Thai Word of the Week: “Sawasdee ka”

In the second week of October, Visiting Scholar Thitima shared Thai writing at the learning center. It was a great opportunity for Thitima to meet all the students at the school. Read more about her experience.

  

This week was such a great week for me because I had a chance to work in the Learning Center at Essex Town School, where I was able to meet all the students in school. For the occasion, two librarians and I dressed up in Thai costumes. I made a small book with information about Thailand for the students to read and color Thai pictures. In addition to that, I wrote their names in Thai underneath their English name. One of the students asked Jennifer (the teacher in the picture) if Jennifer could write her name bigger than I had written for her. Jennifer tried writing the student’s name and asked me to check to see if she was right. I was so impressed with Jennifer because she tried to write the student’s name in exactly the same handwriting as me. It was very beautiful.

In the Learning Center, the two librarians and I showed shared with students Thai words, Thai greetings, and I then I shared more information about Thailand. I showed the students a Thai game where they walk on coconuts, and then I let the students try to walk on the coconut shell. The librarians asked me to find a story or fairy tale that we have in both Thailand and the USA. The librarian then showed the Thai puppet show. It was great.

Display Case at Essex Town School

I also had a chance to set up the display window in front of the Learning Center. In the display are mainly shadow puppets from Thailand, and the Thai puppet dolls that I borrowed from the Asian Studies Outreach Program library at UVM. Everyone loved the display. I also set up the bulletin board in front of my main class because it is empty no one use for anything. I set it up as "Thai Word of the Week" and information from ASOP.