Learn the basics of Thai
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Ryan: Hi. Welcome to ThaiPod101.com, the fastest, easiest and most fun way to learn Thai. My name is Ryan and I'm joined by… |
| Pim: Pim khâ. My name is Pim and we’re about to introduce you to a new fun way to learn Thai. |
| Ryan: The core of this new approach is a radio-talk show format, which is entertaining while at the same time educational. |
| Pim: Not only will you have fun learning Thai, but we’ll have you speaking Thai from the very first lesson. |
| Ryan: With our revolutionary breakdown approach, even if you’re completely new to Thai you’ll be able to speak some Thai by the end of the first lesson. |
| Pim: Each lesson is hosted by one native Thai teacher, that’s me, and one native English speaking teacher, fluent in Thai, that’s Ryan. |
| Ryan: The dialogues are all recorded by professional voice actors. |
| Pim: The lesson center surround current practical dialogues you hear in friends every day. |
| Ryan: In addition to the dialogue, we break down the pronunciation of vocabulary words and phrases so you can understand them and say them right away. |
| Pim: We also cover cultural insights, experiences about living and traveling in Thai, and tips on using Thai you just won’t find in a textbook. |
| Ryan: Now, this audio lesson you’re about to listen to is just one part of our powerful system, as the audio lessons were designed to be used together with accompanying material on our site, ThaiPod101.com. |
| Pim: On our site you can find bonus audio tracks, Lesson Notes, quizzes and other learning tools for each and every lesson. |
| Ryan: There you can sign up for a free lifetime account and try out all of the powerful tools to get you speaking right away, and ensure you continue on learning this time. |
| Pim: So, Ryan, what do you think? Let’s show them how it works? |
| Ryan: Yes, very good idea. Today, we’re going to go over some phrases to say when we’re going out to eat at a restaurant. |
| Pim: This is a fast and fun lesson that is useful in lots of situations. It’s really useful. |
| Ryan: To see the phrases we’re going to cover today, stop by ThaiPod101.com, get your free account and view the Lesson Notes while or after you listen. |
| Pim: The Lesson Notes have additional info too. |
| Ryan: Or if you’re listening on an iPod or iPhone, tap the screen twice and you can see the phrases there. So, Pim, where are we taking the listeners today? |
| Pim: In this lesson, we’re going to meet. We meet to eat. What do you want to eat, Ryan? |
| Ryan: I want ต้มยำกุ้ง (Tom-Yum-Goong), some really good Thai food. And if you want to know more about Tom-Yum-Goong, take a look at our Lesson Notes. There we have a cultural insight section that gives you a detailed explanation of many topics we cover in the audio lesson. |
| Pim: In the Lesson Notes for this lesson there’s a write-up on Tom-Yum-Goong. Anyway, are you sure you want to order Tom-Yum-Goong? |
| Ryan: Sure, why not? I’ve tried many Thai dishes before, but not yet Tom-Yum-Goong. So this is going to be my very first experience with Tom-Yum-Goong. And since Tom-Yum-Goong is one of the most famous Thai dishes, probably the most famous one, I have to try it. |
| Pim: Oh okay. Now, before that, let me give you bits of information about Tom-Yum-Goong. Though Tom-Yum-Goong tastes so good, it’s a kind of เปรี้ยว (bprîiao) and เผ็ด (phèt), sour and spicy. Plus, there are a lot of herbs in this? |
| Ryan: Sour and spicy? Oh, no worries. I love spicy food. |
| Pim: Oh really? Then you should learn this phrase ผมชอบอาหารเผ็ด (phǒm châawp aa-hǎan phèt), which is “I like spicy food”. Anyway, if the speaker is a female, you have to say ดิฉันชอบอาหารเผ็ด (dì-chǎn châawp aa-hǎan phèt) instead. |
| Ryan: Okay, ผมชอบอาหารเผ็ด (phǒm châawp aa-hǎan phèt). But herbs? What kind of herbs are there? |
| Pim: All right, in ต้มยำกุ้ง (Tom-Yum-Goong) there are three basic herbs which are ข่า (khàa) - galangal, ตะไคร้ (dtà-khrái) - lemon grass stems, and ใบมะกรูด (bai-má-grùut) - kaffir lime leaves. I really love these herbs. To me they smell so good, but I'm not sure if you will like them or not. You know, I’ve heard a lot of people who have tried ต้มยำกุ้ง (Tom-Yum-Goong) say that they couldn’t stand the strong smell of these herbs. |
| Ryan: I think I’ll be fine as long as it’s spicy. |
| Pim: Cool. |
| Ryan: All right. And just like that, in our lessons, when we give essential vocabulary word or phrase, we give you an explanation on how to use it. We explain the exact situations the phrases are used in and the proper usage so that you don’t embarrass yourself. But you know what else we do? |
| Pim: The pronunciation? |
| Ryan: Yeah, the proper pronunciation so you can start speaking just like Pim here, instantly. So, Pim, can you repeat that phrase for us? And for those of you listening, don’t forget to repeat after Pim. All right? Here we go. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Pim: ชอบอาหารเผ็ด (châawp aa-hǎan phèt) |
| Ryan: One time, slowly. |
| Pim: ชอบอาหารเผ็ด (châawp aa-hǎan phèt) |
| Ryan: And now, one more time faster. |
| Pim: ชอบอาหารเผ็ด (châawp aa-hǎan phèt) |
| Ryan: And just like that, when we give you essential vocabulary words or phrases in our lessons, we always break it down for you. One time quickly for you to hear the natural speed. One time slowly so you can fully grasp the pronunciation. And one more time fast so that you can repeat it at full speed. |
| You’ll be speaking like a native Thai speaker with our system in no time. |
| Pim: There is also a Review Track that provides you with Thai words, try to repeat and practice them and then the meaning. |
| Ryan: You can try that if you visit the site. All right? So now that we got the pronunciation perfected, ผมชอบอาหารเผ็ด (phǒm châawp aa-hǎan phèt), we have our Lesson Notes so we know exactly when and where to use these phrases. I must try ต้มยำกุ้ง (Tom-Yum-Goong) because ผมชอบอาหารเผ็ด (phǒm châawp aa-hǎan phèt) “I like spicy food”. |
| Pim: Very good. |
| Ryan: Okay? Now we’re ready to eat, so we take a sip. Mmm, it’s so good. |
| Pim: Yeah, อร่อย it’s so good. Delicious. And this is something our listeners can say when they are going out to eat. |
| Ryan: Yeah, and trust us, Thai food is so good, you’ll definitely be saying delicious whenever you go you go out to eat Thai food. All right? So, Pim, what can our listeners use to say “delicious”? |
| Pim: อร่อย (à-ràwy) |
| Ryan: One time slowly. |
| Pim: อร่อย (à-ràwy) |
| Ryan: And one more time natural speed, please. |
| Pim: อร่อย (à-ràwy) |
| Ryan: And that is actually casual language, isn’t it? |
| Pim: Yes, you can use อร่อย (à-ràwy) with really close friends. But with people you meet for the first time, maybe your teachers, your boss, you have to be more polite. |
| Ryan: Yes, so to make อร่อย (à-ràwy) more polite is really easy, right? |
| Pim: Yes, all you have to do is add ครับ (khráp) or ค่ะ (khâ) at the end. ครับ (khráp) is for a male speaker, while ค่ะ (khâ) is for a female speaker. So instead of อร่อย (à-ràwy) we have อร่อยครับ (à-ràwy khráp) or อร่อยค่ะ (à-ràwy khâ). |
| Ryan: Can you break that down for us? |
| Pim: อร่อยครับ (à-ràwy khráp), อร่อยครับ (à-ràwy khráp). อร่อยค่ะ (à-ràwy khâ), อร่อยค่ะ (à-ràwy khâ) |
| Ryan: And just like that, we can make a casual word polite by adding อร่อยครับ (à-ràwy khráp) or อร่อยค่ะ (à-ràwy khâ). A very important thing to know is that Thai places a lot of emphasis on politeness levels. |
| Pim: Yes, there are certain situations where you have to use polite language and other situations where you can use casual language. |
| Ryan: Exactly, that’s why we let you know when we’re using casual language or polite language. And the lesson notes contain the lesson dialogue in Thai and with English translation. It also contains the Romanization in case you haven’t mastered Thai script yet. |
| Pim: You know, Ryan, looking at the dialogue in the lesson notes while listening at the same time really improves reading fluency, while improving listening ability. |
| Ryan: Not just the dialogue, but vocabulary words and phrases that we cover in our audio lessons are also included in our Lesson Notes, so that you can remember every single word that comes out in the lesson. What came out so far? |
| Pim: ผมชอบอาหารเผ็ด (phǒm châawp aa-hǎan phèt) or ดิฉันชอบอาหารเผ็ด (dì-chǎn châawp aa-hǎan phèt), and อร่อยครับ (à-ràwy khráp) or อร่อยค่ะ (à-ràwy khâ). |
| Ryan: So those two will make an appearance in our lesson notes. Also, the grammar point of the lesson - we also give an extremely detailed explanation with sample sentences, how to construct the grammatical pattern and, most importantly, how to use it. |
| Pim: So what if someone is having trouble with the grammar points? |
| Ryan: If you think grammar is confusing or difficult to grasp, just take a look at our lesson notes. You’ll be able to grasp the grammar in no time. |
| Pim: And also, it’s perfect to look at while you’re listening to the lesson. You can print it out and even take notes on it to practice writing. |
| Ryan: Wow, I didn’t even think of that. I always just open it in a browser while I'm listening. |
| Pim: See? These lesson notes are indispensable. |
| Ryan: I'm telling you, you need to stop by ThaiPod101.com, sign up for a free lifetime membership and pick up the lesson notes. It’s really the most effective and most convenient way to study. |
| Pim: Okay, I want to move on to our last phrase. |
| Ryan: Please, be my guest. |
| Pim: So, just to review, when you want to say you like spicy food, you say ผมชอบอาหารเผ็ด (phǒm châawp aa-hǎan phèt) or ดิฉันชอบอาหารเผ็ด (dì-chǎn châawp aa-hǎan phèt). |
| Ryan: I like spicy food. |
| Pim: And อร่อยครับ (à-ràwy khráp) or อร่อยค่ะ (à-ràwy khâ). |
| Ryan: “Delicious!” What was the casual version again? |
| Pim: อร่อย (à-ràwy) |
| Ryan: Right. No ครับ (khráp) or ค่ะ (khâ) at the end. So what’s our last phrase? |
| Pim: So, our last phrase is, since you’re having a spicy dish, you’ll probably need to ask for a glass of cold water to cool your tongue. If that’s the case, you say ขอน้ำเย็นหนึ่งแก้ว (khǎaw náam yen nùeng gâaeo). |
| Ryan: All right, so our last phrase is “Could you please get me a glass of cold water?” |
| Pim: Right. ขอน้ำเย็นหนึ่งแก้วครับ (khǎaw náam yen nùeng gâaeo khráp) for a male speaker or ขอน้ำเย็นหนึ่งแก้วค่ะ (khǎaw náam yen nùeng gâaeo khâ) for a female speaker. |
| Ryan: Can you break that down for us? |
| Pim: ขอน้ำเย็นหนึ่งแก้ว (khǎaw náam yen nùeng gâaeo), ขอน้ำเย็นหนึ่งแก้ว (khǎaw náam yen nùeng gâaeo). |
| Ryan: Okay, what’s “I like spicy food”? |
| Pim: ผมชอบอาหารเผ็ด (phǒm châawp aa-hǎan phèt), ดิฉันชอบอาหารเผ็ด (dì-chǎn châawp aa-hǎan phèt) |
| Ryan: And what about a useful phrase when you want to cool your tongue after eating a spicy dish? “Could you please get me a cold glass of water?” |
| Pim: ขอน้ำเย็นหนึ่งแก้วค่ะ (khǎaw náam yen nùeng gâaeo khâ) |
Outro |
| Ryan: Thanks, Pim. And one of the best places to practice this is on the site. There we have… |
| Pim: Line by Line Audio. |
| Ryan: One of our most powerful tools for improving pronunciation fast. There you can listen to phrases as many times as you need to. |
| Pim: You can hear us again and again. |
| Ryan: Yes. With our Line by Line feature, you have the ability to rapidly improve your listening comprehension. Listen to the native Thai speakers in bite-sized sentences and phrases so you can perfect every single aspect of your Thai listening comprehension. |
| Pim: Repeat after the speaker to improve your pronunciation. And don’t forget the recording software. You can perfect your pronunciation too. |
| Ryan: Right. On the same page, you can record your voice side by side to the native Thai speakers. This is the perfect way to compare your pronunciation with the native Thai speakers. |
| Pim: You can keep practicing and recording your voice. |
| Ryan: Yes, you can keep recording until your refine your pitch and intonation, build your fluency and perfect your pronunciation. |
| Pim: I actually had fun recording my voice the first time. |
| Ryan: Yes. Hearing your voice for the first time is interesting. Hearing yourself speak in another language is surreal. It’s pretty fun. |
| Pim: Speaking of fun, did you guys have fun? |
| Ryan: Yes, I think we had a good time. |
| Pim: Oh, one more thing related to this lesson, a bit of cultural insight. |
| Ryan: Sure, great idea. What did you have in mind? |
| Pim: So Ryan, do we tip in Thailand? |
| Ryan: Ah, I know this one. In Thailand, there is not tip system like in the states or other Western countries. But if you are very pleased with the service, you might just leave the coins that are left over when they come back from the change from paying your bill. |
| Pim: Great explanation. |
| Ryan: Thank you for listening. Go to ThaiPod101.com. |
| Pim: And sign up for a free lifetime account. |
| Ryan: Be sure to pick up the lesson notes for this lesson and to take a tour of our website. |
| Pim: Also, you can comment on our lessons. So, everyone, please remember to say hi when you stop by. |
| Ryan: At the site there is an amazing community of Thai students around the world. Not only can you ask us questions, but you can connect with other people who are learning Thai as well. Thanks for listening, we’re looking forward to seeing you at ThaiPod101.com |
| Pim: สวัสดีค่ะ (sà-wàt-dii khâ). |
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