A bunch more vids from today. I’m trying to get a few of the older ones transcribed. More on that soon.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rBs0gH2Jj4]
The rest can be found on my youtube channel.
Dune + Thai Reading Skills
August 14, 2009 by 1 Comment
So in a recent (2009!) post I posted a brief excerpt from a book I’m reading at the moment. I was hoping somebody had read the book or seen the movie and remembered one of the more famous lines, but perhaps not.
Getting the book was a bit of a hassle. Not for me, but for my student, Boo, who is often roped into being my speaker for the Language Space vids. You can hear about some of the adventure in this vid. As it turns out, there were only 2 sets (sold as a trilogy) left in Thailand. Now there is only 1.
Anyways, I often look through the wikis of stuff that I like or used to like so I thought I’d break down the really short wiki on Dune in Thai because there is some great SRS stuff inside if you ever end up digging into this kind of stuff.
Remember, it is only hard because you have no experience doing it. You can study for 10 years and it will still be hard. The only way it will get easier is if you actually start doing it. I’m not just referring to language here. You only suck at something because you haven’t put in enough time yet. Don’t let the nonsense that comes out of other people’s mouths affect how you think about yourself and what you are (in)capable of. Everything gets easier with practice. Don’t wait for the right time or the right setup. Just get started now. Figure out how to make it better along the way. Just do something and stop whining. You certainly can’t get worse by doing it.
I expect it to take me at least a year to finish the Dune trilogy in Thai. Thai is pretty low-priority for me these days, but I keep plugging away to keep the new words coming in. I’ll sit down 2-4 times a week and set a min time limit. Usually 15 minutes. Then I just read. There are always words I don’t know, but I know whats going on in the story. It tends to be the more artsy descriptive language that I end up guessing with. I allow myself to write down 1-2 words/page that I may want to look up later, but only if a word really jumps out at me. After 15 min is up, if I feel bored, tired or whatever I stop then and move on to something else. If I am into what is going on in the story and want to keep going, I give myself another 15 min. Its rare that I get past 30 min in one sitting. The Thai version is nearly 700 pages and I think I’m in the 70s at the moment. The thing that keeps me going is that I want to read the story and my Thai reading ability is passable enough that I can do this. But I also know that by the time I am halfway through the book, I will be used to the style of writing, have a better idea what a lot of those funny descriptive words mean making the whole process worth it. It will get easier and more fun. The first book will take the longest for sure.
*I eventually finished all 3 books from the first 3 Dune books by Frank Herbert (Thai translation) and it took just a few months of trying to read at least 15min/day. It was slow going at first, but once I got used to the style and some of the new Thai vocabulary, it got easier (but still not easy!).
Want to learn how to read and speak Thai? Check out my full program here.
http://th.wikipedia.org/wiki/ดูน_(นวนิยาย)
ดูน (อังกฤษ: Dune) เป็นนิยายวิทยาศาสตร์โดยแฟรงค์ เฮอร์เบิร์ต ตีพิมพ์ครั้งแรกเมื่อ ค.ศ. 1965 จำหน่ายได้มากกว่า 12 ล้านเล่มทั่วโลก [1] ได้รับรางวัลเนบิวลาประจำปี ค.ศ. 1965
ดูนมีเนื้อหาเกี่ยวกับโลกอนาคต กล่าวถึงการดำรงอยู่ของมนุษย์ วิวัฒนาการ สังคมวิทยา นิเวศน์วิทยา โดยอ้างอิงถึงเรื่องศาสนา การเมือง และอำนาจ ได้รับการยกย่องให้เป็นหนึ่งในสองวรรณกรรมวิทยาศาสตร์ที่ดีที่สุดในโลก เทียบเท่ากับ เดอะลอร์ดออฟเดอะริงส์ ของเจ. อาร์. อาร์. โทลคีน [2] (จากการสำรวจเมื่อปี 1975)
นิยายวิทยาศาสตร์ Sci-Fi
ตีพิมพ์ครั้งแรกเมื่อ ค.ศ. 1965 – first printed in 1965
จำหน่ายได้มากกว่า 12 ล้านเล่ม sold more than 12 million copies
ทั่วโลก worldwide
ได้รับรางวัลเนบิวลาประจำปี ค.ศ. 1965 – received the annual Nebula award in 1965
เนื้อหา – content
เกี่ยวกับ – about; concerning
โลกอนาคต – a future world
กล่าวถึง – telling of; talking about
การดำรงอยู่ของ – the exsistence of..
มนุษย์ – human
วิวัฒนาการ – evolution
สังคมวิทยา – sociology
นิเวศน์วิทยา – ecology
ศาสนา – religion
การเมือง – politics
อำนาจ – power
ได้รับการยกย่อง – received praise..
หนึ่งในสอง – 1 of 2
วรรณกรรมวิทยาศาสตร์ – sci-fi
ที่ดีที่สุดในโลก – best in the world
เทียบเท่ากับ – compared with
Language Space Vid
June 28, 2009 by Leave a Comment
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSgOKEkJBzU]
Here is an excerpt from the language group that I started.
How to say FOR in Thai
June 26, 2009 by 4 Comments
When I first wanted to know the word for “for” in Thai, my Lonely Planet Phrasebook said สำหรับ or samrap. While สำหรับ does mean “for,” in many cases, it is not the best answer.
Samrap you, samrap me?
There are 3 main ways to say “for” in Thai. Luckily, there is often some overlap with their English equivalents, but it may take a bit to get used to which word you’ll need to use in each situation. I’ll include some key examples in this post so you can get an idea which is which.
“FOR” in Thai
The first version of “for” that we will look at is “ สำหรับ” (sam-rap).
This version of “for” is often used when talking about what the purpose of a thing is or what it’s intended use is. Let’s look at the sentence “games for kids”. The “for” in this sentence essentially means “intended to be used by”. This is how the word สำหรับ (sam-rap) is used in Thai.
สำหรับ (sam-rap) + NOUN = for (use by/of)
- เกมส์สำหรับเด็ก games for kids
- ท่ายืดสำหรับคนตัวแข็ง – stretches for people who are stiff
- แชมพูสำหรับผมแห้ง – shampoo for dry hair
- เว็บไซท์สำหรับคนรักหมา – web site for dog lovers (people who love dogs
- เหมาะสมสำหรับผู้ชมทุกวัย – appropriate for viewers of all ages
- เครื่องมือสำหรับการวิจัย – research tools (tools for research)
สำหรับ can also be attached to a verb phrase. This is similar to how we would say a phrase like “a pen for ipad.” The “for” means something like “for the purpose of.”
The usage is just sap-rap สำหรับ + the verb:
สำหรับ (sam-rap) + VERB = “intended to used to do X”
Here are some more examples:
- ผ้าสำหรับถูพื้น – cloth for cleaning floors
- เว็บสำหรับดูทีวี “internet TV websites / (websites for watching TV)”
- โปรแกรมสำหรับเขียนบล็อก “blogging software / (program for writing a blog”)
For in Thai (for the benefit of)
The next Thai version of “for” that we’re going to look at is the word เพื่อ (phuea). เพื่อ (phuea) means something like in order to; for the benefit of; for the purpose of someone or something. For example “to work for my family”. The “for” in this sentence means something like “for the benefit of”.
This word is used for all the organizations and foundations. School for the blind, for the people, etc.
เพื่อ (phuea) – for the benefit/purpose of someone/something; in order to
- ทำงานเพื่อจะได้เงิน – to work in order to get money
- สละชีวิตเพื่อประเทศชาติ – to sacrifice one’s life for one’s nation
- ทำงานเพื่อครอบครัว – to work for one’s family
- มูลนิธิเพื่อผู้บริโภค Consumer Foundation (foundation for consumers)
- อาหารเพื่อสุขภาพ Healthy Food (Food for Health)
- เพื่อความเข้าใจธรรมชาติ for understanding nature
For in Thai (on behalf of/ in case of)
The third version of “for” that we will look at is เผื่อ (phuea). This can mean something similar to the English “in case of something” or “on behalf of”
In these examples, เผื่อ works like “in case.”
- ไม่อยากออกบ้านเผื่อว่าเขาโทรมา – I don’t want to go out in case he/she calls.
- เอาชุดว่ายน้ำไปด้วยเผื่อมีสระว่ายน้ำ – Bring a bathing suit in case there is a swimming pool.
While in these very commonly used examples, เผื่อ functions as “on behalf of”
These are often used when you are telling someone you are going to do something…go eat, go out, go on a trip, etc and the person you are speaking to says this to mean something like “do it/one for me too!”
English example, you are heading out to the pub, but your friend is sick or has to stay home in work – they might say ‘Drink one for me!”
เผื่อ (phuea) –
- กินเผื่อด้วย (kin phuea duay)
- เที่ยวเผื่อด้วย (thiew phuea duay)
- เล่นเผื่อด้วย (len phuea duay)
Thai Tone Tip:
Although the word เผื่อ (phuea) and เพื่อ (phuea) above share the same vowel and same initial consonant sound, they are spoken with a different tone. As Thai is a tonal language, this can change the meaning of a word. Click on the audio for both words again and pay attention to tones of each word. เพื่อ (phuea) is spoken with a falling tone – meaning the tone rises and then falls again, while the word เผื่อ (phuea) is spoken with a low tone.
These 2 words take different tones because of 2 factors: their initial consonant AND the tone mark.
- เผื่อ – Is a LOW tone, because it begins with the because class consonant ผ and has the 1st Tone Mark.
- เพื่อ – takes a FALLING tone because it’s a low class consonant with the first tone mark.
While you need to know the 4 tone marks in order to determine the tone of a word or syllable in Thai, you ALSO need to know the CONSONANT CLASS of the word as each of the 3 classes has slightly different tone rules that you’ll need to master in order to learn to speak Thai fluently.
It does take a bit of work, but you can learn to read and speak Thai. Sign up below and we’ll send you some free lessons from our Learn Thai Inner Circle program.
For in Thai: Bonus Round ให้
ให้ (hai) is a very versatile word which has lots of different uses. Depending on the sentence it can mean: to give; to allow; to make someone do something; and it can also be used as the preposition, “for.” If this sounds intimidating, try to explain to a non-native English speaker what “get” means.
- ลูกทำอาหารให้แม่– The kid cooked some food for his mother
- เขาซื้อของขวัญให้แฟน – He bought a present for his girlfriend
Sentences Where “For” Isn’t Used in Thai
Even though there are lots of ways to say “for” in Thai, there are a number of sentences where “for” is not used.
Below are some situations where we use “for” in English but not in Thai.
Situation 1: When talking about how long something has been or will be done for.
Example sentences:
- ผมอยู่เมืองไทยมาห้าปี – I have lived in Thailand for five years
- วันนี้ผมวิ่งสามสิบนาที – Today I ran for thirty minutes.
Even though in English we need to use the word “for” in these sentences, in Thai there is no equivalent version of “for” used.
Situation 2: When thanking someone or saying sorry for doing something.
Example sentences:
- ขอบคุณที่มาวันนี้– Thank you for coming today
- ขอโทษที่ทำแบบนั้น – (I’m) sorry for doing that
Once again, there is no version of “for” used in these Thai sentences.
Farang Tip:
We understand that trying to memorize all of this will be impossible for most people. Just bookmark this page and come back to reference it as needed. Whenever you run into a situation where you want to say something and you don’t know how, make a note somewhere and look it up, send us a message, or ask on a app like HiNative.
