Thai class

I flunked Thai book 2.

How do I know I flunked? I still don’t speak Thai. Yes, they give you an evaluation at the end, but you don’t understand Thai people. You can’t rely on what they tell you. They wouldn’t be so unkind as to tell you your Thai is horrible. That and they hope you’ll pony up another $4,200 baht to keep taking the classes.

Let’s be fair about this. The Thai teachers have a tough job. They have to take some old white guys on the verge of Alzheimer’s, with questionable motivation and hard of hearing (this is a tonal language). Let’s see ...what were some of the reasons those white guys were studying Thai? Oh, yeah, they were bored, wanted to be able to talk to the bar maids and tired of eating the only dish they could order in Thai. Those were the good reasons. So I theoretically finished book 2 and now can order two dishes. My Thai language skills are not much better, but I have increased my pantomiming skills considerably. Jean wrote a nice scholarly article on Language training but I thought you should know the truth. She is doing well but I’m lagging a little. Ok, quite a ways behind. I like to think of it as off to the side. See, I’m learning a lot of valuable things: patience, humility, how to order Thai food. Do you know how hard it is to have a second grader give you the “look” when you try to say something in Thai? Right now I would be happy to be in the second grade. Each day, language class is 2 hours of, “What did she say?” The first time I was in the second grade I could understand everything the teacher said but couldn’t figure out the homework. This time it was two hours of blank stares and then she tells us what our homework is, in English. Nobody knows for sure if you’re on track, hopeless or somewhere in between. I like to think of it as a learning process. It helps to handle the rejections and ridicule. Do I think I will ever learn Thai? Yes, I do. I hope it’s sometime before we leave to go back to the states.

Gary

Learning Thai

"Sa wat dee, ka." (Hello) "Sa bai dee, mai? Ka?" (How are you?)

The greeting spoken by our female Thai teacher, Tuk every day. Males end their sentences with krap. If you mean to ask a general question, like "Is this a mango?" you need to put a mai at the end. This was the beginning of our instruction on Thai sentence structure.

Our classes began January 6 and have continued from one to three, Monday through Friday, since then.

We are supposed to study an hour for each hour we are in class. Tuk doesn't give us separate assignments for homework, we are just supposed to go over what we learned in class. Tuk, is lively and expressive and makes the class fun. She drilled us in the 9 vowel sounds plus their s

ix combinations and the 5 tones the first week and a half. She has also given us a lot of vocabulary and some sentence structure. I have tried speaking some Thai to different people and am learning by trial and error :/.

There are now nine of us since a Scottish man joined mid week. Now we have 5 English speakers (4 American) 2 Frenchmen, 1 Mexican, and one Swede. Gary doesn't sit on

that side by himself. Mn, J, and I all sit over there. Ta sat in the center until this day when she moved on the other side of Cn.

They have been interested in the Thai flash-cards I have been making for myself from the vocabulary.

The reading and writing course is a separate class that they don't let people take until after the second reading course, so they ask me if I am taking that class. I explain that some friends gave us some materials to learn Thai from so I could begin to work on some reading and writing. It helps me learn to write the words and see them written along side

pictures to suggest their meaning. Very slowly this is helping me recognize words written on signs. So far this has mostly been noticing when they are spelling an English word with Thai letters.

I am also finding out that they have silent letters, sometimes marked and sometimes not, that their letters change sounds sometimes, and lots of letters make the same sound. With a few words I don't see how they get the word they say from the letters spelling it. Ough (as in doughnut) well, it iz likely noe tougher than English that weigh.

On the day we were learning numbers, we exchanged phone numbers for practice and to have contact numbers if we couldn't make it to class. Friday, as Gary and I walked to class, my phone started "ringing". It was the first time someone besides Gary had called me, but I knew the sound was my phone since it was in the holder in my back pack strap that was across my chest. I answered it to find the Scot, Mn, from class calling. He wanted me to tell Tuk he wouldn't be in class because he was with his friend who was in the hospital recovering from an emergency appendectomy. He assured me that the procedure was over and that his friend just needed to rest. He had tried to call Tuk, but couldn't get through. I didn't think to say I would pray for his friend, but I did after I hung up. Gary saw later he had a missed call from him. Before class I tried to tell Tuk about Mn all in Thai. I did ok, with her help, until I got to hospital and the emergency appendectomy.

At break that day Cn talked to me about a masseuse he went to talked to him about "that book" I gave him, the New

Testament. He said he would try to go back to that masseuse. I couldn't quite hear him or understand through his French accent. Next week I will try to ask him more about that. I am glad he is interested in talking about it and praying that God will be guiding him to His truth and protecting him from harm in the process.

During class we often share information about ourselves as part of practicing use of the language. We have also asked each other why we are in Thailand during the break and while waiting for others to finish an exercise. Ta has come for a year to volunteer with NGOs. She was amazed when I told her we would be staying for most of the rest of our lives.

Please continue to pray for God to show His love through us to the people in the class, and for Cn and his search for the source of Truth.

:J

Meeting people

We've met several people since we've been here. Some we only saw a few days or less; others we will know on a more permanently, perhaps.

Our landlady we should know for at least four months. We met Mrs. Jannoo-an

early last week when we came to see about renting a room. She was quite eager to help us with our Thai at that time. Saturday morning I was able to ask what her name is in Thai from what I learned in Thai class. The reason I remember her name is because she explained that the Jan part means Monday and moon and she showed me how to write it in Thai letters on her hand with her finger. She told me her husband's name too. It means "golden" so that is why this apartment house is called "Golden Home". I've forgotten how to say his name in Thai, though. I didn't get his name written down soon enough.

She was very friendly to me that day, letting me use her washing machine (and pay her the 20B rather than put coins in the coin operated one), loaning me a clothes basket and some hangers to hang clothes on, pointing out where I could hang up clothes, and talking to me about why I want to learn Thai. She took my hand often and held it when we were standing talking to each other. She offered me more things than I took. I hope I can understand how much she really intends for me to take, and not offend her by refusing too much or taking too much. Also, I hope to understand whether she will expect something from us after she has done this kind of thing. Her husband has tried to be helpful too, but he speaks little English. Please pray that we would be able to show God's love to them even through our cultural differences.

We are likely to have more in common culturally with the other students in our Thai class. The two young women are from the US, two men are from France, one man is from Sweden, one from Mexico, and one from Scotland (who just joined us this week). Then, of course, our teacher is a Thai native. I spoke French with one of the Frenchman for a little while one day. It is kind of ironic because when I am trying to think of some common word in Thai right now, I often come up with the French one first. We are going to be seeing these people 5 days a week for two hours a day for six weeks, and doing some interaction with them in class and in the break.

We walked with C-n almost to his apartment on Thursday because everyday he walked to the place where we need to catch our song tau. On Friday he talked to me more about his ex wife and how dissatisfied she is with everything in his life. I said she needs to have a purpose in her life, and tried to explain what that meant. C-n also said he was unmotivated at the moment to get a job again. Over the weekend I prayed, and asked some others to pray also, to be able to give him a testament and one for his wife. Today at the break he asked me what brought me to Thailand so I explained how we were seeking God's direction and some of the other details. It was the perfect way to lead in to what I have found in those testaments and what they might mean to him and his ex wife. I had them in my pocket to give him. He accepted them. He primarily speaks French, so he may have a little difficulty with them. His ex wife, although Peruvian, is excellent at languages, including English, so she should do ok with it, if she reads it. Please pray that they both do, and for the Lord to work through them.

Please pray also for God to glorify Himself through us in the class. We are the only Christians in there, that I can tell so far, anyway.

:J