so I've been a little behind on the posting, kawtotkrap. to make up for it i'll give you a double lesson. The last passa thai post (lesson #4) i told you how to apologize in thai and i told you i would tell you how most people would respond  if they forgave you. the second part although i don't have a picture of how you speel it or and audio clip is how you would respond to someone how said khopkhun krap\kha (thank you).

Maipenrai

"mai pen rai" is the first term. it's actually used for more than just when some one says they are sorry. basically it means "it's ok", "never mind", "don't worry about it", and "that's alright". so if you are talking to a thai person trying to use thai and they just can't understand you with your funny accent then you can just tell them "mai pen rai krap/kha" and smile.

the second phrase i'll teach you today is how you say you're welcome. it's pretty easy so it should be able to pick it up with out the audio. "yin dee krap/kha" (or "yendee krap/kha"). for some reason i don't hear this one as much but keep it in mind because it's good to always be polite.

enjoy your week.

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so as a farang you might make a lot of mistakes and insult people and the like because you don't really know the culture. for example in america it's alright if you step on a coin to stop it rolling or toss money on the table to give it to someone or even point at something with your foot if your hands are full but here all those thing will cause people to stare (or maybe even mutter under their breath). not to worry, i'm here to teach you how to say that you are sorry in thai. it goes like this khaw toht [polite particle] (spoken example: male female).

Kawtot

i was told this literally means something like "please give me punishment" and it's used like "excuse me" or "pardon me". this means it is also commonly used to interrupt or get someones attention. so if you really screw up you might want to say more than just excuse me you can say chan (or dechan for girls and pom for guys) sia jai. chan is the genderless "i" and sia i think means something like damaged and jai is heart. so "i damaged-heart" might be a better way of saying sorry if the offense is a serious one. remember the thais are very friendly and for the most part very forgiving of foreigners mistakes. well i hope you learned something and next week i'll tell you one response you are likely to hear when you say khaw toht.

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i'm a little late with your thai lesson this week but here it is. i thought this week to make up for my tardiness i'd give you a bit longer of phrase to learn. actually it's two phrases, a question and an answer. you have already learned to how to say hello. now i'll teach you how to ask "how are you?" as well as the common answer "i'm well". here's the whole phrase then i'll break it down to each word. sabai dee mai [krap/kha] (note: both audio links have the word "kun" which means "you" but it is not often said since it is understood).

Sabaideemai

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this is the first of a weekly post teaching the thai language (or passa thai). as well as learning to speak some essential phrases hopefully you will learn a bit of the culture as well.

so i figure the first thing you need to learn when taking on a new language is how to greet someone. salutations in thai are both more complicated and simpler in thailand. what do i mean by that? well, greeting someone involves more than just spoken words. there is the social custom of wai-ing and the ever so important smile. however, once you learn all of this things it's a lot easier because the same greeting covers  "good morning", "good evening", "good afternoon", "good night", "hello", and "good-bye".

first, let me explain the wai (pronounced just like "y"). the way you wai is by holding your hands together, palms joined, in front of your body. sounds easy right? well, that's not the whole of it. who wais who first and how high you raise you hands is also defined by custom. normally a person of lower status wais first. most of the time this means younger people. as far as how high to raise your hands there aren't clear "rules" but here's what i would say as a two week observer. if it's a younger person gently touch the tips of your index finger to your chin; someone of the same age or a good friend gently touch your index fingers somewhere in the nose to brow region; an older or important person somewhere in the forehead area. for the king you should probably have the backs of your thumbs touching the top of your forehead. also the lower you bow your head the more respect is shown. if all else fails i always go with "monkey see, monkey do". all of this said the thai people are very friendly and probably won't mind if a foreigner doesn't fully get the whole wai-ing thing perfectly.

Sawadee

next, lets cover the spoken part. i don't know the best way to spell it in english but basically "sawatdee" or "sawaddi" are two good approximations.  then to be polite you add the male or female polite particle, krap or ka respectively. so men would say "sawatdee krap" and women would say "sawatdee ka" (note: krap isn't pronounced exactly how it looks. it's more of a klup/klap with a soft "l" that sometime isn't even heard)

finally, don't forget the smile. It's the last key ingredient to a proper thai greeting. thai is also a tonal language but i won't even begin to go there right now. well, i hope you learned something interesting and check back for more lessons on passa thai.

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