On 17/1/2560 at 5:40 PM, Saastrajaa said:

Someday needs to learn to speak Thai.  You'd be amazed how much more intelligent/how much less annoying people sounds when speaking their native language.

Agree the grunts, fist pounding, scowling, pointing gets old. I am sure the Thais get sick of it. Learn to speak Thai maybe ? Far fewer problems dating REAL Thai women maybe? Far fewer problems with Thais maybe?

Its what they don't say, like giving directions by pointing with their nose.

20 hours ago, joeyg said:

I've gotta ask, seriously, how do you get from buying produce to wanting to blow someone away!?  Seriously are you on "medication?"

 

Relax joeyg....I have a sarcastic sense of humor.

3 hours ago, juice777 said:

I was looking for a hanging bug zapping thing once. I knew they probably wouldn't understand me so I Googled a pic of one. Went up a girl who was playing with her phone lol. I showed her the pic "don't have" then straight back to her phone. I then Walked down the next ile and they was in there. I went back to the girl what's this then they are just there she looked so angry lol.

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%0

For reasons unknown to me, my reply to the above quote vanished. So I'll try again with an edit.

 

The reason that the gal got angry is that she lost face (who cares) because you had the unmitigated temerity to point out to her that she was lazy.

 

There's a lesson to be learned there, but most Thai's don't have the capacity to see it.

Someday needs to learn to speak Thai.  You'd be amazed how much more intelligent/how much less annoying people sounds when speaking their native language.

this

never met a quiet thai i didnt like.

 

 

I have my 5 year little one writing her ABC in capitals and small script like a chef and struggling every day with the 44 Thai consonant and how many vowels/composed vowels?
Her Thai reading is a nightmare but her English reading is progressing well.
When they will abandon thar crazy script they will make progress, that will not happen any time soon however. So much energy get lost in learning their language there is not much time left in 12 years of school to learn much else. And some people ask why Thais know so little...

2 minutes ago, tartempion said:

I have my 5 year little one writing her ABC in capitals and small script like a chef and struggling every day with the 44 Thai consonant and how many vowels/composed vowels?
Her Thai reading is a nightmare but her English reading is progressing well.
When they will abandon thar crazy script they will make progress, that will not happen any time soon however. So much energy get lost in learning their language there is not much time left in 12 years of school to learn much else. And some people ask why Thais know so little...

 

 

excellent suggestion. 

cancel the alphabet.

then we can start in on the Kanji of various languages, Arabic and every other alphabet or script that you consider useless.

53 minutes ago, tartempion said:

I have my 5 year little one writing her ABC in capitals and small script like a chef and struggling every day with the 44 Thai consonant and how many vowels/composed vowels?
Her Thai reading is a nightmare but her English reading is progressing well.
When they will abandon thar crazy script they will make progress, that will not happen any time soon however. So much energy get lost in learning their language there is not much time left in 12 years of school to learn much else. And some people ask why Thais know so little...

 

Apparently lacking the patience to learn the language, you choose instead to label the alphabet as "crazy," and to conclude that anyone who has mastered the language must know very little else. And they say Thais lack "critical thinking." 

1 hour ago, tartempion said:

I have my 5 year little one writing her ABC in capitals and small script like a chef and struggling every day with the 44 Thai consonant and how many vowels/composed vowels?
Her Thai reading is a nightmare but her English reading is progressing well.
When they will abandon thar crazy script they will make progress, that will not happen any time soon however. So much energy get lost in learning their language there is not much time left in 12 years of school to learn much else. And some people ask why Thais know so little...

 

I think the Thai writing system has some advantages over ours. Whereas ours is so vague that the same combination of symbols can be pronounced a number of different ways, a word in Thai script rather elegantly contains all the information required to know exactly how it should be said, including the tones. 

 

Obviously, you need to take the trouble to learn it to appreciate this, whereas simply dismissing it takes little effort whatsoever. 

8 minutes ago, SoiBiker said:

Whereas ours is so vague that the same combination of symbols can be pronounced a number of different ways

That's why scientific research flourished in Europe - our script was flexible enough to accommodate new concepts whereas the pictographs of earlier languages and Asian languages was not

1 hour ago, tartempion said:

I have my 5 year little one writing her ABC in capitals and small script like a chef and struggling every day with the 44 Thai consonant and how many vowels/composed vowels?
Her Thai reading is a nightmare but her English reading is progressing well.
When they will abandon thar crazy script they will make progress, that will not happen any time soon however. So much energy get lost in learning their language there is not much time left in 12 years of school to learn much else. And some people ask why Thais know so little...

"So much energy get lost in learning their language there is not much time left in 12 years of school to learn much else." Learned it in 4 months.

1 minute ago, SaintLouisBlues said:

That's why scientific research flourished in Europe - our script was flexible enough to accommodate new concepts whereas the pictographs of earlier languages and Asian languages was not

Nonsense

9 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

Nonsense

Thank you for your well thought out and substantiated contribution to the discussion

10 minutes ago, SaintLouisBlues said:

That's why scientific research flourished in Europe - our script was flexible enough to accommodate new concepts whereas the pictographs of earlier languages and Asian languages was not

 

That makes little sense - Thai script is more flexible than ours, in that it is able to accurately convey a wider range of sounds without the vagueness that ours suffers. 

 

Do you think the Thai alphabet is formed of pictographs?

17 minutes ago, SoiBiker said:

That makes little sense - Thai script is more flexible than ours, in that it is able to accurately convey a wider range of sounds without the vagueness that ours suffers. 

 

Do you think the Thai alphabet is formed of pictographs?

I bow to your superior knowledge on the subject. It's probably against some Forum rule or other to quote at length but here's a commonly accepted explanation: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.938940-Why-did-Modern-Science-develop-in-Europe 

 

"Johannes Gutenberg's recent development of a new mechanical movable type printing press would become a major contributor in allowing the quick spread of that knowledge. Scholars and scientists could also now have their own work copied and disseminated in large volumes much quicker and cheaper than was possible before. It is not known if Gutenberg was familiar with Asian printing technology, which had not seen wide spread use in the Middle East and Europe, but his was the first example of metal movable type in Europe. The employment of oil based inks meant that his printings lasted much longer than the water based inks China had been using. His method also allowed for both sides of a piece of paper to be printed on.

 

"The reasons Gutenberg's press achieved for Europe what the earlier presses could not for Asia were twofold; differences in Asian and European languages and economic factors impacting the ability to print. Most written Asian languages at the time did not have an alphabet and instead used specific characters for each word. this meant that a typesetter in Asia needed as many as 60000 different type faces and several hundred thousand duplicates in order to print a single page. It was only economically feasible for a printer to print very large runs of a page, carving and transporting all those pieces was expensive and time consuming, and the carved wooden type pieces were poor quality. Gutenberg's metal type case was less than 300 faces and easier to cast.

 

"The revolution in Europe sparked by printed literature did not extend beyond its borders. The printing of Arabic was prohibited in the Islamic World until the 18th Century, leaving the copying of texts to be done by hand. Technological limitations made Indian script almost impossible to set in type and low interest in India for print made it economically impractical for the English East India Company to continue trying. The ruling elite in Korea and China made changing their written languages to an alphabet system almost impossible.

 

"The slow spread of information outside Europe following the 15th Century allowed Europe to overtake the rest of the world in terms of knowledge and scientific advancement."

My wife is Thai and if she asks directions on the street she gets a very long story after which she still doesn't know where to go. 

A few years ago, I was looking to rent a house with very specific features. My Thai friend would call people for me, speak to em for ten minutes, then hang up and tell me she had no idea what they were talking about.


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I think the Thai writing system has some advantages over ours. Whereas ours is so vague that the same combination of symbols can be pronounced a number of different ways, a word in Thai script rather elegantly contains all the information required to know exactly how it should be said, including the tones. 
 
Obviously, you need to take the trouble to learn it to appreciate this, whereas simply dismissing it takes little effort whatsoever. 

You have a point here, but there are ways around, Dutch uses double vowels for long sounds, French and German use accents and I dislike the Thai writing system, do I need to explain why?
Note I am fluent in 5 languages and Thai is not part of these, all 5 use ABC with some variances.

"What you want?"

"You want some drink?"

"You should to..." or "You must to..."

"Don't be serious."

"Where you go?"

"It's traffic very much."

"So pity."

Using the verb have when be would be more appropriate.


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29 minutes ago, tartempion said:

You have a point here, but there are ways around, Dutch uses double vowels for long sounds, French and German use accents and I dislike the Thai writing system, do I need to explain why?
Note I am fluent in 5 languages and Thai is not part of these, all 5 use ABC with some variances.

 

You're not obliged to explain why, but I would be interested to hear it nonetheless. 

"So much energy get lost in learning their language there is not much time left in 12 years of school to learn much else." Learned it in 4 months.

You must be a genius sir, which obviously I am not.
It took me years for each language, reading literature in my bed until after midnight: Goethe, Vondel, Shakespeare, Voltaire. Later I worked in many countries and happy to speak their language: France, Germany, Netherlands, USA, Portugal.
What books did you read in Thai?

Up to you

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Don't want to talk, want to $$$$.

I have my 5 year little one writing her ABC in capitals and small script like a chef and struggling every day with the 44 Thai consonant and how many vowels/composed vowels?
Her Thai reading is a nightmare but her English reading is progressing well.
When they will abandon thar crazy script they will make progress, that will not happen any time soon however. So much energy get lost in learning their language there is not much time left in 12 years of school to learn much else. And some people ask why Thais know so little...

Is that why you hardly ever see a Thai reading a novel?

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I tell you I love you already

 

I tell my friends you number one

 

Not time to talk.  Time to drink

 

Can not do every time, just sometime

 

I finish period OK now

You not crazy 100%

 

When drinking  don't want eating

3 hours ago, SoiBiker said:

 

I think the Thai writing system has some advantages over ours. Whereas ours is so vague that the same combination of symbols can be pronounced a number of different ways, a word in Thai script rather elegantly contains all the information required to know exactly how it should be said, including the tones. 

 

Obviously, you need to take the trouble to learn it to appreciate this, whereas simply dismissing it takes little effort whatsoever. 

 

I realise that the tonal system complicates the written language, but are 44 letters necessary for that? The Greek alphabet is not so different to the Roman alphabet, but only has 24 letters instead of our 26, yet when you understand the rules of written Greek, it is completely phonetic. As well, Greek not only includes all the sounds that English does, but also sounds that English doesn't use. Plus in Greek where the stress falls on a word can alter its meaning, and this is also included in the written word. So regardless of whether or not you have come across a word before, if you can read it, you can speak it, and be understood by any Greek, which is not something you can say about English, or indeed most European languages. And this, as I say, with 24 letters.

Daaaa LING

or  

Daark LING

 

Just because I'm hairy !!  

 

 

34 minutes ago, nisakiman said:

 

I realise that the tonal system complicates the written language, but are 44 letters necessary for that? The Greek alphabet is not so different to the Roman alphabet, but only has 24 letters instead of our 26, yet when you understand the rules of written Greek, it is completely phonetic. As well, Greek not only includes all the sounds that English does, but also sounds that English doesn't use. Plus in Greek where the stress falls on a word can alter its meaning, and this is also included in the written word. So regardless of whether or not you have come across a word before, if you can read it, you can speak it, and be understood by any Greek, which is not something you can say about English, or indeed most European languages. And this, as I say, with 24 letters.

 

The number of letters is partly to do with the tones - there are multiple versions of most consonants, and which particular combination appears in a word dictates the tone. Bear in mind, though, that English has 19 vowel sounds and only 5 symbols to convey them. 

 

The Thai alphabet seems daunting at first, but its really not so hard once you spend a little time with it. I'd thoroughly recommend it to anyone - it opens up a whole new world when you can read all those squiggles around you, rather than walking round like you're illiterate, and it totally helps with learning to speak the language. Even just being able to decipher road signs and food menus is worth the effort alone. 

1 hour ago, juice777 said:

Is that why you hardly ever see a Thai reading a novel?

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I see and know of Thais that read novels all the time.  So the Thais that you hang out with don't read novels?  Bargirls?  You really need to get out of the bars...it's frying your brain.