The Word(S) "only" In Thai

[tgeezer]

For examples given above, I noticed 2 things

for me, I would say "ผู้หญิงคนนี่เป็นใคร ( คน = classifier ) instead of "ผู้หญิงนี่เป็นใคร

at the end of conversation by phone, my thai friends say : kae nee la

If you are not using a classifier you can use นี่ but the noun isn't necessarily singular.

With the classifier ผู้หญิงคนนี้ is unambiguously singular.

I can't imagine anyone asking such a question in English when the subject is present, so I wouldn't ask it in Thai. Also it is rather open ended, the answer could be เขาเป็นครู .

[rgs2001uk]

I strongly advise getting some Thai lessons, in Bkk they are as cheap as chips, 6,000 baht for 60 hours at a decent school.

There they will teach you regular speech patterns, and how to reply.

What you wont pick up here is tones and vowel length.

You may also find you start picking up bad speaking habits, they take a long time to break out of.

I want to take Thai lessons. My tones and things like that are actually pretty good. I don't live in a tourist area, so most of my friends are Thai and we all know if you don't get the tone correct usually you won't be understood. Since I'm learning Thai mostly from a dictionary, I know many words, but I've never learned proper use of conjunctions and other basics for forming sentences. I know the words for but, or, and, if, because, etc. but I don't know how to use them correctly.

So yeah, I want to take Thai lessons but I live in an area with hardly any expats or farang in general. The closest big city to me is Chanthaburi, but so far I've only found one school in Chanthaburi that offers Thai lessons and can offer a visa, however they want 80,000 baht for 1 year. It's only private lessons so I guess the price makes sense. In Phuket, Bangkok, etc. there are schools with group lessons for 18,000-25,000 baht a year. Hopefully I can find one in Chanthaburi in this price range, but it's not looking good.

Be thankful that you live in Chan, beautiful part of the country, I spend a lot of time down there.

but I don't know how to use them correctly.

You could do a lot worse than start here,

http://www.lyndonhill.com/FunThai/CONTENTS.html

[rgs2001uk]

For examples given above, I noticed 2 things

for me, I would say "ผู้หญิงคนนี่เป็นใคร ( คน = classifier ) instead of "ผู้หญิงนี่เป็นใคร

at the end of conversation by phone, my thai friends say : kae nee la

If you are not using a classifier you can use นี่ but the noun isn't necessarily singular.

With the classifier ผู้หญิงคนนี้ is unambiguously singular.

I can't imagine anyone asking such a question in English when the subject is present, so I wouldn't ask it in Thai. Also it is rather open ended, the answer could be เขาเป็นครู .

The difference between the formal language taught in schools, and the informal way the Thai speak.

To my ears, pooying is the classifier, too be honest half the time it would be, pooying ben krai, if you are all stood together, even more informal, ter ben krai, off course you arent taught this in school, only by listening to Thais talk in the street everyday do you pick it up.

I will be the first to admit, I hear sounds and answer with sounds, no problems understanding or being understood, in a formal setting its a bit different.

[bangkokburning]

Kaw nam kaap

Please give me some water

Overthink +4

[tgeezer]

For examples given above, I noticed 2 things

for me, I would say "ผู้หญิงคนนี่เป็นใคร ( คน = classifier ) instead of "ผู้หญิงนี่เป็นใคร

at the end of conversation by phone, my thai friends say : kae nee la

If you are not using a classifier you can use นี่ but the noun isn't necessarily singular.

With the classifier ผู้หญิงคนนี้ is unambiguously singular.

I can't imagine anyone asking such a question in English when the subject is present, so I wouldn't ask it in Thai. Also it is rather open ended, the answer could be เขาเป็นครู .

The difference between the formal language taught in schools, and the informal way the Thai speak.

To my ears, pooying is the classifier, too be honest half the time it would be, pooying ben krai, if you are all stood together, even more informal, ter ben krai, off course you arent taught this in school, only by listening to Thais talk in the street everyday do you pick it up.

I will be the first to admit, I hear sounds and answer with sounds, no problems understanding or being understood, in a formal setting its a bit different.

True, the point being that the people to whom you are speaking were taught the language and can still speak it properly when required, or weren't taught it and can't speak properly at any time, which group should we farang emulate.