Stuart's Life in Thailand

Back in Business

2012-04-02T11:55:29Z

It's the first Monday in April, which means that my company is back in business again. After not having any staff for a couple of years, I finally hired two of my students from Phuket to come work for me for a few months to build some iPhone apps, and today was our first day together in our new office.

We started this morning by putting together the desks and chairs that I had bought and transported from IKEA in Bangkok. Then, I gave out some programming assignments to build some prototype apps, and I started working on the Project Plan and Use Cases for the first app we will build.

Looking back through my files, I see that I originally started drawing up plans for this app back in September 2009. The plans still look good, so hopefully by say, the end of May 2012, we will have something available on the iOS App Store. I have lots of ideas for other iPhone and/or iPad apps, so I should be able to keep my programmers very busy.

So needless to say I am very excited to finally taking another shot at the company and the app ideas. Let's see how things work out over the next few months before my classes start up again in July.

Last Day of Semester One

2012-03-28T13:22:32Z

Today was the last day of my first semester as a PhD student at KMUTT. For the last four months I have been taking two courses: Research Methods and Theories of Language Learning. Both have been great. When I think back over all of the topics we covered -- from psychology to education to linguistics to educational software and more -- I am amazed at everything I have learned. And as is usually the case, the more I learn, the more I realize I don't know.

The Research Methods class was one I definitely needed. My undergraduate and masters degree were both in technical fields, so this is my first time to really focus on a liberal arts subject. I learned a lot about how to do research as an "Applied Linguist". Even though I won't ever use most of what I learned, it was an eye opening experience to see all the different ways that the research can be approached.

And I have really enjoyed thinking about how to organize, plan, and conduct research into Applied Linguistics areas. I am enjoying the process of figuring out what my dissertation topic should be (even though it's a bit frustrating at times), and I especially love to hear what research others are doing, and making suggestions to them about how to approach things.

The Theories of Language Learning course was also fascinating. Part of the reason I wanted to study in this field was to try to get an understanding of why learning a language is so difficult for everyone. And wow, now I see just how complex it really is! It looks like my dissertation will be exploring some of this complexity and hopefully uncovering some relationships between various linguistic features and perhaps providing some insight about the best way to learn a language.

But even though I have thoroughly enjoyed the last four months, I am definitely looking forward to a break from class. Not that it's going to be a real break -- I have a huge list of things to accomplish over these next three months, including two more assignments that need to be finished for class over the next two weeks.

But I am really, really looking forward to being back in Phuket and finally accomplishing a few goals I have had for years. I'll share more about these exciting tasks later...

Searching for Reading Levels

2012-03-25T01:34:50Z

Some of the work I have been doing lately at school has had an aspect of analyzing "reading level" -- or how difficult some text is to read and understand. One research project I am involved with is creating some reading comprehension tests, and we wanted to find good copyright-free text at our student's reading level that we could use on the test. And one of my class assignments is also about analysing text to determine how complex it is.

So the other day I was just using Google as usual to search for something, and I saw an interesting feature that sorts results based on the reading levels of beginner, intermediate, and advanced. I can't find much information on how this filter works, but it seems to deliver good results. I did a search on the word "quokka" and this is what I found:

Beginning Level:

The Quokka is a marsupial from brushy areas in southwestern Australia. It is a small wallaby, a type of kangaroo. Quokkas can hop with their powerful legs and walk on all four limbs. Their life span is about 5 years in captivity.(1)

Advanced Level:

The quokka (Setonix brachyurus), the only member of the genus Setonix, is a small macropod about the size of a domestic cat. Like other marsupials in the macropod family (such as the kangaroos and wallabies), the quokka is herbivorous and mainly nocturnal. It can be found on some smaller islands off the coast of Western Australia, in particular on Rottnest Island just off Perth and Bald Island near Albany.(2)

I'd have to agre that's a pretty big difference in reading levels!

By the way, that last quote came from Wikipedia, so I was wondering what the reading level for Wikipedia is in general. Doing a search for "site:en.wikipedia.org/wiki" shows these results:

The supposedly "Simple" Wikipedia website doesn't show much difference, according to Google:

So then I wondered how this website stacks up:

Hmmm...

So then I wondered when those few "Intermediate" level posts were, so I checked by month and this is what I found.

This seems to show that I was writing at a higher level in 2006-2008 than I was at the years before and afterwards.

What does this mean? Since I can't figure out what Google is using to rank these pages, I can't tell. The only thing I can find from a Google employee is that

The feature is based primarily on statistical models we built with the help of teachers. We paid teachers to classify pages for different reading levels, and then took their classifications to build a statistical model. With this model, we can compare the words on any webpage with the words in the model to classify reading levels. We also use data from Google Scholar, since most of the articles in Scholar are advanced.(3)

But perhaps a more detailed analysis is needed. Which is exactly what I am doing for the class assignment I mentioned at the start of this post. Stay tuned!

References

(1) Quokka article at Enchanted Learning

(2) Quokka article on Wikipedia

(3) Google Product Forums

Google Street View in Thailand

2012-03-23T04:11:55Z

It looks like Google Street View has finally been released in Thailand. I'm not sure how much coverage they have, but at least Bangkok and Phuket (my two homes) are done. It's interesting too, that in Phuket, the Street View is much more current than the actual map. The neighborhood that I live and work in was built in the last two years. On the Google Map it shows up as a big dirt field. But in Street View, all of the buildings in the neighborhood are finished already.

I was alerted to this by a former student at PSU who is now a Street View Superstar. There are two pics of him on his motorcycle coming out from his apartment on the main road. He said that he doesn't remember seeing the camera truck, but he is definitely noticing it in these pictures!

I noticed that his face is blurred in this pic, and so is the headlight of his motorcycle. So I guess Google has a face detection algorithm that blurs anything face-shaped. I wonder what it will do with advertisements.

There you go. If you ever see the Google Street View truck and you don't want your face to be blurred, then be sure to hide behind some electrical wires!

Nine Year Anniversary

2011-08-10T05:26:21Z

I just realized that last week was my 9 Year Anniversary for moving to Thailand. I arrived August 1, 2002, and what a wild ride it has been since then!

Of course a lot has changed over the past nine years. I have changed physically, emotionally, and mentally. My day-to-day life has changed. Even Thailand has changed.

These last couple of months have been especially busy for me, so I haven't had much time to reflect on these changes lately. But coming up later this year will probably be another big change for me. Blogging on my own website seems almost old-fashioned in these modern Twitter and Facebook days. But maybe I should start visiting my old friend sgtowns.com and sharing my experiences and thoughts again as I move into a new phase of my life...

ข้อสอบ

2011-02-24T08:18:28Z

ผมเป็นอาจารย์ที่ ม.อ.ภูเก๊ต
อาทิตย์นี้นักศึกษากำลังทำข้อสอบ
เมื่อวานนี้นักศึกษาของผมทำข้อสอบ Data Structures
วันนี้ผมรับข้อสอบและพรุ่งนี้ผมจะเริ่มตรวจ
ผมเอาข้อสอบไม่ง่ายเกินไปและไม่ยากเกินไปด้วย
ผมหวังพวกเขาทำเก่ง

เล่นแบดมินตันเมื่อคืนแต่ผมเจ็บแขน

2011-02-22T08:17:16Z

เมื่อคืนผมเล่นแบดมินตันกับเพือนเจ็ดคน
เราเล่นทุกวันอังคารและพฤหัส
ชอบเล่นมากมากแต่เมื่อคืนผมเจ็บแขน
ผมคิดว่าเล่นครั้งหน้าไม่ได้
ผมหวังว่าผมดีขึ้นเร็วๆ

Answering a cell phone in class

2010-09-13T10:58:23Z

Even though you wouldn't know it by reading this website, life goes on here in beautiful Thailand. I am nearing the end of my first semester teaching Thai students in my new hometown, and all in all it has been a good experience. I know I have learned a lot of new Thai vocabulary, and I hope my students have learned a word or two of English as well.

When I taught in Bangkok, there was always a problem of students answering their cell phones during my lecture. I hated it when this happened, and would usually stop talking and stare at the student until they hung up. I always thought it was very rude to take a call in class. Luckily, I have yet to see this problem at my current school. Perhaps the students are more polite. Or perhaps all of their friends are in the class with them already.

In any case, I can't help but share this hilarious video. I won't spoil the ending... so just watch it!

Two New Email Addresses and Four New Passwords!

2010-07-14T12:10:02Z

Hmm... three posts in three days. What's going on here?

A couple of days ago I mentioned that I have been doing a ton of paperwork to become both a teacher and a student. This work is still on-going, and today another piece of the puzzle fell into place: my graduate school diploma arrived in the mail from North Carolina.

That's right, both the school I was applying to teach and the school I was applying to study wanted a copy of my college diploma. Needless to say, I did not include my diploma in my packing list when I moved to Thailand. In fact, I am not even sure where it is. It's somewhere in my parent's basement, I am guessing. So I sent off for a new copy more than a month ago and now three weeks after it was shipped and $40 later, it has arrived.

Getting started with the two separate schools has been confusing. I get phone calls from "the university" or Dr. So-and-So asking for some kind of paperwork and I have no idea which school or which professor it is. I also now have 2 new university ID's (one faculty and one student) and 2 new passwords to access the university network and 2 new email addresses (with 2 more passwords).

As far as the emails go, normally I sign up for everything using the "sgtowns" handle. You can find "sgtowns" @gmail @yahoo @hotmail @facebook @twitter, @amazon, etc. Sometimes for work I'll be given a stuart.towns@___ or an stowns@___. But this time I was granted a new one: stuart.gt@___. And every email I get now from my new school is addressed to Mr. Stuart Grant. I keep thinking my mother is calling me...

Oh and the fact that I now have 4 new passwords, reminds me about a new software that I have been using and really love: 1Password. It keeps all of my passwords for all of my logins in one place, and with a combination of DropBox, I can access these passwords any time anywhere. So how many password-protected Internet accounts do I have at the moment? FIFTY-EIGHT. And every password is unique. How the heck was I able to remember 58 passwords before?

And in the spirit of yesterday's video posting, here's a short clip that gave me a chuckle after a long day in the office and a two hour lecture. Enjoy...

Yeah

2010-07-13T06:31:37Z

So who knows what might show on this website once I get back in the habit of writing. Some things are just too good not to share, like this funny video of a Japanese kid who lives in Northeastern Thailand and who makes a lot of promises...

Time for another change

2010-07-12T12:00:04Z

Today marks the beginning of a new life for me. This change has been coming for a while and I have been spending a lot of time to get to this point. And I am not sure where to begin to describe this change, but I will give it a try.

In short, I have jumped back into the academic world with both feet -- the right foot as a teacher and the left foot as a student.

First, the teaching part. About three weeks ago I started teaching again. I am teaching in the Thai program, but my course is in English. This means that the English skills of my students is not great, but they seem to be trying their best, and that's all that matters. Much of my lecture every week is spent explaining English vocabulary, but it is a fun challenge to try to figure out how to explain difficult concepts using as simple language as possible. It has also helped my Thai, as I have been trying to learn business words so that I can communicate with my students when I need to. I never had much reason to learn the Thai word for management, infrastructure, income and expenses, etc.

The second big change (and perhaps the more exciting) is that I have started a PhD program in "e-Learning Methodology" at Assumption University in Bangkok. This is an online program that is only made up of research and a dissertation. So I will be able to work on it at home over the next three years.

For the past few months, I have been drowning in paper work preparing to be a teacher and a student. It is unbelievable how much paper I had to produce: transcripts, diplomas, application forms, two new bank accounts, passport copies, photos, work permit paperwork, etc. I have signed my name hundreds of times over the last few weeks, but it all appears to be done now. Today I officially registered and paid my tuition fee to Assumption, and so now I am officially a student again.

My first task for the PhD is to do as much research on the existing literature in my field, so that I can learn the latest advancements. It has been over 10 years since I have done any academic research, so I have a feeling I have some catching up to do.

Over the next few months, I might try to use this website to talk about the research that I am doing and how it relates to my own dissertation topic. I need to get some practice writing again, especially for an academic audience. This is a big change from what I have written about before, so apologies to those readers who enjoy the travel, culture, and life stories. Then again, I haven't been adding much to this site lately so perhaps I don't have any more readers to disapoint!

A Bittersweet Look Back At My Move To Thailand

2010-05-31T14:12:17Z

People often ask me about my move from the U.S. to Thailand, and I explain that it was a gradual move. I had visited Thailand once before, and I wanted to do more traveling in the area. So in August of 2002 I finally packed my bags in San Francisco and flew to Thailand for an extended stay and some exciting adventures. My Thai friend Mag was waiting for me at the Bangkok airport and over the next few months, he was kind enough to let me use his apartment on Silom as a crash pad, for both me and for most of my stuff while I backpacked around southeast Asia.

During the times that I was actually in Bangkok, Mag was my introduction to Thailand and Thai culture, taking me to see the grand tourist sites but also showing me the simple side of life such as eating chicken and rice at a road side stand. He also taught me a lot about the Thai psyche, saying that I was always acting with too much emotion. It took me a long time to get out of my American ways -- to learn to relax and to take life as it comes instead of showing my emotions when I was upset and frustrated. (Actually, I am still not very good at this, but I always try to do better!)

That December, Mag the jewelry designer helped me a few pieces for Christmas presents for my family back in the U.S. We went through the whole process together, from drawing out the unique designs on paper, to buying the diamonds from Indian jewelers around Silom, to visiting a tiny goldsmith factory in a shophouse in Chinatown where the gold pieces were handmade and the diamonds were set. I loved the fact that I was getting a behind-the-scenes look at how different people really lived and worked in Bangkok.

When I made the huge (and stressful) decision to put down some roots by getting my own apartment and start working at Bangkok University, Mag helped me find a fabulous studio in his building overlooking the city and the Chao Phraya River. And six months later, when I decided to move to be closer to work, it was Mag again who helped me move my stuff and introduce me to his favorite restaurant in the area.

Over the seven years since then, Mag and I slowly drifted apart. We would see each other every now and then on the train or on the sidewalk and chat a bit. Even though we now ran in different circles, I was always happy to see him and his unique, infectious smile.

So it was with great sadness that I learned last Friday that Mag had passed away earlier this month from a lung infection. Only now after three days can I even picture his face in my mind without welling up with tears. All I can do is shake my head and wonder why life sometimes throws us curveballs that just don't make any sense. Mag was much too young and much too good to be taken away so soon.

Mag's death casts a bittersweet hue over my move to Bangkok. It was such a monumental, stressful, educational, exciting move for me, and he was there to help me every step of the way. I will never forget his kindness and never-ending generosity to me during that time.

Taken October 13, 2002 and posted to this website with the caption: "Mag, who is now my neighbor (just a short elevator ride away), stops by to check out my new apartment."

Motorcycle Taxis in Bangkok

2010-03-07T14:46:07Z

Dear Internet,

Believe it or not, I am still alive. Apologies for not keeping you updated lately. There isn't really much interesting news to share these days. Just a lot of long hours in the office in front of the computer and a trip to place that still rates as "just ok" (Kuala Lumpur). But I am alive and well and happy most of the time.

I did want to share one thing with you today though. As you may know, one of the best ways to get around Bangkok is by Motorcycle Taxi. It's fast and cheap, but certainly not the safest way to go. My good friend Chris made a video from the back of one of these taxis the other day, and it was just too good to not pass along.

So... please enjoy Chris' video of my favorite mode of transportation in Bangkok!

Sincerely,
Stuart

Attacked By Ants!

2009-11-02T04:04:31Z

It has been exactly two months since my last post here. Unfortunately I just haven't found the time or the motivation to write, even though my life hasn't been completely boring. I actually did a lot of traveling, driving all the way from Phuket to Chiang Mai via Bangkok and a side trip to Kanchanaburi and then back to Phuket over the course of a couple of weeks. I really should post some pictures from that trip as it was a great overview of what can be found in Thailand.

In my last post two months ago, I mentioned that I started taking a daily Thai language class. I am still going every day, and it has been incredibly helpful. I feel like I have learned so much, but as with most things, the more you learn, the more you realize you don't know!

Last week my teacher suggested that I write a short story every night, and then the next day we will base the lesson on my story. We have done it twice now, and it has worked out great. Basically we spend the next class talking about all of the grammar errors that I made, or more eloquent ways to say what I am trying to say, or she will just ask me lots of questions about the story until we get to vocabulary I don't understand and then she will teach it to me.

I think that what I will do now is to write the story at night, get it corrected and improved in class the next morning, and then type it out in Thai here (with an English translation). Writing it here should help me learn to type Thai as well as keep a record of my studies.

So without further ado, here is my first story, an exciting (and true) tale of being attacked by ants last week:

สองวันที่แล้วผมอาบนำ้และเวลาเสร็จผมใช้ผ้าเช็ดตัวจนแห้งก็เลยรู้สึกคันทั่วทั้งตัวผม ผมมีตุ่มเต็มไปหมดที่แขน คอ ขา ลำตัว เพราะว่าได้มดกัด วันนี้ผมยังเจ็บทั้งตัว

And in English:

Two days ago, I took a shower and when I was finished I used the towel until I was dry. Then, I felt itchy all over my body. I looked, and there were hundreds of bumps on my arms, neck, legs, and torso because I was bit by the ants. Today, I still hurt all over.

Looking at this short story shows me how far I have come, and how far I have to go. In order to write these short little sentences, I had to do a first draft using an online dictionary to look up some spellings, get it proofread by my teacher, write it again on paper, type it (which took 15 minutes alone), and then have it checked by Piyawat for errors (which there were still a few).

But I have to be happy for small steps on a journey that doesn't have a destination...

Back in Thai Language Class

2009-09-02T08:29:18Z

It has always been my dream to be fluent in another language. Three years of French in High School and another two in college didn't help me in this quest at all, leaving me 20 years later with not much more than "Bonjour" and "Voulez-vous coucher..."

(Although now that I think about it, the latter phrase might be in the memory banks thanks to that song from Moulin Rouge.)

And I guess I don't have to mention that the two years of Latin in high school didn't enable me able to speak with Caesar either. Et tu, Brute?

So here I am, living in a foreign country for seven full years. What a great opportunity to learn a new language, right? The words should be rolling off my tongue by now with many late night discussions on the Buddha's teachings (tammá), democracy in Thailand (brà-chah-tí-bà-dai), what color shirt I should wear tomorrow (sêu.a sěe à-rai -- but yellow on Monday is the only one I can remember), et cetera.

That's how it should be, but au contraire, mon frère, I still can't do much more than order my dinner and tell a taxi where to go. Oh, and the obligatory First Conversation:

New Thai Friend: Where do you come from?
Me: America.
NTF: Obama! Very good! Are you married?
Me: No, I am not.
NTF: You speak Thai so well!
Me: Thank you.

So with the dream still in my mind, I enrolled for a private Thai language course yesterday and had my first lesson today. I was a bit apprehensive as most of my experiences in Thai language schools have been abysmal (caveat emptor!), but the first lesson turned out great. I had to admire my teacher's probing questions to test just how much I knew -- how complex of a sentence can I understand? And which topics do my limited working vocabulary cover? She started out asking me about the news of this week's Japanese election. But I quickly had to tell her that I can't converse about the news (kòw), I can only talk about food (ah-hǎhn) and taxis (rót táak-sêe).

So she quickly switched to a topic I could understand. And amazingly enough, for the first time ever I now have a Thai teacher who speaks English and who understands English grammar and can explain things when I get stuck (which is often).

Also, I realized that since most of the Thai I have learned has been from studying books and websites on my own, I realized today that my reading skills are much better than my listening skills, and I do a better job of listening than speaking. My teacher would say something, and I would be able to pick out 80% of the words, but often no meaning. But then she would write the same sentence on the board and I could take a minute to parse it out and understand what she was trying to say.

So here's hoping I can make progress on my Thai language skills this month. And if you will excuse me, I have some homework to do. (Carpe diem!)