How do you say "retired"?

[thailandsgreat]

When people ask me about my job, I wish to say that I am retired (and have a pension).
 
I have tried
ปลดเกษียณ แล้ว
or
ไม่ ทำงาน แล้ว
 
The second works a little better, but I often have difficulties explain "rerired" to Thai people.
 
My Thai level is low, but a positive thing is that people mostly understand the words I say. But not in this case. Why?
 
Thanks for help earlier. The reason I had problem saying "bus station" was obviously I was not using the word Thai people expect to hear.

[daveAustin]

Lee-thai-urrr. 

[thailandsgreat]

Lee-thai-urrr. 

Like the guy who asked for a Japanese name for his karate club - "faitu klabbu". :)

[carlyai]

Hi thailandsgreat. I think the second one is fine, but you could add the personal pronoun first.

 

What is their question? Maybe they're just asking what you're doing?

 

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[thailandsgreat]

Hi thailandsgreat. I think the second one is fine, but you could add the personal pronoun first.

 

What is their question? Maybe they're just asking what you're doing?

 

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So you mean I could have misinterpreted the question. They really expect an answer like "making a trip in Thailand", "going to 7/11" or so, not about my job.

 

That's a good line to work along. My poor listening would be the problem as usual. I can't say now how they ask. I will listen up next time. Thanks.

 

คุณ กำลัง ทำ อะไร

คุณ ทำ อะไร

คุณ ทำงาน อะไร

 

 

[Sheryl]

I had the same difficulty until I finally learned the word for retired. I don't know the Thai spelling but it is pronounced kes-i-yan.

 

Make that "kes-i-yan แล้ว " and everyone understands perfectly.

[thailandsgreat]

I had the same difficulty until I finally learned the word for retired. I don't know the Thai spelling but it is pronounced kes-i-yan.  

Make that "kes-i-yan แล้ว " and everyone understands perfectly.

 

 

I have tried it as a verb (it is in the first post).

bplòt-gà~sǐian lɛ́ɛo

I even listened to pronounciation, but this word doesn't work for me :)

(My pronounciation is poor, but the words I learnt, Thai people usually understand, especially long ones with many consonants. But not this one :)

 

 

 

 

[Sheryl]

Try it without the "ปลด" in front.

Just " gà~sǐian lɛ́ɛo " or ป็น in front

 

works for me

[thailandsgreat]

Try it without the "ปลด" in front. Just " gà~sǐian lɛ́ɛo " or ป็น in front  

works for me

 

 

 Thanks. I'll try. I can remember some Thai also saying that when I finally got the message across (เป็น) เกษียณ แล้ว

 

 

 

 

 

[Aforek]

21 hours ago, thailandsgreat said:

When people ask me about my job, I wish to say that I am retired (and have a pension).
 
I have tried
ปลดเกษียณ แล้ว
or
ไม่ ทำงาน แล้ว
 

 

The first word (ปลดเกษียณ แล้ว )  is correct, everybody understands and Thai people know what retired means , they have retired people  already, maybe your pronouciation is not correct

[CaptHaddock]

Thais do understand เกษียณแล้ว, but Thai attitudes toward retirement are not the same as ours.  They often don't view it as desirable.  While I feel as though I have won the lottery, they are likely to say something like, "But you're young.  You could still work!"

[rijb]

student

[Briggsy]

The usual phrase is เกษียณอายุแล้ว "gaseean ah yu laeo".

 

ah yu means age.

 

However the OP, thailandsgreat, has not revealed his age.

 

It is very possible the mystified response from the Thai native speaker is down to poor pronunciation and perhaps, the OP's age if he is clearly well under 60.

 

The question is just one of the "standard" questions that foreigners are asked and it is not always necessary to fully explain each answer. It may be better to answer the question as if it had been posed, "What is your profession?" or "What did you do [when you worked]?"

 

e.g. ผู้จัดการ manager. No need to differentiate between, "I used to be a manager," and, "I am a manager." The locals rarely do.

 

The Thai for pension (recurring payments) is bamnan บำนาณ

 

 

[thailandsgreat]

 

 

Thanks guys. I don't think I look "well below 60", even though I suspect we sometimes look young to Asians (like they often look young to us). But it could maybe be a factor.

 

I don't claim to know anything in Thai. Except maybe one thing. The words I have learnt, the Thai almost invariably understand. This word has posed problems, I have therefore practiced extra on pronounciation. It is long with several consonants. I believe they heard it right.

 

But naturally, when you are new to a language, there are many "small" things, often difficult to define, that make communication hard at times.

 

Before asking, I was thinking in cultural terms. F.ex., in Japan, if you tell them your job but also that you like to travel, it doesn't fit their thinking. Same in much of Asia.

 

So telling them I am retired or telling my job (but now I drift around) can both be a little hard. I agree they dont separate job and retired so clearly.

 

Now I know the words are ok, so I just have to experiment. Adding อายุ seems like a good idea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[thailandsgreat]

Maybe sentence #122 from the Paiboon audio for beginners can give a clue, haha. Japanese vibes [emoji6]

http://i.imgur.com/kjeovbe.png

I listen to audio sometimes, to try to improve my catastrophically poor listening comprehension.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[KhunBENQ]

Just stumbled upon a customer survey of Thai Smile airways.

That's what they show for retired.

เกษียณอายุ (kasian ayu/ gà-sĭan aa-yú)

 

http://www.thai-language.com/id/238936

Click on loudspeaker to listen, or here:

http://www.clickthai-online.de/cgi-bin/playmp3.pl?056856

[thailandsgreat]

It is a little bit off topic. But even with a moderate pension you can feel relaxed and do what you please. Travel, study, have a family or what you choose.

 

I don't know Thai culture in detail. Occasionally when I shop or sit down to relax and do the phone, Thai people gather around me. They create activity close to me. I think it happens more often than coincidentally.

 

Now I don't react so much to it any more. But I remember long time ago, shopping bags, chatting with the friendly store owner. Thai people showed up around me, only very slightly delaying my shopping process. They did not shop anything, mostly they created activity.

 

Maybe I wasn't used to it, and that could be noted, so the friendly shop owner told me "No problem, you can relax here.".

 

I have lived in different foreign countries and experienced different attitudes from locals. I sometimes ask myself if some Thai people react when a foreigner is relaxed and then put very, very slight social pressure on him?

 

 

 

[tgeezer]

You should need no more than "retired" which is acknowledged to be เกษียณ. In Thai เกษียณ means finished, expired. ended etc. concerning a set period of time. The dictionary examples refer to retirement from government service because there is a set age for retirement for civil servants. If people don't understand your retiremnent then they are using the Thai meaning and probably don't think that you fit the profile.

You could use เลิกทำงานแล้ว which means that you have given up work.

 

 

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[thailandsgreat]

Thanks everyone. It is good to be able to expand on the subject.

 

Like if a noodle shop doesn't understand my order of ก๋วยเตี๋ยว in the morning, I ask why they keep พวงพริก, ถั่วงอก, โหระพา, มะระ around. Then my เล็กหมู will soon be on the table :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[tgeezer]

I don't know what the Thai means I read, 'hanging chillies', 'bean sprouts' and two other things which I assume are additions to your ก๋วยเตี๋ยว which makes it เล็กหมู , some sort of dish. It wouid be nice to know the detail.

The important thing is, how do you say : Why do you keep ............around ?
Give us a clue and we can all give our versions. ทำไมมี.....อยูในร้าน but it is dodgy.
I think that having been misunderstood in you order of เล็กหมูทีหนึ้ง (if that is a dish) , you would need to express surprise and then expand on เล็กหมู by mentioning ingredients (if that is what they are) .
Classifier for ก๋วยเตี๋ยว not so important จาน ชาม would be understandable because only หนึ่ง counts, no pun intended!



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[thailandsgreat]

I don't know what the Thai means I read, 'hanging chillies', 'bean sprouts' and two other things which I assume are additions to your ก๋วยเตี๋ยว which makes it เล็กหมู , some sort of dish. It wouid be nice to know the detail.  

The important thing is, how do you say : Why do you keep ............around ?

Give us a clue and we can all give our versions. ทำไมมี.....อยูในร้าน but it is dodgy.

I think that having been misunderstood in you order of เล็กหมูทีหนึ้ง (if that is a dish) , you would need to express surprise and then expand on เล็กหมู by mentioning ingredients (if that is what they are) .

Classifier for ก๋วยเตี๋ยว not so important จาน ชาม would be understandable because only หนึ่ง counts, no pun intended!

 

 

 

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Thanks for commenting, you know the language and I just know a few words. But I often go to noodle shops. My order can be something like:

 

ก๋วยเตี๋ยว หมู (น้ำ ใส) เส้น เล็ก (หนึ่ง ถ้วย) ครับ

 

I can then sometimes hear how they shorten this to เล็กหมู

 

Very seldom, maybe more often in tourist spots, they sometimes do not seem to understand my order.

 

I recognize a noodle shop by the following garnishing, usually standing around for self service:

 

พวงพริก, ถั่วงอก, โหระพา, มะระ

 

The พวงพริก is the set of four spices.

 

If I point out (in my poor grammar) that I can see these things in the shop and therefore there also ought to be ก๋วยเตี๋ยว in the shop, they smile and give me my order.

 

 

 

 

[tgeezer]

That's the word, ถ้วย ! thanks.


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[tgeezer]

I think it is just that when we go to shops where we are not known we must have some sort of preable to establish that the transaction will be conducted in Thai. I am not sure how I do that, I know that it isn't right to greet people as I would in English but I think that วัสดีครับ might be alright.



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[thailandsgreat]

I think it is just that when we go to shops where we are not known we must have some sort of preable to establish that the transaction will be conducted in Thai. I am not sure how I do that, I know that it isn't right to greet people as I would in English but I think that วัสดีครับ might be alright.

 

 

 

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I agree. I start with สวัสดีครับ and make a pause, I think they appreciate that. I often go to places where I don't think they know English so well in the noodle shops. Asking what kind of noodles they serve is one of my few opportunities to practice the language.

 

[tgeezer]

May as well greet them formally then.

It is possible to look up noodles but may be more fun to discover here. Here is what I think I know of ก๋วยเตี๋ยว perhaps I need correcting, certainly need more info.

It refers to dishes made from noodles with various ingredients. Types of noodles are เส็นเล็ก เส็นใหญ่ เส็นหมี่, very thin, บะหมี made with egg and ข้าวซอย sheets cut making flat noodles, comes from the North.

Served with meatballs of pig ลูกชิ้นหมู fish, ลูกชิ้นปลา. I used to eat have what I thought was ลูกชิ้นหมู which I later discovered was made from bits of tube tendons and other offal, I am trying to get used to it when I find it but am not sure if there is a special name for it.

I usually have soup, นำ้ใส rather than แห่ง but avoid นำ้ตก which is in ก๋วยเตี๋ยวเรือ and takes its name not from waterfall but from bleeding the animal, might that have been called เลือดตก I feel. I also avoid the blood cake which is often served; ate it once in company before noticing that one person at table put it aside so I feel justified in avoiding it although know that I shouldn't.

When I go North I make a point of ข้าวซอย with chicken leg, and it is my usual lunch at Bon Marche in Pracacheun, Bangkok.

 

 

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[thailandsgreat]

May as well greet them formally then. It is possible to look up noodles but may be more fun to discover here. Here is what I think I know of ก๋วยเตี๋ยว perhaps I need correcting, certainly need more info.

It refers to dishes made from noodles with various ingredients. Types of noodles are เส็นเล็ก เส็นใหญ่ เส็นหมี่, very thin, บะหมี made with egg and ข้าวซอย sheets cut making flat noodles, comes from the North.

Served with meatballs of pig ลูกชิ้นหมู fish, ลูกชิ้นปลา. I used to eat have what I thought was ลูกชิ้นหมู which I later discovered was made from bits of tube tendons and other offal, I am trying to get used to it when I find it but am not sure if there is a special name for it.

I usually have soup, นำ้ใส rather than แห่ง but avoid นำ้ตก which is in ก๋วยเตี๋ยวเรือ and takes its name not from waterfall but from bleeding the animal, might that have been called เลือดตก I feel. I also avoid the blood cake which is often served; ate it once in company before noticing that one person at table put it aside so I feel justified in avoiding it although know that I shouldn't.

When I go North I make a point of ข้าวซอย with chicken leg, and it is my usual lunch at Bon Marche in Pracacheun, Bangkok.

 

 

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I agree with your post. That is my morning staple food :)

 

I have considered ก๋วยเตี๋ยว and บะหมี excluding terms. The first made from rice and the second from wheat. But the second is usually translated as egg noodle. At least that's my impression.

 

The ลูกชิ้นหมู also come as barbecue, I think. I agree the quality can vary.

 

I have got used to eating น้ำตก and เลือด sometimes. The เลือด can come with nice dishes like the following, often in the north, I think.

 

ขนมจีน น้ำเงี้ยว

ก๋วยจั๊บ ญวน (Vietnamese inspired)

ข้าวมันไก่

 

 

 

[tgeezer]

I think that I eat the sanitised versions of most food but I am training myself to be less fussy. ข้าวมันไก่ has never had meatballs in my experience, and like a true fried fish man I almost always have ไก่ทอด .
In บะหมี่ the dictionary says แป้งสาลี่ and สาลี่ is defined as a mixture of แป้ง and ไข่ so not specific to any kind of grain. This is why egg is used to define it I think.
So it is a lottery then whether you get pig tendons and offal or meat, I thought that there might be a specific name for the 'rough' one, I can usually recognise them by their rough appearance and filter them out into the dish of my 'Shrimp head eater'. Incidentally when ลูกชิ้นปลา  is homemade it is never a perfect ball shape because it is too sticky to to form.

I can't think of บะหมี่ as separate from other noodles in a ก๋วยเตี๋ยว shop, I think that it has always been on offer and I usually choose it. I am not clear on the difference between เส้นหมี่ and เส้นเล็ก.



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[thailandsgreat]

I think that I eat the sanitised versions of most food but I am training myself to be less fussy. ข้าวมันไก่ has never had meatballs in my experience, and like a true fried fish man I almost always have ไก่ทอด .In บะหมี่ the dictionary says แป้งสาลี่ and สาลี่ is defined as a mixture of แป้ง and ไข่ so not specific to any kind of grain. This is why egg is used to define it I think. So it is a lottery then whether you get pig tendons and offal or meat, I thought that there might be a specific name for the 'rough' one, I can usually recognise them by their rough appearance and filter them out into the dish of my 'Shrimp head eater'. Incidentally when ลูกชิ้นปลา  is homemade it is never a perfect ball shape because it is too sticky to to form.  

I can't think of บะหมี่ as separate from other noodles in a ก๋วยเตี๋ยว shop, I think that it has always been on offer and I usually choose it. I am not clear on the difference between เส้นหมี่ and เส้นเล็ก.

 

 

 

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I haven't studied books on the subject. I just have the impression that if you say ก๋วยเตี๋ยว you get the white noodles made from rice. You could never get บะหมี่. If you only say เส้นหมี่ or เส้นเล็ก you will not get บะหมี่, you will automatically get rice noodles. The difference is that เส้นหมี่ are very thin and เส้นเล็ก are "average".

 

But these are just impressions I have from eating in the shops.

 

The ข้าวมันไก่ sometimes comes with เลือด, and usually soup :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[tgeezer]

I was reminded recently that I prefer บะหมี่ before I knew what it was called. I don't think that I have ever eaten ก๋วยเตี๋ยว alone so after declaring my preference long ago, that was what was brought me subsequently whenever the meal was ก๋วยเตี๋ยว.


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