Rionoir

oh lord. just got to the part where the student says he doesn't have any money and the teacher says he's farang and that he is telling a lie. sigh...

ROFLMAO

Hey, why was that student talking anyway... I thought they weren't allowed. *giggle*

This thread is making me laugh really... I haven't heard someone use the word cassette in about 10 years unless the sentence started with "Remember when..." hehe God even my grandma has a CD player in her car, and she uses Facebook... hehe

I know for myself, if I couldn't own property, had questionable immigration status, was old/bald, or young/with a wealth of dreams (and not much else), and had limited communication with my significant other (usually along the lines of identifying which foods were spicy and talking about where I/you/he/she "go"), I'd probably be rationalizing how "crazy/jealous/xenophobic/etc." the local "competition" was too. And to emphasize the point: the motorcycle taxi dudes, boat crew guys, and whoever was hanging out in front of the nearest and cheapest karaoke joints would automatically be the prime examples.

Thank u for summing up what I was trying to say... LoL

If one truly feels like everyone is acting crazy towards them, maybe that person should reconsider how they are acting themself... instead of assuming everyone else must just be crazy.

ขึ้น and ลง are used for the actions of getting in and out of vehicles (respectively), not for the state of being on (or in) them.

I know it translates oddly, but ขึ้นรถเมล์อยู่ is an acceptable sentence in Thai to say that you are currently riding on the bus. I just went and reconfirmed this with a couple Thai friends on MSN to make sure I wasn't remembering incorrectly lol, but they agreed and said it's the same as saying นั่งรถเมล์อยู่.

BTW, I'm not disputing what you said about ขึ้น and ลง, because they are also used the way you described... but since the OP asked about ขึ้น specifically I just wanted to address the ways it can be used.

When was your last trip to Thailand, 1981? hehehe I can't believe anyone even sells cassettes anymore.

I'm not gonna quote or mention names, but there are people on this forum that I can't for the life of me figure out what they are doing in Thailand... they have nothing but bad things to say about it, and shoot down anyone who says anything positive about it. Go back home, or at least start a journal and write your crap there and stop trying to make everyone else feel as miserable as you do.

Yea Thailand's hot... If you needed a travel brochure to tell you that the jungle is hot and humid you are a freaking idiot. Even Thai people don't sit outside and enjoy the weather in the summer, but it is possible to deal with it. I wasn't a huge fan of very hot days before I moved to Thailand, but I can ride a motorcycle across town in summer now without getting red blotches on my face (which used to happen when I was in the heat too much lol ), so I feel that I've gotten accustomed to the heat very well. And I am from Wisconsin... our hottest day is like Thailand's coolest day!

I even spent a week in Isaan sleeping on a wooden floor with no AC in the middle of summer... and I lived. Actually, if you just lay still for a while, the heat seems to disappear... I usually woke up with a blanket on me in the morning.

I'll just add for the OP that you aren't necessarily incorrect about your use of ขึ้น .. however I was told it is less common than นั่ง when used with Taxis. Since ขึ้น actually means to go UP into something, it is appropriate to use it when saying you are on the bus. (ผมขึ้นรถเมล์) In the end though, you can use them almost interchangably and won't really be wrong.

When talking about being on the train... It seems natural in my ear to just say อยู่รถไฟฟ้า ... when in doubt, leave off the preposition, that's what I've figured out. LoL There's always a longer way to say things in Thai (ยืนในรถไฟฟ้า I guess?), but all my friends tend to lean towards short and less specific statements.

If you said ผมอยู่ที่รถไฟฟ้า it sounds to me like you are at the train station maybe, not on the train? i.e., you are AT the train, not on/in the train. Have nothing to back that up though. LoL

Cleaning it? How? By absorbing all the crap out of the water? LoL

By the way, what about traveler's checks? Do they make $500 demoninations? Sorry might be a stupid idea, but you do get the same exchange rate on traveler's checks as $100 bills from the US... I'm not sure how that all works coming from the UK. I can get them for free too if I go to AAA. And they're obviously safe as hel_l.

Come on, you said you had 300 hours of class already and you're only trying to test into Basic 2 (because of lack of reading/writing), yea? You have nothing to be nervous about. The Basic 1 exam was simple... even the guy in my class that we all thought would never pass it got an 82% on it. LoL

The speaking was a little embarassing, but it wasn't difficult... I think one thing I had to do was pretend to be buying some pants from my teacher, and then had to ask for a discount or something... and after that I had to call and book a room at a hotel or something. Nothing terribly difficult, and it wasn't like you have to get 100% to pass either. (u have to get a pretty low score to fail.. I can't remember, but it's like 60% to fail)

My advice is that if u remember most of what you learned in your class then don't worry about it anymore... a placement exam is just that, they are gonna place you where you belong... you can't fail out of Basic 1, so worst case scenario is you have to take a 5 week course before Basic 2.

After I finished 6 months at Chula I checked out Pro Language in Bangkok and really like it.. their curriculum contains mostly all the same things, but it is just a less-intense program than Chula's. You can also get a private tutor there if you prefer, I was to say it was like 100,000 for a year for a private tutor? I don't remember how many session that contained.

You're developing a series of quiz questions related to Thailand and you talk about a Thai person sitting in a sauna... *giggle* Did she just get out of the tanning bed too? I think this is a trick question... haha

Funny how some people think the worst right away on this forum... but I guess he did say "no sound reason" lol I was thinking the same as the above poster though - you get a better exchange rate if you bring the cash with you instead of transfering it, at least from what I understood.

There is a bank at the airport isn't there? I know there are a lot of currency exchanges, but I thought there was at least one bank there where you could I assume make a large deposit and maybe open an account?

your advice is so way off the planet its downright absurd. currency exchange 30k$? . he will still then have 30$k

Wow, good thing you changed to your troll account before you post something you know nothing about...

Funny how some people think the worst right away on this forum... but I guess he did say "no sound reason" lol I was thinking the same as the above poster though - you get a better exchange rate if you bring the cash with you instead of transfering it, at least from what I understood.

There is a bank at the airport isn't there? I know there are a lot of currency exchanges, but I thought there was at least one bank there where you could I assume make a large deposit and maybe open an account?

Did they ask you to deposit a certain amount? Or what city/bank was it? I wasn't able to open one until I had changed my visa to an ED visa, then it took 5 minutes to get the account opened at K bank in Bangkok.

Why don't u say what u are thinking of bringing, it might be easier.

And it's ok to bring cigarettes and booze up to a certain amount... I always buy both at the airport in japan.

You need a work permit or student ED visa etc to open a bank account... if you're coming on a tourist visa you won't get a bank account most likely. (I don't know maybe with $30k you will? But when I opened mine they never asked how much I was depositing, just asked to see my work permit or ed visa)

Everytime I've opened my mouth and said something to a taxi driver in Thai they will not shut up the rest of the trip... LoL Sometimes I pretend I can't speak Thai at all otherwise I feel like I'm in class again. I guess it wouldn't be so bad, except most taxi drivers are perverts and just wanna talk about things I'm not really comfortable talking about with a stranger. *chuckle*

Anyone else laughing at the Thai guy saying จอห์น's lines in the dialogue? I was just listening to the Lesson 1 audio.. it sounds like a Thai guy trying to sound like an American speaking Thai hehe...

I think you'd be hard pressed to find resources even in English about helping the environment that involve cutting out meat (???) as part of the "solution" ... even not buying plastic toys sounds a little bit like 1980's rhetoric to me... anyway even if you did find these I doubt you'd find ones in Thai that coincide with ur exact beliefs?

I did some teaching observation at British Counsil when I was working on my CELTA... the teachers I saw were GREAT, and the facilities were AWESOME (interactive white boards, very modern facility, etc.)... As mentioned above, very accessible from Skytrain.

Instead of remembering EXCEPTIONS to the inherent ะ rule it is probably easier just to remember the rule itself (i.e., the times the word DOES take the tone from the first letter), which is aksawn soong or aksawn klaang + aksawn diaw. This results in a word which is middle tone + a tone based on the initial consonant.

Unless I'm misunderstanding akson diao, this is defeated by words like แสดง [M]sa[ML]daeng. The rule basically applies to consonant plus resonant.

When I say akson diao I'm only referring to akson dam diao. Sorry for the confusion, when I was studying that's the only time I heard the term used (akson dam diao/akson dam ku).

Therefore, the word แสดง wouldn't follow this rule, each syllable follows it's own inherent tone. (2nd syllable is technically [M] yea? ... May be spoken L? But that would be outside of any rules such as เขา)

(sorry this might all be in this thread, but spread out through various posts lol)

Instead of remembering EXCEPTIONS to the inherent ะ rule it is probably easier just to remember the rule itself (i.e., the times the word DOES take the tone from the first letter), which is aksawn soong or aksawn klaang + aksawn diaw. This results in a word which is middle tone + a tone based on the initial consonant. Any other letter combination will result in the second syllable taking it's regular tone. (note: I see these words in phonetics sometimes as Low + whatever tone... however we were instructed that they are pronounced as a neutral middle tone instead of an initial low tone... I realize ขะ would be low tone, but ขนม should be pronounced middle + rising, again according to the instructors I had.)

Note that it's also important that you study CONSONANT CLUSTERS as well. For example:

กว is a recognized consonant cluster, and pronounced GWAA, such as กว่า

however

ผว is NOT a recognized consonant cluster, and so the word ผวา is pronounced using the inherent ะ rule above, it is NOT pronounced PWAA

Edit: While I'm at it, here are ALL the consonant clusters:

กร กล กว

คร คล คว

ขร ขล ขว

ปร ปล

พร พล

ผล

ตร

ทฤ ทร

Ok hope that helps someone... LoL I know consonant clusters seem pretty obvious, but they do come into play once you start reading more and more, so it's important to try to remember them.

Even on my early morning fitness runs. I pass a place where there are always a bunch of old ladies sitting on a small platform in front of their homes. I make a big show of wiping my sweaty hands on my towel, and then proceed to shake each one's hand with great enthusiasm accompanied by "Yeah, awright, whoo", then continue on my run immediately. They love it and now look forward to when I come by. Parents also love it when I stop to shake the hand of their young one. If the young one is shy, I will shake hands with the mother to demonstrate....They love it!

Oh my gosh... I have to agree with the others, I really wouldn't do this to them. LoL Just because they laugh doesn't mean they love it.

dam_n meadish don't confuse me... haha I thought I was gonna have to go get my writing textbook back out.

Thanks for the replies. Anyone else think the teenager speak is sooooo freaking ugly? When I started learning Thai I thought it was cute. But then when I started learning and hearing more proper Thai, I couldn't for the life of me figure out why anyone would want to ruin it that way. *shiver*