Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

Introduction
Eric: Welcome to 3-Minute Thai Season 1, Lesson 8 - Talking About Your Age.
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask someone's age and to say yours in Thai.
Body
Eric: Here's the way to ask "How old are you?" as a female speaker in Thai.
Jay: [Normal] คุณอายุเท่าไหร่คะ(khun aa-yú thâo-rài khá)
Eric: First is a polite pronoun meaning "you"
Jay: [Normal] คุณ [Slow] คุณ (khun)
Eric: Next is the word meaning "age"
Jay: [Normal] อายุ [Slow] อายุ(aa-yú)
Eric: Next is the phrase meaning "how much.” In this context, it can be translated as “how old.”
Jay: [Normal] เท่าไหร่ [Slow] เท่าไหร่(thâo-rài)
Eric: Last is the polite sentence ending particle for female speakers when asking questions and making requests.
Jay: [Normal] คะ [Slow] คะ(khá)
Eric: Listen again to the question meaning "How old are you?" as a female speaker.
Jay: [Slow] คุณอายุเท่าไหร่คะ [Normal] คุณอายุเท่าไหร่คะ
Eric: Now, imagine you're speaking to a stranger. Here's the way to ask, "How old are you?" as a male speaker.
Jay: [Normal] คุณอายุเท่าไหร่ครับ(khun aa-yú thâo-rài khráp)
Eric: First is a polite pronoun meaning "you"
Jay: [Normal] คุณ [Slow] คุณ (khun)
Eric: Next is the word meaning "age"
Jay: [Normal] อายุ [Slow] อายุ(aa-yú)
Eric: Next is the word meaning "how much.” In this context, it means “how old.”
Jay: [Normal] เท่าไหร่ [Slow] เท่าไหร่(thâo-rài)
Eric: Last is the sentence ending particle to increase the level of politeness for male speakers.
Jay: [Normal] ครับ [Slow] ครับ(khráp)
Eric: Listen again to the question meaning "How old are you?" as a male speaker.
Jay: [Slow] คุณอายุเท่าไหร่ครับ [Normal] คุณอายุเท่าไหร่ครับ
Eric: Here's a response meaning "I am 17." as a male speaker.
Jay: [Normal] ผมอายุ 17 ปีครับ (phǒm aa-yú sìp jèt bpii khráp)
Eric: First is a pronoun meaning “I” as a male speaker.
Jay: [Normal] ผม [Slow] ผม(phǒm)
Eric: Next is the word meaning "age"
Jay: [Normal] อายุ [Slow] อายุ(aa-yú)
Eric: Next is the word meaning "seventeen”
Jay: [Normal] สิบเจ็ด (17) [Slow] สิบเจ็ด (17)(sìp jèt)
Eric: Next is the word meaning "years old"
Jay: [Normal] ปี [Slow] ปี(bpii)
Eric: Last is the sentence ending particle that increases the level of politeness when the speaker is a male.
Jay: [Normal] ครับ [Slow] ครับ(khráp)
Eric: Listen again to the response meaning "I am 17." as a male speaker.
Jay: [Slow] ผมอายุ 17 ปีครับ [Normal] ผมอายุ 17 ปีครับ
Eric: Here's a response meaning, "May I not tell you?" as a female speaker. This phrase can be used as “I don’t want to answer the question.”
Jay: [Normal] ขอไม่บอกได้ไหมคะ(khǎaw mâi bàawk dâai mǎi khá)
Eric: First is a word meaning "May"
Jay: [Normal] ขอ [Slow] ขอ(khǎaw)
Eric: Next is the adverb meaning "not"
Jay: [Normal] ไม่ [Slow] ไม่(mâi)
Eric: Next is the verb meaning “to tell"
Jay: [Normal] บอก [Slow] บอก(bàawk)
Eric: Next is the word that makes the request polite. Literally, it means is it ok to...?"
Jay: [Normal] ได้ไหม [Slow] ได้ไหม(dâai mǎi)
Eric: Last is the sentence-ending particle used for polite questions and requests by female speakers.
Jay: [Normal] คะ [Slow] คะ(khá)
Eric: Listen again to the response meaning "May I not tell you?" as a female speaker.
Jay: [Slow] ขอไม่บอกได้ไหมคะ [Normal] ขอไม่บอกได้ไหมคะ
Cultural Insight
Eric: Now it's time for a quick cultural insight.
Jay: Beyond learning someone's age, there are several reasons that you should understand how to read numbers in Thai. One big challenge will be talking in Thai at a bank. When we go to a bank in Thailand, we first receive a queue number. When it's your turn, a computerized voice will announce your number in Thai. First it will say “Mǎai-lêek” which means “number”, then the number in Thai. For example, Mǎai-lêek Nùeng, “Number 1” or Mǎai-lêek Sǎawng, “number two”.

Outro

Eric: And that’s all for this lesson. Don’t forget to check out the lesson notes, and we’ll see you in the next lesson!
Jay: สวัสดี ค่ะ

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