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Do I Need to Know THIS Word?

One of the challenges of language study is deciding which words to try to remember and which ones to not worry about. Ideally, I would be able to remember and incorporate into my working knowledge all of the new Thai words that I encounter in my reading and conversation. But, there are a LOT of new words that I encounter all the time. In working through a Thai novel about the history of democracy in Thailand, every page has many words that I either have not encountered before or still haven't learned well enough to actually use them. Here's an example: In my novel, the word meru (เมรุ), pronounced "main", has come up a couple times in the context of funerals. The immediate context in the novel didn't give me enough information to figure it out but upon looking it up in the dictionary, I've found out that it means "funeral pyre" or "crematorium". So, I think it is that little building on the temple grounds where they burn the body after a Buddhist funeral. Now, is this something I should make a point of remembering? It's not a word that I hear come up in conversation very often and if I remember correctly, I usually hear people talk

Written by Karl Dahlfred on 19 April 2009.

Indirect Communication

I had been told that Thai people communicate indirectly but as time has gone on I have seen so many instances of Thai people communicating quite directly and to the point that I question whether that statement is really true. Sometimes they can be quite direct but other times so indirect that I have no idea what happened.

While at the hospital recently with some believers from the PhraBaht church, I noticed that one woman had this little bookelt in her hand as we waited to go in to see the man we had come to visit. The booklet is called, in English, "Criticism: Giving it and Receiving it" or something along those lines. I asked her about it to see what she thought. It had piqued her interest because of how much gossip there is going around and how difficult it is to reconcile differences with other people. Unfortunately, she hadn't read it yet and couldn't give me a review. However, after confirming that it was indeed translated from English, I asked her to let me know what she thought when she was done. Did she think the advice and way of going about giving and receiving criticism too Western or was the advice contained therein good and usable for Thai people? She gave me a puzzled expression and said, "It shouldn't make a difference, should it?" I went on, "Well, you know that Westerners often talk pretty directly, saying exactly what they mean, and Thai people...." She interrupted, "Ah...." apparently understanding where I was going with my question and then went on to explain, "that's because when you don't know someone really well, you give them more respect. You're not close with them so therefore you need to speak more politely." "You mean speak in a round about way instead of directly?" I interjected.

Written by Karl Dahlfred on 14 April 2009.

Thai New Testament on MP3 - Free Download

Thai NT The vast majority of Thai people can read but that doesn't mean that everyone likes to read or is really good at reading. Faith Comes By Hearing has a great selection of MP3 New Testaments available for free download, including Thai. The Thailand Bible Society has one for sale for about 300 Baht but I prefer the non-drama recording available here much better - no "borrowed" movie theme music at the beginning of each chapter, and no echoing feedback voice for the sections of text when angels speak. Since it is free download, I burn it onto CDs (it fits onto two 700 MB discs) and give it to Thai folks who indicate an interest in listening to Scripture. Not everybody likes to read and some people enjoy listening to Scripture more. Personally, I find it slow to read Thai so sometimes I listen to the Thai NT MP3 file while following along in my Thai Bible. It also helps me hear the pronunciation and rhythm of speech which, as a non-native speaker, I wouldn't necessarily get just by reading silently.

Written by Karl Dahlfred on 01 April 2009.

Maybe Thai People Do Like To Read!

Thai boy reading evangelistic magazine I've thought for a long time that Thai people don't read that much (even though the majority can read, at least to a basic level). There are very few bookstores in Thailand (not counting comic book rental shops) and I don't see people reading books that much. Out in Nong Doan, the lower class farming community where we are trying to do a church plant, I've met a number of folks who claim that they can't read (although in reality it seems that they say this because they don't have confidence in their reading ability because of low educational level). These experiences have made me think more about oral Bible story telling in ministry, the importance of good oral Biblical preaching and teaching, and distributing the Thai New Testament on MP3 for those who would rather listen than read. Along these lines, I've started listening to a few of the "Introduction to Orality" podcasts over at Story4all.

With that said, some recent experiences and some new research have made me think that reading and literature may be an important part of many Thai people's lives after all. Actually, I always wanted to believe that literature has an important role in evangelism and discipleship in Thailand for no other reason than the fact that books have had an important role in my own spiritual development. And we can't ignore the fact that God gave us the Bible in a book, not on a CD.