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Uneducated

Posted by Stuart at 10:52 AM on June 19, 2003

I had the hardest time getting out of bed this morning. Not to mention I have been fighting a cold for about 2 weeks now. I think I will have to postpone my visit to the Karen village until later and will stay home and rest this weekend instead.

Apologies for a boring blog this week. Looks like all my posts are just bitches about grading math papers. I have more papers to grade today, including yesterday's 80 tests. Lovely.

Speaking of the word "lovely," after being in Thailand for 10 months, my working vocabulary seems to have been cut in half. I seem to be losing my knowledge of English grammar as well. And yes, sometimes I catch myself speaking English with a Thai accent. (Too bad I cant type in a Thai accent, or I would!). At the same time, there are words that I know (but didn't use very often in the US) that I catch myself saying all the time because I am subconsiously imitating the way Thai people speak. For example: lovely, delicious, and already.

Thai person: Have you eaten?
Me: I eat already.
Thai person: How about it?
Me: Very delicious.
Thai person: Lovely shirt.
Me: You like? I buy Siam Center.

Actually, if I had this conversation today, it would go like this:

Thai person: Have you eaten?
Me: gin lao
Thai person: How about it?
Me: aroi mak krub
Thai person: Lovely shirt.
Me: Chawb mai? I buy Siaaam Centaaaa.

So my English is getting worse (actually, I think this website is the only thing saving it at this point) and my Thai is getting better. Soon, I will sound uneducated in two languages!