สวัสดี ปี ใหม่ (sawasdee pee mai)

Happy New Year To All My Readers!
Hope you all had a great Christmas and New Years.
Looking forward to 2010, and keeping the blog updated with hopefully some useful nuggets for learners of Thai at all levels. Unfortunately, as I'm no longer living in Thailand, it's harder for me to maintain my level, as I'm concentrating on learning Mandarin for the moment. So if you spot any glaring mistakes in my written Thai, please feel free to point them out.

Anyway happy new year to you all, and here's to a cracking 2010!

Windows 7

I've been writing about windows 7 in another blog I have, found here: http://www.webseoconsultancy.com/seo-blog

but i'd thought i'd add something to this from a language point of view. My previous install was using XP Pro, which was fine when i wanted to add Thai to the language bar. However, when I wanted to add Chinese (Traditional) to the language bar, it caused no end of headaches as that was never listed in my language service pack and trying to download it independently was a no go. I therefore, decided it was time to make the leap forward and go with something a bit more multi-lingual friendly, which Microsoft Windows 7 is - surprisingly. It was dead simple, adding Chinese to the  language bar, and know I can easily switch between Thai, English and Chinese, with a few shortcut keys. However, I was a bit disappointed to read that Microsoft Windows 7 is only available in 5 languages, which might come as a bigger disappointment to people not versed in those 5 languages.

Will have to wait and see if 2010, brings any updates and developments to this.

Thought for the day.....

ก่อนหัวเราะเยาะคนอื่น ลองหัวเยาะตัวเองดูบ้าง เพราะอย่างน้อย มันก็ไม่ทำให้เราไม่ลืมตัว


Before laughing at others, try laughing at yourself (see how it feels) because at least it will makes us not forget (how it feels).

Thai Alphabet (อักษรไทย)

Although, I thought I would never be able to learn the whole of the Thai alphabet, after all there's 44 consonants to contend with for starters and once you'e committed these towards memory then there's the 15 vowels to grapple with. Of course, for someone who can easily remember pictures and symbols it shouldn't be too much of an issue. However, I know when i was learning I wanted to commit all the consonants and vowels to memory as fast as possible so that I could start identifying them in signs, newspapers etc and progress with reading Thai.

If you're looking to streamline learning the Thai alphabet, then I'd suggest downloading some software that can help you visualize the alphabet characters and also provide audio clips on how they should sound. So if you've got the cash to invest in your learning, you may want to give 60 minutes to learn the Thai alphabet a go. There's plenty of features on there that will expediate the whole process. Or if this is out of your budget, kids books and the tables i featured on my first post are a great way to start learning as well.

ขายขี้หน้า/เสียหน้

For many westerners the concept of 'losing face'/'saving face' is something strange and unusual, as for many of us before coming to asia it was a novel concept. However, here in lots of asian countries it's very important for the locals to maintain the harmony and not to lose face or make other people lose face. Often in Thailand, you may hear the term 'sĭa nâa ' เสียหน้ used as an equivalent of 'losing face' 
and when you hear this you just hope Thais aren't talking about you. 
In Taiwan, the concept of face is also important and maintaining the harmony. 

พอดี - Just about right/Just enough

I was over at Thaivisa.com on the language section, and there was an interesting thread about พอดี Go Here To Read It.
In the case of พอดี when put at the start of the sentence the phrase it takes on a completely meaning to instances where we might hear this phrase used out in public (usually in the just right/just enough context). 
As Katana points out, when พอดี is put right at the start, followed by a verb in the future tense then it takes on the meaning of just about to do something.
But, you will usually hear พอดี used in these kinds of scenarios:
น้ำตาลพอดืไหม  - is there enough sugar?
ใส่เสื้อพอดีไหม  - is the shirt a good fit?
คุณมีโซดาพอดีในแก้วของคุนไหม - do you have enough soda in your glass?


In Thai contemporary pop there's also a number of songs that contain พอดี in the title for extra practice on different contexts of the phrase, which have karaoke versions on youtube.
เบิร์ด ธงชัย (Bird Thongchai) - พอดี Fit 

Golf Mike - ไม่พอดี ไม่ดีพอ.

พอแล้วสำหรับวันนี้  

Learn to Speak Thai like a Thai

I've stumbled an easy to use application which might be good for some learners here, which guides you through the Thai language with visuals, sounds and phonetics to make learning Thai all that more easier. I shall be putting up a proper full review in the coming weeks, when my schedule quietens down a bit more. However, if you did want to check it out it's compatible with Windows XP and Windows Vista and there's a new and improved version being launched in the next couple of days for only $39. At this sort of price it's a bargain and certainly cheaper than getting private lessons or studying at a school/University. Click to start learning