Saturday, November 27, 2010

Kat teaches Thai Episode 2 (kob-koon, pobe-gun-mai)

Listen to Kat teaches Thai Episode 2

As a recap from last episode, I taught you how to say sa-wad-dee, which means hello and good bye.  I also taught you how to say sa-bye-dee-mai, which means how are you? 

As I mentioned, you do not have to add the word krub or ka at the end of the phrases.  Make a habit of saying them anyway to make the phrases sound polite. 

I teach you how to say kob-koon, which means thank you.  The word "kob" is the same as the word "cob".  The word "koon" uses the "u" sound in "could". 

I also teach you how to say pobe-gun-mai, which means to meet again.  The word "pobe" rhymes with "pope".  The word "gun" is like the word "gun".  The word "mai" rhymes with the word "pie".  The word "pobe-gun" means to meet.  The word "mai" means new.  When you put both meanings together, you form a phrase, to meet again.

Do not mistake last episode's "mai" and this episode's "mai" as the same word.  When you write them out in English, you spell them the same way, but they both have different tones.  This episode's "mai" has a lower tone and means "new".  Last episode's "mai" has a higher tone and you put it at the end of the phrases to form questions.

Kat teaches Thai Episode 1 (sa-wad-dee, sa-bye-dee-mai)

Listen to Kat teaches Thai Episode 1

I became interested in teaching Thai when I made friends with Miss Antoinette who happens to be a regular customer at the restaurant that I work in.  One day, Miss Antoinette told me she wanted to learn Thai.  I then started to teach Thai words and phrases to my customers.

In this Episode, I teach you how to say, "sa-wad-dee".  Sa-wad-dee means Hello and goodbye.  The word "sa" rhymes with "ha".  The word "wad"  uses the "a" sound in "what".  The word "dee" rhymes with "me".

I also teach you how to say, "sa-bye-dee-mai".  Sa-bye-dee-mai means How are you?  The word "sa" rhymes with "ha".  The word "bye" is exactly like the word "bye".  The word "dee" rhymes with "me".  The word "mai"  uses the "i" sound in "mine".

The phrase "sa-bye-dee" means Feeling well, feeling fine.  When you add the word "mai" at the end, the phrase becomes a question.  How are you?  Example in a conversation:

Person 1 = sa-bye-dee-mai?
Person 2 = sa-bye-dee

You do not have to say the word krub (rhymes with cup; uses with male speaker) or ka (rhymes with ma; uses with female speaker) at the end of the phrases.  They do not have any significant meaning, but rather to make the phrases sound more polite.  Make a habit of saying them.