Language Barrier

The language difference has definitely been an issue for me thus far in Thailand. Yes, some Thais speak English, but let me emphasize the word some. I think the right thing to do though is try to learn their language while I’m a visitor in their country—good luck.

So far, a little over three weeks into my journey I have learned some basic Thai. Hello, goodbye, yes, no, good night, excuse me, thank you, beautiful, delicious, a few of the colors, some numbers, and a bunch of other odds-and-ends things. It is getting past these common and, dare I say, easy phrases that will be my biggest accomplishment.

Thai is a tonal language. That means that there is a lot more to the language than just letters and phonetics. It isn’t only important what you say, but also how you say it. I have a story of how confusing that can be:

One morning over an 8 AM breakfast of fried rice and a chicken leg (not your typical American breakfast) Brit and I got a little Thai language lesson from our cousin’s nanny Khun Iad. Khun Iad knows slightly more English than we know Thai, so breakfast is always an interesting and hilarious event. It's usually one big game of charades. This particular morning Khun Iad was teaching us “older” “younger” “sister” and “brother” so we could explain the birth order of the three girls and one boy in my family. We started with “older.” Khun Iad starts, “pee.” We repeat. Giggles from her, “No; pee.” We repeat again, twice. “Not pee pee!” (giggles) One more time, “pee.” Our mimicking the third time would make a parrot proud. “Yes!” I still don’t know the difference. “younger”=”nuang” “sister”=”sow”. Now we have explained the birth order from Brittany, pee sow, to Lauren, nuang sow. Now it’s time to explain Adam.

“Brother; chai.” Hold on. With the little Thai I know I already know that “chai” means “yes.” We explain this. Giggles. She says, “chai” while lifting her chin. “Brother.” She says “chai” while lowering her chin. “Yes.” Really? We’re supposed to know that difference?! After a lot of repeating and mimicking Khun Iad made us feel like we got it. She was just being nice. I figure that I need to accept the fact that I won’t get the tonal part of the language down, but people will probably understand me due to the context of the sentence. Here’s to hoping!

Another confusing, but common, aspect of the language is the word “mai.” I have yet to fully understand the power of “mai” but I do know that when you slap it in a sentence it can be used to negate something AND you use it when asking a question. I don’t know quite where you put it in the sentence, but usually when you shove it in there somewhere it works.

It is funny how many people are willing to be teachers of the Thai language. A clerk at a store, a villa operator, a 3-year-old cousin, and every once in awhile, a taxi driver. Britt and I have learned a lot of Thai from a few taxi drivers. One driver in particular, Khun Prichasit, gave us a lesson that was somewhere around 45 minutes. However, it is rare to find any that speak much English so the typical taxi ride is like this:

Taxi Driver: Pi ni ka? (where are you going?)

Britt: Pi Central Plaza

Taxi Driver:alkdefjhrcqemjdheflkcjuhdhasdkafuhh

Britt: I don't speak Thai

Taxi Driver: aihkgheosraeorhflskfawrioaer

Britt: Alright sir that was really fun to hear but we have no idea what you're saying

Taxi Driver: ligsalkjadhaefke;keahg

Britt: So Lex, do you think this guy has any idea where we want to go?

(And then we precede to talk to each other and him in English, which he doesn't understand while he talks to us in Thai, which we don't understand)

My two best Thai teachers: my 2.5 year-old cousin, Gabriella and her mai-ban Khun Iad

Another big barrier of the Thai language is the letters. To me, their letters look like a bunch of ‘u’s ‘m’s and ‘n’s with various ornaments hanging off of them. Signs look like squiggly pictures with, every once in awhile, an English word or two splashed in. Signs look quite lovely, but to me are quintessentially useless.

Going to the grocery store is quite an experience when you’re illiterate. I don’t know if I’m buying fish paste or jelly (the former being more common than the latter). Luckily some things have pictures on them or are familiar to American eyes—like the grinning face of Tony the Tiger. The sights and sounds of the grocery store are a different blog altogether.

This is a picture of Brittany trying to figure out what "Essence of Chicken" is at the grocery store. This store in particular is more Western than the one by our house because in this one the aisles are labeled in English as well.

There is a little bit of Thai-English overlap when it comes to things like Coca-Cola and other Western products. Also, you say “taxi” for both English and Thai. Interestingly enough a common phrase used over here is spoken in English: “same same.” It mean just what it says. That something is basically the same as the other. Pepsi & Coke? Same same. Park & playground? Same same. When I first heard it I highly doubted I’d ever use it. But people here are “same same”ing all over the place.

These are the squiggle letters at their finest. I can make no connection out of them whatsoever. However, with these two examples I know what some of them say because of the familiarity of symbols. I clearly know that the picture on the right is a stop sign. On the left I know that at whatever restaurant or something that is being advertised Pepsi and Fanta are sold there!

Walking around in a country where you can neither speak nor read their language makes you feel quite vulnerable. I have a constant worry that something bad will happen and no one will understand me and I won’t understand anyone else. It can also be very frustrating trying to get a point across. Along with all of these negative feelings it is also very liberating. It’s like being a child. There is a lack of communication and therefore a lack of expectations. I don’t have to read signs, listen to announcements, talk to people, etc. I can sit in my own world, my own head, all day long. And I get a pat on the back just for saying “hello” and “thank you.”

**also I must admit to those who know me too well and read the blog in amazement...I had help figuring out how to use "former" and "latter"...some things just never change**