What is Your Attitude to Learning Thai?

[richard_smith237]

My attitude towards learning Thai and the reality are different...

 

Having lived in Thailand for over 20 years I should be fluent, reading and writing. 

Having moved here in my early 20's, I should have taken lessons and put in the effort, however, I never thought I'd be here for the long term, I never saw the point in learning a 'single nation language' and a couple of friends had learnt their Thai from a hooker and had embarrassed themselves with what some may term 'low class Thai'.

 

Basing myself in Thailand and working primarily overseas on rotation, my time off in Thailand was valued, after a month away I wanted to spend time relaxing, not enduring further study - I was lazy. 

 

Given an opportunity to start over in Thailand I would advise myself to take formal Thai lessons. 

 

I'm not too concerned about not being able to read and write Thai, but neither are the guys who can't speak Thai concerned about being not being able to speak Thai - Like the guys who cannot speak Thai, I have no frame of reference to truly evaluate whether or not reading and writing Thai would be of value to me. 

 

So, after 20 years, I can speak Thai, I've picked it up as I've gone along... I can hold basic conversations with Taxi drivers etc, but I'd struggle greatly with more advanced conversation.

I know a lot of Westerners here, I only know two who's spoken Thai is better than mine - I would say one is fluent and the other is getting there - thus, to place things in perspective, my spoken Thai is better than the majority of Westerners I meet, yet I don't think it is good enough to consider myself anywhere near fluent - I get by with ease, which is the best description I have for my level of spoken Thai. 

 

Finally, on the point of those who are implying that you don't need to speak Thai to live here... Quite right, you don't need it, but speaking Thai makes life so much easier, I find any of the excuses that you don't need understand to Thai the excuse of a fundamentally flawed mind, those who are unable to accept that like me they are just too lazy to apply themselves.

 

 

 

 

 

[GarryP]

When I first moved here 37 years ago, I was in the south and next to no one could speak English so it was a case of total immersion. After a while I moved to Bangkok but again there were not that many Thais who spoke English so I carried on learning and practicing. I never took classes and taught myself to speak and read Thai. I am now fluent in spoken Thai and can translate from Thai to English with no difficulty, but I cannot write to save my life.

 

Thai language is very important to me as it lets me be totally independent. I do not have to rely on people (wife/girlfriend/friend/colleague ) to interpret for me. I can deal with government agencies on my own, talk to electricians and builders directly - without the help of others. Cutting out the interpreter reduces misinterpretations and misunderstandings.  

 

While I cannot speak any of the dialects - just a few words/sentences in Isarn, I do understand the language and can participate in conversations with my wife's family and pipe in using Central Thai which they all understand. Some people speak to me directly in the Isarn dialect - when visiting my wife's home town, and I just answer in Thai. We have conversations that way. So saying you are cut out of conversations is not absolutely true. If you can't be bothered to at least improve your listening comprehension of the local dialect where you live, don't blame the locals. 

 

PS When I speak Thai, I think in Thai. I do not translate from English to Thai. 

Edited March 17, 2019 by GarryP

[GinBoy2]

I'm just going to reiterate the point of learning to read and write too.

 

When I learnt Mandarin many many moons ago, I told my teacher I just wanted to be able to speak. He was having none of it.

And although with Mandarin it takes you a long time to be able to memorize enough characters to be able to read anything more than a menu, with hindsight it was the best advice he could have given me.

That's why when I learnt Thai from my wife we used those simple kids books and it all came together pretty quickly.

It has 44 consonant letters, 15 vowel symbols that combine into at least 28 vowel forms, and four tone diacritics, but mastering those gets you a long way in really getting to grips with fully understanding the spoken language

Edited March 17, 2019 by GinBoy2

[Lacessit]

I do think farangs who refuse to learn the most basic Thai are rather sad people. I enjoy the way the Thai language converts English terms into Thai which are quite picturesque e.g. earthquake = pen din wai, literally the earth swims.

My excuse for trying to improve my Thai on a daily basis is: it's an excellent antidote for Alzheimers.

[richard_smith237]

23 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

I do think farangs who refuse to learn the most basic Thai are rather sad people. I enjoy the way the Thai language converts English terms into Thai which are quite picturesque e.g. earthquake = pen din wai, literally the earth swims.

My excuse for trying to improve my Thai on a daily basis is: it's an excellent antidote for Alzheimers.

I don't think many 'refuse' outright to learn the most basic Thai...  some are just unable to, many have accepted that they don't have an affinity towards learning languages - I think thats fair enough, some do struggle with tones etc and most will pick up smatterings here or there and make an effort to remember and keep trying without actively taking classes etc... 

 

But, some of the excuses of those who refuse to learn or improve their Thai are really quite special, especially some I read on this forum which are downright moronic and only highlight what an idiot that person is when trying to avoid the fact that they are simply bone idol or plain stupid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BritManToo]

3 hours ago, Lacessit said:

pen din wai, literally the earth swims

I thought it was 'plate earth shakes', different 'wai' to swim.    ไหว Vs ว่าย

But I expect you know best.

Edited March 17, 2019 by BritManToo

[Damrongsak]

18 hours ago, GinBoy2 said:

...I wanted him to learn Spanish as well, but I couldn't keep all 3 languages straight in my head while I was talking to him.

I know what you mean. On a visit to Mexico, I had to use my very poor and rusty high school Spanish.  Whenever I was at a loss for a word, a Thai word just automatically popped in there.  I got some real puzzled looks.  555

 

[GinBoy2]

8 minutes ago, Damrongsak said:

I know what you mean. On a visit to Mexico, I had to use my very poor and rusty high school Spanish.  Whenever I was at a loss for a word, a Thai word just automatically popped in there.  I got some real puzzled looks.  555

 

It's gets a bit hard. I ended up on a schedule.

I spoke to my son exclusively in Mandarin one day, then English the next. 

When I tried to mix n match it ended up in a polyglot nightmare.

I ended up mixing words in the same sentence, which was why we decided I'd skip Spanish, since he was already being exposed to 4 languages.

It was probably a good decision since the company he now works for in Denver prize his Mandarin skills

[richard_smith237]

15 minutes ago, Damrongsak said:

I know what you mean. On a visit to Mexico, I had to use my very poor and rusty high school Spanish.  Whenever I was at a loss for a word, a Thai word just automatically popped in there.  I got some real puzzled looks.  555

 

 

Similar has happened to me - I made the Wife laugh on a recent trip in France when talking French to the driver, I was at a loss for a word and I automatically slipped in the 'Thai equivalent' in its place !!!... 

 

Not being very good at languages may have something to do with 'filing' languages in the same  mental folder...

[Damrongsak]

6 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

... Not being very good at languages may have something to do with 'filing' languages in the same  mental folder...

Same here.  I have two folders, English and "other".

[cornishcarlos]

I think another poster mentioned he worked away on rotation, I am the same and that is part of the reason I think my Thai is still very average. Added to that is partial hearing loss in one ear which hinders my comprehension of the tones.

After being back for a couple months, I have got my ear tuned in a bit but then I head off to work again and don't hear Thai for another couple months. Then we repeat the process !! 

I would like to go to a school and start from basics again but taking a month out of my time at home to go to a proper school, is not fair to my wife at the moment 

When I read what I have just written, it just sounds like a list of excuses, maybe it is to an extent but I do believe the key to happiness in Thailand is independence through language skills... I will do better I promise ????????????

[Lacessit]

10 hours ago, BritManToo said:

I thought it was 'plate earth shakes', different 'wai' to swim.    ไหว Vs ว่าย

But I expect you know best.

I'm always willing to further my education, or stand corrected. No need to get nasty.

 

[evadgib]

I fall into the same category as the OP. I am frankly useless at this language lark but would dearly love to learn if only I could find a way to do so that doesn't involve the old "How now Brown Cow" in 40 degree heat in a windowless classroom like the last time I tried.

 

On the plus side I still have this sitting on my desktop and might give it another try...

Added this clip:

 

Edited March 18, 2019 by evadgib

[JimmyTheMook]

Just now, evadgib said:

I fall into the same category as the OP. I am frankly useless at this language lark but would dearly love to learn if only I could find a way to do so that doesn't involve the old "How now Brown Cow" in 40 degree heat in a windowless classroom like the last time I tried.

 

On the plus side I still have this sitting on my desktop and might give it another try...

 

 

 

 

LOL!

 

Dead Farang 

 

Guy is freaking hilarious 

[evadgib]

3 minutes ago, JimmyTheMook said:

LOL!

 

Dead Farang 

 

Guy is freaking hilarious 

Was Ms Becker a laugh-a-minute too? ????

[evadgib]

21 hours ago, Briggsy said:

Those who say, "It is a waste of time," usually actually mean they can't learn Thai or they have no intention of trying or both. It is a defence mechanism.

 

Age and language acquisition are closely related. The way the brain acquires and processes new information changes as we age. Thus it is unfair to berate people who arrived here at age 60 for not learning Thai.

 

I could not imagine living in Thailand without being able to speak and read the language. It would be like walking everywhere with leg shackles.

Everyone that has done that learns the language pretty quickly ????

[BritManToo]

5 minutes ago, evadgib said:

Everyone that has done that learns the language pretty quickly ????

Best Thai speaker I met learned in Bangkok jail, 1 year for possession of Heroin.

[1FinickyOne]

9 hours ago, Damrongsak said:

I know what you mean. On a visit to Mexico, I had to use my very poor and rusty high school Spanish.  Whenever I was at a loss for a word, a Thai word just automatically popped in there.  I got some real puzzled looks.  555

 

I have had the same experience... my spanish used to be pretty good but I would struggle and speak half Thai now, as if there is only one area in my brain for foreign language... I had an Otavalan Indian friend visit me in Bkk years ago and I picked him up at the airport w/a Thai friend. I could not get out a sentence in either language and eventually got dizzy... 

[owl sees all]

On 3/17/2019 at 7:39 AM, BritManToo said:

If you live in a village no point in learning central Thai as they'll all be speaking some other language, probably Laos or some local variation of it.

I went to school and learned central Thai, everyone around me converses in Lao ....... mai aroy = bor sep, chan rak tur = bun hat too-wer, mai pen rai = bor bin yang. Wasted 2 years of my time.

Great point BMT. Same up here near the Mekong. A mix of Isaan and Lao. Too much to learn.

 

I speak English, French, German, Spanish and Patwah (Jamaican Creole). I've learned enough; although some double-dutch is worth knowing here in LOS.

 

I'm also familiar with the Welsh lingo; yaki-darr. But not fluent. 

[Happystance]

The plan was to go for the ED Visa in CM and spend a year learning the language. Then the air quality went dismal and I realized I wouldn't want to live in CM for several months of the year anyways. Bangkok, same deal. 

I'd love to find a place to settle down that was somewhat healthy, but given the rapidly intensifying impediments to staying in Thailand long-term coupled with an uncertain future for falang here, I am not sure learning the language is worth the financial investment.

 

It's not an excuse for laziness or being cheap.

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, Lacessit said:

I'm always willing to further my education, or stand corrected. No need to get nasty.

Yeah, I thought it was funny that four of your 'you must learn Thai' fellow posters 'liked' your translation.

Wonder how much Thai they actually know? they clearly didn't have a clue, made me laugh anyway.

Bet they can't ask 'Who sells chicken eggs?'

 

Edited March 18, 2019 by BritManToo

[zyphodb]

10 hours ago, Damrongsak said:

Same here.  I have two folders, English and "other".

I remember after several months in Portugal I caught a slow bus back to the UK. I was speaking pigeon Portuguese through most of Spain, by the time I got to the french Spanish border I was speaking mostly Spanish, which continued through most of France, of course by the time I'd got my head around speaking French it was time to get on the ferry back to the UK... Now whenever I try to use my long unused knowledge of various European languages, it comes out in pigeon Thai/Isaan, so yes, two folders for me as well....

[tgeezer]

15 hours ago, Lacessit said:

I enjoy the way the Thai language converts English terms into Thai which are quite picturesque e.g. earthquake = pen din wai, literally the earth swims.

My excuse for trying to improve my Thai on a daily basis is: it's an excellent antidote for Alzheimers.

I hope that language learning will help ward off Alzheimer’s too. 

The mistake you made there was both tone and length of vowel, learning to write will solve that problem.  

ไหว was rising tone short vowel is an intransitive verb, vibrate, shake etc. As a modifier though it means to be capable at that moment of action.   

วิ่งไหว : two words: wing (short-falling) wai(short-rising) 

I make an association with those two meanings but too esoteric to make public!

 

The positive thing is that I doubt that you will forget ว่าย ไหว now. 

So my attitude to Learning Thai is don’t be afraid to make mistakes. 

[villagefarang]

24 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Yeah, I thought it was funny that four of your 'you must learn Thai' fellow posters 'liked' your translation.

Wonder how much Thai they actually know? they clearly didn't have a clue, made me laugh anyway.

Bet they can't ask 'Who sells chicken eggs?'

 

While you have a point, I believe most of us were agreeing with the general sentiment of the comment, not necessarily the translation.

 

Who sells chicken eggs is pretty easy compared to some of the other tongue twisters.

Edited March 18, 2019 by villagefarang

[Briggsy]

2 hours ago, evadgib said:

Everyone that has done that learns the language pretty quickly ????

Done what? I don't understand your post.

[evadgib]

1 hour ago, Briggsy said:

Done what? I don't understand your post.

Been shackled/in prison!

[AlexRich]

If you plan to stay in Thailand for many years Thai language skills are essential ... I think the trick is to keep plugging away at it every day until it sinks in.

[AlexRich]

4 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Best Thai speaker I met learned in Bangkok jail, 1 year for possession of Heroin.

Was he your cell mate?

[Lacessit]

4 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Yeah, I thought it was funny that four of your 'you must learn Thai' fellow posters 'liked' your translation.

Wonder how much Thai they actually know? they clearly didn't have a clue, made me laugh anyway.

Bet they can't ask 'Who sells chicken eggs?'

 

Klai kai kai gai mai? Or is the mai superfluous because of the klai? Chicken is the adjective after the egg? Reminds me of an old catechism.

[BritManToo]

1 minute ago, Lacessit said:

Klai kai kai gai mai? Or is the mai superfluous because of the klai? Chicken is the adjective after the egg? Reminds me of an old catechism.

Speaking with a Lao accent?

I prefer to roll my R's.