mai khao jai

Break is over, sadly. I had a very restful two weeks in which I was able to explore some more of the city, read a lot (though not as much as I had planned) and reflect. It was all very much needed and has left me feeling better prepared to tackle 2011. But who knows how long that will last. Clarity never seems to stick around for long in my experience. Okay, I stole that from a John Mayer song. But it's true.

With the recommencement of the semester begins my formal education in the Thai language. It's an "intensive" course that meets for three hours every morning. Once I begin my other duties I won't have any trouble filling my time.

The class is small, about 15 or so, half of which are older farang men with Thai wives. At first I didn't even register this. I innocently thought they were all here on business or something. But others are not quite so naive as I am, and also less self-conscious about asking personal questions and well, it's a bit suspect that they are just now taking a Thai class after having married a Thai woman. At least they've gotten around to it. Anyhow, it's a bit weird to share a classroom with a bunch of older men. In general it's quite an international group. Americans make up the majority, but that's only because of our volunteer group. China, Taiwan, France, Germany, Australia and Canada are also represented. Plus the Philippines but that's Rochell, another of the volunteers. But even if it is an odd class dynamic, I still really enjoy being part of an international setting. It's a cliche but I'll say it: Americans ought to travel more. I realize travel is expensive, but I really feel that we are far too insulated, and we're the ones who lose out.

Having just completed tesol training, my brain is in pedagogy mode and I'm afraid I'm guilty of picking apart my Thai professor's teaching methods. On the one hand, she does a good job presenting language in a logical way, getting everyone to talk and adding an element of fun to the class. However the way she gets everyone to talk is pretty aggressive and often the fun is at the expense of a student. Perhaps this is cultural but if I were less confident my first day of class would have been terrifying. I've just internalized discussions on creating a safe speaking environment so maybe I am hypersensitive. still, I can't imagine using the same tactics  with my Thai students. I wouldn't have had any left, I'm pretty sure. I'm sure I'm being overly critical, but I kind of see it as my job to assess different teaching practices so I can improve my own.

As far as learning Thai goes, it's hard and it's not hard. Thai intimidates people because it is a tonal language that uses a lot of sounds we're unused to making. But the actual structure of the language is very simple. There are no verb conjugations, which makes it very easy, and statements are "subject, verb, object" just like in English. In general there aren't that many rules to follow, which is something else that I think freaks people out a bit. We don't know what to do with the freedom. But I'm beginning to see the logic of it. I'll try to explain.

The hard stuff - Thai has five different tones: high, low, mid, rising and falling. Actually this is a bit deceptive as I think it's more nuanced than that, but it's an easy guideline to go by. The length of a spoken word also makes a difference (just to complicate things further). For instance, the word "khao" means "rice" with a long falling tone, "enter" with a short falling tone, "white" with a long rising tone, and "he" with a short rising tone. I'm sure it has other meanings with mid, high and low tone. It sounds like a totally foreign concept, but really it's just like music notation. We already use the percussive aspect of sound to create spoken language, why not the melodic aspect? I've been complimented on my ability to distinguish between the tones and on my pronunciation several times by Thais and all I have to say is "thank you Ear Training."

The other tricky thing is some of the "percussive" aspects of speaking (my term, there is a legit one but I can't remember it) are different. In English we only end words with the "ng" sound but in Thai you can begin words with it. Also, there are several sounds that are in between ones we use in English. Often these have to do with aspiration, or whether or not we release breath when making the sound. Phonology has given me a bit of a grip on this, as have voice lessons. Now I'm far from having perfect pronunciation or from hearing all the new distinctions in sounds, but just understanding that there is a distinction goes a long way in taking the mystery out of the language.

The easy stuff - Thai words are generally one syllable, or combinations of one-syllable words, which makes them easy to memorize (although I do love long words, oh German how I miss thee). The monosyllabic nature of Thai explains the development of tones, or vice versa. Basically, it goes together. It also fits well with the lack of complicated grammatical structure.

A phrase I've often heard uttered in my time here is that "Thais are lazy." Thai students are lazy. Thai employees are lazy. There are fish in the rivers, there is rice in the fields. Why work hard? This is the general perception of the Thai mentality and I've already heard my Thai teacher use this concept in explaining the brevity of the Thai language and its lack of structure. And it fits, but I don't quite see it as "lazy." As I've discovered in learning to drive in Thai traffic, there is a certain method to the madness. There is a form of logic at play. You could call it the path of least resistance, but I don't think it's quite the cop out that implies. It's a type of smart. It's the path of least resistance because it doesn't make sense to expend unnecessary energy. It's the same type of smart that all those boys in high school who I thought were so dumb had. They were always goofing off while I was diligently and responsibly trying to memorize all the Presidents or whatever I thought I was supposed to do. It's the type of smart that sees the easiest way from point A to point B. I do not naturally come by this type of smart, but I admire it greatly.

Those high school boys, who I thought were so dumb, often (though not always) excelled in the subjects and activities they thought were important. Even the ones who really were complete losers got the high school experience they were looking for. And that's it really, isn't it? People act on their ideas of what is important. I'm a rule-follower at heart, even if I do occasionally get halfway through something and realize I've been doing it in the most inefficient manner possible. All because I wanted to do it "properly." In some ways, I think Thai people have it right. The lack of traffic laws for instance. I'm not a complete convert but it certainly is nice not to have to sit at a red light, waiting for the stupid thing to turn green when there isn't another soul at the intersection. The freedom to choose allows me to exercise my own logic and creativity, which, ironically, is what the American workforce is supposed to be famous for. I'm beginning to wonder if it's so much that or if it's simply that we're willing to work our butts off just because. Not that I'm any less a believer in the value of work or have lost my good old yankee work ethic. There is something to be said for being thorough and there is something to be said for following the rules. Often they are there for a reason. But it's like with the body of Christ (dang it, I never can get away from religious illustrations, but I did just lead chapel today). Each member has its own function and we need all the other members. We need people of different abilities and perspectives to tell us when we're being stupid.

I was going to blog about chapel as well but I think I'll leave that for a separate post. Basically, learning Thai is cool. It's interesting to me how language can be a window into culture and vice versa. It's especially interesting when you think about how language and music are connected. Yes I am a dork, but I enjoy it. I'll finish by explaining the literal meaning of "khao jai mai." "Khao" is "enter," "jai," is heart, and "mai" is like saying "right?" so the Thai word for "understand" literally means "it enters your heart." Makes a heck of a lot more sense than "understand" if you ask me. What am I under and why exactly am I standing? Maybe I comprehend whatever is under the stance you are taking... That's a stretch. I like "it has entered my heart" a lot better.