Estonian to Thai: ei jõua järele can describe falling behind a speaker’s pace
A listener may need a slower pace rather than a different explanation
Ma ei jõua jutule järele can describe being unable to keep up with the pace of what is being said. It does not necessarily mean that every word is unknown. The Estonian explanatory dictionary gives järele jõudma both physical catching-up and attaining another level, and illustrates a pen failing to keep up with thought. This makes pace a meaningful possibility beyond literal movement.
If a discussion moves too quickly, a Thai rendering should preserve that processing difficulty rather than invent a journey, a late arrival or complete ignorance of the subject. Someone may understand the content when it is repeated slowly. That is a different practical problem from not understanding the explanation even at a manageable speed.
Thai than can concern catching fast speech
The Foreign Service Institute Thai course defines ทัน, than, through accomplishing something in time or catching up. Its lesson 29 includes a fast-speaker context with ผมฟังไม่ทัน for the listener being unable to catch it. This directly supports a pace-based reading rather than requiring a physical destination.
The same lesson also uses the relevant construction for not thinking of an answer within an allotted interval. Thus a listener’s delayed answer may concern insufficient processing time. An Estonian statement about not keeping up should not automatically be rendered as refusing to answer, having nothing to say or permanently lacking the ability.
In a live exchange, distinguish three moments: hearing the words, following the developing argument and producing a reply before the next turn. The source can identify only one of these as too fast. A Thai message should keep the actual bottleneck rather than generalize every timing problem into the same claim about language knowledge.
Physical catch-up and general inability remain different source readings
Ma ei jõua talle järele can describe failing to catch somebody ahead on a path. Here the missing progress is physical. The Estonian dictionary explicitly records catching a runner or other moving people. A translation about listening would be wrong unless the surrounding source actually concerns following speech.
The broader verb jõudma also covers physical strength, financial means and having time. Not managing to carry something heavy differs from not reaching a departing person before they leave. Thai than is relevant to the timing or catch-up relationship documented in the course, not a universal replacement for every Estonian expression of inability.
For an Estonian request during a rapid conversation, retain any clue that identifies speed, following, repetition or available response time. A message about catching the pace can justify asking the other person to slow down; a message about an unclear idea can call for explanation instead. Preserving that distinction in Thai helps the recipient respond to the difficulty actually described rather than assume a different limitation.
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