The Travel Linguist - Thai 101

[BassaPyranus]

we aren't speak like that . It's tooooo formal !!

[FuzzBallFrost]

I'm half Chinese, half Thai and my Thai is rlly bad, Chinese is the subject I take in school.

[AmaOlson]

This is a little formal. When I say how are you I say "Sabai dee mai (ka)?"

They should also inform the viewer the feminine and masculine sentence endings. Such as "ka" for females and "krup" for males.

[ignacioruiz06]

Thank you for the information! It will be usefull for my next trip to Southeast Asia! Koob-kun!

[ignacioruiz06]

Thank you for the information! It will be usefull for my next trip to Southeast Asia!

 Koob-kun!

[starmen500]

this is really good thanks but you have forgotten the khap and kha if you forget to put this at the end of a sense in thailand you might look rude.

just a tip

[sexxyperv]

I'm American and every damn thing is hard!

[iamtheonlyhobo]

I am English...i am learning Italian (pretty easy) and Russian (Harder, but not that diffucult)

I did abit of Mandarin and have done French in the past...for me, in terms of pronounciation Mandarin is the most difficult...this also seems difficult.

[abbotrading]

Thank You so much for uploading this video! :) and now, i can learn to speak thai. :)

[scarydude101]

I agree I am Chinese and I understand Russian.

[scarydude101]

I agree I am chinese and I understand Russian.

[OM3N1R]

depends on your native tongue.

I am fluent in Thai after 5 years.

Japanese and Korean are very difficult to me.

[deniskotik]

I am Russian and I think Asian language are so hard to learn :)

[thaijuan14]

@awesomerainbow

I teach spanish and it has formal and informal words. I teach people the formal words first, because its better to be polite then to offend a stranger.

I just started studying Thai and I am confused. On another online video lesson, the Thai woman says "yes" means chai (sorry about the missing accent mark)

and "no" means mai chai? its like no/yes at the same time.

I will go to Thailand and learn from the people :)

[KensaiZen]

@thaijuan14 chai is better used as "correct" or "right" Mai is straight translation as "no" mai chai is directly translated as "not correct" or "not right".

like some of the comments said before Thai is a phonetic language. Pronouncing the correct sounds can mean the difference from the words Suei (beautiful) to suey (unlucky) a nice comment can turn into an insult lol

[TaChan211]

@thaijuan14 chai means yes. mai chai is the same as not correct. so it does not mean no/yes at the same time :) i hope that clears it up for you?

im thai by the way so i 100% sure

[JDMsamuraiwarrior]

my grand parents speak thai

[thaiprincess1000]

Hi !!!I'm thai and can speak thai but I just can't read or write in thai where should I start at I feel it is a little hard for me!!! Help!!! thank you plz!!!

[ST2by15]

เหมือน เรียน ตอน อนุบาล เลย

555+

[tongpeter2010]

thai language is easy but it can be changed and talked in mayny style

[awesomerainbow]

I'm Thai and i just wanna say that a lot of words here r wayyy too formal that we dont really say it!

[FortisConscius]

@awesomerainbow I agree. I never learned to speak or listened to people speak so formally! Sabaideemai (kup) / Poot ungrit daimai (kup) is much more common, for example. I also think this video should have emphasised that Thai is tonal. When other westerners try to speak Thai, people look confused, I 'translate' by saying exactly what they said but with the correct tone and people understand easily. I hope I can read / write one day too, but I'm too lazy right now!

[tomatothailand]

Listen ฟังๆ

you are welcome = ยินดีต้อนรับ [yin-dee-toon-rab]

not ไม่เป็นไร [mai-ben-rai]

[Yaionlyone]

good....I am thai and I like to teach people ..  Thai is easy to speak .

[sadtoad86]

sa wad dee krup pom cheu kelvin sai bai dee mai? hong num you tee nai? pom pai hong nam ....khao jai mai? 5555555+ sorry boys and girls im still learning thai anyone willing to teach me?? =x

[DarkShadow1366]

No Thais would use "la-korn" for goodbye.

They rather say "bye" to friends or "sa-wad-dee" to person that they respect,

"la-korn" just seems strange to me.

[saidonfax]

looks like difficult here but it's actually much easier when learn face-to-face. and barely know thai words wouldn't be a trouble in such a big city like Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya.

Just in case; Toilet or Rest room: "hong-narm" (ห้องน้ำ), Police: "tam-ruad" (ตำรวจ), Hotel: "rong-ram" (โรงแรม), Help!: "chuay-duay" (ช่วยด้วย), Taxi: just taxi, Food: "ar-harn" (อาหาร) or "kow" (ข้าว), Money: "ngern" (เงิน)

[23vin850]

You can argue all day about how it is spelt in english so you can say a word in Thai but if you dont say the word in the correct tone as these speakers are saying them you wont be understood.

[Linnsyy]

Sabai dee mai? ;)

What is that u have write?

[earthsuko]

@Linnsyy Sabai dee mai is สบายดีไหม?

[ThaiBeyond02]

Thai

[ThaiDjay]

that thai man twistes his eyebrows when he does something, lol!

[pinkwontons]

very good video i show to  my farangs

[jaocheu]

Hang on,

Lakorn isn't the word for goodbye.

It has a quite different implication.

[Qurylenko]

funny to see people talking about quite similar phrases and vocabs

let me try these lol

Ta = eye, grandfather.

Ma = Dog, To come, Horse, Mom

Krai or Kai = Who, Be horny,To Desire, To sell, Egg, etc

You should be careful to use those. Each word depends on tonal pronunciation to make difference

[Qurylenko]

You know what "Lakon" which means goodbye is not much lucky to who is said by, because We use it when someone's gonna die in front of you or someone that you will never see again.

Try "Choke Di" meaning goodluck as well as goodbye or "Jer gun" = See ya ;)

[Qurylenko]

When wanting to say "Who sells eggs?" (ใครขายไข่ไก่) you must speak " Kai Khai kai kai" . The entire words are spoken differently hehe!, therefore non Thai people cant speak clearly. especially The Whites

[popeiix]

@Qurylenko So are you saying the Thai people are like the French? If I say it, it's always wrong, because I am not Thai? I am married to a Thai, and she is more forgiving than that, khrap. I get much applause for trying.

[kawilik]

Is that so? Sort of like the gooks who can't seem to get "L" and "R" right, huh? Who wants some "flied lice", hmmmmm yummy.

[danylls]

@kawilik

Is there not a report abuse button?

I hate racists....

[kawilik]

Are you calling ME a racist because I used the word "gook"? If you are then don't bother. I use that word in English juxtaposed to their Thai word "farang" which is that language's counterpart.

[killerkellerman]

ลาก่อน is more "farewell" than "goodbye". you would never say it in a "see ya later" way.

สบายดีหรือ is waaaay too polite, สบายดีมั้ย will nearly always suffice.

etc.

[kse6063]

ลาก่อน means you are going to die. it is that sort of goodbye. just say bye bye thats what everyone in thailand says

[bewtymedjay]

Laa - korn = ลาก่อน K in thai = G

La - khorn = ละคร

[Tawanpro]

hello i'm mai-pben-rai is wrong

you can say mai - pen - rai

MP

[killerkellerman]

@Tawanpro

ไม่bpenไร is correct, it's ป so best equiv is a cross between b&p. but yeah, if that's tricky to pronounce then b or p will work well enough. best way is to never write ไทย in english-letters then issues like that never occur.

[SuzumiyaHaruhi0]

GOD BLESS YOU

[Captdiehard]

Very useful...

[paranoidxpenguin]

Sa-bi-dii-mai? is thai for "how are you" on another youtube vid..I'm confused

[ggrocks4ever]

sa-bi-dii-mai? is "how are you?"

[sajika117]

yes

[pja1202]

you can say either sa bi dii mai or sa bi dii rer since both "mai" and "rer" is just a particle word and does not have a major meaning.

[steview1989]

rue and mai are interchangable. Khun is put in to make it more of a literal translation to english but a thai would usually say sabai dee mai

[OzDelphi]

"rue and mai are interchangable" (steview1989)

I wouldn't say that. When "rue" is used, the speaker thinks or assumes that the answer will most likely be yes, whereas "mai" is neutral.

[StoneTempleman]

@paranoidxpenguin

Sabai dee mai is "Are you feeling well?

Sabai dee rue is "How are you?"

They have slightly different meanings in English, but can work as a greeting either way.

[Lisandro01987]

la korn... yea i eat corn do you want some?

[sajika117]

la korn = good bye

[thepeepo]

la korn = Drama ละคร

la kon = good bye ลาก่อน

[armourer84]

La-korn is never actually used in Thai.

Use "Sa-Wat-Dii" (Swuddee) as greeting and .

As same as Italian's "Chao".

Actually, almost Thai understand "Hello" and "Bye Bye".

[adjibekova]

have samething good from thai or I see from my huseband all bad becouse really i was not be in thai never and how i know this country bad and will make everybody bad

[bamboobaba]

อิคนข้างล่างอย่าให้เจอหน้ามึงน­ะ กูจะตบมึงให้ ไอ้เหี้ย

[Lisandro01987]

โง่

[kevirish37]

yak

[adjibekova]

i hate everything from thai i hate becouse ladies bad from my hasebund hade before girl fom thai and now i know he has baby fuckin all them

[sseNiahT]

really !!!!

[xXbanananaXx]

My mom is thai, but I'm only half thai.. I wish she taught me thai before.. Then I would understand what she says to her friends ^^".

But I do know some words, like Sa-Wa-Ti-Ka?

Sorry I dont know the spelling, and "ba" as go?

but this video is helping a lot (: thanks

[Flommie]

You are wrong..

It is Mai Bpen Rai and not Mai Ben Arai like you just wrote :)

[StoneColdBeer316]

Great help I am going to Thailand next year

[allnightdrinker]

The section on how are you is pretty good, but that is rarely used. You are better off using kuun sa bai dee mai krap! Good luck mate its well nice out here.

[bubbles70232]

la korn is a play in thai its very beautiful i ♥ it

[themandude20]

goodbye is actually

"la-gon" not "la-korn"

[CONTESTENT]

khoob koon ka- thank you

[0hN0y0ud1dnt]

LMAO peoples comments

yea instructors look tired...

how come for "excuse me" it says koo-toot when it sounds more like koh to'ad

[xyz49271]

Because ขอ is an koh sound that holds up in the throat & the โ is a longer drawn out O the ษ is a T when placed at the end of a syllable but in Thai you place more emphasis on the middle of the syllable not the end like English. If you are a native English speaker your ears will be more trained to listening to the Beginning/end of the word rather than the middle section

[NikshMarcelo98]

Why do the translaters don't even bother to smile.....

Anyways SAWASDEE for women is SAWASDEE KA and male SAWASDEE KRAP.

:D I thank u for posting some vids

[1stgo1]

Im mongolian, i think Russian language is soooo easy!!! but French language is lil hard

[maichai13]

haha im creole from usa and i think french is very easy but russian, omg soo hard!

[1stgo1]

ok, u r American so French is easy for u! but im mongolian so russian is very easy for me hahaha

but i'd love to learn French :P

[Manuisscum]

I am Chinese and I think Thai and Japanese are the easiest foreign language to learn! Russian and Polish are so damn hard, crazy!

[za5084]

I m Thai I think Chinese is easiest to learn too.

[jujoxande]

Thai and japanese are easy for you.I'm brazilian and european languages are the easiests for me.

[1stgo1]

haha i think Mongolian language is hard for Asian and Europian ppl :)

all the foreign ppl told me haha

[BahugVeelath]

@Manuisscum To me, Russian is the easiest

[busdriver153]

@Manuisscum what language do you want to study?

[lazytown222]

@Manuisscum it may depend upon your understanding if you understand that language you may able to learn it with no reaction.... I am Filipino and I understand Russian and Ukrainian it rocks!!

[phoenixred999]

@Manuisscum i speak russian and english....chinese is the hardest to learn, you're lucky

[deccno]

@Manuisscum try german my jap teacher always is on about how easy it is compared to german.

[pedrohissa3]

@Manuisscum That's because you didn't learn Portuguese as foreign language.

[GALLILAO]

im trying to learn thai but so many words mean diffrent things but sound the same

[sweetpicky]

to be honest ,i think , the pronunces are good, but the express of the charactors need to change :(

[subongkosh]

555555555 the man fucking funny

[tan03202]

LOL LOOK AT THAT GUY

[whokilledreno]

nah, he just smoked a phat joint before the translation. Thats why he says the phrases so fast. The white room has him tripping.

[ngocvg]

ahahhha

[Leon612]

sounding like a ladyboy  lol!!

[Brodus4life]

Is there any lessons to be found where the instructors voice is male? I'm pretty sure i'm starting to sound like a ladyboy...

[binzydarren]

mai bpen rai = no problem,nevermind.... yindee= welcome

[maraphang]

Thank you for sharing. I've always wanted to learn Thai.

[natsfan44]

@maraphang Maybe this is how Nikki Minaj understood Drake.

[a05bf5ff]

to be polite for man u say krap and women u say kaa, is this if ur talking to a man or a woman or if u are a man or a woman???

[Damii51]

it's if you are a man or woman.

[xxclulowxx]

this is a shitty waste of time

[BerriezJuiciiiz]

then why did u watch it ?

[KhmersHelpedThais]

OK, Thais below, you are calling my name and here I am returning your call! Petercool Devilmekritz Qwerty1540 SOPHP1mom4COCK Yurisukidayo Thailandrules1 Siamgirl90 Guitarstyles Ruize Ajopopop Sookchai Boxsterwelby Moederskutje Thaiiczedtea

[BatdambangNative]

you don't say "korb kun" to a child. you say "korb jai".

btw, if you are ever in thailand, word of advice to keep some loose change on you because when the need to use the last phrase in the video arises, you might come in handy.....thai locals might have more options in these matters, but foreigners not so much...

[countdevio]

Is the girls name on here Saispote ... I think she is my old thai teacher from New York City ??

[gurulao101]

the thai ppl on here can't spell in english, it's sa wat dee, not sa wad dee.

[Exchristian]

Racist!

[gurulao101]

what??How am I racist, I hope u aren't Asian cuz u r one dum confused son of a bitch.

[buddmar]

It's a soft "t" so it is actually closer to Sa wad dee.

[gurulao101]

still a t.

[dragonz4eva]

hey, in thai you said for politeness khub if your a male so for example khob khun khub? is there a difference between khub and krub as in sawatdee krub? im not sure but i've read it as sawatdee krub and just sawatdee.

[TheXtremeElemenT]

its krub for male kaa for female. so krob khun krub and sa wat dee krub

[Jimmybangkok]

The rolling r sound is the proper pronunciation as in krub, the lazier and more common pronunciation is khub (kap), but it's the same word with same meaning. When written it is written as krub. I've heard this change in pronunciation blamed on a number of factors including the mass immigration of Chinese people who couldn't roll their r's back in the day.

[Jimmybangkok]

gurulao101 there is no standard Thai to English pinyin people can write Thai in English any way they want it's all crap

[gurulao101]

I don't really, with any language starting out they try to teach you the proper way of saying it,like when I took Spanish and English in high school, but that doesn't mean ppl who speak fluently in that language actually talk like that, what I was trying to say is that the pronunciations in Thais isn't spelled correctly.

[Keihotaru81]

'o'.... arai wa nia......

[zencat]

Do people really say "la-korn" much? I thought "mai-bpen-rai" was more like "no worries, mate" rather than "your welcome", but I guess "not at all" would be close...

[davespitvalve]

"mai bpen rai" can be used for a number of English phrases:

e.g.

"Don't worry it"

"It doesn't matter"

"No problem"

"That's alright"

"You're welcome"

It seems that you can say it if someone says "sorry" to you, or if someone says "thank you" to you.

[krungthepkaki]

I've never ever heard anyone say "la gon". Sometimes people say "diaw gon", sometimes a grunt "uhn", but normally they just part without saying anything. On the phone though, it is usual to say "kae nee"

[kojpuasncokuv]

la gon is use more in lao language

[LadyLothiriel]

yep same here..an I also never heard someone say khun sabai dee rue..

If i talk with Thai ppl I ask "sabai dee mai"

okk maybe because i talk with my aunts and cousins XD

[TheXtremeElemenT]

same here i always say sa bai dee mai

[gurulao101]

Like Lao been bap dai.LOL

[gurulao101]

how r u translates to sa bee dee lua.Even in Spanish there is no exact translation u have to translate the idea or it won't sound right.

[KhmerS15]

grammer is very different in all languages

[pnattaya]

No one says 'how are you?' in Thai. It's not in the culture so it's useless. On the other hand, we ask 'where have you been?' 'Have you eaten yet?'. Kinda nosy but that's just culture difference.

[gurulao101]

It's not an exact translation, just the idea.

[gurulao101]

koo toot?Koa tot means sorry in exact translation, not excuse me.Fucking Thai ppl.

[desty1234]

It's mean both u fuckin stupid ass hole ... It's depend on situation .. im Thai so what ? ... I can fuck'up ur mom real good.

[gurulao101]

I'm just pointing it out, don't get racist bac Thai, my mom has a legit job no thank u, unlike your prostitute mom.

[gurulao101]

tum mai pood mai dee lua.

[JEKATTUNNEWSFAN]

Un this lesson, they didnt teach the words between Koon and Tur or Ka or Krub!!!! In Thailand, its very important to use Ka or Krub mostof the time!!!!

[Yougoingdownn]

OMG i almost jumped out of my chair when i saw the girl.

[123carolie]

i thought it was "sao vai dee ka"

or is that laos... idk!!!

[bmnATmailbucket]

Koi bo mak hi minh!!!

[Torchwood001]

woman looks tired

[fleurdopium]

Thanks for sharing, i love to learn Thai language in this way.

[tsubame28]

To Abarrios666

can I have a beer

(Khor-Beer-Noi-Krub.)

where's the party tonight

(Khuen-Nee-Ja-Pai-Party-Tee-Nh­ai?)

nice to meet you

(Yin-Dee-Tee-Dai-Roo-Jak)

what time is it?

(Torn-Nee-Wela-Tow-Rai-Laew?)

Hope to see u around in BKK!!

[Abarrios666]

Daaammn!! the guy looks like he did not get paid or got laid.

Can somebody tell me how to say in thai.....

can I have a beer, where's the party tonight

nice to meet you, what time is it?

koob khun!!

[lilthamd08]

Eh? tah mai kon tee nee puut jah mai dee gup kow kon thai huh? baa ching. kit wah kow pen krai? yuut do tuuk pawk lraw kon thai dai mei?

[dezmika]

excuse me is "noong" if ur askin som1 younger, or "pee" if ur som1 is older and "koo-toot" means sorry is wot i had learn from my fello thai COUSINS

[GGTravel]

For More Adventure Travel:

Gordons Guide . com

[bleedroses]

cool...thnx!

[ajaxsf]

I've been speaking Thai for all my life. I've never once said "la-korn" for goodbye. Btw - the girl looks like she's got the munchies. Someone throw her a bag of Cheetos.

[jalomy]

wt do u say then?

[tenshigem]

0_0 i have to learn thai now.

[sugrmama]

thx 4 da lessons...job well done.

[maximilian333]

Very nice, do you have a video for Laotian?

[lilthamd08]

so basically i am Laotian, and fluent too, so yah ask me a question and i can help you out.

[jbmaxi]

can you teach me?

[IsanBaanHao]

Whats wrong with the folks la , seem hangover both of them , maybe been to a thai party the day before recording this

[Raymasaki]

Thai is great & fun to learn.

[martin191292]

koob-kun, whoops.. the girl has a hangover maybe suffered domestical violence, nope.. I love Thailand.

[AradynnNyzon]

LOL

[Davidakumatenshi]

yes lol

[vaio14]

awesome! Thanks...Are there more?