I’d forgotten how hard it is to live in a country where you don’t speak the language. The last time I experienced this frustration was when I was living in China. But at least I started taking Mandarin classes the moment I landed in Beijing. Here, I don’t even have a phrasebook.
Anyway, the boss of my NGO got it into his head to subsidize Thai lessons for the unpaid interns. Of course I signed up…might as well get compensated for my hard labor and learn something useful. Two days a week, two hours per class…the lessons would also give me something to do.
First Day of Class:
I turned up bright and eager to learn Thai and Thai culture. But to my dismay, I discovered that my teacher was an Aussie!!! I was in Thailand learning Thai with a Mark and not a Khun Pong. What about the other 65 million Thais in the country? It was a serious lapse in judgement on the part of the admin staff at my office. I couldn’t hide the disappointment on my face when I met Mark. He wasn’t offended by my reaction though because apparently he had gotten it from all his other farang students.
Three Weeks Later:
Mark can speak Thai quite fluently, but he definitely cannot teach! He goes exactly by the utterly useless book. The book is strangely headlined “Help 4 English,” despite the fact that it’s a Thai instructional text. There are also some extremely inane conversations. For example…
Lesson 6.9 Conversation --- Comparing buffalos and cows (in Thai)
Q: Which one is bigger, the buffalo or the cow?
A: The buffalo is bigger than the cow.
Q: And which one is smaller?
A: The cow is smaller than the buffalo.
Why? Why? When we first saw the text, we refused to do it. Mark tried to convince us otherwise by telling us that at least we would be able converse fluently with farmers in the Northeast if we ever went there. Hello!? I need practical Thai to help me get around Bangkok. He finally conceded defeat when everyone rebelled. So instead we talked about people in the office.
Q: Who is fatter, Baby or Candy?
A: Baby is fatter than Candy.
Q: And who is thinner?
A: Candy is thinner than Baby.
Not quite practical, but at least it was a lot more fun!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
hello ..... you must be pretty bored over there :-)
How about keeping a picture library, learning thai cooking or massage ? Do you have time for that yet ? Interestingly enough, would there be an opportunity for business where thai products could be sold in the US by an enterprising Master's student ?
Actually, I did take a Thai cooking class. I'll write about it next...I looked into the Thai massage thing too but then realized that only other people would benefit from the skill so I decided against it =))
I vote for thai massage!!! :)
Post a Comment