Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Ohm: สวัสดีครับ
Ja: Hello, and welcome to ThaiPod101.com. This is Lower Beginner, Season 1, Lesson 21 - “How Long has that Thai Couple Been Together?” I'm Ja.
Ohm: And I'm Ohm. What are we going to learn in this lesson?
Ja: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about the starting point of an event.
Ohm: The conversation takes place at a shopping mall.
Ja: It’s between two friends, Nok and Dao.
Ohm: The speakers are friends, so they'll be using casual Thai.
Ja: Alright, let’s listen to the conversation.

Lesson conversation

นก : เธอกับแฟนคบกันตั้งแต่เมื่อไหร่
ดาว : ตั้งแต่สิบเอ็ดโมงเช้า วันที่ 18 มีนาคม ปีที่แล้ว
นก : จำได้ขนาดนั้นเลยเหรอ
ดาว : จำได้ เพราะว่าเขาขอฉันเป็นแฟนตอนที่เราไปกินข้าวเที่ยงด้วยกันในวันเกิดฉัน
Ja: Let’s hear the conversation one more time, a little
slower.
นก : เธอกับแฟนคบกันตั้งแต่เมื่อไหร่
ดาว : ตั้งแต่สิบเอ็ดโมงเช้า วันที่ 18 มีนาคม ปีที่แล้ว
นก : จำได้ขนาดนั้นเลยเหรอ
ดาว : จำได้ เพราะว่าเขาขอฉันเป็นแฟนตอนที่เราไปกินข้าวเที่ยงด้วยกันในวันเกิดฉัน
Ja: Now let’s hear it with the English translation.
นก : เธอกับแฟนคบกันตั้งแต่เมื่อไหร่
Ja: Since when did you and your boyfriend become a couple?
ดาว : ตั้งแต่สิบเอ็ดโมงเช้า วันที่ 18 มีนาคม ปีที่แล้ว
Ja: Since eleven o'clock on March eighteenth of last year.
นก : จำได้ขนาดนั้นเลยเหรอ
Ja: You can remember it that well?
ดาว : จำได้ เพราะว่าเขาขอฉันเป็นแฟนตอนที่เราไปกินข้าวเที่ยงด้วยกันในวันเกิดฉัน
Ja: I can remember because he asked me to be his girlfriend when we went to eat lunch on my birthday.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Ja: Ohm, it sounds like Dao is pretty serious about her boyfriend.
Ohm: Yes, she even remembers the exact time that they became a couple!
Ja: Is it usual for Thai couples to date for a long time?
Ohm: It depends. If their families are more traditional, the couple might start being pressured to get married.
Ja: So it's not like in some countries where unmarried people might live together for a while before getting married?
Ohm: There are some Thai couples that would live together first, since the times and traditions are changing. But typically, a Thai couple would get married before moving in together.
Ja: I see. Okay, let’s move on to the vocab.
VOCAB LIST
Ja: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson.
: The first word we’ll look at is:
Ohm: แฟน [natural native speed]
Ja: boyfriend, girlfriend
Ohm: แฟน [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Ohm: แฟน [natural native speed]
Next:
Ohm: คบ [natural native speed]
Ja: to associate with, to be in a relationship with
Ohm: คบ [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Ohm: คบ [natural native speed]
Next:
Ohm: ตั้งแต่ [natural native speed]
Ja: since, from
Ohm: ตั้งแต่ [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Ohm: ตั้งแต่ [natural native speed]
Next:
Ohm: เมื่อไหร่ [natural native speed]
Ja: when
Ohm: เมื่อไหร่ [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Ohm: เมื่อไหร่ [natural native speed]
: Next:
Ohm: มีนาคม [natural native speed]
Ja: March
Ohm: มีนาคม [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Ohm: มีนาคม [natural native speed]
Next:
Ohm: ปีที่แล้ว [natural native speed]
Ja: last year
Ohm: ปีที่แล้ว [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Ohm: ปีที่แล้ว [natural native speed]
Next:
Ohm: จำได้ [natural native speed]
Ja: to remember
Ohm: จำได้ [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Ohm: จำได้ [natural native speed]
Next:
Ohm: ขนาดนั้น [natural native speed]
Ja: that much
Ohm: ขนาดนั้น [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Ohm: ขนาดนั้น [natural native speed]
Next:
Ohm: ข้าวเที่ยง [natural native speed]
Ja: lunch
Ohm: ข้าวเที่ยง [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Ohm: ข้าวเที่ยง [natural native speed]
Next:
Ohm: วันเกิด [natural native speed]
Ja: birthday
Ohm: วันเกิด [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Ohm: วันเกิด [natural native speed]
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Ja: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word we'll look at is…
Ohm: คบ
Ja: This is a verb that means "to associate" or "to be in a relationship."
Ohm: That's right. In a sentence, คบ (khóp) will often be followed by กัน (gan), meaning "together," to make the phrase คบกัน (khóp gan), meaning "to be in a relationship together." It can also be followed by กับ (gàp), meaning “with.” So คบกับ (khóp gàp) means "to associate with" or “to be in a relationship with.”
Ja: This phrase is mostly used to talk about people in a romantic relationship, but it can also be used to talk about friendships and other partnerships.
Ohm: That's right.
Ja: What's the next phrase we’re talking about?
Ohm: ปีที่แล้ว
Ja: This is a prepositional phrase that means "last year." It's made up of three words.
Ohm: First is ปี (bpii), meaning "year," then ที่ (thîi), which means "that," and lastly the word แล้ว (láaeo), meaning "already” or “finish."
Ja: The last two words literally translate to "that which was finished," but together it means “the one right before this.” So in the case of a year, we mean the previous year or "last year."
Ohm: There's another way to say "the previous year," which is ปีที่ผ่านมา (bpii thîi phàan maa).
Ja: This also starts with the word for "year," but what does the rest of it mean?
Ohm: ที่ผ่านมา (thîi phàan maa) by itself means "that which has passed."
Ja: Alright, the last phrase is...
Ohm: ขนาดนั้น
Ja: This can be used as an adverb meaning "that much" or "to that extent." And it's composed of two words.
Ohm: The first is ขนาด (khà-nàat), which means "size" or "magnitude." The second is นั้น (nán), meaning "that."
Ja: So literally, it would be "that size" or "that magnitude."
Ohm: Yes, that's right. In a sentence, ขนาดนั้น khà-nàat-nán will follow a verb or adjective, and is often used in a question to ask "that much?"
Ja: Can you give us an example?
Ohm: ฝ่ายการตลาดมีงานเยอะขนาดนั้นเหรอ
fàai gaan-dtà-làat mii ngaan yóe khà-nàat-nán rǒoe
Ja: "The marketing department has that much work?" Let’s break this sentence down a bit.
Ohm: Okay. ฝ่ายการตลาด means "the marketing department," มีงานเยอะ means "has a lot of work," ขนาดนั้น means "so much," and เหรอ at the end turns the whole phrase into a question.
Ja: So the whole thing once more…
Ohm: ฝ่ายการตลาดมีงานเยอะขนาดนั้นเหรอ
Ja: "The marketing department has that much work?" Okay, now onto the grammar.

Lesson focus

Ja: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to express how long an event or state of being has been going on.
Ohm: We can use the preposition ตั้งแต่ (dtâng-dtàae), meaning "since," to say how long something has been going on.
Ja: And there are a few ways to use it, right?
Ohm: Yes. One way to use ตั้งแต่ (dtâng-dtàae) is with temporal phrases such as "since December" or "since ten o'clock in the morning."
Ja: And how do these work?
Ohm: ตั้งแต่ (dtâng-dtàae) is followed directly by an expression of time. "Since ten o'clock in the morning" would be ตั้งแต่สิบโมงเช้า (dtâng-dtàae sìp-moong-cháao) and "since December" would be ตั้งแต่ธันวาคม (dtâng-dtàae than-waa-khom).
Ja: Did we have an example of this in the conversation?
Ohm: Yes, we did. There was the sentence...
ตั้งแต่สิบเอ็ดโมงเช้า วันที่ 18 มีนาคม ปีที่แล้ว
dtâng-dtàae sìp-èt moong-cháao wan-thîi sìp-bpàaet mii-naa-khom bpii thîi láaeo.
Ja: "Since eleven o'clock on March eighteenth of last year." That's very specific.
Ohm: Yes, it is. But we can also use ตั้งแต่ in a more general way.
Ja: How so?
Ohm: You can use it as a clause to express ideas such as "since I met her" or "since school started."
Ja: I see. And how are these formed?
Ohm: Like before, we begin the phrase with ตั้งแต่ (dtâng-dtàae). So, "since I met him" would be ตั้งแต่ฉันเจอเขา (dtâng-dtàae chǎn jooe khǎo) and "since the school opened" would be ตั้งแต่โรงเรียนเปิด (dtâng-dtàae roong-riian bpòoet).
Ja: OK, Let's hear an example in a sentence.
Ohm: ตั้งแต่เขาทำงานที่ใหม่ เขาดูมีความสุขมากขึ้น
dtâng-dtàae khǎo tham-ngaan thîi mài khǎo duu mii khwaam-sùk mâak khûen.
Ja: "Since he's worked at the new place, he seems to be happier."
Ohm: The key part of this sentence is ตั้งแต่เขาทำงานที่ใหม่
Ja: "Since he's worked at the new place." Is there any other way to use "since?”
Ohm: ตั้งแต่ (dtâng-dtàae) can also be used to ask questions in the form "since when?"
Ja: How do we use this pattern?
Ohm: The basic pattern is to make some statement and then follow it with ตั้งแต่เมื่อไหร่ (dtâng-dtàae mûuea-rài), meaning "since when?"
Ja: Alright, can you give us an example?
Ohm: In the first line of the conversation we heard the question…
เธอกับแฟนคบกันตั้งแต่เมื่อไหร่
thooe gàp faaen khóp gan dtâng-dtàae mûuea-rài.
Ja: "Since when did you and your boyfriend become a couple?" Let's break this down a bit.
Ohm: เธอกับแฟน means "You and your boyfriend", คบกัน is "to be in a relationship," and ตั้งแต่เมื่อไหร่ means "since when?"
Ja: Alright, altogether once more…
Ohm: เธอกับแฟนคบกันตั้งแต่เมื่อไหร่
Ja: "Since when did you and your boyfriend become a couple?"

Outro

Ohm: Well, that's all the time we have for this lesson.
Ja: Be sure to check out the lesson notes for more examples and explanations.
Ohm: Thanks for listening, and we'll see you in the next lesson.
Ja: See you next time.
Ohm: แล้วเจอกัน สวัสดีค่ะ

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