Thailish or Tinglish

Hey everyone, sorry for not posting in awhile but I was in Thailand where I took a thai massage course and relaxed on my summer vacation. So, today's lesson will talk about Thailish or Tinglish which is the English dialect(ben, like Kansai-ben) spoken in Thailand.

Probably the most famous example of Tinglish is:

Same Same

This means "onaji" in Japanese. It just means that two things or situations are similar. Then there is the related expression:

Same Same but Different

This means that two things are a bit similar but also different in some way.

ex: Mandarins (mikans) and oranges are same same but different.

Khun or k

This is the same as san in Japanese but instead of Philip-san you would say Khun Philip or K Philip.

la

This is the same as the Japanese question particle ka.

ex: Where did you go la?

Kha and Krub

This is a particle used to be more polite and is added at the end of the sentence.

Hello kha (women)
Hello khrub (men)

no have

This is broken English but in Thailish it means "I don't have".

High-so and Low-so

This is Thailish slang meaning High society, upper class type person and Low society which means a lower class type person.

sleep

When getting a massage they might say "sleep" but they really mean "lie down".

Alright, now you know a few expressions in Thailish. If you want to know more check out these links:

wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinglish

Thai food and stuff website:
http://thaifoodandstuff.com/index1.html

And here you can read some sample dialogs in Thailish:
http://forbescomm.wordpress.com/the-tinglish-files/tinglish-for-room-service/

Say it ain't so~!

Hey everyone, today I will talk about a nonstandard contraction. This contraction is not widely accepted and is seen as REALLY LOW CLASS. It is often heard in movies or TV shows but is usually spoken by uneducated characters, really countryside people, etc. I did some research on ain't and it has been around for 200 years~! But it is still not accepted by teachers and by people studying the English language... but it is VERY common in CASUAL English.

ain't

This is a contraction that is used to replace:

am not

I am not hungry.
I'm not hungry.

I ain't hungry.

is not

He is not here.
He isn't here.

He ain't here.

are not

They are not coming.
They aren't coming.

They ain't coming.

has not

He has not done his homework yet.
He hasn't done his homework yet.

He ain't done his homework yet.

have not

They have not started the test yet.
They haven't started the test yet.

They ain't started the test yet.

The fact that it is used for so many different words is why it is not accepted by people who teach English grammar. If you use ain't regularly when speaking English you will give the impression you are poor, uneducated, stupid, etc. So while I think you should know ain't for watching movies, TV shows, traveling in the US and Canada, it isn't something you should use often when speaking English.

I hope you found this lesson interesting, have a nice week~!

Phil

Opposites

Hey everyone, I decided to start a new monthly series about opposites! Opposites are two words with mirrored meanings. One is completely different from the other and they are seen as two sides of the same coin.

This will be a short lesson that you can use to help build up your vocabulary and organize words you already know in your mind. Each lesson I will present 5 sets of opposites. I hope you enjoy it!

Today I will look at noun pairs:

heads <-----> tails

The two opposite sides of a coin.

A: Call it, heads or tails?
(flips the coin)

B: Heads
(coin lands on tails)

A: Tails, you lose.

black <-------> white

Two colors, in English we always say black & white but in Japanese you say the opposite "白黒".

right <---------> left

These are the two sides of your body, the right "右" and the left "左".

right <-------> wrong

This is right meaning correct and good, in Japanese "正しい " and wrong meaning incorrect and bad, in Japanese "違う".

Do you know the difference between right and wrong?

cat <--------> dog

Now in western countries we see cats & dogs as opposites, always fighting and never getting along. In Japan, people see dogs and MONKEYS as opposites~! I find that really interesting and a funny cultural difference. Here's an idiom talking about this opposite pair:

They get along like cats and dogs.

This means they fight A LOT! They don't get along at all...

Hmmm, that is it for now, have a good weekend,

Phil

Are you seeing someone?

Hey everyone, this is a common question you ask when you want to know if someone is dating someone. You might also hear:

"Are you married?"

This also sounds like you are interested in the person you are asking... so be careful~!

"Are you single?"

Now, this question can lead to cultural miscommunications in Asia. When I lived in Korea I was really surprised to find out that single for Korean people it means "not married" and then when I moved to Japan I was surprised to find out that single (独身の) also means "not married".

This can leads to a case of cultural miscommunication, because for western people single means that you are not married and have no boyfriend or girlfriend. You are completely alone and free to date anyone you want.

So often western guys in Korea ask a girl "Are you single?" and she says "Yes, I am." so they start to date... and months later he finds out she has another boyfriend~! Then they break up... this kind of thing happens pretty often and it is because of a cultural miscommunication caused by two different interpretations of the word single!

So sometimes people have problems because words have different meanings in different languages. It is important to try and learn about these differences to avoid problems when communicating.

I hope you enjoyed this lesson, it is August now and I am enjoying my summer holidays so I will only be posting 4 blogs this month instead of the usual 8.

Enjoy your summer vacation~!

Phil