Have you tried to learn spoken Thai?

[Sam Hill]

I know a fellow who shows no interest whatsoever in learning to speak Thai, or in learning anything about Thailand whatsoever for that matter. Yet he expects his Thai wife to learn fluent English and adapt to everything in the UK. I expect things to go tits up sooner or later in his marriage.

 

So the thought came to me, have you ever tried to learn Thai? What level of fluency did you get to ... very fluent, conversationally fluent, enough to go shopping and get around, not much at all or do you simply have no interest?

 

I'd make this a poll, but I don't think I can.

 

BTW I've lived here for years and am quite fluent - as long as the discussion doesn't stray off into topics like politics or anything technical!

[Craig_ozz]

my Thai sucks. My wife is always complaining about me not learning more but hey im lazy.

[Samurai]

I have a great Desire to learn Thai, but somehow it just doesn't get into my ears. The funny thing is, that I have no problem learning japanese, german, even chinese, but Thai? I forget words in like 30min or so. The only words I still know is hello/bye and thank you.

 

I would like to learn at least the basics so I could shop or understand/speak normal slow conversation

[Sam Hill]

Start with greetings, please, thank you, excuse me and numbers. That gets you up and running. Thai is tonal, but so is Chinese - and you say you don't have trouble with it. I think part of the problem is that it's easy to get around in English. That makes it easy for us to get lazy and not bother with Thai.

 

Slovenia, huh. Cool ... I never met anyone from Slovenia before.

[Samurai]

Hehehehe,,,U probably don't even know where to place my country which is normal. Most people don't know that.

And yes..I've been told before to start with numbers, but the difficult thing is..I don't know if I pronounce it ok. Have no way to test or practis the language. I don't get any Thai TV programs here nor we have any Thai groups here I could contact them.

[robbi]

Thai is extremely hard to understand cause all the dialects...itseasier to speak and the grammar is a joke compared to german by example.the key is the ability to learn to see the world like a thai and think as one.......but....who the hell will be doing this on free will...555555555555555555555555

[Samurai]

Ty for info Robbie.

 

Well..I would like to learn on my FREE will lol..and German is VERY easy to learn..at least for us Slovenians. Most people here speaks 2 or 3 or even more languages (English, German, Italian, Croatian).

 

If anybody has knowledge about GOOD learning CD or book or anythin..please let me know. There are many different english-thai books on internet, but a good one?

 

Regards

[phantom51red]

Im trying, have a few prog on ipod, can speak nit noi ,but need to study more,its not so hard to pronounce words,thing lets me down

is memory like a siv lol

[Bakwan]

I've been working on it for about two years, but only on my 3 & 4 week trips. So, altogether, I've probably spent about 20 to 25 weeks total in 3 & 4 week chunks with 2 or 3 month breaks in between. (I should keep studying when I'm at home, but never seem to be able to make myself do that.) I take about 20 hours of one-on-one lessons during each trip.

 

I've been focusing mainly on reading and writing, and I'm getting so I can read well enough to pronounce words (fairly correctly) even though I don't understand the meaning in most cases. However, now that I'm beginning to be able to read, I think picking up vocabulary (including meaning) should be easier and I hope my speaking (and understanding spoken Thai) ability will begin to fall into place. It will probably take at least another year or two before I can begin to carry on a simple conversation. I think that's not bad, however, since my teachers tell me that full-time students (2 or 3 two hour lessons per week, continuously) take about two years to begin meaningful conversation.

 

It's not easy, but I think it's a lot of fun (even with slow progress).

 

Bakwan

[Reilley]

Speak thai ? Ok why not. But what for exactly ?

If it is to talk about weather , i thonk it's a waist of time.

Body language is more efficient that any language

[flynn]

on my tenth week at night school, only 2hrs per week, but i am learning a little. i will have to try it out in dec.... :GoldenSmile1:

[forqalso]

Anyone who lives in the San Francisco area that wants to learn Thai should try the school at Wat Mongkolratanaram in Berkeley. $120 for a twelve week course. There are three levels, right now I'm stuck in the beginner's class as I have no time to study or do my homework.

[Shake Girl]

Speak thai ? Ok why not. But what for exactly ?

If it is to talk about weather , i thonk it's a waist of time.

Body language is more efficient that any language

 

one cannot explain the advantages, there are too many too count especially if you live in Thailand. i speak fluent conversational Thai and like the OP, i can discuss just about anything outside of complex, higher subjects. normally anyone who can discuss those things can switch over to english with me

[herds]

I think to get anywhere in learning a language you either have to really need it or really like the process of learning it.

[naa_maa]

one cannot explain the advantages, there are too many too count especially if you live in Thailand. i speak fluent conversational Thai and like the OP, i can discuss just about anything outside of complex, higher subjects. normally anyone who can discuss those things can switch over to english with me

 

I fully agree. You can interact with and really start to understand Thai people - way beyond what their usually broken english allows. But - it takes time and patience to reach a level that permits you to have a "normal" conversation. I started three years ago with audio CDs and mp3s like Pimsleur thai.. I remember my daily 30 minutes on the subway... then started to learn written thai with "Thai for beginners".. but the first leap ahead was two years ago, when I started a... let's call it a "relationship" with a TG.. from the beginning I told her to send me SMSs in Thai (and it took half an hour to decipher the first ones!!) and to help me learn spoken thai - a daily conversation practice does wonders!! And - the trips up country where no-one spoke anything but thai (better - Korat dialect!!!) were another major boost. However, it took about two years before I felt fully confident to have convesations in thai without the help of the GF - and there were moments in which it seemed that I couldn't understand anything (nothing worse than being able to understand 50% of what you hear.. usually you get the remaining 50% wrong!!)

 

Three years (and an ended relationship!) later I cannot say to be fluent and I still have my "buat hua" moments... but I can make myself understood in nearly all the circumstances. My advice is to learn thai, if you plan to travel frequently or to move to Thailand, and especially if you love Thailand... it's also a great workout for the brain.. and you'll love this beautiful country even more!

[Sam Hill]

Hehehehe,,,U probably don't even know where to place my country which is normal. Most people don't know that.

 

 

 

Want to bet? My grandmother was born in Austria.

[Sam Hill]

Ty for info Robbie.

 

Well..I would like to learn on my FREE will lol..and German is VERY easy to learn..at least for us Slovenians. Most people here speaks 2 or 3 or even more languages (English, German, Italian, Croatian).

 

If anybody has knowledge about GOOD learning CD or book or anythin..please let me know. There are many different english-thai books on internet, but a good one?

 

Regards

 

 

This gal turns out some decent material. She now has Thai, Lao and several other SE Asian language texts available now.

 

 

Benjawan Becker, Looks And Brains Too

 

 

My link

[yinzerk]

Anyone who lives in the San Francisco area that wants to learn Thai should try the school at Wat Mongkolratanaram in Berkeley. $120 for a twelve week course. There are three levels, right now I'm stuck in the beginner's class as I have no time to study or do my homework.

 

I might sign up for this. Maybe I'll see ya at the start of the next 12 week course in mid December. I'll be the one wearing the Pittsburgh Steelers hat.

 

Yinzerk

[SlyFox29]

I know a fellow who shows no interest whatsoever in learning to speak Thai, or in learning anything about Thailand whatsoever for that matter. Yet he expects his Thai wife to learn fluent English and adapt to everything in the UK. I expect things to go tits up sooner or later in his marriage.

 

So the thought came to me, have you ever tried to learn Thai? What level of fluency did you get to ... very fluent, conversationally fluent, enough to go shopping and get around, not much at all or do you simply have no interest?

 

I'd make this a poll, but I don't think I can.

 

BTW I've lived here for years and am quite fluent - as long as the discussion doesn't stray off into topics like politics or anything technical!

 

I think it can only be an advantage if you are in Thailand for any amount of time. I started a while back with the Primsluer 30 lesson CDs. They are 30 minute lessons and I had to listen to them multiple times. After I would learn one lesson, I would move on. It also helped that I talk to a few Thai friends in Ban Chiang and Bangkok who speak broken english and want to learn better as I do Thai. When we talk, it ends up being a mini lesson as we both learn new things.

 

Talking with someone in Ban Chiang though, not all Thai words apply. I believe a lot of Lao is mixed in. She tells me I speak good Thai, but here, people might not understand what you say.

 

Another thing that has helped is I have a bunch of Thai movies with english subtitles. As I watch them, I pick up new words or phrases and helps a bit.

 

I can't wait for my next trip, as I'm curious to speak Thai, although limited, with various people while I'm there.

[Scand]

 

So the thought came to me, have you ever tried to learn Thai? What level of fluency did you get to ... very fluent, conversationally fluent, enough to go shopping and get around, not much at all or do you simply have no interest?

I have learned to speak Thai, partly through self-study, and am conversationally reasonably fluent. My experience is very clear on this point: any efforts that one makes in this area will be rewarded tenfold. One's contact and communication with ordinary Thais improves dramatically. Since many Thai women speak very limited English, I think that this is a good investment in Pattaya or elsewhere in LOS. Just watch a BG light up when she sees that you can speak a little Thai!