belfastish Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 ive been going to thailand nearly 4yrs now just picking up the usual easy words. last december i went for 3 months and picked up a bit more but still not much,when i came home i joined a class in may 09 in my local temple.i havent missed a class since and i go every sunday i try to study everyday for even 10minutes but somedays not all all. as im only 29 i have some thai friends here in brisbane, im at the age where i can have students friends without in looking weird i guess.i surprise myself as i can have full conversations but its the listening thats hard. i guess its easier when you meet a new person as i can ask so much stuff. i can read and write quiet well now but still not great if its completely off topic. i would send a lot of text messages in thai which is great for learning as its normal how are you?you eaten yet,what you do ?etc i have listened to pimsleur which is good,i look words up,ask ask ask thai friends,ive started using anki which is good. ive also started writing words from the dictoinary(i small one i have)onto my pcin 3 formats ,well most important words i would use,this improves my typing and i get familar with words. theres a guy in my class who is good,he drives me i guess and the fact im starting to crack one of the hardest lanuagages out there. what drives you? :content: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 Hi, Been living her for over 12 years now, wife doesn't speak much English, kids and in-laws none, so at home 98% of the conversations are in Thai. At work I speak mostly Thai with Thai staff as well. I can speak pretty decently (can have conversations on most topics) and listening usually isn't a problem either (can follow most TV, excluding the news and documentaries and such due to more 'big' words). Don't write at all, but can manage reading (within reason, menus, signs, ads are fine, newspapers definitely beyond me; font type makes a BIG difference here as well). What drives me? Living and working here Speaking the local language makes things MUCH easier. Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 To learn another language one has to speak and hear it constantly. I studied German, Spanish and Portuguese in high school and university and am piss poor in all three of them. (My German is somewhat better, since I heard it at home as a child.) But I studied Thai as a Peace Corps trainee - 6 hours a day, 6 days a week, for about 4 weeks ... followed by 3 hours a day, 6 days a week for another 3 or 4. That gave me the basics to work with. By the time I left PC, I scored a 3 on a scale of 0 to 4 on the one-hour-long proficiency exam. That was better than most PCVs, but since I lived up north I spoke Thai much more often than Bangkok folks. In Bangkok many people speak English and it's easy just to use that. My point is that if you want to learn Thai, find a way to speak it every day. A few hours several times a week the way classes teach a language is not going to do it. One guy in my PC group had taken a year of Thai before he came here. He told us that by the third week we knew as much as he did. My favourite advice - from Archan Supat, head of our Peace Corps language training: "You need to practice your Thai. Go get a girlfriend." p.s. What drove me to learn Thai? Survival! I had to feed and clothe myself, buy bus and train tickets, reserve sleepers on trains, ask directions ... chat up the birds :hubba: That is what you call motivation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian2 Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 My Thai is dreadful when the time I've stayed here is considered. Just lazy I suppose, the Mrs speaks English and my conversations with the villagers only cover such ground breaking topics as to whether someone's mother is out of hospital yet. Most of them speak bloody Kham Mueang anyway Recently found this site which I've found useful, haven't really put it to the test yet. Thai2English Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pescator Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 I don`t live in Thailand, but the times I have had encountering foreigners living in Thailand without the slightest grip of the language.. It is simply amazing. "Where do you live in Thailand"? "I dont live here, I am just a tourist" Usually thus endeth the conversation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 Hi, "but the times I have had encountering foreigners living in Thailand without the slightest grip of the language.." Yep, LOTS of them around. Followed by another large group of guys who *think* they speak Thai Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carew66 Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 Followed by another large group of guys who *think* they speak Thai Sanuk! By far and away the most amusing - The Jing-jingers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 That's the sort who "correct" my pronunciation when it doesn't match theirs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThaiHome Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 Have lived here over 5 years now, been married to a Thai going on 10 years. My Thai is what you would politely call “extremely limitedâ€Â. It’s not something I am proud of, but I live with it and with my life it is not a problem. When I do try to speak even the limited words I know, most Thai cringe. TH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TroyinEwa/Perv Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 I can ask for and be served the correct beer. Anything after that is just a bonus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.