| Commonly used Thai consonants |
I am taking private Thai lessons with same teacher who initial taught me and 4 other students Thai during my semester here. He's a brilliant, but intimidating teacher. I enjoy learning from him because he knows what he taught me before and therefore what I should know. As a result, we either review and he refreshes my memory, or he re-teaches me and I try my hardest to understand and not forget. Besides already knowing what I should know, Ajaan P already knows a bit about me and I already understand his somewhat unconventional or different teaching style. And boy did it ever take forever for our class to figure it out! The downside to being one-on-one with Ajaan P is that it is always only just the 2 of us. There is no one else to struggling through the lesson beside me. It is just me. And that is intimidating. I have to be paying close attention the entire 2 hours of our lesson. I have to do my best to remember vocab and complete my homework (which is usually just practicing pronunciation with whoever I can and also picking up more vocab). But Ajaan P always blows me away by knowledge and understanding of languages and catches me off-guard with his unique sense of humor. The following is a conversation we had in Thai (and English because I'm not that good) about my family and what they do...
My dad is professor at Messiah College
Really? Where your brother is a student?
Yeah, that's why I didn't go there for college.
What does he teach?
He teaches psychology.
What does your mom do?
She works in a coffee shop at Messiah College.
REALLY? [chuckles] Is it an extended family business? Messiah College?
Haha, no. Just my immediate family.
Is the coffee shop located in (near) the Psychology department?
No, it is located in the library.
What is the name of the coffee shop?
It is called "Cafe Diem"
Cafe Diem ... Cafe Diem ... oh, like Carpe Diem? Seize the day?
Yes.
[chuckles] Clever word play [chuckles some more] but I don't understand it, it doesn't make sense.
[blank or questioning look]
It's in the library but is telling people to "seize the day?" People in the library should be studying. "Seize the day" means people should not be wasting their time in the library studying, but going out (and doing exciting/interesting/fun things). [chuckles some more] It doesn't make sense.
[now I'm laughing] I've never thought of it that way before! That's so true!
Who named the coffee shop?
I don't know ... students submitted and then voted on the name.
Well, there you have it. A "typical" conversation with Ajaan P ... and in "typical" I mean, we have maybe one of these conversations a class or he fascinates me with language trivia.
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