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<title>Travelfish Learnthai forum</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/</link>
<description>Digest of the Learnthai travel forum</description>
<pubDate>Tue, 26 Feb 2013 07:17:42 +0000</pubDate>
<language>en</language>
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<title>Learning Thai With Virtual Thai Keyboard Online</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/learnthai/18533_Learning-Thai-with-Virtual-Thai-Keyboard-Online/0</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 16 May 2012 13:58:51 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ suggest this Thai Keyboard site and I use for a long time when I outside Thailand

Easy to Use :)

enjoy

Thank you
Source:
http://www.thai-keyboard.com ]]></description>
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<title>Online Vocab Games</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/learnthai/18024_online-vocab-games/0</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 26 Mar 2012 15:57:01 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Does anyone know of any sites that use games to help build vocabulary?  I think it is the easiest way to learn.  I have been using [url=http://www.vocards.com]vocards[/url] but have now finished the free lessons and do not want to pay for the subscription.  Does anyone know of a free alternative?

Thanks a lot.
Kat ]]></description>
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<title>Learn How To Sing The Loy Krathong Song</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/learnthai/12462_Learn-how-to-sing-the-Loy-Krathong-Song/0</link>
<pubDate>Thu, 11 Nov 2010 00:31:42 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ If you happen to be travelling in Thailand during November then you should be lucky enough to take part in one of the country’s principal annual celebrations, Loy Krathong. This year it is on Sunday 21 November. 
A Krathong, or &amp;#3585;&amp;#3619;&amp;#3632;&amp;#3607;&amp;#3591; gra&amp;#768;-tong, is an ornate arrangement of flowers, incense, candles and banana leaves. Each November full moon people flock to the river banks (or indeed any convenient body of water) to float [or loy &amp;#3621;&amp;#3629;&amp;#3618;] these krathongs. It is essentially a merit making exercise where people come to &amp;#3586;&amp;#3629;&amp;#3650;&amp;#3607;&amp;#3625;&amp;#3649;&amp;#3617;&amp;#3656;&amp;#3609;&amp;#3657;&amp;#3635; [ko&amp;#774;r to&amp;#770;ht ma&amp;#770;e na&amp;#769;am], which means to apologise to the river for using her ... ]]></description>
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<title>Funny, True, Language Story</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/learnthai/12133_Funny--true--language-story/0</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 19 Oct 2010 09:48:07 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ I was getting a massage when this anglo guy came in. In Muk,  most of the massage places are just rooms with mattresses on the floor - low tech, low cost options. I'm getting my massage and the guy who comes in is a tourist. Now God bless him, he's trying to learn the language. Kudos for that, as he's a transient and a lot of people don't think it's worth the trouble for a month or so. Anyway, the girl asks him, in broken English:

"Do you like girl Thai?"
He answers:
"Pu Ying... Thai... Aroi."
The girl starts laughing so hard, she can't stop. I asked the guy if he knows what he just said. 
"Yeah, that Thai girls are beautiful."
I said "No. You just said that Thai girls are tasty."
Just hillarious. Every time I go into that ... ]]></description>
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<title>A Note On Transliteration</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/learnthai/12038_A-Note-on-Transliteration/0</link>
<pubDate>Sun, 10 Oct 2010 09:45:28 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Good points Exacto.  My favourite mis-transliteration of a name is Ple for &amp;#3649;&amp;#3629;&amp;#3611;&amp;#3648;&amp;#3611;&amp;#3636;&amp;#3657;&amp;#3621; :-)

For people wanting to learn how to read I would start by learning the alphabet and vowels.  Try these vids at YouTube: 

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_REY-8sVJs]Alphabet[/url]
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shQWMNlkLQQ&amp;feature=related]Vowels[/url]

You can drill the names and the sounds with help from some Spaced Repetition Software (or SRS) like [url=http://ichi2.net/anki/]Anki[/url], which is free.  From the anki website you can download some decks made by users to support the learning process for reading.

The most highly thought of book, as far as can tell, is David Smythe's ... ]]></description>
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<title>Words And Phrases For Cycling</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/learnthai/12023_Words-and-Phrases-for-Cycling/0</link>
<pubDate>Fri, 08 Oct 2010 15:23:32 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Hi Ajarn Pasa,

In December I'm going to be heading over there with my bike. This will be the second time. The first time went smoothly. Not once was I in a situation where I had to explain something to someone with the hopes of getting something on my bike fixed. If I had needed to, I'm sure I could have made myself understood, but I would like to be more prepared this time. Could you please give me some phrases and words for commonly used cycling terms?

For example, when we say that the air is pleasant ("agaht sabai") can we use the same word for air that is inside a tire? Or no longer inside a tire? Is there a term for a flat tire? Fixing a flat tire? Filling a tire?

Lock, and locking a bike?

"Strange noise"?

"Wipe ... ]]></description>
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<title>Goodbye Ruby Tuesday...Hello Purple Saturday</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/learnthai/11901_Goodbye-Ruby-Tuesday---Hello-Purple-Saturday/0</link>
<pubDate>Sun, 26 Sep 2010 13:00:58 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ While forgetting what day it is might be the whole point of visitingThailand, and letting time slip and meld into one amorphous gently meandering inconsequencethat serves just to play host to one awesome experience after another is exactlyhow you planned it, it still doesn’t hurt to know the days of the week just incase.
[b]The Days[/b]
Just like in much of the west (some of the English weekdaysand all of them in French), the days of the week are named after seven celestialbodies.
They are:
&amp;#3623;&amp;#3633;&amp;#3609;&amp;#3592;&amp;#3633;&amp;#3609;&amp;#3607;&amp;#3619;&amp;#3660; wan-jan: Monday
&amp;#3623;&amp;#3633;&amp;#3609;&amp;#3629;&amp;#3633;&amp;#3591;&amp;#3588;&amp;#3634;&amp;#3619; wan ang-kaan: Tuesday
&amp;#3623;&amp;#3633;&amp;#3609;&amp;#3614;&amp;#3640;&amp;#3608; wan pút: ... ]]></description>
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<title>Small Talk</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/learnthai/11685_Small-Talk/0</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 06 Sep 2010 00:44:14 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Small talk, love it or hate it it’s an essential part of meeting, conversing and getting to know people. And whether it’s a couple of weeks of seeing the Land of Smiles from the outside of a back-pack, or you’re digging-in for the long haul, you are absolutely going to get more out of your time in Thailand if you can strike up a round of deep-and-meaningless with the people you meet along the way.

You intrepid Travelfish vagabonds will know that small talk varies from place to place, culture to culture, with varying mores and taboos. In ‘The West’ it’s all about the weather and how you are and how you’ve been, the economy and politics – but stay away from salaries or how much your house cost. In Thailand food, family and social ... ]]></description>
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<title>Checking In And Checking Out Hotels</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/learnthai/11469_Checking-In-and-Checking-Out-Hotels/0</link>
<pubDate>Fri, 13 Aug 2010 03:04:55 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Perhaps the least likely place you’ll need to worry about your linguistic acrobatics is at the hotel. It’s pretty much guaranteed that the receptionist at the very least will have a great command of English. 

However, nothing’s for certain and it never hurts to have a few bits and pieces hidden up your sleeve, if only to impress.

Indeed, the more intrepid you are the more likely you are to find places where a spattering of Thai is not only impressive, but down-right necessary.  I can’t count the times I have found the phrases “There’s no hot water in my room,” and “The air con is broken,” to be very handy!



Here are a few vital vocabs, and some handy phrases.


Key Vocabulary

Hotel: ... ]]></description>
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<title>Telling The Time In Thailand</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/learnthai/11209_Telling-the-Time-in-Thailand/0</link>
<pubDate>Sat, 17 Jul 2010 04:13:39 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ When I first came to Thailand one of the many new things I had to get my head around was the way they tell the time here.
Unlike ‘The West’, where the twenty-four hours of the day are conveniently divided into two equal halves of twelve hours called a.m. and p.m., the twenty-four hours of Thailand’s day are split into five nominal groups covering a variety of numbers of hours.  That means five different ways of saying “o’clock” (and of course two extras for midday and midnight).

The five periods are:  
The morning: &amp;#3648;&amp;#3594;&amp;#3657;&amp;#3634; cháo
The afternoon: &amp;#3610;&amp;#3656;&amp;#3634;&amp;#3618; bàai
The evening: &amp;#3648;&amp;#3618;&amp;#3655;&amp;#3609; yen
The part of the night before midnight: &amp;#3607;&amp;#3640;&amp;#3656;&amp;#3617; tûm
The part of the ... ]]></description>
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<title>It’s All About The Getting There - Travel And Transport In Thailand</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/learnthai/11046_It-s-all-about-the-getting-there---travel-and-transport-in-Thailand/0</link>
<pubDate>Sun, 27 Jun 2010 13:19:53 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ You can plan to go to all the fantastic and wonderful places you can dream of (or find in the pages of Travelfish) but without the language to get there you’re going to be a bit stuck – particularly if you want to go beyond tourist centres like Bangkok,  [url="http://www.travelfish.org/location/thailand/northern_thailand/chiang_mai/chiang_mai"]Chiang Mai[/url]  and Samui and along lesser trod paths to enjoy the fabulousness of Thailand beyond the obvious.

So, to help you along the way, we bring you a concise guide to transportation in the Land of Smiles.

As long as you don’t mind a rather liberal attitude to punctuality, Thailand has a very good transportation infrastructure.  Bus stations are always bustling with people, trains ... ]]></description>
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<title>Thai Massage - More Than Just Tongue Twisting</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/learnthai/10950_Thai-Massage---more-than-just-tongue-twisting/0</link>
<pubDate>Sun, 20 Jun 2010 13:53:38 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ No trip to Thailand would be complete without a traditional Thai massage.  The history books will tell you all about Rama III confirming Wat Po as a centre for medical education.  The learning materials are there: carved plaques on the walls, anatomical maps of mystical chi lines and pressure points in the cloisters, and quirky little statues of contorted yogis scattered around the garden.

Since its inception it has been the mothership, sending out masseuses and masseurs to populate massage shops the length and breadth of the country.

While the language demands on visiting the massage shop aren’t terribly onerous, it helps to understand some of the things that might be said to you and to know some of things you might want to ... ]]></description>
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<title>Shopping - Thai Style</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/learnthai/10846_Shopping---Thai-Style/0</link>
<pubDate>Thu, 10 Jun 2010 23:53:52 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Whether it’s taking advantage of a good exchange rate to stock up on Fendi, Louis Vuitton and Hermès at Bangkok’s chic-er than chic, air-con palaces of consumerism, or hunting for their bargain-basement identical twins in the sweaty faker markets of Pat Pong or Khao San, shopping is an inescapable element to any trip to Thailand’s capital.
So, if you’re going to get the best for your baht you’re going to need know what you’re talking about.
First thing to remember is that if you’re dealing with a vendor who is open to a bit of bartering (and let’s be honest, you’ll be hard pressed to find one who isn’t) a nifty show of willing with the lingo works wonders in loosening up the price range.

Open Negotiations
First you want to start ... ]]></description>
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<title>At The Restaurant - Ordering</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/learnthai/10763_At-the-Restaurant---Ordering/0</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 02 Jun 2010 15:15:02 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ So you’ve managed to direct your taxi to the funky little eatery you read about in Travelfish and now you’re ready to fill the table with culinary awesomeness.  So, let’s look at some of the basics of ordering.

The first thing to be aware of is that all nouns in Thai are treated as ‘uncountable’ and therefore all nouns need classifiers with which to count them.

That sounds really TEFL, so here’s an example to try and clarify.  In English a ‘countable’ noun is something like ‘sausage’.  You can count sausages just by putting a number in front of it: one sausage, two sausages, three sausages etc.

An uncountable noun is something like ‘bread’.  You can’t say “one bread”; you have to include another word after the number in order ... ]]></description>
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<title>Taxi Thai Plus</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/learnthai/10678_Taxi-Thai-Plus/0</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 May 2010 12:01:20 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Welcome to Learning Thai with Travelfish and TweetYourselfThai.  

And welcome to our first lesson.  This is absolutely essential if you plan spending any time in Thailand, and you want to put to good use all that fabulous insider knowledge you've been soaking up like a sponge from Travelfish in preparation for your visit.

If it isn’t on the Sky Train or MRT route then your as likely as not navigating your way round Bangkok in a Taxi or a tuk-tuk. 

While your driver might know where the Grand Palace, The Oriental is, getting safely to that tiny noodle bar that you've read rave reviews about on Travelfish in some un-numbered sub-soi, behind a Honda showroom, three-quarters of the way down Lat Phrao in time for dinner is no sure ... ]]></description>
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<title>Welcome To Learn Thai On Travelfish</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/learnthai/10672_Welcome-to-Learn-Thai-on-Travelfish/0</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 May 2010 05:54:08 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ There's nothing worse than getting an egg every time you order a chicken, so to help you sort out your chooks and eggs (in Thai of course) we're delighted to announce the arrival of AjarnPasa who'll be bringing a short Thai lesson to Travelfish on a regular basis.

They'll be focusing on a level slightly above counting from 1 to 10 and a little below discussing the finer details of Thai politics (which, as you've probably noticed, native speakers struggle to do ;-).

As an added bonus we'll be covering the script as well -- oh what fun!

You can check out their site here: [url=http://tweetyourselfthai.wordpress.com/]Learn Thai with AjarnPasa[/url] or on [url=http://twitter.com/AjarnPasa]Twitter here[/url]

By the way -- the ... ]]></description>
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