Swadika

As of tonight at midnight I have been in Thailand for one whole month, and what a fantastic month it’s been! I cannot believe the many wonderful things have happened in four short weeks. I have made handfuls of new friends, been ‘adopted’ into three wonderful families, have had the pleasure of teaching some of the brightest girls I have ever met, and gotten to peek into a world I’ve only read about. 

Sitting at the kitchen table and having one of the girls run up to me and ask me a question, understand the answer, and then run off to tell the others, or come up to me and list off the words we learned in class that day, or to hear them singing ‘head shoulders knees and toes’ softly to themselves while they do their homework is priceless. 

Having the staff come up to me and start a conversation, seeing how comfortable they are speaking English, hearing how the words flow together more naturally then before, surprised to hear them rattle off new vocabulary they learned on their own has become an addiction. 

I am more sure then ever this is what I want to do with my life. I realize working with children, teaching them, loving them, leading them is a gift someone has thought to bless me with. It doesn’t matter if I am in a pool teaching them to blow bubbles, or in a room teaching them English. This is what I’m good at. This is what I want to spend the rest of my life doing. 

Four weeks doesn’t seem right. It seems like I have been here long then that. The days flow together in such a way, I feel like 97 have passed by. My brain is a sponge, absorbing every word, every image, every smile, every new thing like there's no tomorrow. 

As of today, I know 52 words in Thai. I understand the main concept when people are talking to me, as long as they keep the vocab pretty simple. The staff is mega impressed and insist that I only talk to them in Thai, and they will only talk to me in English. Walai feels sure I will be fluent by the time I leave 0.o. 

Since I know in advance that I will be asked for this, here is a list of the words I know. The Thai ‘spelling’ is a mix of the way they actually spell it in English, and how I spell it to remember how to say it. Some of the vowls are not the ones you say in English, but there is no other letter for it. What I’m trying to say is, don’t go saying these words to random Thai people. You will end up butchering the word beyond recognition like I do. 

As for the words themselves, most of them have been learned by simply listening to the conversation around me, picking out the words repeated most often and comparing them to the subject being talked about. Some were learned through miming a request, such as ‘eating’, others the girls taught me during our English lesson. As I mentioned before, for every day of class they put in new words, I put in one or two Thai words. 

Random words

Chai-yes

Mai-Chai-no

Kang/Di- Good

Khun/P- a title given to someone older, a sign of respect 

Arina -what

Chan- I

Ka- like a polite mmhm

Cup Khun Ka- thank you

Nit non- a little

Ran-hot

Pom-hair

Bow- light weight 

Seing- sound 

Fun- Teeth 

Bakka -pen

Wing-run

Home- pleasant smelling

Men-stinky 

Frang-foreigner

Aan- read 

Mam-queen

Ya-drug

Kheyn-Write 

Sentences 

Futo-its raining

Swadika-  primary greeting used at anytime of the day 

Swadi- how are you

Khun chop- do you like

Mai me-I don’t have 

People

Yi-grandmother

Mae-mother

Paw-father

Nwang Sao- Sister

Pheun-friend

House related 

Bahn-houe

Hong-room

Hong nam-bathroom

Ab-to bathe 

Eating 

Aroy -delicious

Blah-fish 

Moo-pork

Goye-banana

Mann-type of potato 

Dow who- tofu

Nam-water, or liquid

Cow Yen- dinner 

Ging cow- to eat 

Cow- Rice

Polamine-fruit

Neua-meat

Clothes

Mua-hat

Sua-t-shirt

Rong tao- shoes