Brett & Shelly Faucett are mission co-workers living in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where we had a chance to meet with them during our mission to that country, earlier this year. They are HIV/AIDS regional consultants. Brett is a nurse and amateur photographer. Shelly, a former literacy specialist and ESL teacher. They have their two daughters, Acacia and Annapurna, with them.Several weeks back, Brett offered this post on their Welcome to the Jungle blog, providing some insight into the process of learning to read and write in Thai ... which can be daunting.
"Thai has been an extremely difficult language to learn mainly due to the tones. Thai language has 5 tones (mid, low, falling, high and rising). The same word can be spoken with 5 different tones and they mean completely different things. For instance (Mai) could be mile, new, no/not, ..., right, and silk depending on the tone you use," Brett explains. "So, sometimes it's frustrating when you are talking to someone and you know you are using the right word, but they keep looking at you like you have an arm growing out of your back. Some people can't seem to figure out what you are trying to say because of the wrong tone used even though the context is clear."Sawat dii khrap gap choke dii na khrap
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