Thai people have beautiful names. Only they are seldomly used. They are written in documents and said at official occasions. But in everyday life, only the nickname is used.

To outsiders, the nicknames can have a funny ring. ‘Bird’ is the most common name, followed by ‘Small one’. From a western perspective, that is quite accurate to describe most Thai, yet something doesn’t seem quite all right when a sturdy guy with a beer belly is called ‘Small one’. Yet it is as common as hearing a teeny-weeny woman being addressed as ‘Fatty’. (more…)

Yesterday we wanted to buy a little three-wheel bicycle for our 1 year old son. We went over to one of the shops selling those kind of things and saw some of the little bikes standing outside. While we were looking at them, two girls that worked in the shop were looking from a distance. We heard them talk to each other about ‘the foreigners’. We could (more…)

After talking about the ideal language student I read some quotes about doing language study. Just want to share some of them with you:

• To learn a foreign language is to take on a new identity. This involves being willing to become vulnerable to a degree not normally requiered in other areas of life. (more…)

Have you ever wondered what’s required to be the ideal language student? Go through the list below:). Remember… even if you miss out on some one of the points, you can still become a missionary:).

A good language student:

1. Takes and creates (more…)

The bible clearly teaches that we need to become like a child when we want to become a Christian. If you struggle with becoming like a child you should come to Thailand and do Thai language study. It’s a humbling experience, but thankfully it’s a lot of fun as well. I’m studying module (more…)

Before a missionary is able to share God’s word with the target people, he or she needs to climb the mountain of language study. For us as missionaries in Thailand that means (more…)

The Thai language is a tonal language. That makes it very interesting to learn. Tone basically means (more…)