphill battle.
One big challenge (not the only big challenge) is the Thai script. We now recognize all the vowels and consonants, and know many of the rules that guide them, but are struggling to sort them out. Also, the Thai sentence runs in one string with no capital letters, and it is very difficult for us to figure out where one word ends and another begins.
Another challenge is that we have learned one particular font, but there are many other fonts that signmakers use. That trips us up on most occasions.
And then, often, we can figure out what all the letters are, where the breaks should be, but don’t know the words. And sometimes when we do know the words, the combination doesn’t make sense to us.
Example:
As we wander around Nai Yang, we often see a particular sign with a telephone number below. The sign has been made semi-professionally and is nailed to a number of trees. After analyzing the sign, we are pretty certain that the last word is “toilet”. But we can’t find the first word in the dictionary. One night, when we are enjoying a buffet dinner and the entertainment of a 9-piece jazz band at the Dewa, I ask our waiter, who has become our friend, what the sign means. He can’t understand my accent, so I write the word down, in Thai script.
“Wow”, he says. “You can write Thai!” Yes, I admit, but I have no idea what I’m writing. “Will you autograph this for me?” he asks.
So I sign the piece of paper, and then ask, “But what does it mean?”
It takes him many words to explain, but for those of you who have holding tanks, I’m sure you’re familiar with the term “honey wagon”. You call the number on the sign when the holding tank needs emptying.
Onto Chinese:
Now that we know how to arrange for the honey wagon in Thai, we have decided to give ourselves a different challenge – Mandarin Chinese. We are not learning the characters, but instead have a program that will teach us roughly 200 “essential words and phrases” so that when we eventually take a trip to see the Great Wall of China , we can book the honey wagon if we need it.
Must go study... so for now, “dsi jee-en” (good-bye in Mandarin).
