be honest, expats

[pattaya127]

following up on being advised to learn to read and write too or desist, how many of you BKK/LOS expats can read the thai newspapers (not just deciphering) and write thai on any subject decently? Not doubting anyone's claim but just wondering how fluent you mean by claiming this. One example: can you write a lost or stolen property report that sounds like the police understand exactly what happened without smiling too much at you for your mistakes. Thanks

[khunsanuk]

Hi,

Well, let me be the first to come clean

Whereas my spoken Thai is fairly decent, my reading and especially writing skills are not nearly as good.

I can decipher/read simple stuff (reading hanzel and grettel in Thai at the moment), but it takes me a while. No way I could read a newspaper.

Have seen Chanchao do it though, don't think he was faking it.

Sanuk!

[boemba]

You point to some quite difficult things. I can manage to read a newspaper, but I admit to sometimes getting lost in the headings and in the local slang. Actually, reading a Thai newspaper is quite difficult because of multiple unexplained abbreviations also. Otherwise, I quite regularly read books(computer stuff, translated non-fiction), but rarely literary work, which is also quite difficult. I doubt a lot of people can write what you suggest. I managed quite well at some time, but let it slip away because there is little use for it in daily live. I think it would be quite difficult for all foreigners except for a handful, to write something that would not make the policeman have a silent laugh. At the same time, what percentage of adults can write a decent story or letter for that matter, in English?

The fact is, literary skills are fading away all over the world, I would suggest.

bar prices

old stuff

[ June 13, 2001: Message edited by: boemba ]

[Guest]

Newspaper and police reports are not in the same league; Police reports are very easy to read (and write); almost like spoken language, very to the point, very clean language.

I found many contracts (work, rent, sale) are very straightforward as well. No crap Sanskrit gibberish to be found in those.

Newspapers on the other hand, are full of words you very rarely hear in ordinary conversation. It takes an extra level of effort.

I AM

The Millennium Man

[pattaya127]

thanks for your honest replies. I think for some of us who spend only a season in LOS, it's a lot asking to complement learning how to speak with writing or reading. i also started to learn both 10 years ago, and it was fun driving around LOS, and decipher the direction where there were no english letters, but it gets a lot harder as you get older and contemplates living in LOS only as a visitor or a retiree. Shit! you learn all that thai and you end up in the deep of Issan where they start talking lao. mamma mia!

[Guest]

Yeah....... well, the point of me learning to read and write is not so I can read a newspaper or write a police report, or read thai literature for that matter.

All would be a difficult task for me. I can get the jist of newspaper stories and could write a very basic police report if need be (so it is clearer than an English police report to a policeman who can't read English!)....

I can read and write personal letters, leave notes for my g/f('s).. and read a thai dictionary, read a thai menu, etcc... (practical things) reading UBC subtitles are good for learning the english equivalents..

I have previously suggested it (learning the alphabet and reading) just for the pure purpose of increasing your speaking, pronunciation and understanding of the language. You will learn the language faster if you can read, understand how to spell, know the exact vowel sound etc.....

I know it helped me a lot and just wanted to share that

cheers