A little bit of Thai

So, I learned how to write my Thai name today! My latest language lesson was on saying that I have already/ have not yet done something. My teacher was asking me a series of questions including one which she thought she knew the answer to: “Can you read Thai?” My answer was “neat noy” which means “a little bit.”

You see, I had taught my 4th graders how to write their names in Thai as a special activity in the last week of school. Although it probably would not make sense to a Thai person, it was an opportunity for me to become familiar with the letters.

My first time out and about here in Thailand I rode by a sign that had letters that I recognized. I tried reading it and it wasn’t until after I had worked through it that I noticed the English equivalent underneath – I had read the sign correctly! It said ลานนา (Lanna) which is the ancient kingdom of the northern part of Thailand – a fitting first word for me, no?

I told my teacher about this and she got excited and then taught me how to write my Thai name. It is pronounced pbraanii (the pb is a mix between the p and b sounds) – midtone (almost mono-tone sounding). It means “mercy,” which I really like. It can be written 2 ways ปรานี or ปราณี I haven’t figured out why there are 2 ways – everything like this is answered “same-same” meaning that it doesn’t matter which you choose; they mean the same thing! Oh well! :) So, now, you know a little bit of how to read Thai as well! :)

สวัสดีค่ะ (Saa-waa-dee-kaa) – Goodbye!