The focus of this lesson is using ประทับใจ bprà-tháp-jai to mean "to be impressed."

อยากทำให้พ่อกับแม่ประทับใจ yàak tham hâi phâaw gàp mâae bprà-tháp-jai.

"I want my dad and mom to be impressed."

The focus of this lesson is using ประทับใจ bprà-tháp-jai to mean "to be impressed." ประทับใจ bprà-tháp-jai can act as either a verb or an adjective. As an adjective, it means "impressive." While as a verb it can mean either "to impress" or "to be impressed." ประทับใจ bprà-tháp-jai is a compound word made up of ประทับ bprà-tháp, which is a verb meaning "to imprint" or "to stamp," and ใจ jai, which means "heart" or "mind." So in other words, "being impressed" means something is "stamped in your heart" or "imprinted in your mind." We saw the word used like this in the following example from the conversation:

อยากทำให้พ่อกับแม่ประทับใจ

yàak tham hâi phâaw gàp mâae bprà-tháp-jai.

"I want my Mom and Dad to be impressed."

We can also add the prefix ความ khwaam before adjectives and verbs to turn them into nouns. Therefore, ความประทับใจ khwaam-bprà-tháp-jai is the noun "impression." To say the phrase "make an impression," we use the verb สร้าง sâang ("to build") before the noun. There was an example of this usage in the conversation as well:

พี่เชื่อว่าจะต้องสร้างความประทับใจให้กับพ่อและแม่ของโบว์แน่

phîi chûuea wâa jà dtâwng sâang khwaam-bprà-tháp-jai hâi gàp phâaw láe mâae khǎawng boo nâae.

"I think you'll make a good impression on your parents for sure."

เราจะทำอะไรกันดี rao jà tham à-rai gan dii

This phrase means "What should we do?" เรา rao is the pronoun "we," and จะทำ jà tham is a verb phrase "will do." อะไร à-rai is the question "what?" Then, กัน gan means "together." It is used to show that the speaker and the listener will both be doing the action. Finally, ดี dii is the adjective "good," but in this case you don't need to translate it directly into English. Its purpose in this sentence is to make it so that we're asking for a suggestion. A literal translation of this phrase might be something like "What is a good thing that we'll do together?" But the real intended meaning is simply "What should we do?"

คิดไม่ออก khít mâi àawk

This phrase means something like "I can't think of anything" or "I don't have any idea." คิด khít is the verb "to think" and ไม่ออก mâi àawk means "doesn't go out." So literally, this phrase says "Think and doesn't come out." It is a way of saying that you're trying to think of something, but your brain isn't producing the desired result. This phrase is a standard reply when you are asked something, and you just can't think of the answer.

ต้องรบกวน  dtâwng róp-guuan

This phrase means "I had to bother you." ต้อง dtâwng is the adverb "have to" or "need to." And รบกวน róp-guuan is a verb that means "to bother," "to annoy," or "to disturb." So the translation of this phrase to "I have to bother you" is pretty straightforward. This phrase was used a couple times in the conversation, such as in the sentence:

1. ต้องรบกวนพี่ป๋องตลอดเลย
   dtâwng róp-guuan phîi bpǎwng dtà-làawt looei.
   "I have to bother you all the time Pong."

Chicken Soup for the Thai Soul

Brand's and Scotch are the names of two companies that make popular chicken drinks for health. The essence of chicken drinks are called ซุปไก่ súp gài ("chicken soup") in Thai. Brand's Essence of Chicken drink is derived from double-boiling chicken meat to obtain an extract, with the fats and cholesterol removed. It has a strong flavor from the chicken meat, which some people find unpleasant. It was first created in the 1820's by H. W. Brand, a cook to King George IV of England, as a health tonic. After he retired from the royal kitchen, Brand began to market the drink. In the 1920s it was introduced to the Asian marketplace, and has since gained popularity in several Asian countries.

Brand's Essence of Chicken drink is marketed as a health drink and supplement for good mental performance. Advertisements encourage people to drink it daily. It's also rather expensive for the average Thai person to afford to drink often. So it's seen as a bit of a luxury item, and marketed as a gift. Around New Year's time, stores stock up on gift baskets containing many small bottles of Brand's. It's considered a good gift item to give to your elders. Another company called Scotch also sells a similar essence of chicken drink, along with other health drinks, such as collagen supplements.