Learning Thai through practicing

[laqiyert]

Research shows that students learn better when they are afforded the opportunity to practice Thai that they are trying to learn. They also have to practice at the level that they are comfortable with. This is referred to as Comprehensible Output.

[muu]

Very useful to know that practicing Thai will help students to learn it - I'm sure I'd never have thought of that. Also very useful to have links to tips on learning Chinese and French. Does your work involve promoting the products you have provided links to?

[GoforIT]

Research shows that students learn better when they are afforded the opportunity to practice Thai that they are trying to learn. They also have to practice at the level that they are comfortable with. This is referred to as Comprehensible Output.

 

I just stopping trying to practice thai because of "automatic language growth". This is a theory that i find convincing. It is about the problem that most adults have learning a new language fluidly. One problem they identifyed, is that adults speak to soon. So you train your brain remembering false pronunciation. Especially in languages like thai this is fatal and you learn to speak mother like she is a dog.

They say, you should learn like a child with hearing the language in context and guessing what a word can mean. After 600-1000 hours lissening and guessing you are ready to speak and able to hear false pronunciation for yourself and fix it before it gets your habit. It is not easy to learn thai and don't speak for 800 hours, because we want to show off that we learn the language. But if you are patient, the results you can have are much better than with traditional learning methods. I will give it a try.

 

Here is a video about the method:

[efish]

I find repetition is the best way to learn. It can seem tedious but it's like with each pass it sinks in a little more. Better to Read a beginner level book ten times then try to push yourself to advanced while only understanding what you've read half-heartedly.

[FROST MEDIC999]

I find repetition is the best way to learn. It can seem tedious but it's like with each pass it sinks in a little more. Better to Read a beginner level book ten times then try to push yourself to advanced while only understanding what you've read half-heartedly.

 

I must not fall in love I must not fall in love I must not fall in love I must not fall in love I must not fall in love

 

Bloody hard one this doesn't matter how many times I chant / say it 555555

[THAJEC]

O.K. You can come to Patts and stay three months and make some veeeery long time BF young lady and start study thai language.For big success you have to come back soon and repeat same situation. TG can change for new lessons high level.

[GoforIT]

O.K. You can come to Patts and stay three months and make some veeeery long time BF young lady and start study thai language.For big success you have to come back soon and repeat same situation. TG can change for new lessons high level.

 

The problem with this approach is, that you learn "gutter language" and not "newscaster thai". But the funlevel will be much higher than normal "language"studies.

[THAJEC]

The problem with this approach is, that you learn "gutter language" and not "newscaster thai". But the funlevel will be much higher than normal "language"studies.

It is part of life. You have to know both. You can use gutter, newscaster and standard thai too.You never know, which strange situation you can find next time. Be ready !

[slick67]

 

 

The problem with this approach is, that you learn "gutter language" and not "newscaster thai". But the funlevel will be much higher than normal "language"studies.

 

I guess that depends. For some girls it's definitely true, but I've also met lots of bargirls who took great pride in teaching me proper Thai, even up to the point that they'd get upset if I used bad language.

 

Now whether it's a case of them being well-brought up bargirls, or bargirls who are just trying to make their customer happy by giving him what she thinks he wants, who knows?

 

I've never met a bargirl who could make me Blush though, unlike some middle-aged, middle-class Thai women whom I've run into at times. The amount of profanity and indecent propositions they can spout, both in English and Thai and especially after a couple of whiskey soda's, would be more than enough to make an old sailor feel like a little schoolboy.

Edited January 10, 2012 by slick67

[GoforIT]

I guess that depends. For some girls it's definitely true, but I've also met lots of bargirls who took great pride in teaching me proper Thai, even up to the point that they'd get upset if I used bad language.

 

I was the first time in LOS last november. Bevor this, i learned a few sentence and a little bit of the alphabet for my vacation. On my vacation i had a girl that helped me a lot with speaking and reading thai. I learned alot. But after comming back and learning the alphabet more, i realize that i learned alot "isaan"-Thai.

I learned leo for quick, but it is เร็ว reo.

I learned aloy for delicious but it is อร่อย aroy.

I learned sapalot for pinapple but it is สับปะรด saparot.

And so on. If you learn form bargirls, you can be nearly sure that you learn an accent that every thai can connect with a "gettoslang". It is ok if you want this, but you should be aware of it. I want to learn "bangkok-thai" before i learn the bargirl slang. I always have a picture from a black fellow that speak bavarian in mind. Bavarian is a german slang and seeing a black fellow speak it is hilarious. I dont want speaking a thai version of bavarian :-)

[999Baht]

 

But after comming back and learning the alphabet more, i realize that i learned alot "isaan"-Thai.

I learned leo for quick, but it is เร็ว reo.

I learned aloy for delicious but it is อร่อย aroy.

I learned sapalot for pinapple but it is สับปะรด saparot.

And so on. If you learn form bargirls, you can be nearly sure that you learn an accent that every thai can connect with a "gettoslang".

I am certainly not an expert by any means but in your 3 word examples are you not just replacing the L with an R?

I think that has a lot more with the way you hear the word with a farang hearing rather than being taught the Issan way to say it.

 

I still can not say the reo properly no matter how many times I try and get it corrected by them. (same as the word for boat in that I never pronounce it right)

 

I agree though that "normal" Thais can tell if you have been taught by Bargirl but I think it's more in the words that you use, slang etc.

[muu]

They say, you should learn like a child with hearing the language in context and guessing what a word can mean. After 600-1000 hours lissening and guessing you are ready to speak and able to hear false pronunciation for yourself and fix it before it gets your habit. It is not easy to learn thai and don't speak for 800 hours, because we want to show off that we learn the language. But if you are patient, the results you can have are much better than with traditional learning methods. I will give it a try.

 

 

I saw a demonstration of this a few years ago (I think it was at the AUA school in Bangkok). Looks quite a good way to learn but if you average 800 hours listening @ 100 baht per hour it takes a very long time to see if you've wasted a lot money

[GoforIT]

I am certainly not an expert by any means but in your 3 word examples are you not just replacing the L with an R?

I think that has a lot more with the way you hear the word with a farang hearing rather than being taught the Issan way to say it.

 

Yes, it is only replacing the r with an l, but it is because in the isaan they speak no r. And yes, this is not an perfect example, because they use also different words then "newscaster thai".

 

I still can not say the reo properly no matter how many times I try and get it corrected by them. (same as the word for boat in that I never pronounce it right)

 

And the reason for this can be, that you start speaking to early. So you are not able to hear for yourself if you say it properly. This can be leading to learning the false pronounciation for many words and to thais that beg you to talk english to them.

[GoforIT]

I saw a demonstration of this a few years ago (I think it was at the AUA school in Bangkok). Looks quite a good way to learn but if you average 800 hours listening @ 100 baht per hour it takes a very long time to see if you've wasted a lot money

 

Yes, the main problem with this method is the time. Many are not patient enough to go through such a long period of not speaking while learning. I don't know if i am. But i don't see the possibility that it is a waste of money. I think that it is sure that you can lay a good foundation of understanding with listening and guessing while watching native speakers interact.

Also 2000€ is a bargain if it helps to speak a language fluidly. Most members here spend more in 14 days while being in LOS.

 

I am sure that my next time in LOS will be in bangkok and visiting auathai.com. And after your "vocabulary" is big enough, you can get the last 400+ hours with watching tv.

[slick67]

 

i realize that i learned alot "isaan"-Thai.

I learned leo for quick, but it is เร็ว reo.

I learned aloy for delicious but it is อร่อย aroy.

I learned sapalot for pinapple but it is สับปะรด saparot.

And so on. If you learn form bargirls, you can be nearly sure that you learn an accent that every thai can connect with a "gettoslang". It is ok if you want this, but you should be aware of it. I want to learn "bangkok-thai" before i learn the bargirl slang. I always have a picture from a black fellow that speak bavarian in mind. Bavarian is a german slang and seeing a black fellow speak it is hilarious. I dont want speaking a thai version of bavarian :-)

 

I agree with you up to a point, although your examples aren't really Isaan. Switching an R for an L is very common all over Thailand, not just Isaan.

 

Now if she'd taught you these words:

ไว instead of เร็ว for quick

แซบ instead of อร่อย for delicious

บักนัด instead of สับปะรด for pineapple,

 

Then you would sound like a black guy speaking bavarian indeed! (btw, I know a Thai girl who speaks fluent bavarian, it's always funny to see the amazed look on German faces when she speaks it)

 

Still, I wouldn't recommend using a bargirl as your only or main Thai teacher, but there's no harm in practicing conversation with bargirls next to your other studies.

 

Btw, I've been looking at AUA as well, maybe I'll have a look there the next time I'm in BKK...

 

 

[GoforIT]

(btw, I know a Thai girl who speaks fluent bavarian, it's always funny to see the amazed look on German faces when she speaks it)

 

I am from northern germany where we speak "newscaster" german. Seeing someone speaking a bavarian slang without expecting him is like good comedy :-)

 

Btw, I've been looking at AUA as well, maybe I'll have a look there the next time I'm in BKK...

 

On youtube you can find a few life recordings of clases from AUA. Search for the user algworld or ALG thai. These videos already sold me their method. It is also nice that you can come and go to AUA when you have time, because there are always classes in your level.

I am sure that my next time in LOS will be in bangkok and visiting AUA, because i think LOS will be much better when you speak thai fluidly. I want LOS to be my place i stay every german winter and i don't want to be in the tourists places only.