Learn how to talk about your ethnicity in Thai using the verb meaning "to be"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Ryan: Basic Bootcamp Lesson 2 – Talking about your ethnicity in Thai. Hi, everyone. Welcome to Basic Boot Camp. |
| Rawinporn: This five-part series will help you ease your way into Thai. |
| Ryan: We’ll go over all the basics that will really help you understand Thai in a quick and easy way. |
| Rawinporn: In this lesson you will learn how to talk about nationality. |
| Ryan: You’ll also learn about [bpen], the equivalent of the verb “to be” in English. And this is really going to help you make some simple sentences. Khun Rawinporn, what do you say we start with a recap of the previous lesson? Basic Bootcamp Lesson 1. Basically, what we want to cover here is the sentence structure. What do we have? |
| Rawinporn: [dì-chăn chûue] such and such |
| Ryan: “My name is such and such.” |
| Rawinporn: Right. |
| Ryan: In your case, it will be? |
| Rawinporn: [dì-chăn chûue rá-win-phaawn] |
| Ryan: “My name is [rá-win-phaawn].” |
| Rawinporn: And, for you? |
| Ryan: [phǒm chûue rai-an]. “My name is Ryan.” We’re going to expand on this today. |
| Rawinporn: In the previous lesson, we changed the names. My name is [rá-win-phaawn]. |
| Ryan: My name is Ryan. My name is [wít-thá-yaa]. My name is [sì-rì-phaawn]. In this lesson, we’re going to introduce nationality. |
| Rawinporn: Yes. How to say what country you are from. |
| Ryan: So, as with the previous lesson, we’re going to listen to a conversation between two people. And, interestingly enough, Khun Rawinporn, the conversation is between you and me. |
| Rawinporn: Oh, ok. Let’s have a listen. Here we go. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Rawinporn: sà-wàt-dii khâ. dì-chǎn chûue rá-win-phaawn khâ. dì-chǎn bpen khon-thai khâ. |
| Ryan: sà-wàt-dii khráp. phǒm chûue rai-an khráp. phǒm bpen khon-à-mee-rí-gan khráp. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Ryan: Khun Rawinporn, one thing that I think is really interesting, is that when you study Thai, you bound to new people who come from countries all over the world, who are studying Thai, too. |
| Rawinporn: Yes. It’s really amazing. There are so many people from all over the world who study Thai. |
| Ryan: So, that’s why we’re being able to talk about where you come from is really handy. |
| Rawinporn: That’s right. Not only for introducing yourself to Thai people, but also to your fellow learners. |
| Ryan: It’s funny. If you’re studying at a Thai language school, probably most of the Thai you use is going to be spoken with other foreigners. Another thing that’s interesting is finding out all the reasons that other people are learning Thai. |
| Rawinporn: What are some often reasons? |
| Ryan: I think a really big one today is for travelling. Many foreigners found that if they can speak Thai they can learn and see more, they can touch and feel the real Thailand. |
| Rawinporn: I also think some people study it because of more traditional culture, like Martial arts or [muuai thai]. |
| Ryan: Thai-boxing. Yes. I think lots of people study martial arts abroad.muuai thai is a big one, especially. |
| Rawinporn: How about you, Ryan? What was your reason for studying Thai? |
| Ryan: Well, the first time that I ever travelled overseas, I was going to Nepal, and I stopped for a couple of days in Bangkok on the way. And, while I was there, I heard Thai being spoken and I found that I really like the sound of the language. So, after that, when I went back to my university, I decided to study Thai. |
| Rawinporn: Oh, wow. That’s good. |
| Ryan: And this was way back before the Internet was so big, but now with the Internet around, I think it’s very easy to get connected with Thai, without even leaving your own home. |
| Rawinporn: Yes, you’re right. |
| Ryan: It’s very easy to make Thai friends and become more and more interested. Ok, let’s take a look at the vocabulary used in this lesson. What we’re going to do is give you the word one time at natural native speed, then we’ll give you the English, and then we’re going to break down the word syllable by syllable. |
| Rawinporn: The goal here is to help you hear each syllable so you will remember the word and get used to the language. |
| Ryan: Finally, we’ll give the same word again at natural native speed. Let’s have a listen. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Ryan: And the first word we have is? |
| Rawinporn: [khon thai] |
| Ryan: “Thai” |
| Rawinporn: [khon thai (slow speed)] [khon thai (normal speed)] |
| Ryan: And next? |
| Rawinporn: [khon àwt-dtree-liia] |
| Ryan: “Australian” |
| Rawinporn: [khon àwt-dtree-liia (slow speed)] [khon àwt-dtree-liia (normal speed)] |
| Ryan: And the next word? |
| Rawinporn: [khon a-mee-rí-gan] |
| Ryan: “American” |
| Rawinporn: [khon a-mee-rí-gan (slow speed)] [khon a-mee-rí-gan (normal speed)] |
| Ryan: And next? |
| Rawinporn: [khon yîi-bpùn] |
| Ryan: “Japanese” |
| Rawinporn: [khon yîi-bpùn (slow speed)] [khon yîi-bpùn (normal speed)] |
| Ryan: [Khun Rawinporn] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Ryan: Let’s take a look at this lesson’s dialogue line by line. First we have? |
| Rawinporn: [sà-wàt-dii] |
| Ryan: We learned the greeting [sà-wàt-dii] in the first Boot Camp Lesson. You can add [khâ] at the end of the sentence to be polite. |
| Rawinporn: [sà-wàt-dii khâ dì-chăn chûue sì-rì-phaawn] |
| Ryan: As we learned in the first Boot Camp Lesson, you can introduce yourself by using the structure? |
| Rawinporn: [dì-chăn chûue] your name. |
| Ryan: So, in this case, it was? |
| Rawinporn: [dì-chăn chûue rá-win-phaawn] |
| Ryan: “My name is [rá-win-phaawn].” What’s new for today is? |
| Rawinporn: [dì-chăn bpen khon thai khâ] |
| Ryan: “I am Thai.” |
| Rawinporn: The basic word order for the Thai sentences: subject + verb + object. This is the same as English sentence order. |
| Ryan: “I” for males is [phǒm] and for females is [dì-chăn]. |
| Rawinporn: [bpen] is equivalent to the verb “to be” in English. |
| Ryan: Khun Rawinporn, how do we say “a Thai person”? |
| Rawinporn: [khon thai] |
| Ryan: This word [khon thai] is made up of two parts. It’s kind of two words. Can you say the first part? The first word? |
| Rawinporn: [khon] |
| Ryan: “Person”. [khon] means “person” or “people”. How about the next part? |
| Rawinporn: [thai] |
| Ryan: That’s the name of the country. |
| Rawinporn: Exactly. We add the prefix [khon] in front of the name of the country to indicate nationality. |
| Ryan: And this is a rule of thumb that works about 98.5% of the time. There are few cases where it doesn’t work, but most of the time, if you follow this rule, you’ll be ok. So, can we hear that one more time, “Thai person”? |
| Rawinporn: [khon thai] |
| Ryan: In the next line, I said [sà-wàt-dii khráp]. |
| Rawinporn: “Hello.” |
| Ryan: [phǒm chûue rai-an khráp] |
| Rawinporn: “My name is Ryan.” |
| Ryan: [phǒm bpen khon a-mee-rí-gan khráp] |
| Rawinporn: “I am American.”. This much like [khon thai], is made up of two parts or two words. The first word is a prefix [khon], which means “person” or “people”. |
| Ryan: And, how do we make the word for nationality? |
| Rawinporn: The rule is quite simple. You just add [khon] in front of the name of your country. |
| Ryan: Let’s look at some examples. Khun Rawinporn, where do you want to start? |
| Rawinporn: I am going to say a nationality. Can you guess the meaning? |
| Ryan: I can do that. |
| Rawinporn: [khon khaae-naa-daa] |
| Ryan: Well, that would be “Canadian”. |
| Rawinporn: Right. |
| Ryan: There are two parts: the first part is? |
| Rawinporn: [khon] |
| Ryan: “Person” |
| Rawinporn: [khaae-naa-daa] |
| Ryan: “Canada” |
| Rawinporn: [khon khaae-naa-daa] |
| Ryan: “Canadian” |
| Rawinporn: How about [khon rát-siia]? |
| Ryan: “Russian” |
| Rawinporn: Right. |
| Ryan: Let’s look at the two parts. First, “person”? |
| Rawinporn: [khon] |
| Ryan: “Russia”? |
| Rawinporn: [rát-siia] |
| Ryan: “Russian”. How about “American”? |
| Rawinporn: We said, 98.5% of the time. Here’s one that kind of falls into that other 1.5%. [คนอเมริกัน] |
| Ryan: “American person”. |
| Rawinporn: Yes, for American we said [khon a-mee-rí-gan], instead of [khon a-mee-rí-gaa]. |
| Ryan: Now, how about English or British? |
| Rawinporn: [ang-glìt] is the name of the country in Thai. So, [khon ang-glìt]. |
| Ryan: “English person” |
| Rawinporn: [khon] is “person”. |
| Ryan: [ang-glìt] is “England”. |
| Rawinporn: [khon ang-glìt] |
| Ryan: “English”. Ok, let’s cover a few more countries. How about China? |
| Rawinporn: China is Thai language is [jiin], so [khon] is “person”, [jiin] is “China”. [khon jiin] |
| Ryan: “Chinese person” |
| Rawinporn: Right. |
| Ryan: In the lesson notes we have a list of all the countries. Well, most of the countries. So, view the lesson notes to find your country and if your country is not on that list, you can contact us and we’ll give you the name of your country. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Rawinporn: Under grammar section, let’s take a look at word order. In the dialogue, we had? |
| Ryan: [phǒm bpen khon a-mee-rí-gan] |
| Rawinporn: “I am American.” Just remember that, the basic word order of a Thai sentence is subject + verb + object which is the same as English sentence order. |
| Ryan: So, first, the subject here is? |
| Rawinporn: [phǒm] |
| Ryan: And, after that we have? |
| Rawinporn: [bpen]. It is an equivalent to the verb “to be”. |
| Ryan: Then, we have the nationality. [khon a-mee-rí-gan] |
| Rawinporn: [phǒm bpen khon a-mee-rí-gan] |
| Ryan: “I am American.” |
| Rawinporn: There you have it. You’ve made a full sentence. |
| Ryan: Now, we can try out this structure in other sentences. Khun Rawinporn, how would you say “We are American.”? |
| Rawinporn: “I” is [phǒm] or [dì-chăn], and “we” is [phûuak rao]. |
| Ryan: [phûuak rao] |
| Rawinporn: Right. So, [phûuak rao bpen khon a-mee-rí-gan]. |
| Ryan: “We are American.” Can you say “I am American.” Again? |
| Rawinporn: [dì-chăn bpen khon a-mee-rí-gan] |
| Ryan: Now, “We are American.”. |
| Rawinporn: [phûuak rao bpen khon a-mee-rí-gan] |
| Ryan: So, please notice that the only difference here is? |
| Rawinporn: [dì-chăn] |
| Ryan: “I” and? |
| Rawinporn: [phûuak rao] |
| Ryan: “We”. The rest of it stays the same. |
| Rawinporn: Right. If you notice, Thai words don’t change according to the subject. |
| Ryan: In English, we use “I am” or “We are”. |
| Rawinporn: The verb “to be” in Thai is [bpen]. We use the same form for both “I” and “we”. |
| Ryan: So, it’s kind of like “I be American.”, “We be American.”. The subject changes, but the verb stays the same making it easier. So, Khun Rawinporn, how would you say “I’m Thai.”? |
| Rawinporn: [dì-chăn bpen khon thai] |
| Ryan: How about “We are Thai.”? |
| Rawinporn: [phûuak rao bpen khon thai] |
Outro |
| Ryan: All right. We hope that this lesson has helped you get a grasp of basic Thai sentence structure. |
| Rawinporn: Stick with us and we get into more of the basics in this Basic Bootcamp serie. |
| Ryan: See you next time! |
| Rawinporn: Bye. |
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