INTRODUCTION |
Hello and welcome to Thai Survival Phrases brought to you by ThaiPod101.com, this course is designed to equip you with the language skills and knowledge to enable you to get the most out of your visit to Thailand. You will be surprised at how far a little Thai will go. |
Now, before we jump in, remember to stop by ThaiPod101.com and there, you will find the accompanying PDF and additional info in the post. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment. |
Lesson focus
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There is a wide variety of Thai food, and your job as a visitor is to eat as much of as many things as possible! However, before you start eating, you have to get the table! So in today's lesson, we'll cover getting a table in a restaurant. As for ordering...well, you'll just have to hang on until next week. |
When entering a restaurant in Thailand, you will be greeted with sà-wàt-dii khâ. gìi thân khá. |
Of course, the first phrase, sà-wàt-dii khâ, is "hello" for females. |
And the second phrase, gìi thân khá, means "How many people?" |
Since you already know the first phrase, I'm going to break the second phrase down for you: gìi thân khá. |
gìi thân khá. |
gìi thân khá. |
The first word, gìi, means "how many" and is followed by thân, which means "person" in a formal way. Of course, khá is added to make it more polite. If you notice, I am introducing you to the phrases for women because most of the time, women will be the ones greeting you at the restaurant. |
So sà-wàt-dii khâ. gìi thân khá. means "Hello, how many people, sir?" |
In some restaurants, you might hear people say "Please take a seat" instead of asking you how many people. |
To say "Please take a seat" in Thai is chooen nâng khâ or chooen nâng khráp. |
Let’s break it down by syllable: |
chooen nâng khâ. |
chooen nâng khâ. |
chooen nâng khráp. |
chooen nâng khráp. |
The word chooen means "please" as an invitation, followed by nâng, which means "sit." Adding them together with khâ or khráp, this phrase means "Please take a seat." |
So how should you respond to these phrases? Well, if the person says chooen nâng khâ or chooen nâng khráp, you may go take a seat at any available table. |
But if the person asks you gìi thân khá then the answer is simple. Just say the number then end with khâ or khráp. |
I'm going to tell you how to count from one to five. Ready? Let's go. |
nùeng, sǎawng, sǎam, sìi, hâa. |
Let's hear it one more time: nùeng, sǎawng, sǎam, sìi, hâa. |
Nùeng is "one," sǎawng is "two," sǎam is "three," sìi is "four," and hâa is "five." |
So if you would like a table for "two," you may say sǎawng khâ or sǎawng khráp. |
If you would like a table for "four," you say sìii khâ or sìi khráp. Got it? |
Outro
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Okay, to close out today's lesson, we'd like for you to practice what you've just learned. I'll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you're responsible for saying it aloud. You'll have a few seconds before I give you the answer, so chôok-dii khâ, that means "good luck" in Thai. |
Remember, khâ is for women and khráp is for men. |
Ok, here we go! |
The common phrase you’ll be greeted in a restaurant - sà-wàt-dii khâ. gìi thân khá. |
sà-wàt-dii khâ. gìi thân khá. |
sà-wàt-dii khâ. gìi thân khá. |
"Please take a seat." for women - chooen nâng khâ. |
chooen nâng khâ. |
chooen nâng khâ. |
"Please take a seat." for men - chooen nâng khráp. |
chooen nâng khráp. |
chooen nâng khráp. |
Counting from 1 to 5 in Thai - nùeng, sǎawng, sǎam, sìi, hâa. |
nùeng, sǎawng, sǎam, sìi, hâa. |
nùeng, sǎawng, sǎam, sìi, hâa. |
“a table for two" for women - sǎawng khâ |
sǎawng khâ |
sǎawng khâ |
“a table for two" for men - sǎawng khráp |
sǎawng khráp |
sǎawng khráp |
All right. That’s is going to do it for today. Remember to stop by ThaiPod101.com and pick up the accompanying PDF. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment. |
Comments
HideHi ThaiPod101.com Listeners! How long will you wait in line to get a table in a restaurant?
Hello Andrew,
Thank you very much for your comment and question, "chooen" เชิญ to invite, Thai spelling have no rule of why we spelling word in particular way or use the ending that it is use, learner just have to memorized spelling of individual word. The different of gìi and tâo-rài is gìi follow by "classifier". For example "gìi-bàat", "gìi-an", "gìi-wan","gìi-kon". Hope that help. Please let me know if you have any future questions. I will be glad to help. We wish you have a good progress with Thai.
Have a nice day.
Parisa
Team ThaiPod101.com
Hello
Why does chooen end in yaw ying? why is neung pronounced as it is when the vowel suggest different sound? How is use of gii different to tao-rai?
Hello ฝรั่งหมู่บ้านทาชมภู
hank you very much for your comment and question, “I need a table for 6 people.” mii dtó wâang sam-ráp hòk kon(tîi) mái kráp มีโต๊ะว่างสำหรับหกคน(ที่)ไหมครับ Hope that help. Please do not hesitate to let me know if you have any future questions. I will be glad to help. We wish you have a good progress with your Thai. :)
Have a nice day.
Parisa
Team ThaiPod101.com
So, if I was talking to the hostess when arriving at a restaurant, how would I say, "I need a table for 6 people."?
Hello Larry,
Thank you for posting.
Your feedback is very important for us.
Would you be so kind as to fill this form here? https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdlBo_4qBSTeGszlS7UFg_1z-m2XKmIBAgo-hqD9-QbaVj6Wg/viewform?c=0&w=1
Sincerely,
Lena
Team ThaiPod101.com
สวัสดีค่ะ Larry,
Thank you very much for your comment and feedback. We really appreciated. We really sorry to hear that you unlike our changed interface. I will pass your comment to our team in order to be consider. Please feel free to let me know if you have any future questions. I will be glad to help. We wish you have a good progress in learning Thai.
Have a nice day.
Parisa
Team ThaiPod101.com
Hi! I prefer the old interface because I can see the list of lessons to the left and my progress on them.
Hi Nuno,
Thank you for your comment. For your question, "jà = will/going to "phák" = to stay "yùu" = to be stay or locate somewhere "thîi" = at. So, "jà phák yùu thîi" will stay at/in .......
Have a great day.
Parisa
Team ThaiPod101.com
dì-chǎn jà phák yùu thîi grung-thêep sìi wan
dì-chǎn - I (female)
grung-thêep - Bangkok
sii wan - 4 days
jà phák yùu thîi - ?
Thks.
Hi Martin,
Yes, we use it often. :)
Parisa
Team Thaipod101.com
Hi Parisa,
I don't think i worded my question correctly.
I mean't could gii kon be used as a less formal version of gii than?
Thanks.
Hi Martin,
Thank you very much for your comment. For you question, it doesn't have to be in a fancy restaurant . It could be in a busy restaurant, where they need to find the seat for you.
Have a good day.
Parisa
Team thaipod101.com
If it's not a fancy restaurant could I expect to hear gìi kon, or not?
Hi Simon,
Thanks for the comment. Let us consider your opinion for any future lesson development of ThaiPod101.com
Thank you again.
Jay / ThaiPod101.com
I find the American accent rathe off putting. I live in Thailand and Thai people just don't pronounce English the way your speaker does. Noticeably the o vowel as in com.