Ok, it’s really not that hard to grock.

in studying foreign languages, i’ve often wondered about learning words based on usage frequency. if your goal is to get up and running with basic conversation, then memorizing the most commonly used 300-500 words would probably be easiest. it would obviously leave lots of gaps, but you would probably have enough of a foundation to understand most conversations and then figure out the rest based on context.

wiktionary has created lists of most commonly used words (sorted by language) based on the subtitles from movies and tv shows. i guess that would mean it would apply to the spoken forms of language more than the written ones, but would seem like a good way to decide which words to learn

ohh, this reminds me …. i’m into week three of the new school term, taking spanish, sanskrit, japanese and an introduction to thai literature.

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Frequency_lists

i grew up in the northeast of the united states, a place that can be super cold. i eventually moved to san francisco, los angeles and finally bangkok. i’ve realized that i hate the cold but going back to visit it for a few weeks can be really nice. it hit me recently how the line between living and dead is blurred in the winter. trees appear dead but are really just resting from the cold, flowers wilt away and then come back and with the lack of sun many of us get depressed and withdraw inside.
shot with a yashica 125G and agfa rsx II film, in new york and vermont. below are three diptychs from the series, the rest are here.

when i was in vermont, dad gave me a beautiful pinhole camera hand-made from teak wood. the “lens” is a hole cut via a laser is F138, which means that pretty much anything is in focus. exposures have to be long, about a second in very bright light and minutes indoors. these black and white shots were done with kodak tmax 400 film and the color shots were on agfa rsx II 200 rsa film (all medium format). if you like the first image, please vote for it over at jpgmag. if you like it a lot, tell your friends to vote for it too.

all photos were shot in killington, vt, usa and aside from some cropping have had no post-processing. the blue in the colors photos comes from the manner that the light reflected off the snow and played with color film.

click the image to view it larger in flickr.

as much as i love going away, i really love coming home. on a nice day if you fly into san francisco, you get views of salt flats, something that warmed my heart and made me feel excited every single time i saw it. there’s not much that really stands out when flying into bangkok’s new airport, but i still get that warm, exciting feeling when coming home.

before coming back, i spent three days in new york city, staying with george and tina and also got to see tons of friends whom i hadn’t seen in years … some i hadn’t seen in at least seven or eight years. i was really surprised how much fun i had in nyc, the last few times i was there i felt like it was just too much to deal with but this time i had a blast. part of the time i felt like i was in a totally different country, new york has it’s own customs and culture and i felt like this total outsider looking at it. saturday george, my brother and his friend and i spend most of the day going to museums and art galleries. i guess i had always known that new york has this amazing arts scene, but what impressed me even more was the number of people that seemed to be taking advantage of it. when i go to galleries in bangkok, i am often the only person there but in nyc they were packed with people of all ages and social levels.

in case anyone is interested in details, we started at the new museum and saw some far out conceptual art (some of which made sense to me); then saw an exhibit called four friends: basquiat, harin, baechler, scharf at tony shafrazi gallery; then went to chein and reed gallery; then to the kara walker exhibit at the whitney and finally to pop! international over in soho.

last post in the series on thai idioms, this one translates คำสุภาษิต which my dictionary translates to mean proverb. i made one change to the previous post, thanks art for pointing it out. it’s interesting to see which animals are used in proverbs from different countries … in english we use foxes (clever as a fox) and bids (birds of a feather flock together), but in thai they uses snakes and elephants.

the text book for my philosophy class has some stuff that will make for a good post eventually … but probably not for another few weeks. this is my last week of vacation, i’ll be back in bangkok early next week …. i’m realizing how much i miss teaching, looking very much forward to getting back.

ohh, i just got back from a great week up in the wood of vermont … shot lots with all sorts of cameras, i’ll post the digital ones soon.

น้ำขึ้นให้รีบตัก
มีโอกาสให้รีบทำ
water comes up, hurry scoop it
gather ye rosebuds while ye may, old time is still a-flying; and this same flower that smiles today, tomorrow will be dying
carpe diem
hoist your sail when the wind is fair
make hay while the sun shines

เข้าเถื่อนอย่าลืมพร้า
ให้ตระเตรียมให้พร้อม อย่าหลงลืมและอย่าประมาท
enter untamed forest, don’t forget a scythe
always be prepared, don’t be forgetful or careless

เอาเนื้อหนูไปปะเนื้อช้าง
เอาทรัพย์หรือสิ่งของจากคนที่มีน้อยไปให้แก่คนที่มีมากกว่า
take meat mouse, go mend meat elephant
to take things from those to have little, give them to those to have more

อย่าเทน้ำพริกไปกินแกง
อย่าคาดคะเนว่าจะได้สิ่งที่ยังมาไม่าถึง แล้วรีบสละของเดิม
don’t pour shrimp paste into curry
don’t abandon things you have already, in pursuit of things that aren’t yet sure
a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

น้ำขุ่นไว้ใน น้ำใส่ไว้นอก
แม้จะไม่พอใจก็ต้องแสดงสีหน้ายิ้มแยม (ต้องรู้จักเก็บความรู้สึก)
water cloudy store it inside, water clear store it outside
force yourself to appear happy, even if you aren’t. know when to mask your feelings.
fake it ’til you make it

พบไม้งามเมื่อขวานบิ่น
พบหญ่งสาวที่ต้องใจเมื่อแก่เสียแล้ว หรือแต่งงานกับหญ่งอื่นก่อนเสียแล้ว
meet wood beautiful when an ax is chipped
when you meet a beautiful girl but are already taken

รู้หลบเป็นปีก รู้หลีกเป็นหาง
รู้จักเอาตัวรอดหรือปรับตัวให้เข้ากับเหตุการณ์
know avoidance as a wing, know evading as a tail
know how to survive, how to change yourself to meet a new situation

i made a few corrections to the last post on idioms (thanks pueng and wan) and added in one more that i was having trouble translating properly (thanks pank). this next group is คำพังเพย which my dictionary translates to mean either axioms or proverbs. again, feel free to comment on my translations … and if you can think of similar axioms in english, please add those too.

1. น้ำท่วมทุง ผักบุ้งโหรงเหรง
   พูกมาก แต่ได้เนื้อหาสาระน้อย
   water floods the fields, morning glory (a leafy green vegetable) is little amount.
   when you talk a lot, but don’t seem to say anything.
2. น้ำร้อนปลาเป็น น้ำเย็นปลาตาย
   คำพูดที่ตรงไปตรงมาแบบขวานผ่าชาก ย่อมไม่ถูกใจผู้ฟัง ส่วนคำพูดที่ไฟเราะอ่อนหวานย่อมถูกใจผู้ฟัง
   water hot fish live, water cold fish die
   flies are easily caught with honey; it’s easier to catch flies with honey than with vinegar
3. ตำข้าวสารกรอกหม้อ
   หาเพียงแค่พอกินไปมื้อหนึ่งๆ ทำพอให้เสร็จไปครั้งหนึ่งๆ
   pound milled rice fill up a pot
   to get just enough food for one meal; to finish something one task at a time
4. เหยียบเรือสองแคม
   ทำทีเข้าด้วยทั้ง 2 ฝายตัดสินใจไม่เด็ดขาดว่าจะเลือกข้างไหน
   step on a boat two edges
   to support both sides because you can’t decide which side to pick; to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds
5. ไก่เห็นตีนงู งูเห็นนมไก่
   ต่างฝ่ายต่างรู้ความลับของกันและกัน
   chicken sees feet of snake, snake sees chest of chicken
   both sides know each other’s secrets
6. ฝนตกก็แช่ง ฝนแล้วก็ด่า
   ทำอะไรๆ จะให้ถูกใจคนทั้งหมดเป็นไปไม่ได้
   rain falls then curse, rain then scold
   you can’t please everyone
7. หัวหกก้นขวิด
   เที่ยวเตร่เร่ร่อยไปอย่างไม่ห่วงข้างหลังว่าจะเป็นอย่างไร
   head falls bends rams (or maybe butt against?)
   to wander about without worrying about what’s behind you
8. วัวใคร่เข้าคอกคนนั้น
   กรรมที่ผู้ใดทำไว้ย่อมสงผลแก่ผู้นั้น
   cow wishes to enter bent person that
   any one person’s karma (action, deeds) can impact someone else
9. เอาไม้ซีกไปงัดไม้ซุง
   ตัดค้านผู้ใหญ่หรือผู้มีฐานะสูงกว่าย่อมไม่สำเร็จและอาจได้รับผลร้ายแก่ตัวอีกด้วย
   take wood piece, go open wooden tree
   arguing with someone older or of higher status than you will not lead to success and will negatively impact you too
10. เด็ดดอกไม่ไว้ขั้ว / เด็ดบัวไม่ไว้ใย
    ตัดขาด ตัดญาติขาดมิตรกันเด็ดขาด
    pick flowers not at the end (of the stem) / pick lotus flowers not at the stem
    to stop communicating with friends or family
11. กินน้ำเห็นปลิง
    รู้สึกตะขิตตะขวงใจเหมือนอาการรังเกียจที่จะกิน้ำแต่เห็นปลิงอยู่ในน้ำนั้น
    drink water see leach
    to feel as if you were drinking water and found a leach in it
12. ขี้ไม่ให้หมากิน
    ตระหนี่ ขี้เหนียว
    shit don’t give to a dog to eat
    to be stingy
13. น้ำลดตอผุด
    เมื่อหมดอำนาจความชั่วที่ทำไว้ก็ปรากฏ
    water decreases stump appears
    when power is gone, the evil that appears
14. ตีวัวกระทบคราด
    โกรธคนหนึ่งแต่ทำอะไรเขาไม่ได้ ไพล่ไปทำอีกคนหนึ่งที่เกี่ยวข้องและตนสามารถทำได้
    hit cow collide with a rake
    to be mad at someone who you can’t do anything to, and instead take it out on someone else involved; to beat the dog before the lion

i’ve run this blog for over three years now, starting when i first went off to india. i did go through a year of thinking i was a neoluddite and didn’t really post much, but other than that i have posted regularly. when i left for india this most recent time, i decided to do all posts inthai and english (there’s a switch on the left to change language). this post is the first bilingual one, the subject matter wouldn’t really make sense if i wrote in just one language, but it should make sense to people who don’t speak any thai also.

i feel very strongly that the only way to properly learn about a culture is to learn it’s language. when i learned the words thai has to express eating in a communal nature (things that we don’t really have in english), i understood much more about the communal nature of thais. as part of the bachelor’s degree in thai that i’m studying at ramkamheng university, i am taking a class called structure and usage of the thai language (TH101). part of the textbook covers thai idioms (สำนวน), things that when translated literally rarely make sense but provide an interesting view of the culture. in english, we have a saying “don’t burn the candle at both ends”, in thai the closest idiom would translate as “don’t catch fish with both hands”.

i’ve pulled out a series of idioms below. the first line in thai gives the idiom, the second line gives an explanation in thai, the third line gives a somewhat literal translation of the idiom (sometimes an exact literal translation is impossible) and the remaining lines give an explanation in english. if there is a related idiom in english i included it, but for the most part i couldn’t think of any. if anyone reading this has ideas, please leave them as comments. ohh and if anyone feels like i translated stuff wrong, leave that as a comment too.

axioms and proverbs will come soon.

1. น้ำท่วมปาก
   พูกไม่ออก บอกไม่ได้ เพราะมีความจำเป็นบีบบังคับอยู่
   watered flooded into mouth
   to be rendered speechless due to an imminent influence or one’s own fear
2. น้ำตาตกใน
   เศร้าโศกเสียใจอย่ากมาก แต่ไม่แสดงออก
   tears fall inside
   to be very sad but to hold it inside
   to swallow your feelings
3. ข้าวใหม่ปลามัน
   คนที่เพิ่งแต่งงานกันใหม่ๆ ย่อมมีควสมสุขสดชื่น
   rice new fish oily
   newlyweds who are super-happy together, to be in the honeymoon phase
4. ปลาคนเด่ียวกัน
   คนที่อยู่ร่วมกันหรือเป็นพวกเดียวกัน
   fish one together
   people who live together or are in the same group
5. น้ำหนึ่งใจเดี่ยวกัน
   มีความคิดเห็นเป็นอันหนึ่งอันเดี่ยวกัน
   water, one heart together
   to have the same opinion shared between people; birds of a feather flock together
6. ตาลุกตาชัน
   แสดงอาการอยากได้เมื่อเห็นสิ่งที่ต้องกาง เช่น เงิน
   eyes open wide, eyes lifted
   to openly express desire for something you want, generally applies to money, gold, etc ..
7. พายเรืิอทวนน้ำ
   ทำด้วยความยากลำบาก
   row a boat against the current; to do something in a difficult manner
8. เรือใหญ่คับคลอง
   คนที่เคยรุ่งเรื่องหรือเป็นใหญ่เป็นโต เมื่อตกต่ำลงก็วางตัวอย่างคนสามัญไม่ได้
   boat big tight in the canal
   someone who lost status or power but continues to behave as if he still has it; can’t live like an average person
9. พายเรือในอ่าง
   คิด ทำหรือพูดวกวนกลับไปกลับมา
   row boat in bay (tub)
   to think, do or speak in a circular, confusing manner; to talk in circles
10. เรือขาดหางเสือ
    คนที่ขาดสติสัมปชัญญะ ครอบครัวที่ขาดผู้ดูแลรับผิดชอบ การงานที่ขาดหัวหน้า
    boat missing a tiger’s tail (rudder)
    someone who lacks common-sense, a family without someone to look after them or a business without a proper boss
11. ตาเล็กตาน้อย
    ตนที่แสดงอาการว่าชอบพอรักใคร่ เป็นการทอดไมตรีในทางชู้สาว
    eyes little eyes small
    someone who expresses interest in or love for someone else; to have eyes for someone else

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12. ตา​เป็น​สัปปะรด
    มีพรรคพวกที่คอยสอดส่องดูเหตุการณ์ให้อยู่รอบข้างจำนวนมาก
    someone who is aware of things around himself quickly

zak is back from africa, and is finally updating his blog. lots of new things.

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