Whats the best way to learn Thai?

[Dr.Winston]

dr.w - out of interest, do you formally study anymore? I often wonder when one gets to the point when they can actually just go "that's enough learning, I'm satisfied", I guess that depends on the level you want to achieve I suppose.

 

I was fortunate to live in Thailand from the moment I started learning so I just copied the sounds, didn't even know about the the tonal thing till about 3 months of being there I still can't always work out the correct tone I hear, but usually suss it out by the context of the sentance, i'm pretty sure that is standard anyway, after listening to thai music it seems tonal changes are used a lot to 'fit' the melody. speaking of which, anyone seen the endorphine live dvd? brilliant stuff if you're a fan of their music, plus she sings slow for us learners.

 

I haven't actually studied Thai for 17 years now. Of course I have learned plenty since then but its just been a matter of picking bits up (I don't think it's a good strategy to just pick things up unless you have studied and built a solid foundation to your Thai first). I should study again really, my reading and writing would speed up with little effort.

 

Understanding Thai in songs is usually more difficult for the reasons you mention. Thais can accentuate words to express emotion but it's advanced stuff and my experience is that becomes clearer naturally when your Thai is good enough to start noticing it and thinking about it which you abviously have. No rules on this, just listen to the way Thai people do it themselves!