hall Posted June 5, 2001 Report Share Posted June 5, 2001 Hi all. I have read through most of the past postings concerning learning the thai language but can't quite see anything which solves my problem. So if anyone has any ideas -- Help!!Twelve months ago I decided to try to learn thai. I could not afford the 1000 baht an hour lessons available in Oz so decided to become self taught. I am having no trouble learning to read,write and speak thai. BUT after 12 months I still cannot "hear" thai. Anything anyone says after "Sawasdee" just doesn't register!!! Bangkok Phil et al - any tips greatly appreciated!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boo Radley Posted June 5, 2001 Report Share Posted June 5, 2001 Westerners from non-tonal language traditions invariably have problems hearing the tones in tonal languages such as Thai. The actual tones themselves are just very slight inflections in the pitch of the speaker’s voice. Thais are seeped in a tonal environment as babies and for them the difference between the tones is as different as black and white. There is evidence to suggest that all babies are born with perfect pitch and speakers of tonal languages seem to maintain this perfect pitch into adult life and are thus able to distinguish tones in speech. Speakers of non-tonal languages such as English or French lose perfect pitch in all but 1 in 10,000 cases. So the secret of Westerners trying to come to grips with the tones is practice and time. You don’t need perfect pitch to hear the tones (although it helps), since the actual frequency that a tone is pitched at varies from speaker to speaker. Listen to tapes and .wav files of Thai speakers from the Internet. Eventually the different tones will emerge from the sound files. Practice makes perfect! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 5, 2001 Report Share Posted June 5, 2001 Hi Hall, Don't worry about this one man and don't beat yourself up over it. I was exactly the same. When I came to live here I had already done an extensive course in England (Linguaphone) and could speak pretty well. However, the comprehension was a nightmare (especially with male Thai speakers) It just gets easier and easier as your ear becomes 'tuned' and now my listening is far, far better than my speaking. It took about 2-3 years for me to 'tune' my ear I would say. Don't give up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gene1944 Posted June 7, 2001 Report Share Posted June 7, 2001 I have the same problem with people whose "pitch" I am not familiar with. I am looking into AUA lessons where they want you to listen only (not even try to speak, read, memorize or any other traditional means of learning a language) until you have literall "heard" 400 hrs of native thais talking in conversations in the classroom. Seems to be an interesting approach and they say it is how a baby learns their language. I have heard some positive remarks on it. Anyway, you might want to explore it. Chok Dii,, uhh I mean Good luck. Gene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hall Posted June 7, 2001 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2001 Phil,Boo & Gene. Many thanks.You have given me the inspiration to keep going! Interesting point you make Phil. I also have found it much easier to listen to thai spoken by girls rather than guys. Can't even begin to think why but their voices do seem clearer somehow. Cheers Hall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iuytrede Posted June 8, 2001 Report Share Posted June 8, 2001 A baby does not learn the language listening to teachers conversing between each other. Adults will interact with the baby. They will ask questions, tell him something or ask him to do something, and express their love. The baby will respond from the very beginning, even if not verbally. The adults will not use Thai (or English or whatever), but some kind of baby-talk. And these adults are the most important people in the world for the baby (his life depends on them), not just anybody, much more important than a language teacher. [ June 07, 2001: Message edited by: iuytrede ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 8, 2001 Report Share Posted June 8, 2001 quote: Adults will interact with the baby. They will ask questions, tell him something or ask him to do something, and express their love. The baby will respond from the very beginning, even if not verbally. This is rather like learning by saturation - being bombarded by the language day after day after day. Unfortunately the vast majority of adult language learners don't have the time or the patience to learn a language this way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monochrome man Posted June 10, 2001 Report Share Posted June 10, 2001 I don't think children learn like that(immersion) either. They learn 1 new word every 2 hours, at around 18 months old. This would be impossible if they had to learn it direct from their carers, who also often speak baby-talk not fully formed words, phrases etc. I recommend the book The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker.He reckons children are born with an inate ability to recognise phonemes. For example, English-learning infants, under 6 months old, can distinguish Czech,Hindi and Inslekampx (native American), but adults can't. Not even after a year's university coursework.He goes on, "Adult ears can tell the sounds apart, though, when the consonants are stripped from the syllables and presented alone as chirpy sounds; they just cannot tell them apart as phonemes." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coops Posted June 11, 2001 Report Share Posted June 11, 2001 I did hear/read good reports about AUA results ie students becoming genuinely fluent. The teaching method is unusual, but sounds good to me. I have kind of (!) done the Linguaphone course - very good for self study. The course on reading and writing is excellent - it makes an apparently forbidding and complicated load of squiggles look about as easy as can be hoped for... plus the tapes will help get your ear tuned in to those damn tones... once i resign/take unpaid leave from my present job i'm finally going to take up learning thai for real - intend to go to AUA so will report back! cheerio now, ps good riddance to Delphi, stinking rotten c***s. coops Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted June 11, 2001 Report Share Posted June 11, 2001 Coops and others, any idea on the cost of AUA program? and the duration? I am looking for a month long course, just to get started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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