The Language

Last Friday I decided to make the crucial step and pursue the road of happiness - get familiar with Thai language.

I went to a book store, so I could by some maps of Bangkok and one of those Easy-way-to-Thai-language books (with 2 CD’s for pronunciation purposes). Well, I just had a short look into it and my conclusion is – OH NO! There are 5 different tones, which means that each word in Thai can have 5 different meanings in different tones, though not all words use all 5 tones. Eeerrm, right… go figure. And it said “EASY” on the cover! Liars...

Now, what they mean by tones is that you’re supposed to change your intonation from rising to falling, to flat and increasing and what else? Also, for me, as a female, at the end of each sentence I have to say “kha” – just the sound one makes when an alien object has gone up one’s nose (for all the males out there – practice “ khrap”). 

Most of the books of this type are organized in situation sections - you know, out dinning, shopping and so forth. This edition was "updated" with the so called "Love" category :P - the big sales trick! Since I have seen some fun stuff like that before, I was in for a good laugh and, guess what, I got what I was looking for: under section “Love” the clear winner is: “Khrang raek rue palo?” – Is this your first time? Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the sentence saying “Do you want to come and see my stamp collection?” And how “appropriate” for the “Love” section to end with “See you in my next life!” :)