kikenyoy

I wonder if it would be understood if after making a mistake saying jokingly, "ลิ้นมีสนิม"

Nice post Tommo!

Forgive me if I'm mistaken, but another possibility for เพื่อนงาน could be "เพื่องาน" as in, she is a bargirl (or something similar) who is with you "for work".

It's a bit unclear in your last paragraph, but if your girlfriend refers to you as คุณ____ then that's a bad sign. It isn't something one to say to/about someone they love. It's a prefix that shows respect, but it isn't intimate at all. It shows emotional distance like you said.

I do think the subject changes. Here's my interpretation of the sentence with a few words added to make it easier to understand:

คุณพักให้หายดีก่อนนะ แล้ว (เราจะ) ค่อยว่ากัน (ถ้าคุณ) มีอะไรจะให้ผมช่วย บอก (มา) นะ

I think it does have that meaning. I would translate it as: Rest up and feel better first, then we'll talk a bit. If you need help with anything let me know.

ว่ากัน = talk together.

The full phrase is "bai nung mong" but normally it's just bai mong. I don't think I've heard bai nung before.

For the second one, you asked what time she got back, not if she woke up already. If you want to ask that, your sentence is fine if you live together or are at her place. If you're calling to ask her then I think "glap baan gee mong" would be better.

In informal speech Thais usually cut out as many unnecessary words as possible. I'd normally just say เคยมีแฟนคนไทย

wow, I can't stand the normal Thai voice over actors. They all use the same fake sounding "professional voice over" voice as opposed to normal speech with the proper emotion. I bought a bunch of various Hollywood movies and National Geographic documentaries but I can't stand the voices so I almost never watch them. The only Thai voice work that I've found so far that I like is for the Tin Tin box set. I prefer the Thai voices to the English ones!

You've given us a bunch of good Japanese/Thai recommendations over the years and I was excited to give this one a try but if it's the same usual actors then I'll pass. Thanks.

Thai voice actors are very high quality.

Do you mean for this particular series or in general?

I forgot to put that one in my post. I asked a Thai friend about that and she said it is a poetic word that isn't really used in conversation. Unfortunately she couldn't come up with any other way to say it.

For many sentences where I want to say this I can change it to "if/then" as in:

"As long as you keep eating junk food you won't lose weight"

"If you don't stop eating junk food then you won't lose weight".

but what about a sentence like:

"As long as I live in Thailand I will continue learning Thai"

I can change it to:

"If I am still living here then I will continue studying" but that isn't quite the same thing.

"Try learning the 10 different tones (not 5) of the Thai word KAO. "

I assume you mean 5 tones with a short and long vowel for each to make 10 total? Vowel length is different than tones. Also, there are not 10 different pronunciations of the same Thai word. Each is an individual word and the sooner you start to think that way the easier it will be.

Practical Thai Conversation dvd's volumes 1 and 2 are exactly as you describe, with a booklet that has the dialogues in Thai, karakoke Thai, and English with a vocabulary list.

Be aware local variations come into play.

Last New Year I was in a shop in Chan, I wanted a bottle of Blend (285), I was given a bottle of Hong Thong, when I questioned it, the girl pointed to the English writing that said blended spirits on the label.

Right behind her was what I wanted, yeehoor nan riak wa arai I asked her, song roi was the answer.

I have never heard of Blen(d) referred to as song roi in Bkk.

Similair to people who want M roi haa sip, here in Bkk its called M roi.

Hope this helps.

In Pattaya they call it สองแปดห้า

I think that the doc says that the guy got a scratch on his hip, not the girlfriend.

edit:

somehow I missed the 2nd paragraph of your second post. That's my interpretation... a few minutes earlier his head was where his hips were when it fell.

I agree that it isn't the best joke ever, but have you seen what passes for "comedy" on Thai tv? Maybe you just have to imagine hearing the joke with all the wacky sound effects they use.

Everything happened very fast. It's hard for us to accept. Nobody wanted it to happen. Don't blame yourself. Think that name didn't leave us. He/she will be in our hearts forever.

Sorry for your loss (if that is what happened).

Sorry Tommo, but Pseudolus is right. It means "shit + xyz" like in the following common words:

kee ai - someone who is embarrassed by shit

kee leum- someone who forgets shit

kee len- someone who likes to play with shit

kee glua- someone who is afraid of shit

etc.

No no no!

you have it completely wrong - haven't you been paying attention?!

kee ai - The shit is feeling shy or embarrassed (maybe because of the smell)

kee leum- The shit has forgotten

kee len- The shit is playing

kee glua- The shit is afraid, probably because it was playing rough and had forgotten that it stank - how embarrassing

OH, ummm, KEE! I think you're right.

puu ying suay means the girl is beautiful, but they don't use "is" with adjectives.

"kee men" means the shit (is) stinky, so kee ai must mean the shit (is) embarrassed!

My apologies to Tommo for my shitty advice.

I am certain Kee means poo. Sorry if it offends you, and no, I have not learnt my Thai from hookers, but I have never heard any Thai say "No K.Pseudolus, Kee does not mean poo. It is a random word used to turn something into a negative" . If I hear from someone that works for me in my office the word Kee followed by another word I do not understand, the translation is always "Shit XYZ (whatever the other word is)"

Your ignorance is not my problem, believe what you want.

Next you will be telling us that you can use 'ow' with a verb, when of course 'ow' can only precede a noun.

(This is the second mistake noobs always make)

Sorry Tommo, but Pseudolus is right. It means "shit + xyz" like in the following common words:

kee ai - someone who is embarrassed by shit

kee leum- someone who forgets shit

kee len- someone who likes to play with shit

kee glua- someone who is afraid of shit

etc.

" I love girlfriend of me"

This is why you can't translate word by word. ของผม means "my" and in Thai word order it goes after the noun so it means "I love my girlfriend". It is grammatically correct and Thais will understand it, but in my opinion, it's too formal for a t-shirt. I'd probably just say รักแฟน or รักแฟนผม.

Hopefully someone else will confirm or offer up another idea before you have it printed.

The first "word" is the sound of the letter. The second is a word that begins with it. Like learning A apple, B bat, etc. Together they form the name of the letter.

I suppose it would be possible to teach yourself using only the first sound but it would be very confusing becasue there are multiple letters that make the same sound and would therefore have the same name. For example, there are 4 Sor's, 2 Lor's, 3 Por's, etc.

I thought the same thing when I started but quickly realized it would be easier to just learn them. Good luck.

Becker's advanced book does have cd's but you can also buy the book individually. I don't know if you can buy the cd's alone though.

It's a cute/joking way of saying ตอแหล which is considered to rude .

Thanks.

It's a total rip-off and education standards are so poor in Thailand that I doubt these "teachers" really know what they're doing.

There are loads of Thai people who will help you learn Thai in exchange for you helping them with their English. No need to pay any money apart from the price of your beer (or whatever). You do need to be an active rather than a passive learner though. You need your own language acquisition strategy.

I agree with a lot of this. I have probably learned about 80% on my own and 20% at schools. Going to school was ok in the beginning, but once I got past the basics most teachers had no idea of how to teach me. A friend of mine paid for a group of lessons at what is considered by most to be the best school in Pattaya with a good teacher that he knows. When he went back home he gave me the 10 remaining lessons, but I had to use a different teacher. She had very poor English and no idea of how to teach other than to just read out of a book and have me parrot it back to her. Turns out she used to work in a hotel and decided to be a teacher so she took a class for a few months and got a job at one of the top schools. I couldn't change teachers so I gave the lessons back to my friend and he used them hen he returned. Luckily she isn't teaching there anymore.

At another school, the teacher admitted that she had no idea of what to teach me and I had already paid for a block of lessons, so I brought my laptop in and we watched and discussed Thai movies.

I haven't found a teacher yet who could assess my ability and teach based on that, but they can be useful for answering questions and helping with specific problems.

The most competent teacher in Pattaya charge 250

What is his/her name? Does s/he teach at a school or freelance? Location? Experience? etc.