not found hardly any useful material to aid learning essan thai language.
anybody know of any on-line material
or talking dictianary english-thai -(and) essan.
any help appreciated
cheers
Printable View
not found hardly any useful material to aid learning essan thai language.
anybody know of any on-line material
or talking dictianary english-thai -(and) essan.
any help appreciated
cheers
Go and live there in sticky rice land
Well 1st things 1st, its Isan not 'Essan'.
upto you^
And, they speak Laotian, the language of Laos.
^ yes they do, in Laos...
Don't you start getting all silly again Can!
I went to Laos with a couple of Thai friends, they spoke a dialect of Issan aswellas Central Thai, said they could speak Laos no problem, could they fuk... The Laotians had to speak Thai with them (they pick it up off TV which is mostly Thai, or was at that time).
Most words in Issan and Lao are the same. Even with the differences they can both understand each other. My wife was born in Kemerrat by the river and learned Bangkok Thai from the family and Lao and Issan out side of the house and in school. I have traveled all over Laos and Thailand with my wife and she just jabbers on and on and on...hell do they every stop for a breath.
^ her dialect, I don't doubt it (right on the border).
Many Issan dialects (I'm not sure exactly, but there's probably 4 or 5 quite distinct Issan dialects) are not as close to Laos as many folks seem to believe... The Thais I went with were from the Korat area, and they couldn't speak or understand Laos.
The language spoken in upper Isaan (Udon, Nong Khai, Sakon Nakhon, NKP) is Lao. My wife has no difficulty speaking to native Laotians, but the further south we go in Thailand, the more difficulty she has communicating. She is very uncomfortable speaking in Bangkok since her Thai is only what she learned in school. The language used in Khorat is significantly different from upper (northern) Isaan.
In the US my wife often is called on to translate English to Laotian for immigrant co-workers.
She does have trouble communicating with the Hmong, but then so do the native Laotians.
^ good post, makes sense.
Any idea of the diffeent dialect names? Just out of interest.
^I've never seen anything written about Isaan dialects. I suppose something must exist at one of the Thai universities.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bettyboo
My wife has lived in Bangkok and Korat for the last 25 years, about half and half. There is Issan and there is also a Korat Thai - different from Issan or standard Thai. She speaks it also. It sounds like someome singing with a mouth full of shit and out of tune to boot.
To the OP - Do as I am doing - learn standard Thai and forget all of the dialects. Standard/Bangkok Thai will serve you better.
M m m m manuuuuuu
M m m m m manleaaw
I am just a beginner in the "being silly stakes". How on earth didn't you know that Laotian was spoken "up North" ? Are you sure you are not in Malaysia ?Quote:
Originally Posted by Bettyboo
There is no such thing as truly Isaan Thai.
Depending on your location there will be a mixture of Thai/Laos/Khmer etc and although similar, some words will be similair but there is also a fairly big regional difference. Different words/different pronunciation/meanings etc etc.
Personally, I'd make sure you have a very good grasp of 'Central Thai' before you even venture into learning any regional nuances.
I'd agree with that but if you want to study Isaan Thai, Amazon lists some books.Quote:
I'd make sure you have a very good grasp of 'Central Thai' before you even venture into learning any regional nuances.
Best advice here, why would you want to learn a guttural bastard language beats me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ceburat1
At my daughters school (in Udon) they forbid esarn being spoken as I do in the house.
My kid speaks Isan and Thai; lucky little guy. Never seen any books though have to learn it from a native or live there or both
Get a book on Laoatian
or live there
I'll give you credit for being a little bit right... :)Quote:
Originally Posted by can123I am just a beginner in the "being silly stakes". How on earth didn't you know that Laotian was spoken "up North" ? Are you sure you are not in Malaysia ?Quote:
Originally Posted by Bettyboo
Actually, I think that some folks, whilst I don't doubt there experiences, have things the wrong way round. The way I understand it, Laos is a version of Tai rather than the other way around, but that's just playing semantics really...
'Up North' - depends where you are talking about. Up North to the left, up North centrally and up North to the right probably speak different dialects, but even within the same province you may have 4 or 5 dialects/languages; a couple of Issan dialects, some hilltribe 'languages' and some Cambo/Laos based languages.
As stated above, it's hard to get correct information, one of the propaganda efforts since the 1930's, and a major one at that, has been to promote Central Thai and marginalize other dialects and 'languages'.
It's an interesting area because what is Issan; what is Thai; What is a dialect or language is quite unclear in Thailand. I've seen some studies, but they've been done by Bangkok universities and show strong biases towards Central Thai which are clearly not historically true.
There must be a good book about it somewhere; possibly banned...
Mate, can't believe you wrote that... Cultural imperialism at best, at worst, well, cultural genecide...Quote:
Originally Posted by peterpan
How's about, because standard English (BBC English/RP) is dominant, that we ban Scouse, Brommy, Scots, Geordie (actually that's not a bad idea...), Welsh, etc, even though they are often historically correct whereas standard BBC English is often the bastard that uses non-standard grammar/pronunciation, unduely influenced by the truly bastard French amongst others...
Just learn Thai and then you'll have a good grounding for the rest of the country. They'll understand you and you can pick up a few bits of Issan as you go along. That said, the fuckers code-switch all the time anyway so even if you learnt Laos you'd probably still be lost.
Cause the people you live amongst speak that ?Quote:
Originally Posted by peterpan
Yes you can communicate in Thai, but you can't listen in on a conversation, cause they speak Lao here (KK)
And it is easier to learn...for me anyway
Totally agree.Quote:
Originally Posted by alwarner
Speaking only Lao/Issan could prove rather counter productive when spoken to central thai speakers.
Either they will piss their pants while laughing at the hillbilly farang or a more likey scenario, be pissed of that you consider them to be Issan.
Many will also pretend not to understand. And some will prolly not understand.
^ Another reason: I had a look around on the internet and there is material available but it's all aimed at speakers of central Thai who want to learn Isaan (for example https://www.facebook.com/pages/%E0%B...83066325047541). There's plenty more like this, but you've got to crack central Thai before you can use it.
cultural genocide, bit strong eh?Quote:
Originally Posted by Bettyboo
nothing like that, I just want to give them the skills to best shot at life and they won't achieve that speaking yokel language.
It's not a 'yokel' language (nor could it be, because there's no such thing) and it's not either/or; bilingualism is perfectly normal.
When in doubt , You Tube nearly always comes to the rescue :
Learn Thai Conversation : Isaan Language 2 - YouTube
LearnThai: Isan language - Greeting - YouTube
Laos Basics - Lesson 2 (Basic Phrases, Advanced Numbers) - YouTube
Of course, you can have too much of a good thing
Speaking in the Isaan Dialect - YouTube
Why the fok would you want to learn Issan Thai; the mind boggles? A few bits here and there for a laugh when up that way or if you lived in laos it might help.
It's a primitive dialect, an audible signature of ones low-class if you like.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan
I'm not surprised Peter doesn't want his kids to speak it, damn, I know Thai couples who have banned their kids from using any words they had picked up at school around the house.
It's bannork, basically.
Not exactly. Similar, but different.Quote:
Originally Posted by Borey the Bald
It's no more primitive, or whatever the opposite is (complex? sophisticated?), than central Thai. In fact, you'd be pretty hard pushed to argue that any language, other perhaps than serious outliers like Piraha, is primitive. What there is, though, is prejudice and class privilege and stupidity and petit bourgeois aspiration, all of which are found in abundance nearly anywhere one looks.Quote:
It's a primitive dialect, an audible signature of ones low-class if you like.
Agreed, central Thai is just as shit.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan
You have a way with words.Quote:
Originally Posted by Spin
Indeed. Any responsible parent would try to prevent their kids talking like a spasticated monkey.Quote:
Originally Posted by peterpancultural genocide, bit strong eh?Quote:
Originally Posted by Bettyboo
nothing like that, I just want to give them the skills to best shot at life and they won't achieve that speaking yokel language.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marmite the Dog
I think you have missed the point of much of what has been written here.
Languages are not monoliths. The Vietnamese language spoken in Hanoi is totally different from that spoken in Ho Chi Minh City. The Lao language spoken in Vientiane is greatly different from that spoken in Pak Xe. The Isaan language spoken in Sakon Nakhon is significantly different from that spoken in Khorat. The language spoken in my wife's village is identical to the Laotian language spoken 20 miles away in Laos. Most of her ancestors (along with many others) migrated from Laos within the last century. A native Laotian can not tell from her speech that she was born in Thailand. Of course, if she were in Luang Prabang, they would know that she wasn't from around there.
Even with modern communications and education that have attempted to make languages like Thai, Lao and Vietnamese into something of a standard, there are still large variations. But, of course there is no such thing as a standard for the Isaan language, so I presume the variation to be much greater.
I didn't read most of what has been written here. I live in Udon and the language is a mix of Laos & Thai. In the village it's a local dialect that owes more to Laos than Thai but has some tribal grunts in there as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by Borey the Bald
Of course, you may know more than me about it seeing as you live in the US.
What you describe is what I and other posters were pointing out to the OP. Isaan is not a language where he can find a standardized text to study from. It is a local dialect that varies greatly across the NE.Quote:
Originally Posted by Marmite the Dog
My statement that the language spoken in Upper Isaan is Lao was certainly an over-generalization. That is the case in my wife's village, but a short distance away that may not be the case.
just learn thai is good enuf if you frequent the central region of thailand.Quote:
Originally Posted by alwarner
but im in the rice fields in the NE of thailand.