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The Englishman who Became Head of THAI at Bangkok's Most Prestigious School
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- čas přidán 30. 05. 2024
- Meet Gerry Carter, teacher, journalist and professional scrabble player, an Englishman who first arrived on the shores of Koh Samui, Thailand in 1982, whereupon he set out to master the Thai language. Well, he certainly did that and, with hard work, became Head of Thai at the newly established Harrow International School. He has Thai permanent residency and thus has the right to abode in Thailand for life. As a journalist, translator and columnist for many years for Thai Visa/ASEAN Now, he was known as 'ROOSTER'. Gerry/the Rooster is currently enjoying retirement from his nest in Bangkok.
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Another great interview Jimmy. Gerry likes to use this middle finger 👍. Can never fault a gentlemen who's greatest accomplishment are his kids 🙏
I'm Gerry. Thanks. I should also have said how proud I am of my wives, for being great mums and somehow putting up with me without putting something untoward in my coffee.
Thanks a lot mate! Yeah, most English people prefer the middle finger to the old-fashioned two fingers. The Americanisation of the world is not to be underestimated. Yes, totally agree with that Bruce 🙏
@@JBWanders73 ✌. You are inching towards that 4k subs Jimmy, 👍
@@gerrycarter1107 or putting you as you say in a boiling pot of oil
I'd be interested to hear what book Gerry used to learn how to read Thai. The book I used was "The Fundamentals of the Thai Language (fifth edition)". That was the go-to book for many of us back in the day. It's gone out-of-print, and would be outdated, but there's been nothing published since that's matched its breadth in a single volume.
After finishing that book, I made a giant leap to the "Thai Cultural Reader". That was some tough going at the beginning, but after I finished it I could get the gist of most of the Thai reading material I came across. In the '90s I was reading more Thai novels than English ones.
I'm Gerry. That is exactly the book I used in conjunction with the forty lesson Linguaphone course that I did about four times. To be honest my Thai written language stagnated in the 90s and noughties until 2016 when I started translating at Thai Visa....then it went thru the roof especially in terms of vocabulary.
To me, reading a Thai novel is pretty impressive! Do you ever dream in Thai?
@@gerrycarter1107I used some of the AUA textbooks for self-study when I was back in the States. I'd study the text in the evening and practice with the cassette tapes on the drive to and from work. When I returned to Thailand after three years in the US, my Thai friends were shocked that I could speak with some fluency.
My reading skills peaked in the 90s when I was working as a translator. I used to start the day by reading Muay Siam daily for at least an hour.
I need to get back in the habit of starting the day off with a good read.
One tip I'd recommend to anyone who's reached a high level is to start using a Thai language only dictionary. SE-ED books has an excellent one. The appendices cover just about anything you can think of.
Another good book is คลังคำ. It's similar to a thesaurus, but the words are grouped by category.
BTW, I used to teach ESL to Japanese in the Sukhumvit area myself in the 90s. I was working for a small agency until the owner was killed in a motorcycle accident. After that I worked mostly on my own.
You must remember John Moriarty. He was well-known in those days.
@@JBWanders73 All the time. A few weeks ago I fell asleep listening to a livestream where a man from Esarn was talking to a couple of Lao women. I had a dream that I was on a bus somewhere in Thailand, but I couldn't figure out where. I started to panic because I had no idea how I was going to get back to Bangkok. The bus stopped at a station and I was trying to ask people where we were, but no one would answer. Everyone was staring at me because my phone was on speakerphone and it was getting louder and louder. When I got my phone out of my pocket I tried to turn down the volume but the button wouldn't work. People were starting to get angry with me which made me panic more. I heard the voice on my speakerphone mention Laos, and I realized that's where I was. I was in Laos not Thailand! I then woke up suddenly to realize that the sound on my phone was the livestream I'd fallen asleep listening to. 🤣
I could actually follow the conversation in my dream. The following week I had a similar experience. I woke up mid sentence to hear the same voice that I'd heard in my dream.
Meet Gerry Carter, teacher, journalist and professional scrabble player, an Englishman who first arrived on the shores of Koh Samui, Thailand in 1982, whereupon he set out to master the Thai language. Well, he certainly did that and, with hard work, became Head of Thai at the newly established Harrow International School. He has Thai permanent residency and thus has the right to abode in Thailand for life. As a journalist, translator and columnist for many years for Thai Visa/ASEAN Now, he was known as 'ROOSTER'. Gerry/the Rooster is currently enjoying retirement from his nest in Bangkok.
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I'm not sure of Gerry's previous academic experience/credentials from the UK ,but the fact he was able to get a job at Bangkok Patana and Harrow teaching Thai is damned impressive! I say that as a Brit who's been in Thailand since 1994.
Actually, nor am I 🙄😂, and I completely agree mate.
Good interview, Jim. I am the number one scrabble player, in our house.
. Thanks mate. Eckythump is the word you dream of playing I suspect 🙏✌🤓
@@JBWanders73 the most famous Yorkshire man is Willie Heckerslike
Household of one😂
@antech555 😂😂😂
I did the same with a Thai school and got 10 months salary
Luvvly jubbly!
I'm Gerry. I remember the labour law at the time limited me as I had not been there a full four years. It was nice to get one over on them for stopping Thai. The person I refer to in the video was Graham Sullivan. He employed me as his personal Thai teacher in the early days. On day one I was checking his vocab and said "you obviously know Rong Rian" he said no, what is this Rong Rian I keep hearing about. That Wat A Thing(acronym).
Cream rises to the top - what a geezer . Btw , cracking content , Jabes - absolutely just what I needed to hear - traveller stuff . A fairy like trip to a smoky dive bar on saturn soi nung . Erudite .
Thanks Paul, really glad you enjoyed it mate 🙏✌
I totally confer with learning to read and write Thai. I didn't and so wish that I had!
If you can speak Thai already it literally takes a a few weeks to learn
@@passportbroasia Thar's good to know sir!
I'm Gerry. Yes it was my Thai teaching mantra for decades, few listened either children or adults. One or two did however. One was a German/Thai teenager who'd been brought up in Europe who learned writing in two terms and transformed her time in Thailand. Another was a year six Australian at Patana whose Thai went through the roof just because of my inspiring him and his hard work. I was well regarded at Patana but seen as a bit of an anomaly. I was very well respected at Harrow, however, until the founding greats I that school were replaced by corporate knobheads. Hence the ample use of my middle finger....
Met Gerry way back in 1991 at his Sukhumvit condo and got beaten by him so badly in Scrabble/Crossword that I still suffer from PTSD and have never played since. (Post-Traumatic Scrabble Disorder)
I'm Gerry. Niran Court Soi 39? I'm sorry but I do not recall a Todd (I'm ancient and in my dotage). Were you a friend of a friend?
I wouldn't dream of playing him. You're a brave man 😂🙏
@@gerrycarter1107 Yes, was a friend of Simon. Soi 39 was the area. Played tennis prior to the Scrabble game. I think RIchard and Paul were your flatmates. Also met you a second time in a nightlife area and we talked about "being in the zone".
We could have a good chat about quantum mechanics ....
I'm Gerry. I'd love to.....although it's perhaps not too bad to admit I understand so little after all those hours, but I'd love to meet someone who could help me get even the basics.
@@gerrycarter1107 Local realism is false, that means that nothing actually exists until you look at it. This is proved by the double slit experiment.
Not a very pleasant employer (Harrow School) when he was there .
The school went downhill in my view after a good first decade. It has become a corporate monster that sucks a staggering 30% of parents' fees off to support other Harrows in Asia. They also turned me down last year to run a Scrabble club because I was a resident not a foreigner with a work permit. I now intend to never darken their doors again.
I didn't ask him too much as I know he did not wish to slag off his former employer on camera 🙏
I'd like to play him at snooker
I'm playing him soon. It will be his first game in many years. I'm not sure he is ready for Whirlwind Wallis!
I have a very unusual statistic. My high break is 50 exactly that I have achieved four of five times. Hardly any forties and nothing above 50.
@@gerrycarter1107 My highest is 38 Sir, so we should have a good game.
@@JBWanders73 HAH Let me know how it goes!
'Journalism for THAIVISA' ............oh lord.
🙏✌
I'm Gerry. Yes, it does sound like a bit of an oxymoron but I am very proud of the work I did there. I tried to use my experience of Thailand to raise the standards of all that I did. I quit last year in a disagreement about the use of AI. That for me lowered standards.
..tedious...who gives a damn?
Obviously not you Harvey 🤣
@@JBWanders73 ..you got that right.