The aim of these lessons is to give you a taste of "real" Thai.
We give you examples so you can understand the context and also
so you can use them as a template for your own conversations.
- Greetings
The most important part of any conversation is the first 10 seconds because people
will judge a lot about you from do they want to talk to you or not and what mood you are in.
- Informal ways of saying hi.
- Should you take a gift if someone invites you to dinner at their house ?
- äËÇé wai
- When to wai
- How to wai
- Who wais who
- Using Particles
Particles, those end words on a sentence that seem to have no meaning of
their own can make your Thai sound more friendly and more natural when used properly.
- How to use polite particles and everyday particles.
- Using the "wrong" particle with children.
- Why both men and women can say krap and ka.
- How the meaning may change with context.
- How to combine particles and what situations they might be used in.
- Expressions
Common expressions in Thai that you won't easily find in a
dictionary.
- ¹Õè nee
- Attracting attention
- Here you are
- Emphasising a retort
- Telling someone off
- Ending a question informally
- This, here
- «Ð˹èÍ sa noy
- Well, alright then
- A replacement for ¹Ô´Ë¹èÍ nid noy
- Money
Money is always a source of difficulty. We explore
dealing with money in Thai society and attitudes to money.
- When to pay and who pays.
- Going on a date.
- How much money to give for tips, weddings and religious ceremonies.
- Haggling and how much discount to expect.
- Dialects
We take a brief look at the main Thai dialects: Royal, Isaan, Lanna
and Southern.
- Influencing factors that determine if people speak dialect.
- Substitutions and phrases in both Isaan and Lanna.