Seeking (and giving a little) Sage Wisdom on Learning Thai

[Pom_Jao_Choo]

this is likely redundant , considering your level of study.

I assume that

http://www.learningthai.com/thai_alphabet.html

 

and associated forums are already friends of yours.

[cavanami]

this is likely redundant , considering your level of study.

I assume that

http://www.learningthai.com/thai_alphabet.html

 

and associated forums are already friends of yours.

Good website!

I printed out the Thai alphabet characters and will go on to memorize them.

 

I think a few weeks back that Stick suggested that one needs to learn to read/write Thai to make further advancements.

[samak]

read is enough! in particular also learn the rules which consonant and vowels have which tones and this gives you a much better understanding and use of tones!

[CTO]

very true - great mistake I made though now the daughter is teaching me at last.

[luckyfarang]

In which province and district did you serve in the PC?

 

I learned most of my early Thai in Chiangmai, but I took copious notes, and kept the Northern dialect separate.

 

Northern dialect has it's own separate word for every animal and fruit, and has it's own sayings.

 

I still can't really understand Northern, and speak just a little, although my central Thai has come an amazingly long way.

 

In Luang Prabang, they speak a dialect almost identical to Kam Meuang.

 

So you reached PCV level three in 1978, in what year would you say that you reached level 4?

[luckyfarang]

Reading is enough, I agree.

 

Last year, after 20 years of avoiding learning to read and write Thai, I learned how, self taught and mostly through osmosis.

 

After about three weeks, my Thai script was about kindergarten level, despite my advanced vocabulary.

 

Then I got the Thai fonts put onto my laptop, got bored with it, and never wrote anything again.

 

If necessary I can SMS a message in Thai occasionally, but writing is really unnecessary for most farang.