Fun Intermediate Level Material

[kikenyoy]

I just bought a box set of Tintin cartoons and they are at the perfect level of difficulty for me. I watched a few episodes for fun then just re-watched the first episode again with the Thai and English subtitles on and pausing it to look up any unknown words. When I paused it to read the subs I could easily understand everything except for a few new words, but when I listened to it I felt like it was just a bit too fast...which is perfect!

These were originally produced in French, then translated to English and finally Thai so I'm taking anything I learn with a grain of salt but it seemed pretty good. I only found one sentence that seemed a bit "off". Tintin is selecting a horse and the first one kicks him off. The stable owner gives him another one to try:

"You'll be happy with this one"

คุณจะต้องมีความสุขกับมันแน่นอน

I think พอใจ or ชอบ would be better (but I'm unsure)

To give an idea of the level...here's my vocab list from the episode:

การควบคุม control/influence

การปราบปราม suppressing

จัดฉาก be set-up

กล้วยๆ simple

อำพราง conceal/cover up

หลงกล be cheated

พาหนะ means of transport

ทัณฑ์บน parole

ย่ำแย่ be unbearable

ลืมตาอ้าปาก to improve financial condition

สิ้นฤทธ์ be vanquished

ป่าเถื่อน savage

I bought the set at B2S and have seen it at a few other stores. It has 39 22-minute episodes on 10 dvd's for 1050 baht.

[hiero]

Cool. What is B2S a store in thailand or an online store? I love videos, I have used the alg ones on youtube for the last month and feel i've learnt loads.

กล้วยๆ love using that word, kiddy talk

[Rikker]

B2S is a bookstore chain in Thailand. Doesn't help if you live abroad, because though they have a website they don't do online ordering.

Try Boomerang instead. Here's their product page for the Tintin box set. 709 baht for the set. Free shipping within Thailand. As a test I put in a US address, 1090 baht to ship to the US. That runs to 1,799 baht, but still that's like $50 for a 10 DVD set, total running time 900 minutes or 15 hours. Not bad at all.

[andymodo]

kikenyoy i think you have created a run on tintin box sets! b2s was sold out and so was the boomerang site that rikker suggested. b2s still had plenty of single dvds with two episodes on each for 139 Bt so i picked up a couple of those and am enjoying them - but in english, understanding the thai is going to take me some work but it seems like a good level...thanks for the tip

[andymodo]

kikenyoy i think you have created a run on tintin box sets! b2s was sold out and so was the boomerang site that rikker suggested. b2s still had plenty of single dvds with two episodes on each for 139 Bt so i picked up a couple of those and am enjoying them - but in english, understanding the thai is going to take me some work but it seems like a good level...thanks for the tip

note that the b2s i went to was the one at central world, so the others may still have it...

[Rikker]

Here's another link:

http://www.ethaicd.com/show.php?pid=48366

$67 including worldwide shipping. More expensive than the other sites, but at least they've got some in stock.

There are also lots of website selling illegal copies of it, less than 400 baht for the set. But I don't want to link to those.

[kikenyoy]

Try Boomerang instead. Here's their product page for the Tintin box set. 709 baht for the set.

I originally saw it at Boomerang but it was marked "reserved" and was behind the counter so I didn't bother to ask the price. Found it at B2S and figured they would be about the same price...oops. Oh well, even at 1050 baht I think it's a great deal.

I've watched a couple more episodes and I occasionally find a translation that seems like it is a bit too literal and doesn't sound quite right (and one that was laughably bad) but I'm really enjoying them and I think overall they are pretty good. Next time my daughter comes to visit I'll try to get her to watch a few episodes and give me her opinion of the Thai.

[StChris]

Does anybody know anywhere in Bangkok where this is still in stock? I haven't seen it around and don't want to have to order it over the net as I live in an apartment and don't know if it would ever make it to my room! I'd be willing to buy an second-hand one too if anyone is bored of theirs...