Is learning Thai really that hard?
Sure, if you approach it the same way you’d tackle your native language.
Absolutely, if you insist on translating every word, line by line.
Think of it this way: why do kids seem to pick up languages so effortlessly? For starters, they don’t obsess over grammar or “perfect” sentences. They’re not weighed down by their mother tongue or afraid of looking silly.
Making mistakes (lots and lots of them) is how humans learn. It’s the engine that drives fluency. Consider English: Is it inherently easier than Thai? Not really. It just feels more “straightforward” to native speakers. It’s not tonal, after all.
But English has its own quirks. Take “ough” for example:
Hiccough (sounds like “up”)
Cough (sounds like “off”)
Rough (sounds like “uff”)
Dough (sounds like “oe”)
Plough (sounds like “ow”)
Through (sounds like “oo”)
And those mysterious Thai tones? They’re not so foreign. In fact, we use them all the time in English, just without explicit symbols.
For instance, the word “why” can carry all five Thai tones:
Mid Tone: “Why oh whhyyyyy…” (nagging)
Low Tone: “Why, that’s not very nice, is it?” (disapproval)
Falling Tone: “WHY!!! Tell me why you did that.” (anger)
High Tone: “Whhhyyy(??!!) are you hiding this from me?” (accusation)
Rising Tone: “Whyyy? It’s not like I did anything wrong.” (guilt)
Learning Thai isn’t as impossible as it seems. The trick is not to get tangled up in how it “should” compare to your native language. Don’t sweat the “whys” and “hows” too much.
Every language has its peculiarities. That’s why, at Duke Language School, we focus on speaking first. Think of it as learning like a kid – speak before you read. Our first three levels are all about building natural conversation skills. Only later, in level four, do we introduce the Thai alphabet.
Want to see what we’re all about? Check out this review by Tod Daniels at WomenLearnThai: Thai Language School Review – Duke Language School.
Tod is a well-known Thai school reviewer who’s not affiliated with us or any other school. We didn’t pay him for this glowing review. He just went undercover as a student and told it like it is.
Is Thai Really Harder to Learn Than English?
Is learning Thai really that hard?
Sure, if you approach it the same way you’d tackle your native language.
Absolutely, if you insist on translating every word, line by line.
Think of it this way: why do kids seem to pick up languages so effortlessly? For starters, they don’t obsess over grammar or “perfect” sentences. They’re not weighed down by their mother tongue or afraid of looking silly.
Making mistakes (lots and lots of them) is how humans learn. It’s the engine that drives fluency. Consider English: Is it inherently easier than Thai? Not really. It just feels more “straightforward” to native speakers. It’s not tonal, after all.
But English has its own quirks. Take “ough” for example:
Hiccough (sounds like “up”)
Cough (sounds like “off”)
Rough (sounds like “uff”)
Dough (sounds like “oe”)
Plough (sounds like “ow”)
Through (sounds like “oo”)
And those mysterious Thai tones? They’re not so foreign. In fact, we use them all the time in English, just without explicit symbols.
For instance, the word “why” can carry all five Thai tones:
Mid Tone: “Why oh whhyyyyy…” (nagging)
Low Tone: “Why, that’s not very nice, is it?” (disapproval)
Falling Tone: “WHY!!! Tell me why you did that.” (anger)
High Tone: “Whhhyyy(??!!) are you hiding this from me?” (accusation)
Rising Tone: “Whyyy? It’s not like I did anything wrong.” (guilt)
Learning Thai isn’t as impossible as it seems. The trick is not to get tangled up in how it “should” compare to your native language. Don’t sweat the “whys” and “hows” too much.
Every language has its peculiarities. That’s why, at Duke Language School, we focus on speaking first. Think of it as learning like a kid – speak before you read. Our first three levels are all about building natural conversation skills. Only later, in level four, do we introduce the Thai alphabet.
Want to see what we’re all about? Check out this review by Tod Daniels at WomenLearnThai: Thai Language School Review – Duke Language School.
Tod is a well-known Thai school reviewer who’s not affiliated with us or any other school. We didn’t pay him for this glowing review. He just went undercover as a student and told it like it is.
Thai bakery sells gruesome bread corpse…
Imagine running up to the bakery around the corner and coming across severed human body parts covered in blood. Sound yummy?
These images of work by Thai artist Kittiwat Unarrom are alarming, but don’t call the cops just yet. What appear to be severed human body parts covered in blood are actually loaves of bread baked in grotesque form.
Kittiwat is the son of a baker and has been making such creations since 2006. In 2010, he explained to CNN why he does it.
“My family is in the bakery business and I learned to bake when I was about 10,” Kittiwat said. “I want to speak out about my religious beliefs and dough can say it all. Baking human parts can show the audience how transient bread, and life, is. Also, my bread is still bread no matter how it looks.”
As of when the CNN article published, Kittiwat was selling his creations — feet, hands, heads, internal organs and more — at his family’s bakery. They’re each hand painted to achieve the right look.
To achieve this authentically horrifying look, Kittiwat spent a great deal of time studying anatomy and visiting forensic museums while at the same time working to improve the taste of his artworks.
The bread is made out of dough, raisins, cashews and chocolate.
References:
http://www.amusingplanet.com/2012/06/kittiwat-unarrom-creates-gruesome-human.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/07/bread-human-body-parts_n_1577787.html#slide=1067128
http://inventorspot.com/articles/body_bread_13546