首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Should You Learn Thai? Here are eight features about Thai language to help students decide whether they want to learn Thai or no
Should You Learn Thai? Here are eight features about Thai language to help students decide whether they want to learn Thai or no
admin
2017-04-25
44
问题
Should You Learn Thai?
Here are eight features about Thai language to help students decide whether they want to learn Thai or not.
I. Tonal Language
— Each word in Thai holds a(n)【T1】_____ tone【T1】______
— Different tones mean different【T2】_____【T2】______
II. No Roman Alphabet
— New alphabet of 28 vowels and【T3】_____ consonants【T3】______
III. Vowel Placement
— A vowel can go before, after,【T4】_____ a consonant【T4】______
— Different placements of vowels mean different【T5】_____【T5】______
IV. Not Many People Speak Thai
— Only around【T6】_____people speak Thai【T6】______
V. No Distinction Between【T7】_____【T7】______
— Not as【T8】_____ as English【T8】______
— Not as beautiful as Spanish when writing poetry
VI. No Inflected Verbs or【T9】_____【T9】______
— The verb remains the same regardless of
a)the person
b)the【T10】_____【T10】______
c)the numbers
VII. So Many Pronouns
— Pronouns will change according to
a)【T11】_____【T11】______
b)【T12】_____【T12】______
c)being a monk or not, etc.
VIII. Speak of Themselves by Name
— It’s impolite to use the word "I",
because it denotes being too【T13】_____【T13】______
— Speak of themselves in【T14】_____【T14】______
— Refer to somebody by【T15】_____【T15】______
【T6】
Should You Learn Thai?
Good morning, everyone. In our lecture series of language orientation, today we will turn our attention to an oriental language—Thai. Ten years ago, I took my first Thai language class. After a trip to Thailand, I decided for the next one I’d try to learn the language so I signed up for a Thai class at a local temple near my home in the US. Fast forward ten years, and I’m living in Thailand. I am still studying Thai and becoming more comfortable in speaking it fluently every day. But, if you’re thinking of signing up for a Thai language class, is it really the language for you? Is Thai useful? Is it an easy language? Or would studying French or German be a better fit? Of course, only you can make that decision, but today I will tell you eight things about the Thai language. You may decide by your own whether Thai is your cup of tea.
First of all, Thai is a tonal language. Thai is one of the families of language that are tonal.[l]/[2]What that means is each word in Thai holds a specific tone and in order to speak it correctly you must be able to remember the tone and use it every time you say the word. Otherwise, others may misunderstand you. If you’re tone-deaf and cannot hear the difference between a low tone and a high tone, Thai may not be for you.
Secondly, Thai does not use the Roman alphabet. Unlike languages like French or Spanish, Thai does not use the Roman alphabet.[3]What that means is you have to learn a completely new alphabet of 44 consonants and 28 vowels before you can even begin to learn the language. Yes, you hear that correctly, 28 vowels or vowel sounds. Before you can learn new words in Thai, you have to memorize the alphabet along with how those consonants and vowels are written. For many who attempt Thai, they soon give up as remembering the alphabet alone is a lost cause.
Thirdly, vowel placement. Another lovely fun thing about Thai is where the vowels are placed when it’s written.[4]A vowel can either go before a consonant but is pronounced after the consonant. It can also go after the consonant, above the consonant or below the consonant.[5]Where it is placed in the word tells you how to pronounce it. Oh and yes, you have to memorize that too.
Fourthly, not many people speak Thai. If you want a language you can use all over the world, it’s not Thai.[6]With 64 million people in Thailand, only around 20 million speak Thai. The others speak one of various dialects or another Tai language and yes, that’s "Tai" and not "Thai". If you want a language you can use everywhere, probably you should try French, Spanish or Chinese. However, you can also look at it this way. Should you ever live in Thailand, you’ll be unique as few foreigners speak, read and write Thai well.
Fifthly,[7]there is no distinction between adverbs and adjectives. The same word can be used as an adjective or an adverb, as there aren’t separate words for the two.[8]Not as interesting a language as English or as beautiful as Spanish, particularly when you come to write poetry in it.
[9]Sixthly, there is no inflected verbs and no tenses in Thai. Unlike most European languages, where the language inflects, for instance, go, going, went, Thai has no inflection.[10]The word "to go", "Bpai", is always "Bpai", no matter who is speaking, whether it’s future, past or present, if there are more than one or any number of other reasons. So it might be frustrating when you’re trying to figure out how to say "I was going there tomorrow but...". Technically, there are no tenses in Thai. The verb itself "Bpai"(go)is used when modifying words are added, i.e. yesterday, today, next week, "ja" to indicate future, to help the listener understand what time the speaker is talking about.
Seventhly, Thai has so many pronouns to learn. Another frustrating thing about learning Thai is all the pronouns you have to learn.[11]/[12]Depending on who you’re speaking to, younger, older, a higher social level, a monk etc, you must use different pronouns. Thais know it instinctively. Anyone else often runs through pronouns in their head before they figure out which is the correct one and, by that time, the listener has moved on to speak to someone else.
Eighthly, Thais speak of themselves by name. I don’t know about you, but I’m not in the habit of going around saying "Susan will go to the market tomorrow with you", but they do in Thailand.[13]It’s deemed impolite to use the word "I" very much as it denotes being too self-involved,[14]/[15]so Thais often speak of themselves in the third person instead of first and by given name instead of "she".
Now, in all fairness, I love learning and speaking Thai, and have a great sense of accomplishment for how much I can speak already. I also think it’s a beautiful language, particularly in the way it’s written. For others though, the frustrations can often outweigh the benefits, so if you don’t have a lot of patience to figure out an incredibly complex language or want to be able to speak a foreign language you can actually use in most coun tries in the world, then Thai maybe isn’t for you And I hope this orientation will help you make a decision whether you are going to pick Thai as your second foreign language. Next time, I believe we will have another teacher from the Oriental School of our university to give you an orientation about Japanese.
选项
答案
20 million//twenty million
解析
本题考查筛选信息的能力。讲座中提到两个数字,题目问的是说泰语的人数,即20 million或twenty million。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/fKzK777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
Alinguisticsituationinwhichtwostandardlanguagesareusedeitherbyanindividualorbyagroupofspeakersiscalled
Inhistory,RomansoccupiedBritainforabout______years.
TheColdWarwasacontinuingstateofpoliticalandmilitarytensionbetweentheUnitedStatesand
ThepoliticaltheoryunderliningTheDeclarationofIndependencecamefrom
______canbeusedindependentlywithoutbeingcombinedwithothermorphemes.
______istherepresentativeworkoftheLostGeneration.
"Thatgovernmentofthepeople,bythepeople,forthepeople,..."werethewordsof
Theword"winner"and"loser"havemanymeanings.Whenwerefertoapersonasawinner,wedonotmeanonewhomakessomeoneel
PASSAGETHREEWhatisoneofthecharacteristicsthatextendedthecontroloftheOttomanEmpire?
A、Science.B、Finance.C、Politics.D、Culture.C
随机试题
依据《金属非金属矿山禁止使用的设备及工艺目录》(第一批及第二批),金属非金属矿山可选用的设备或工艺为()。
火灾报警控制器能发出区别于环境声、光的火灾报警信号,警示人们迅速进行安全疏散和采取火灾扑救措施。()
促进振动病发生的重要外界条件是
红细胞内叶酸含量测定低于
任何金融工具都可能出现由资产价格或指数变动导致损失的可能性,这是()。
研究表明:如果人长期在95分贝的噪声环境里工作和生活,大约有29%的人会丧失听力;即使噪声只有85分贝,也有10%的人会发生耳聋;120~130分贝的噪声,能使人感到耳内疼痛;更强的噪声会使听觉器官受到损害。有检测表明:当人连续听摩托车声,8小时以后听力就
Alawyerneedsa(n)______secretary.
已知函数f(x)=x2ln(1-x),当n≥3时,f(n)(0)=().
学生的记录由学号和成绩组成,N名学生的数据已在主函数中放入结构体数组s中,请编写函数fun,它的功能是:把分数最低的学生数据放在b所指的数组中,注意:分数最低的学生可能不止一个,函数返回分数最低的学生的人数。注意:部分源程序在文件PROG1.C文
It’scommonsensethat____________________.(商务信函应以正式文体书写而不是以么人风格书写).
最新回复
(
0
)