APPENDIX M
TO
CHAPTER 5
A LEARNER'S SYNOPSIS OF THAI
(with Warren G. Yates)
1. Any English speaker who wants to communicate with Thais will find that his problems lie in two areas: his perception of the world, and his inability to handle the mechanics of the Thai language.
In the first of these areas lie such questions as What should I have for breakfast? Who am I? What kinds of deference are expected of me by whom? What is 'honesty'? What does it mean to be 'punctual'? What of importance has happened today? What of importance was happening 500 years ago? Of the two areas, this is the one in which lie the most serious obstacles to communication.
2. Yet in training Americans--including Peace Corps Volunteers--for work in other countries, the second area is the one that has usually claimed most attention. There are at least six reasons why this has been so:
- Language facts are easier to write down as separate items on sheets of paper.
- It is easy to know when (verbal) language is being performed and when it is not.
- Some ability in handling the language normally goes hand in hand with ability in the first area.
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