Speaking With My New Thai Coach

[supereta]

I have the honor of training under a professional Muay Thai boxer here in the US. He is here from Thailand to coach and lead classes at my gym and he does an amazing job.  He is an awesome coach but does not speak a word of English. Despite this, he communicates very well through body language, demonstration, and very minimal English. He has a hilariously goofy yet extremely disciplined personality which is common among Thai boxers. 
 

Occasionally I will say things in Thai that I get from Google Translate, and despite it being broken, off-tone Thai language, his eyes still light up and and is happy to finally hear his home language in the states. 

I am wondering, what are some ways to learn easy small talk with him, even if it’s just about training,  so that he gets to hear and use his native language while he’s working here? What are some phrases are cordials that we normally exchange in the English language that I could say in Thai?

 

For instance, things like “heys how’s it going?” Or “what’s up man” (hearing him yell WASSAP MAAAAN is actually very funny, I don’t think he knows what it really means) don’t really translate well. I have been saying “saba di mai?” Which is the equivalent of how are you and he always gets a kick of that, and says “very good Thai!” ( he’s too nice )

 

anyways I figure this is a good place to ask. 

[Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu]

This article by Sylvie might really help:

Muay Thai Vocabulary | Understanding Your Thai Trainer

 

[SHELL28]

On 12/18/2021 at 12:00 PM, supereta said:

I have the honor of training under a professional Muay Thai boxer here in the US. He is here from Thailand to coach and lead classes at my gym and he does an amazing job.  He is an awesome coach but does not speak a word of English. Despite this, he communicates very well through body language, demonstration, and very minimal English. He has a hilariously goofy yet extremely disciplined personality which is common among Thai boxers. 
 

Occasionally I will say things in Thai that I get from Google Translate, and despite it being broken, off-tone Thai language, his eyes still light up and and is happy to finally hear his home language in the states. 

I am wondering, what are some ways to learn easy small talk with him, even if it’s just about training,  so that he gets to hear and use his native language while he’s working here? What are some phrases are cordials that we normally exchange in the English language that I could say in Thai?

 

For instance, things like “heys how’s it going?” Or “what’s up man” (hearing him yell WASSAP MAAAAN is actually very funny, I don’t think he knows what it really means) don’t really translate well. I have been saying “saba di mai?” Which is the equivalent of how are you and he always gets a kick of that, and says “very good Thai!” ( he’s too nice )

 

anyways I figure this is a good place to ask. 

That’s great you have a Thai trainer.. I’ve recently found one too.. I have no idea what we talk about, but I definitely know when I’ve done something wrong hahahah 

[Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu]

If you look up "Learn Thai With Mod" on Facebook you can get free, short lessons that teach simple greetings, questions, activities, etc. She and Kru Pear are wonderful at annunciating for correct pronunciation and tone.

[Tyler Byers]

Talk about foooood. Food and family. Haha easiest way to get some convo going, Keep it simple. Thai language is actually much simpler in context than English (imo anyway). Google translate is pretty good with English to Thai, but it's not great going Thai to English just fyi. We have more words (especially descriptive words) so the apps have to try and extrapolate. 

Edited April 3, 2022 by Tyler Byers