Is it worth learning Thai

[Cheops]

13 minutes ago, utalkin2me said:

I wonder why we do not see anyone with interpreters then.

Because all the people, who correctly believe that speaking the local language is actually the way to go if you stay here long term, took the effort to learn Thai!

[BestB]

9 minutes ago, Cheops said:

I'm not talking about bs compliments from Thai who compliment you after you say sawasdee krab 555. When I pick up the phone at work and a Thai is on the other side of the line, they do not know that I am a foreigner. I don't speak 2 words, but complete conversations.

I would call total bs on this one, unless you grew up in Thailand from a very young age.

 

you may well speak complete sentences it does not mean you do not have an accent for a Thai not to know you are not native . 

 

But carry on believing whatever makes you feel better????

[Damrongsak]

21 minutes ago, Cheops said:

Don't focus too much on the tonals. Learn Thai like a kid learning a language. Listen and repeat, over and over again. Kids can speak a language, before they know about grammar or tonals.

 

This is the way I taught myself Thai. Later on, when you have a huge vocabulary, you will see connections in the words and sentences and then you can try to throw in the tonals. 

 

When I speak Thai I often get compliments that I speak very clear Thai, although mostly I have no clue in how to pronounce a single word (well, I have a clue, but for adults trying to learn a new tonal language is simply physically difficult). It's like kids who learn a language. Now I can speak quite a lot, without having to think. It's becoming more natural. 

I was taught like a kid would learn. Hear a word, pronounce it, then be shown what it means.  For weeks and weeks, the teacher spoke very little and always in Thai.  Nothing was translated and we couldn't speak English.  Learning to think in Thai and use what limited vocabulary I have made things much easier. 

 

As for tones, I like to think of it as a song.  Start on key, get the melody and tempo right and all is good.  I do best with phrases and sentences rather than single words.  Hides a lot of sins.  55

[Cheops]

3 minutes ago, BestB said:

I would call total bs on this one, unless you grew up in Thailand from a very young age.

 

you may well speak complete sentences it does not mean you do not have an accent for a Thai not to know you are not native . 

 

But carry on believing whatever makes you feel better????

I don't really care what you believe or not. What do you think I gain from telling this? Right, nothing.

 

I have to say that my voice is a bit through the nose (because of an allergy) and that's how many Thais sound. This is after about 15 years speaking Thai. 

[Orton Rd]

You must have some fascinating conversations with Thais then, poor you.

[Damrongsak]

1 minute ago, BestB said:

I would call total bs on this one, unless you grew up in Thailand from a very young age.

 

you may well speak complete sentences it does not mean you do not have an accent for a Thai not to know you are not native . 

 

But carry on believing whatever makes you feel better????

I've encountered several fairly young people who developed amazing Thai skills in a very short period of time.  One called me via my landlady's phone.  She told me a Thai man wanted to speak with me.  She could not believe it was a farang, and she was an educated Khun Ying.  Same guy was very well informed on Buddhism and could discuss it intelligently in Thai. 

 

One of my Peace Corps group classmates, who is a member here, is also amazing.  Speaking, reading and writing.  He called me up one time years later and started with his rapid-fire Thai.  I was hard pressed to understand even a wee bit of what he was saying.  He was just busting my balls and switched over to English.

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, Cheops said:

You want to live the rest of your life like a deaf/mute during communicating? Sorry, but I don't. 

I have no interest in socialising with Thais at all, apart from simple commerce.

They're probably the dullest people in the world.

 

Edited May 12, 2019 by BritManToo

[BestB]

38 minutes ago, Cheops said:

I don't really care what you believe or not. What do you think I gain from telling this? Right, nothing.

 

I have to say that my voice is a bit through the nose (because of an allergy) and that's how many Thais sound. This is after about 15 years speaking Thai. 

Yup, you must be fluent, because Thai is speaking through the nose, got ya.555

[BestB]

29 minutes ago, Damrongsak said:

I've encountered several fairly young people who developed amazing Thai skills in a very short period of time.  One called me via my landlady's phone.  She told me a Thai man wanted to speak with me.  She could not believe it was a farang, and she was an educated Khun Ying.  Same guy was very well informed on Buddhism and could discuss it intelligently in Thai. 

 

One of my Peace Corps group classmates, who is a member here, is also amazing.  Speaking, reading and writing.  He called me up one time years later and started with his rapid-fire Thai.  I was hard pressed to understand even a wee bit of what he was saying.  He was just busting my balls and switched over to English.

Just because someone sounds "amazing" to you in a language which you do not speak, does not mean they are really "amazing" good or even fluent,

 

I have no idea what educated Khun Ying suppose to mean, but once again, just because she could not believe it, it does not mean he was fluent or did not have an accent

 

It could just as easily mean that she has never met a foreigner who could string a full sentence in Thai

 

For some unknown reason, many Thai find it fascinating and miraculous when foreigner can speak Thai, as if it was some kind of unattainable achievement

[richard_smith237]

1 hour ago, BestB said:

1 hour ago, Cheops said:

I'm not talking about bs compliments from Thai who compliment you after you say sawasdee krab 555. When I pick up the phone at work and a Thai is on the other side of the line, they do not know that I am a foreigner. I don't speak 2 words, but complete conversations.

I would call total bs on this one, unless you grew up in Thailand from a very young age.

 

you may well speak complete sentences it does not mean you do not have an accent for a Thai not to know you are not native . 

 

But carry on believing whatever makes you feel better????

Your BS is called wrong then... I have a couple of Western Friends who speak Thai fluently - my Wife says if she were listening on the phone it would be difficult to tell they are not Thai. 

 

I don't think my Thai is very good, yet a couple of times after giving a Grab Taxi directions over the phone to pick me up they have expressed their surprise when they see that I am a foreigner - I always put it down to the driver not being particularly switched on. 

 

 

Edited May 12, 2019 by richard_smith237

[BestB]

9 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Your BS is called wrong then... I have a couple of Western Friends who speak Thai fluently - my Wife says if you were listening on the phone it would be difficult to tell they are not Thai. 

 

I don't think my Thai is very good, yet a couple of times after giving a Grab Taxi directions over the phone to pick me up they have expressed their surprise when they see that I am a foreigner - I always put it down to the driver not being particularly switched on. 

 

 

Well if your wife says so then it must be so.

 

So once again, just because someone can speak the language it does not mean they do not have an accent unless they were raised in the country from a very young age.

 

It is no different to any other country or language. Plenty of migrants in UK, AU, US who speak fluent English but still have an accent 

[richard_smith237]

4 minutes ago, BestB said:

Well if your wife says so then it must be so.

 

So once again, just because someone can speak the language it does not mean they do not have an accent unless they were raised in the country from a very young age.

 

It is no different to any other country or language. Plenty of migrants in UK, AU, US who speak fluent English but still have an accent 

 

Indeed, not just my Wife, but the many Thai's within our mutual friendship groups who've heard those friends who speak fluent Thai.

 

It would appear that for some inexplicable reason you are unable to accept that there are Westerners in Thailand who speak Thai so well that by ear alone they cannot be recognized as foreigners. I'm not sure why this is, but you've also used flawed argument, there are plenty of migrants who speak fluently with a native tongue such that their foreign origins cannot be guessed upon by ear alone - I know some in the UK.

 

No one speaks fluently overnight - but for those of talented mind and ear, and willing to put in the effort achieving native ability takes perhaps a decade or so.

 

 

 

[samsensam]

22 minutes ago, BestB said:

Well if your wife says so then it must be so.

 

So once again, just because someone can speak the language it does not mean they do not have an accent unless they were raised in the country from a very young age.

 

It is no different to any other country or language. Plenty of migrants in UK, AU, US who speak fluent English but still have an accent 

 

of course, fluency is about accuracy an clearness. within each english speaking country there are dozens of accents, as i'm sure there are in every country.

 

does thailand have a standard accent as we have RP in british english?

[richard_smith237]

2 hours ago, utalkin2me said:

... oh, because it is not actually important to speak Thai here unless you are in business or something like this. 

Because those who are daft enough to avoid learning Thai or not smart enough to pick up even a smattering to get by in a pickle are the ones relying on their latest carnal acquisition to translate for them..... (and then wonder why they get ripped off !)

[robint]

8 minutes ago, samsensam said:

 

of course, fluency is about accuracy an clearness. within each english speaking country there are dozens of accents, as i'm sure there are in every country.

 

does thailand have a standard accent as we have RP in british english?

you a platinum member and you ask a question like this???????????????????????????????????

[richard_smith237]

9 minutes ago, samsensam said:

 

of course, fluency is about accuracy an clearness. within each english speaking country there are dozens of accents, as i'm sure there are in every country.

 

does thailand have a standard accent as we have RP in british english?

 

Bangkokian seems to be the standard accent for the central Thai language....  perhaps equivalent to a 'home counties' accent in the UK. 

[robint]

2 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Because those who are daft enough to avoid learning Thai or not smart enough to pick up even a smattering to get by in a pickle are the ones relying on their latest carnal acquisition to translate for them..... (and then wonder why they get ripped off !)

In my long experience, the brit dustmen level seemed to survived the best. They learnt fa in uk but had street smart instincts and seemed to win well over the pseudo liberal educated smarties who though they could integrate. they lived at the bottom with their ducklings and survived there

[robint]

no doubt you would be equally unacceptable in those circles

[richard_smith237]

14 minutes ago, robint said:

20 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Because those who are daft enough to avoid learning Thai or not smart enough to pick up even a smattering to get by in a pickle are the ones relying on their latest carnal acquisition to translate for them..... (and then wonder why they get ripped off !)

In my long experience, the brit dustmen level seemed to survived the best. They learnt fa in uk but had street smart instincts and seemed to win well over the pseudo liberal educated smarties who though they could integrate. they lived at the bottom with their ducklings and survived there

 

11 minutes ago, robint said:

no doubt you would be equally unacceptable in those circles

 

Just in case you're pished up... pls translate that in the morning.... 

 

I think you are trying to impart your belief that it is blue collar workers who integrate more successfully into Thai society than educated folk (with a weak attempt to accuse the educated of being pseudo liberals)...  and then something about living at the bottom and surviving with ducklings - all rather strange... 

 

 

 

 

 

[robint]

20 yrs experience tells me you know jack schwepps

[Damrongsak]

1 hour ago, BestB said:

Just because someone sounds "amazing" to you in a language which you do not speak, does not mean they are really "amazing" good or even fluent,

 

I have no idea what educated Khun Ying suppose to mean, but once again, just because she could not believe it, it does not mean he was fluent or did not have an accent

 

It could just as easily mean that she has never met a foreigner who could string a full sentence in Thai

 

For some unknown reason, many Thai find it fascinating and miraculous when foreigner can speak Thai, as if it was some kind of unattainable achievement

I said they had amazing skills.  Fast learners and much better than my Thai. Doubt all you want, but there are talented and motivated people out there.  One guy was great at the Isaan dialect, even my wife was impressed and she grew up with it.  So were the bar girls.  Not to say these folks didn't have an accent to a fair degree, but fluent.  And the phone system sucked 40 years ago. 

 

Khun Ying is an honorary noble or royal title relating to civil and military peerage.  My landlady was not a country bumpkin.  Old Hi-So. She rented several rooms/bungalows to farang volunteers at her compound in BKK for years and may have had a farang son-in-law, so she was acquainted with many Thai-speaking farangs. I think at the time that guy called, I told her I hadn't given her number to any Thai and she said something about knowing a Thai voice when she heard one.  Maybe I'm imagining that all these years later.

 

 

[robint]

<deleted>?

[Cheops]

2 hours ago, BestB said:

Yup, you must be fluent, because Thai is speaking through the nose, got ya.555

You registered less than a year ago and have already posted more than 3000 times. If you had put that effort in learning the Thai language, perhaps your time was not wasted and actually useful, since a lot of your posts are just mocking other people. You are quite pathetic really. 

 

And probably you are just jealous of the foreigners who can manage to speak Thai.

[Cheops]

2 hours ago, BritManToo said:

I have no interest in socialising with Thais at all, apart from simple commerce.

They're probably the dullest people in the world.

 

I think maybe you don't know enough Thai people. I know quite a few not so dull Thai people. 

[Time Traveller]

On 5/11/2019 at 1:48 AM, robint said:

Is it worth it

Depends how you measure "worth".

If you measure it in monetary terms, then answer is most likely no.

If you measure it in non monetary terms then the answer is, it depends on whatever your motivations are for learning languages.

 

Edited May 12, 2019 by Time Traveller

[Damrongsak]

3 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

...No one speaks fluently overnight - but for those of talented mind and ear, and willing to put in the effort achieving native ability takes perhaps a decade or so.

Or do what I did.  Work with farmers in Isaan.  Within 9 months, I was in the boondocks wearing a pakama, drinking home-brew rice wine and grunting like the locals.  I could do a fair rendition of a buffalo whine, shinny up coconut trees (full of ants) and generally get laughed at.  I loved it and so did they. We didn't have to talk a lot.  Ambassador at large.  Making the world more intimate because, frankly, there wasn't a helluva lot to do out there except entertain each other.  

 

Back on language, you miss a lot of humor if you don't understand, especially the order of words:

 

Q: Are you married?

 

A: I have two wives. (Young guy holds up two hands.)

 

Q: Do you have any children?

 

A: I have two Loog. ( A play on words and grammar.)

 

 

Edited May 12, 2019 by Damrongsak

[Destiny1990]

The lady from hair salon says i can Phud Phassaa Thai Keng Maak.

Edited May 12, 2019 by Destiny1990

[TKDfella]

11 hours ago, Cheops said:

Don't focus too much on the tonals. Learn Thai like a kid learning a language. Listen and repeat, over and over again. Kids can speak a language, before they know about grammar or tonals.

 

This is the way I taught myself Thai. Later on, when you have a huge vocabulary, you will see connections in the words and sentences and then you can try to throw in the tonals. 

 

When I speak Thai I often get compliments that I speak very clear Thai, although mostly I have no clue in how to pronounce a single word (well, I have a clue, but for adults trying to learn a new tonal language is simply physically difficult). It's like kids who learn a language. Now I can speak quite a lot, without having to think. It's becoming more natural. 

Ha, just shows how individual we all are. I approached Thai learning the tones first and particularly counting. For me counting numbers comes more 'naturally' as I make up my own rhythm. And with Thai, once 0-10 has been learned, three of tones have been learned too...and it's easy to remember that there is no mid/natural voice level tone. 1000 is mid tone. However, I did the reading and writing along side speech. I think one has to decide what part of a language appeals naturally and then start from there...for me it was numbers, but for someone else it might be food, and so on.????

[david143]

12 Year in Thailand and thank God fluent in Thai.
if you speak Thai , you are hero no one can cheat you or abuse you and try to make plans behind you , lolz

 

 

 

[Jane Dough]

17 hours ago, PerkinsCuthbert said:

I know where you're going with this, Rooster, so I will answer with "แย๊ต", which has no meaning in Thai.

I always like the Thai (unfinished) saying

 

Jet reua yort...jort reua...

 

Seven yachts, harbor them and...

 

Lovely language Thai....well worth learning. I got rich on it!

 

Rooster