by Sven Mauleon,

the expat cofounder of Openmind Projects.

The other and Thai cofounder, TT, Gaweechat Joompaula can speak Thai, as well English and Thaenglish!

• Any idea what ‘it the long way’ means? Wrong, it does not mean long! Guess what! I’ll tell you if you read on!
• What does ‘fly lie’ mean? No, it’s not about your fly! Or you lying. Important to know if you go to Thailand. Read on.
• Or ‘my fen, hi di cal?’ No, it does not mean what you think!
• Or ‘my sistel, she go Bangkok aleady?’ It’s maybe not about the sister.
• Its mean– no does not mean – it is mean

Thais are no big friends of consonants glued together. They actually feel they don’t need them. And certainly don’t like to pronounce them. Thaenglish: ‘no like too many lettel, n, r, nd, rs, too diffikan, no can say, solly too much!’.

No I am not joking, nor ridiculing. I learned Thai this way!

It is very important to understand how Thais speak English when they translate from Thai and don’t consider consonants. They can make each other understand within the context of the conversation! You need to learn to do that too. No need for plurals or tenses any more!

• ‘it’s the long way’ means it’s the wrong way
• ‘fly lie’ means fried rice, very popular in Thailand. Enjoy!
• ‘my fen, hi di cal’ means my friend drives the car, Fortunately not that he died in a car accident!
• ‘my sistel, she go Bangkok aleady?’ means did my elder female friend or my elder sister go to Bangkok?
• ‘Its mean’– means, yes, it means!
• and when it’s two o’clock in the evening, it’s actually 8 pm!

You want to learn more?Welcome to volunteer with us! Welcome to our Volunteer and Cross Cultural Training in Thailand!http://openmindprojects.org/cross-culture-volunteer-training.html.Your new Thai friends will help you learn Thai, to understand them and Thaenglish too!

Blog posted from Prajak Sillapakhom Alley, Nai Mueang, Mueang Nong Khai District, Nong Khai 43000, Thailand View larger map