Guest Posted May 10, 2005 Report Share Posted May 10, 2005 Now I remember why I gave up learning Thai. Bad (and slow!) day................ :: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous_Dog Posted May 10, 2005 Report Share Posted May 10, 2005 Stick at it, whenever learning a new language I have discovereed the key is to imerse yourself, My thai is built upon w eeks of intensive 4 times a week lessons. After that you have enough base to build upon. If you learn like at school - once a week for an hour, you'll take a long time! DOG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 10, 2005 Report Share Posted May 10, 2005 Thanks for the encouragement Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted May 12, 2005 Report Share Posted May 12, 2005 Peace Corps language training is 6 hours a day 6 days a week, at least for the first month. Talk about immersion ... :: Plus you have to feed yourself and get around usually in a small city where almost no one speaks English. Survival of the fittest! But that its the kind of motivation it takes. Hard to disciline yourself otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous_Dog Posted May 12, 2005 Report Share Posted May 12, 2005 That ould explain your great Thai (So I;ve heard!) I have a number of Morman friends and I was asking about their system, In Sydney I'd hear them going up to people and talking good CANTONESE - now thats a hard language 9 tones! Not 4 NINE of them! Turns out the go immersion in UTAH, for 6 weeks also. However the interesting thing is now they also do consulting or training for outside companies, that are sending their peopl O/S. Seems a good way to learn, as long as you can resist the urge to become a Morman! DOG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lazyphil Posted May 12, 2005 Report Share Posted May 12, 2005 <<Turns out the go immersion in UTAH, for 6 weeks also>> I could handle this as long as was in Canyonlands and Arches NP with my bike and smuggle beer into the campsite! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted May 13, 2005 Report Share Posted May 13, 2005 DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THOSE FUCKING MORMONSW!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted May 13, 2005 Report Share Posted May 13, 2005 I don't consider my Thai great, but I can handle most situations. A Farang friend once asked my wife if anyone would mistake me for a native Thai speaker. She nearly fell on the floor splitting her sides with laughter. (I know better than to say a peep about her accent in English!) :: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted May 13, 2005 Report Share Posted May 13, 2005 The Mormon "elders" -- often 19 year old kids -- used to study Thai at BYU in Hawaii. Wonder why they changed it. What was hilarious back in the early '80s was when the Thai govmt decided there were TOO MANY Mormon missionaries in Thailand. Seems that the number of missionaries was related to the number of members a denomination already had in Thailand. (Sort of an odd situation ...) Anyway, about 15 of the new "elders" -- who for a few weeks had been happily practicing the Thai they had studied so hard to learn -- found themselves being shipped down to Malaysia, where they couldn't speak a word of Bahasa Melayu! (Not to mention that it is a mainly Muslim country ...) I used to know some of the Mormons when I lived up north and they would tell me another side of their seemingly very fluent Thai. Several said to me that they were fine in discussing religious matters, but once they got off of that they became stumped. It would be the same if someone asked me to discuss religion in Thai. It's not something I normally do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted May 13, 2005 Report Share Posted May 13, 2005 What I was told by quiet a few People, Thais and Mormons, and even one Mormon Thai girl here (my old Thai teacher) was that the Mormons could speak about religious matters as you said, and handle some basics...but in terms of understanding the culture, and anything other than bare basics or jesaus stuff, yes, they were as you say lost. I told the story here before about the Mormons I met in Soi 7 food court...just new arrivals...totally clueless about what was going on around them...one even inquired about pricing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.