mattwasp Posted January 15, 2006 Report Share Posted January 15, 2006 Hello all, I'm a relative newcomer to the Thai language, toying with simple conversational Thai picked up from phrase books, online 'dictionaries' (www.learningthai.com) and phrases picked up from hotel staff and bar girls while visiting Thailand. I've always been an believer in 'immerse yourself in the country and the language will come as second nature' after a eureka moment that represented a shift in confidence between classroom French and fluent conversational French a few years ago. Personally, I don't respond well to a classroom environment in any subject, as I don't feel motivated to learn. "Needs must" is how my brain is wired, hence picking up enough language to talk my way into a french girl's bed. (among other topics, obviously!) Though I digress. One hurdle - a big one - is the Thai script. I wonder how many non-thai speakers choose the 'aural only' route to learning Thai because they feel daunted by the use of a totally different alphabet? Well that was me, but I decided to have a look. My flatmate bought me 'Teach yourself Thai' book and CD set last year (ISBN 0-07-141916-0 if anyone was wondering ...do people still use ISBN numbers now you can free-text search in Amazon? Again I digress.) and I'd been leafing through it and using it to collect dust until now. I'm a real beginner, but I can say that it really isn't as bad as I thought it was going to be! I'd be happy to be corrected on the following, but this is what I've noticed so far: The phonetic nature of Thai means that words are written the way they're spoken; there may be more letters but once you know them its easy to read them - compare that to english: "science" - could read 'ski-en-ke' and "plough" could read 'pluff', to mention just two. (lets not get into english names - Featherstone-Hague is NOT pronounced Fanshaw!!) I for one would rather be English learning Thai than Thai learning English at this juncture! Another benefit is the ability to continuously learn through reading. I'm nowhere near able to read a string of text yet, but I believe this has a huge impact on learning; When visiting France as a non-french speaker - for example - you can 'read' french all around you as its in the roman alphabet, and see words in their correct context - soaking up the language. With Thai we don't have that, but I believe that this cloud has a silver lining; Once you can read thai (whether or not you can understand what you're reading!) you can be more assured of your pronunciation, and so boost your spoken Thai. Why pick up an issan 'l'-instead-of-'r' accent? Rather than melt my brain I've been following the book I mentioned, which gives you a chunk of consonants and vowels to learn, then some reading practice with words made of those letters. I felt quite proud of myself when I recognised 'maak' in the text - a day before and I would have just seen a jumble of squiggles. I set myself another task - to learn at least a letter a day. Doesn't sound a lot, but that's the point. The more I pick up, the more patterns I pick up in written text (websites, books etc) and the more I feel like learning! So... If you've been putting it off - try it - learn to recognise just one consonant and one vowel, and you'll start seeing them everywhere. For me that was the motivation I needed to carry on. Of course, I welcome any comments on the accuracy of my observations. Cheers, Shrollski Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adams167 Posted January 15, 2006 Report Share Posted January 15, 2006 I actually taught myself to read Thai from roadsigns etc. - never took a lesson in my life. I used to travel up-country a lot and it was something of a fun mental exercise - for example if you're driving towards Lopburi then that roadsign probably says "Lopburi" in Thai script, so work out what character has what sound; it's really much easier than you might think. The only problem I had at first was when driving back to Bangkok and trying to make the Thai sign read as "Bangkok" when it actually said (of course) "Krungthep"!! Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekong Posted January 15, 2006 Report Share Posted January 15, 2006 I started learning the Infant way, got one of the picture charts for letters, Instead of Apple, Ball, Cat, Dog you get Gai, Kai, Kuad, Kwai. Also picked up the basic writing books, the ones where you write the letters repeatedly. I felt sorry for the assistant in B2S when she asked my wife "Would you like some English Learning books for your little boy?" to which she looked at me and replied "My little boy has been speaking English for a few years now" Then as Adams167 says, try and work out local signs, I used to test myself by looking at the bottom of car number plates whilst sat in BKK traffic jams and try to work out which province they are from. Eventualy you will get to the stage where you may be able to understand the Headlines in a Thai Language newspaper, labels on purchases etc. I dont think I would ever get to the stage where I could read newspaer articles, or Subtitles in movies, for a start subtitles move too fast for my level and secondly I only really understand Thai when I am know what words /meaning I am looking for. Saying that though, I feel a lot more independant, being able to read the basics for myself and not relying on the wife and as many will profess once you have the grasps of written Thai your spoken will come on leaps and bounds. Keep learning, and one day you will harvest the fruits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekong Posted January 15, 2006 Report Share Posted January 15, 2006 "phrases picked up from hotel staff and bar girls while visiting Thailand" Word of warning, the phrases you are picking up are more likely to be Isaan / Laos rather than actual Thai. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted January 15, 2006 Report Share Posted January 15, 2006 I had about 8 weeks of intensive Thai from the Peace Corps, all in Thailand and at the beginning 6 hours a day 6 hours a week. As to motivation, after the first week PC announced they weren't feeding us any more and gave us an allowance to feed ourselves! After the first month, they told us we were moving to another training site halfway across the country, told us how to get there, gave us the money to do so and said "See you next week". Surprising how quickly you learn when it's a matter of survival. We did not start learning to read or write until near the end, since there was no sense in doing so when we couldn't say anything. (I'd studied Mandarin, and the prof destroyed our interest by starting us reading Chinese characters much to soon.) But after mastering the basics of spoken Thai one simply has to learn to read to get much better. Otherwise, you will find yourself always speaking Thai in the same situations and your Thai freezes at that level. Also, reading Thai is the best way to learn proper pronunciation. I was amazed to realise how our Thai instructors had been letting us get away with very sloppy pronunciation! As to learning Thai from BGs or MP girls, be careful. It's about like learning English from a Geordie or a Cockney or a gal from Appalachia. We would come out in language class with some words we'd picked up in MPs ... and see the shocked expression on our female teacher's face. The Thais knew exactly what we had been up to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattwasp Posted January 15, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2006 All agreed! "Word of warning, the phrases you are picking up are more likely to be Isaan / Laos rather than actual Thai. " "As to learning Thai from BGs or MP girls, be careful. It's about like learning English from a Geordie or a Cockney or a gal from Appalachia. We would come out in language class with some words we'd picked up in MPs ... and see the shocked expression on our female teacher's face. The Thais knew exactly what we had been up to." Good points those.. I tend to check up on what I've learnt when I return to the UK, through phrase books etc. This way the string of sounds can actually be put back into words, and I can start to understand their usage. I don't think I've ever heard issan spoken directly to me, rather about me. Actually that reminds me - can someone with an issan aquaintance mind checking this: "Khod hoo wa jow wow jnang" = "I understand what you are saying" I think its right - it seems to stop bargirls talking to one another in issan.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khwaimaisabai Posted January 15, 2006 Report Share Posted January 15, 2006 Flashermac said: But after mastering the basics of spoken Thai one simply has to learn to read to get much better. Otherwise, you will find yourself always speaking Thai in the same situations and your Thai freezes at that level. Also, reading Thai is the best way to learn proper pronunciation. Hi mac, You are absolutely right about this. Reading is essential if you are to progress. And as the OP said, it is really not as difficult as it seems at first sight. Khwai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted January 16, 2006 Report Share Posted January 16, 2006 << Khod hoo wa jow wow jnang" >> ??? Koy hoo wah jao wow nyang??? (Not something I've ever had occasion to say ...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samak Posted January 16, 2006 Report Share Posted January 16, 2006 shrollski said:Actually that reminds me - can someone with an issan aquaintance mind checking this: "Khod hoo wa jow wow jnang" = "I understand what you are saying"I think its right - it seems to stop bargirls talking to one another in issan.. not that i have a permanent isaan aquaintance, but i can check myself. it is actually: Khoi hoo wa jow (or djaow) waow jang! i know what you are saying khoi: i hoo: know (thai roo) wa: that, same as thai djiaow: you waow: talk jang: what Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samak Posted January 16, 2006 Report Share Posted January 16, 2006 djaow bo hoo! djaow bo hian waow lao sai Peace Corps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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