Thai
There is one clip on Youtube that has probably done more to destroy the spirit of people learning Thai than any other. 'The World's Most Complicated Writing System' (Thai) by Youtuber Xidnaf came out about 6 years ago and while at first the clip just frustrated
Thai
I'm sure there will be some differing opinions out there on this one, but for me personally, one of the things that I have seen really stunt learners' development of gaining a deep and broad facility in Thai (and other languages) has derived from asking 'How
Thai
Learning the Thai script - consonants, vowels, tones, tone markers ... I know this is probably preaching to the choir, flogging a dead horse - and many other overused idioms ... but as I read through discussions here, on Youtube and in other groups, I realised when I put my clip out
Thai
On the topic of Pitch Paradigms from mother tongues interfering with tones and prosody / natural sounding rhythms when speaking Thai, I've just put this visual representation together of how many learners of Thai - or just visitors to Thailand pronounce สวัสดี sawat dee (khrap /kha) - In
Thai
THE 'LISTING' PARADIGM ... 1→(N-1)=RISING ; N=FALLING If you're a native speaker of English or other European language, count to 10. ... ... Now count to 5 ... Chances are that you'll notice some subconscious 'Pitch Paradigms' or 'Pitch Envelopes' come into
Thai
Many new-comers to Thailand make the mistake of asking 'How do you say 'Yes' and 'No' in Thai?' The reality is that there's no such word as 'Yes' as we have it in English. To answer in the affirmative, just
Thai
When writing Thai letters, ALWAYS start from the location of the main loop - even in writing styles where the loop is missing, your pen will still start from that place. There are only 2 Thai letters without a loop - ก and ธ. You will see many fonts out
Mind and Brain
How long does it take to learn a language? How fast can you learn Russian? How much language can you learn in two weeks? If you've been following my posts and YouTube videos of late, you will have seen that due to recent cervical spinal surgery, my left
One of the worst things that could ever happen to a linguist / polyglot / facilitator / musician has just happened do me. Spinal surgery has resulted in my vocal nerve being badly damaged and as a result, my voice is gone. They say it could take up to a year to come
Mind and Brain
Schools as we know them are dying. When we have all the knowledge in the world at our fingertips, why on earth do we send our kids to school? Please hear me out to the end - I'm not a home-schooling hippy, but what I have recently experienced
Mind and Brain
In 1981, my grandfather called us excitedly to tell me that he'd done it! - It turns out that this phone call had a profound effect on the rest of my life - and even my identity. "I can finally solve the Rubik's Cube!"
South by Southeast (SXSE)
Would you put urine on your baby's tongue? Where is the line between culture, superstitions, religion, health and plain common sense? In this episode of South by Southeast, Wimintra and I discuss the past nine months of pregnancy and giving birth, trying to stay clear of any cultural,