My Thai word for this week is ส่งสัญญาณ (ส่ง-สัน-ยาน-), meaning "to signal". Component words are ส่ง, meaning "to send" and สัญญาณ (สัน-ยาน-), meaning "signal".
Thai2English.com entry for ส่งสัญญาณ
Thai-Language.com entry for ส่งสัญญาณ
VOA sound clip of a sentence using ส่งสัญญาณ
Transcript of VOA clip
The original story on VOA, with transcript and mp3
The clip discusses the debate in the U.S. congress over restricting funding for President Bush's unpopular "troop surge" proposal. Note that the transcript can easily be copy-pasted to thai2english.com, obtaining a word-by-word translation.
Other interesting words in this clip are:
คัดค้าน, meaning "to disagree"
ตัดทอน, meaning "to cut off"
ดังกล่าว, meaning "aforementioned"
สื่อ, meaning "to communicate"
ความหมาย, meaning "meaning".
สู้รบ, meaning "to combat"
เหล่า, the classifier for "group"
ปฏิบัติภารกิจ (ปะ-ติ-บัต-พา-ระ-กิด-), meaning "to do one's duty"
อีกต่อไป, meaning "anymore"
Corrections and clarifications are always appreciated.
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Thai characters don't render correctly? Click here.
Technorati tags: second language acquisition, thai, thai language
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Is Translation Harmful?
Steve Kaufmann recently posted some interesting comments about bilingual dictionaries.
I personally use bilingual dictionaries, but I think there are certain pitfalls to avoid. The main problem is precisely that a translation is, as Steve puts it, "only a hint". The meaning does not have an exact translation. This is especially true when languages are very different, like English and Thai.
An example is the Thai word ออก, pronounced something like the first syllable of "awkward". It is usually translated as "out" or "exit", but in some phrases, it clearly has a different meaning. For example, the phrase "to think out" (คิดออก) means "to be able to think", "to solve", or "to recall". There is a similar usage in the English expression "to figure something out", but I suspect the similarity is more coincidental than significant.
Steve's comment, "I will need to see the new word many times before I know it" seems astute. Translation can be used to increase comprehension, but repeated exposure to the word in a comprehensible context is necessary to acquire it.
Students at AUA acquire vocabulary by direct experience, without use of translation. I think this is a great method that completely avoids the pitfalls of translation. However, it requires a live teacher that can gauge understanding and tailor presentations to that level.
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Technorati tags: second language acquisition, thai, thai language
When I use a dictionary it is always a bilingual dictionary. I want to see the meaning in English, or a language that I know well. This creates an immediate link to what I already know. It is only a hint at the meaning of this word. I will need to see the new word many times before I know it. But I need the bilingual dictionary.
For some reason, there are language teachers who insist that bilingual dictionaries are bad and should be avoided...
I personally use bilingual dictionaries, but I think there are certain pitfalls to avoid. The main problem is precisely that a translation is, as Steve puts it, "only a hint". The meaning does not have an exact translation. This is especially true when languages are very different, like English and Thai.
An example is the Thai word ออก, pronounced something like the first syllable of "awkward". It is usually translated as "out" or "exit", but in some phrases, it clearly has a different meaning. For example, the phrase "to think out" (คิดออก) means "to be able to think", "to solve", or "to recall". There is a similar usage in the English expression "to figure something out", but I suspect the similarity is more coincidental than significant.
Steve's comment, "I will need to see the new word many times before I know it" seems astute. Translation can be used to increase comprehension, but repeated exposure to the word in a comprehensible context is necessary to acquire it.
Students at AUA acquire vocabulary by direct experience, without use of translation. I think this is a great method that completely avoids the pitfalls of translation. However, it requires a live teacher that can gauge understanding and tailor presentations to that level.
---
Technorati tags: second language acquisition, thai, thai language
Thai Word Of the Week: Oppose
My Thai word for this week is ทัดทาน, meaning "to prohibit", or "to oppose".
VOA sound clip of a sentence using ทัดทาน
Transcript of VOA clip
The original story on VOA, with transcript and mp3
The sound clip discusses the possibility that the U.S. congress may cut off military funding in opposition to President Bush's "troop surge" proposal in Iraq.
Other interesting words in this clip are:
เชื่อ, meaning "to believe in"
เพิ่ม, meaning "to increase"
การระงับ, meaning "suppression" or "discontinuance"
Note that the transcript can easily be copy-pasted to thai2english.com, obtaining a word-by-word translation.
Corrections and clarifications are appreciated.
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Thai characters don't render correctly? Click here.
Technorati tags: second language acquisition, thai, thai language
VOA sound clip of a sentence using ทัดทาน
Transcript of VOA clip
The original story on VOA, with transcript and mp3
The sound clip discusses the possibility that the U.S. congress may cut off military funding in opposition to President Bush's "troop surge" proposal in Iraq.
Other interesting words in this clip are:
เชื่อ, meaning "to believe in"
เพิ่ม, meaning "to increase"
การระงับ, meaning "suppression" or "discontinuance"
Note that the transcript can easily be copy-pasted to thai2english.com, obtaining a word-by-word translation.
Corrections and clarifications are appreciated.
---
Thai characters don't render correctly? Click here.
Technorati tags: second language acquisition, thai, thai language
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Thai Word of the Week: Authority
My Thai word for this week is อำนาจ, meaning "authority".
Thai2English.com entry for อำนาจ
Thai-Language.com entry for อำนาจ
VOA sound clip of a sentence using อำนาจ
Transcript of VOA clip
The original story on VOA, with transcript and mp3.
The sound clip explains the constitutional balance of power between the U.S. president and congress in matters of war.
Other interesting words in this clip are:
ตาม, meaning "according to"
รัฐธรรมนูญ (รัด-ทะ-ธัม-มะ-นูน-), meaning "constitution"
รัฐสภา (รัด-ทะ-สะ-หภา-),meaning "congress"
ประกาศสงคราม, meaning "to declare war"
อนุมัติ (อะ-นุ-มัต-), meaning "to approve" or "to allow"
ทุน, meaning "fund"
ปฏิบัติการ, (ปะ-ติ-บัต-การ-), meaning "to take action"
ผู้บัญชาการ, meaning "commander in chief"
กองทัพ, meaning "army"
รับผิดชอบ, meaning "to be responsible"
ดำเนินการ, meaning "to carry out" or "to perform"
Note that the transcript can easily be copy-pasted to thai2english.com, obtaining a word-by-word translation.
Corrections or clarifications are always appreciated.
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Technorati tags: second language acquisition, thai, thai language
Thai2English.com entry for อำนาจ
Thai-Language.com entry for อำนาจ
VOA sound clip of a sentence using อำนาจ
Transcript of VOA clip
The original story on VOA, with transcript and mp3.
The sound clip explains the constitutional balance of power between the U.S. president and congress in matters of war.
Other interesting words in this clip are:
ตาม, meaning "according to"
รัฐธรรมนูญ (รัด-ทะ-ธัม-มะ-นูน-), meaning "constitution"
รัฐสภา (รัด-ทะ-สะ-หภา-),meaning "congress"
ประกาศสงคราม, meaning "to declare war"
อนุมัติ (อะ-นุ-มัต-), meaning "to approve" or "to allow"
ทุน, meaning "fund"
ปฏิบัติการ, (ปะ-ติ-บัต-การ-), meaning "to take action"
ผู้บัญชาการ, meaning "commander in chief"
กองทัพ, meaning "army"
รับผิดชอบ, meaning "to be responsible"
ดำเนินการ, meaning "to carry out" or "to perform"
Note that the transcript can easily be copy-pasted to thai2english.com, obtaining a word-by-word translation.
Corrections or clarifications are always appreciated.
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Technorati tags: second language acquisition, thai, thai language
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Reading and Writing Thai
People sometimes happen upon this blog searching for resources for reading Thai script. I am no expert, but I would recommend the free lessons at learningthai.com.
http://www.learningthai.com/thai_alphabet.html
The links marked "Thai Reader" are especially good.
Some books teach Thai reading and writing. The AUA books entitled Reading and Writing are the best I've seen, but they are hard to find. They also assume a small core vocabulary and familiarity with the old AUA transliteration system. The book and CD Thai for Beginners by Benjawan Poomsan Becker is a good introduction if you can't find the AUA books or don't have the prerequisites.
To learn Thai script, most people get help from a teacher or a tutor. Some colleges and universities teach Thai reading and writing, and some cities have a Thai Buddhist temple that offers instruction.
Opinions differ about whether it's best to acquire spoken Thai before learning to read and write. On one hand, a student who begins reading right away runs a risk of developing bad habits, like reading with incorrect tones or no tones at all. On the other hand, students who delay reading often substitute some kind of transliteration, which is inefficient and can lead to an undesirable dependency.
When I studied Thai at the University of Oregon, we began by focusing on basic vocabulary. During that time, we used a transliteration system which distinguished all the features of Thai phonemes, such as tone, vowel length, and plain stop consonants. Instruction in basic vocabulary went on for about 8 weeks, then we learned the Thai writing system.
Students in the ALG program at AUA in Bangkok acquire quite a large core vocabulary by pure listening, with no support from a transliteration system, then proceed to learn to read and write. This seems like the best approach, but it's hard to do if you can't attend AUA.
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Technorati tags: thai language, thai alphabet, thai script
http://www.learningthai.com/thai_alphabet.html
The links marked "Thai Reader" are especially good.
Some books teach Thai reading and writing. The AUA books entitled Reading and Writing are the best I've seen, but they are hard to find. They also assume a small core vocabulary and familiarity with the old AUA transliteration system. The book and CD Thai for Beginners by Benjawan Poomsan Becker is a good introduction if you can't find the AUA books or don't have the prerequisites.
To learn Thai script, most people get help from a teacher or a tutor. Some colleges and universities teach Thai reading and writing, and some cities have a Thai Buddhist temple that offers instruction.
Opinions differ about whether it's best to acquire spoken Thai before learning to read and write. On one hand, a student who begins reading right away runs a risk of developing bad habits, like reading with incorrect tones or no tones at all. On the other hand, students who delay reading often substitute some kind of transliteration, which is inefficient and can lead to an undesirable dependency.
When I studied Thai at the University of Oregon, we began by focusing on basic vocabulary. During that time, we used a transliteration system which distinguished all the features of Thai phonemes, such as tone, vowel length, and plain stop consonants. Instruction in basic vocabulary went on for about 8 weeks, then we learned the Thai writing system.
Students in the ALG program at AUA in Bangkok acquire quite a large core vocabulary by pure listening, with no support from a transliteration system, then proceed to learn to read and write. This seems like the best approach, but it's hard to do if you can't attend AUA.
---
Technorati tags: thai language, thai alphabet, thai script
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Thai Word of the Week: Provoke
My Thai word for this week is กระตุ้น (กระ-ตุ้น-), meaning "to provoke" or "to stimulate".
Thai2English.com entry for กระตุ้น
Thai-Language.com entry for กระตุ้น
VOA sound clip of a sentence using กระตุ้น
Transcript of the sentence
The original story on VOA, with transcript and mp3
The VOA clip is a translation of comments by Celinda Lake, a strategist for the Democratic political party in the United States. It uses กระตุ้น in describing the controversy surrounding the Iraq war. Note that the transcript can easily be copy-pasted to thai2english.com, obtaining a word-by-word translation.
Other interesting words in this clip are:
ต้องการ (ต้อง-กาน-), meaning "to request" or "to demand"
เปลี่ยนแปลง (เปลี่ยน-แปลง-), meaning "to change"
อย่างชัดเจน (หย่าง-ชัด-เจน-) , meaning "clearly"
จน (จน-), meaning "until"
ระทึกใจ (ระ-ทึก-ใจ), meaning "excited".
ระมัดระวัง ( ระ-มัด-ระ-วัง- ), meaning "to be careful"
วิธี (วิ-ธี-) , meaning "means", "way", or "process"
เสียจน (เสีย-จน-), meaning "so much that"
As always, corrections and clarifications are appreciated.
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Technorati tags: second language acquisition, thai, thai language
Thai2English.com entry for กระตุ้น
Thai-Language.com entry for กระตุ้น
VOA sound clip of a sentence using กระตุ้น
Transcript of the sentence
The original story on VOA, with transcript and mp3
The VOA clip is a translation of comments by Celinda Lake, a strategist for the Democratic political party in the United States. It uses กระตุ้น in describing the controversy surrounding the Iraq war. Note that the transcript can easily be copy-pasted to thai2english.com, obtaining a word-by-word translation.
Other interesting words in this clip are:
ต้องการ (ต้อง-กาน-), meaning "to request" or "to demand"
เปลี่ยนแปลง (เปลี่ยน-แปลง-), meaning "to change"
อย่างชัดเจน (หย่าง-ชัด-เจน-) , meaning "clearly"
จน (จน-), meaning "until"
ระทึกใจ (ระ-ทึก-ใจ), meaning "excited".
ระมัดระวัง ( ระ-มัด-ระ-วัง- ), meaning "to be careful"
วิธี (วิ-ธี-) , meaning "means", "way", or "process"
เสียจน (เสีย-จน-), meaning "so much that"
As always, corrections and clarifications are appreciated.
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Technorati tags: second language acquisition, thai, thai language
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Character Encoding
Does the Thai script on this page show up correctly in your browser?
คุณสามารถอ่านประโยคนี้ได้ไหมครับ
If it does not properly render, that can probably be remedied by selecting UTF-8 character encoding.
Internet Explorer 6+:
1. Right click on the page (but not on a link).
2. From the context menu, open the Encoding submenu.
3. Note the current setting, in case you ever need to change it back.
4. Choose Encoding | Unicode (UTF-8).
Firefox 1.5:
1. Open the View Menu.
2. Open the Character Encodings submenu.
3. Note the current setting, in case you ever need to change it back.
4. Choose Character Encodings | More Encodings | Unicode | Unicode (UTF-8).
If you know of any other tips and tricks, please feel free to post them here in a comment.
By the way, this page does not render properly for me if I select a Thai character encoding instead of UTF-8.
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Technorati tags: thai language, thai script, character encoding, internet explorer, firefox
คุณสามารถอ่านประโยคนี้ได้ไหมครับ
If it does not properly render, that can probably be remedied by selecting UTF-8 character encoding.
Internet Explorer 6+:
1. Right click on the page (but not on a link).
2. From the context menu, open the Encoding submenu.
3. Note the current setting, in case you ever need to change it back.
4. Choose Encoding | Unicode (UTF-8).
Firefox 1.5:
1. Open the View Menu.
2. Open the Character Encodings submenu.
3. Note the current setting, in case you ever need to change it back.
4. Choose Character Encodings | More Encodings | Unicode | Unicode (UTF-8).
If you know of any other tips and tricks, please feel free to post them here in a comment.
By the way, this page does not render properly for me if I select a Thai character encoding instead of UTF-8.
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Technorati tags: thai language, thai script, character encoding, internet explorer, firefox
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