When Are You Too Old To Learn Thai?

[Flashermac]

A Vietnamese university colleague told me the communists were very dogmatic for a couple of years after they conquered the South, then they became just as corrupt as politicians in other SE Asian countries.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VZUf3Cups0

[Mekong]

Flash,

 

Corruption in Thailand, as bad as it is, cannot hold a candle to Vietnam it has to be seen to be believed.

 

This is only a small project US$ 1.8 Billion but twats won't issue a Purchase order unless it is issued to a Family member and they get a 20% kickback.

 

I see guys driving around in cars that even 20 Years Salary could never cover the cost, living in houses that it would take them 200 years income to pay for on an interest free loan, and they are just so open about it. 2 Million VND (US$ 100) under the table just to have application for a government even looked at.

 

What do I care, I am TUR, Time Unit Rate, allegedly a consultant to these idiots, Paid by the hour, if their greed wants to drag a 30 month project out over 60 months I just sit here and accept my monthly pay check thank you very much. In the car to work every morning Mr Lamg our drive puts this tune on for me and my work mate and it just about sum it up, what else can a man do hehe

 

[WorldFun]

enjoy there kong ... sounds interesting

[tod-daniels]

The ability to absorb another language, ceases at the age of 8 (some papers say at 10).

Don't believe everything you read in "some papers". There're more than a few multilingual people in the world who learned as adults. You sound more like you're making an excuse why you don't learn rather than offering out any fact about adults not being able to learn.

 

I got laid a hell of a lot easier exponentially by a much wider range of women once i had just a minimal grasp of the language.

Well, as long as you got your priorities straight.

 

For me the motivating factor to learn Thai was out of spite. It came to me that it's probable that one percent of the world's population is smarter than I am, but it is a statistic impossibility that all 70 million of those people were thais in thailand.. I knew if they could speak/understand read/write thai then so could I.

 

You get out what you put in, and early on you put in a LOT more than you get out of the language. However, once you get a good functional base line in the language, you start acquiring vocab and structure at an exponentially faster rate.. Suddenly things start clicking and making sense.

 

You're never too old to learn. . . People who say that, are just making excuses why they don't learn Thai.

[JaiRai]

You're never too old to learn. . . People who say that, are just making excuses why they don't learn Thai.

 

Couldn't agree more. Be it Thai or anything else. And when the day comes that you can't learn anything - you got a significant problem, because life isn't static. You need to be able to learn and constantly make slight adaptations, period. Now granted, some folks may have so much on their plates that it isn't their top priority - OK, so be it. But don't say it can't be done or isn't worthwhile. It can, and it is.

 

They'll probably be pissed at me for singling them out but I look up to folks like Flash and KS here because they are fluent. They didn't fucking make excuses or whine, they just did it. And did it well.

 

As for me, I learned a very small vocabulary and then began to bullshit my way through by throwing out sentences/phrases and catching Thai folks off guard. Them: "what do you want to eat?" Me: "อาหารสิ้นคิด - ผัดà¸à¸£à¸°à¹€à¸žà¸£à¸²" (ahaan sinkit - pad ka praow) - that one alone will do the trick every time.

 

Or learn all the kii words -- kii mao (drinker), kii bon (bulshitter), and me specifically kii-kiat (ขี้เà¸à¸µà¸¢à¸ˆ), e.g.. lazy fucker. (and yes, a multitude of other kii words which should be part of all Thai language curriculums for foreigners).

 

When you really want to have some fun you toss out colloquialisms like วันนี้ à¸à¸´à¸™à¸¢à¸²à¹„ม่เขย่าขวด (today you took medicine but didn't shake the bottle -- makes no sense in English but to Thais is the equivalent of something like "your elevator doesn't hit the top floor" - actually I don't know how to translate that one.

 

Ok, enough.

 

Ps. Ya know - supposedly I heard that Gene Simmons was a member of Mensa, and god knows Detroit Rock City got severe play on my first turntable in 5th grade --- but damn if he didn't turn out to be quite the asshole????? Kinda disappointing.

 

Anyway - if you're dead, or don't give a shit, or whatever - sure - don't bother to learn. But that would worry me personally . Am I losing it? Have my cognitive functions decayed that much? Don't set your sights on becoming a PhD or a Thai scholar, but do set them on being a little conversant and being able to surprise folks.

 

It pays off. For real.

 

Pps. - though I lie to my instructors and a lot of the Thai folks I meet, for the most part I'm here because of Thai women, and because I'm fucking bored to tears in America. Fuck it, so hang me.

[cavanami]

...the day comes that you can't learn anything...it's time for a dirt nap, IMO

[JaiRai]

 

Or learn all the kii words -- kii mao (drinker), kii bon (bulshitter), and me specifically kii-kiat (ขี้เà¸à¸µà¸¢à¸ˆ), e.g.. lazy fucker. (and yes, a multitude of other kii words which should be part of all Thai language curriculums for foreigners).

 

 

Quick edit - kii bon is actually a complainer/whiner. kii moe - OTOH - is a bullshitter.

[WorldFun]

thanks jairai (another string of useful 'jai' words)....glad that you aren't bored in soi11 yet

anyways do the girls really want another kii moe farang version of their ex kii moe thais?

but surely even if one dont play the thai language card upfront the value of understanding at least the gist of the gossip behind our backs might be priceless ... and indeed we get out only as much out as we put in...even if we have a big one

[JaiRai]

Thanks Mr. World sir. Ironically, it was yourself and Mr. T-D above on another forum (the behemoth of Thai forums) talking about schools in Bangkok that prevented me from making a tragic error. How do I know it was a tragic error you ask? Well, because I met a few of the folks going to the original school I was going to enroll with over at Times Square, starting with an initial between V & X, and I chatted these folks up -- even went down to the street to eat with a couple of them (where they could not be understood by the vendors at all), and I became more than a bit wary. Especially after negative reviews from the actual students. Anyway....

 

You guys who planted the seeds of doubt which caused a compulsion to follow up.

 

Never really got bored with soi 11 but back in Califiornia now until next year so need to start writing about bkk in past tense. And honestly, miss it like fucking crazy. Almost every day. Back to a daily grind now and suddenly just aware of the soul sucking nature of the routine in it. Whatever.

 

Jai and kii words are very useful and very common in every day communication -- unlike words like 'taan' (for eating).

 

My use of bullshitting is subjective and tongue in cheek. Everything in its right place, or something like that. But good point. And true.

 

Take care.

[bust]

Hi,

 

"whereas I have always used it to mean "You are Welcome" or "No Problem""

 

Yes, that has been my take on it as well. Also "My pleasure".

 

There is also 'Yin dee thii ruucak", used when being introduced to someone. I guess translated as "Nice to know [meet] you".

 

Sanuk!

 

Yin dee I understood as "welcome or my pleasure" Yin dee thi dah rhucha" nice to meet you or pleasure to meet you.

 

I am I guess like a lot of others as my time in LOS is frequent but weeks not months. Unfortunately I have had 2 thai gfs here in Sydney totalling almost 5 years who were here to study english and didn't want to speak thai. They seem to pick up english a lot easier than I do thai? Being 20 odd younger probably helps