Is it worth it to learn some Thai before going?

[sccrhound]

yes indeed, theres a youtube playlist called "learn thai the bons way" really good and she's smoking hot, i even managed to get off to the videos by the time Id learnt to count to ten

http://www.bonthai.blogspot.com/

 

Thanks

[mtldriver]

Since about half of the Thai population speaks Lao and most BGs, street vendors and cabbies are Issan would make more sense to learn Lao IMO

[lebelgefourbe]

Yes it's always better to try to speak the language of the country you visit.

 

As a french, sometimes tourist came to me and ask their way or something similar. If they try to do it in french, i give them more credit even if we quickly turn to english because of their bad accent. Same for thai language i guess.

[TEFR]

I've been all over Europe and a number of Asian countries...I find that knowing some basic phrases is always appreciated! Shows the locals you would like to be respectful and assimilate at least a bit. Thai is an especially tough language for me, even though I had no trouble learning some basic Viet Namese when I was younger. If you're primarily interested in communicating with Bar Girls, I found that they have a surprisingly good comprehension of "Thai-glish".

[Maikaphoto]

The more you travel there the more you will pick up,

but to start there are tons on applications available

they will break phrases down so they are easy to pick up

[BluTraveller]

for sure!

[robbish008]

Its always a good thing to learn the language in any country you go to. It helps with safety when you know whats going on around you, it makes it easier to deal with drivers, beggars, girls etc, and really helps to build a connection with the people in the country...especially the girls. I've been told by a few girls that their mouths get tired from speaking English for too long...tho idk how true that it. If you do it for only one reason do it for having some connection with the girls other than the one between your wallet and their vagina, because they will give it up easier and cheaper to someone they can relate to.

 

There are lots of resources you can find online with lessons...the post above mine is a good place to start. As far as Rosetta Stone goes its also a good resource, but takes some getting used to...it doesn't give any grammar rules, and basically teaches you by visual sight the way a young child learns to speak a language. I dot condone stealing, but if you can get it for free or cheap, I would go about it that way. The best thing you can do is make online friends with Thai girls, that way you can get up to date on current affairs, and current slang that is used...that always helps to distract the girls from seeing you as purely a customer...giving a good BFE might get you some freebies also...haha.

[999Baht]

Take a look at the web site "Manee and Friends" sometime. 22 free lessons online using the same Thai book that primary students have used in the past.

And you can hear the letters and words pronounced on the web site.

 

Thanks for the link to this website! It looks awesome.

 

To the op... It's good to learn a few words but not necessary.

[Jello]

Understanding Thai is just as important, know what they are saying...

another link http://speakeasy-thai.com/

They have an ebook with audio files.

[Devil Plaything]

I'll definitely check out Lonely Planet, and some phrases, was going to try the whole rosetta stone stuff

 

Wouldn't bother with Rosetta Stone, no point learning formal/proper Thai - a few day by day phrases are the best place to start, and the numbers. Get a couple in your head before you go, make a list of the things you want to learn and then get the girls to teach you when you're there - something to do with them, at least

[Grotius]

I recomend the Pimsleur Thai course, its 30 lessons, a half hour each that you can put on MP3, its a `listen and speak` thing so you get the tones right simply by repeating what you hear. For me it works quite well. The only drawback is that it teaches a rather formal thai, though this is usually good for a few laughs. Bear in mind that the local girls are mostly from Isaan and if you learn thai from them, its roughly the euqivalent of learning english from someone from Yorkshire who uses `thee`s and `tha``s and says things like `Ah were lookin` in`t ginnel`

[thebahtmedia]

I have found www.its4thai.com useful in the past, seems to be a very easy system that they use!

[cuzzy]

 

 

Place your Penis on the Bar and you can have even.more fun with the Girls that putting a book there 555

 

:( Mine wouldn't reach....

 

Try this one, has some useful basics and some more advanced stuff with audio on a lot of words as well

 

http://www.thai-language.com/

[zappa93]

I would not bother, they dont want to understand you anyway :-(

[ski_messiah]

Thanks for all the great links, I think it is definitely important to know at least a little of the language, In my experience most girls seem to appreciate it

[Pooner604]

yes indeed, theres a youtube playlist called "learn thai the bons way" really good and she's smoking hot, i even managed to get off to the videos by the time Id learnt to count to ten

 

Lol! Saved to favorites

[how122255]

You could learn a few words but in Pattaya it is not really needed.

[ssidewineder]

That yellow small paperback English/Thai dictionary by Robertson is good to have with you.

But outside of that, the girls speak a little English - Who else do you want to talk to ?

[extracta]

There are some really good IPAD apps for free. Or at least they give you the first few parts for free.

 

The best one for being a lesson is IMHO L-Lingo Thai Free. First five lessons free.

 

A really interesting one although not lessons is THAI SPEAKER. First page free.

 

There are many others as well.

[kevm1]

Highly reccomend it for all of the above posted reasons and have had some great laughs with Thai's in general making a bit of muppet of myself trying and not always getting it right which isn't difficult but wherever I've been my efoorts of at least trying have always been appreciated and I've made a few people smile along the way.

[nikcool10]

i like that applications idea ... good /fast way to communicate...

[faranglaowai]

Always worth having some local language skills as many before this have pointed out. Sometimes though it can be very handy to keep your skills known only to yourself as it allows you to possibly understand what is being said around you.

 

Most Thais would be very happy to help out with the correct way to say things though, not forgetting that many also change the R sound for an L and also drop the L sound altogether.

 

Remember that some will think if you can speak a few words that you actually understand what they are saying. I find that speaking can be ok, by listening and understanding are a completely different story. We should all remember that when we speak English or another language to a Thai, they may only understand a little of what we say ... and may not let on they don't understand. Do not hesitate to tell someone talking to you in Thai that you do not understand ... to avoid any possible later disagreements.

[BaldPlumber]

Remember that if you think you sound like an idiot when speaking thai, then you're probably doing it right.

[bnjmnkrs]

I'd say no actually. There's already considerable debate about whether one should invest the time, energy, and money in learning Thai if they are planning on staying for a while - but if you are only going to be here a very short time, I'd say there's not really any point. Maybe the very basic phrases are worth learning, but even then one is liable to butcher what is being said by improper pronunciation etc.

[goldfinger24]

Yes , always a good idea when you go anywhere. I know it may sound basic to some of us guys but my 1st times I went I started with the basics ,, hello, please , thankyou , its always appreciated, then moved on to numbers as always using them, learnt phrases such as ''where is the toilet'' , how much ? where is ......, . I still learn today many years later and find when I sit in bars restaurants I just ask ''how do i say this'' or what does that mean, its a good way to learn and the thais like to know more english its a 2 way street. My regualr breakfast place I always learn new things with the lady there who like to learn english .