A few of the interesting features:
- Thai has no future or past tense, everything is about the here & now; there is a word you can add to say “will” (ja) or “already” (lay-ow), but there is no conjugation of verbs
- There are no articles (a, an, the) and you usually speak about yourself in the 3rd person
- The tones as well as the vowel length are of utmost importance in pronunciation, if you get these wrong you will not be understood no matter how close you think you have said it
- They don't put spaces between their words, and rarely use punctuation
Phraseology
To ask someone “how are you?” they
use the phrase “Sabaai dee mai” translating roughly as “relaxed &
good?” and then my favorite response, “Sabaai sabaai” meaning
“I'm chill” or “relaxed relaxed.”
Another way to ask how someone is would
be to say “Gin cow ruu yang,” meaning “have you eaten rice
yet?” – but they don't literally want to know what you had for
lunch, they are asking if you are doing well! So the appropriate
response if you're good would be to say, “yes I've eaten rice
already” or “gin cow layow ka” (also, side note—any time you
say the word “gin” or eat, you always say “gin cow” or eat
rice, obviously you wouldn't be in Thailand and have a meal WITHOUT
rice!)
Pretty much, as long as your relaxed
and you've had some rice, life is good :D
Another common phrase is, “Mai bpen
rai” meaning “it's all good,” “no worries” or “it doesn't
matter.” Thais in general do anything and everything to avoid
conflict, this phrase is a perfect example. Any time there is a
complaint or confusion or problem it can easily be ended with “mai
bpen rai” and a smile! Thais are very polite, and it is not
culturally acceptable to show anger or frustration.
Last week at school my kids had to join
the other K2 class for “Kru Nok Time.” Kru Nok is the principle
of the school and takes time each week to teach the kids about social
and moral issues (like not smoking, anorexia, obesity, keeping clean
nails, healthy diet, etc). So Thursday she started singing “If
You're Happy & You Know It (Clap Your Hands)” then “If You're
Sad & You Know It (Say Boo-Hoo)” and finally, “If You're
Angry & You Know It (Go Like This--> She did 2 thumbs up &
smile!)” and at first I was confused, thinking maybe she had the
wrong translation for angry??!! But then she finished and explained
to the children, if you're angry you don't hit or kick or yell, you
smile and put thumbs UP! What a great way to learn how to control
your own emotions and refuse to let anger get the best of you. I
think this is an extremely healthy philosophy of life, and while I
had known this concept before, I found her simple song for the kids
to be the best illustration of it yet. No matter what happens, its
all good, mai bpen rai <3
