How Long Did It Take You To Learn Thai?

[stament]

I want to learn how to speak Thai when I next come to Thailand. I do know a few words but whilst it's okay not to be able to speak Thai in BKK, etc and other tourist areas, I find myself having problems out in the sticks.

I wanted to get some feedback from people who have learnt how to speak and read thai. How long did it take you to learn how to speak? Speaking is obviously my priority but I would like to learn how to read as well. Should I do this at the same time or after?

Also what method did you use to learn - yourself, books, cd's, teaching 1-2-1, class, etc.

Hopefully this will give me some idea of how long it will take me and what the best options are for me as I'm keen to learn.

Thanks

[jdinasia]

I want to learn how to speak Thai when I next come to Thailand. I do know a few words but whilst it's okay not to be able to speak Thai in BKK, etc and other tourist areas, I find myself having problems out in the sticks.

I wanted to get some feedback from people who have learnt how to speak and read thai. How long did it take you to learn how to speak? Speaking is obviously my priority but I would like to learn how to read as well. Should I do this at the same time or after?

Also what method did you use to learn - yourself, books, cd's, teaching 1-2-1, class, etc.

Hopefully this will give me some idea of how long it will take me and what the best options are for me as I'm keen to learn.

Thanks

define 'speak Thai' --- do you mean taxi driver level? ... conversational? ... fluency?

but 100% learn to read and write at the same time as being able to read helps you know what tomes the words are.

as for speaking and understanding in "the sticks" ... there are different dialects complicating the matter even more

The short answer --- going to school dailing for monmths at Chula will have you reasonably fluent in about a year. Going to one of the language schools will have you at the basic communication level in 2-3 months ... studying books and tapes is kinda up to the student's skill. This being said if you don't USE your newly acquired skills they will get rusty very fast!

Edited March 19, 2007 by jdinasia

[meadish_sweetball]

Good answers by jdinasia, I pretty much agree.

IME, about 1 year of studies is required to be able to make sense when speaking, and to understand the gist of what others are saying when they are speaking directly with you using simple vocabulary.

You can get better at listening comprehension quicker through immersion (Thai only spoken around you, no watching movies or anything in other languages), but it can be very tiring for the brain - especially since the immersion is also cultural.

Dedicate time as often as possible to studying. As with most things, persistence wins. A little every day is much better than a full day every now and then.

[realthaideal]

I bought Thai on tape a good 8 mo's b4 I moved here. I listened on the way to n from work everyday. The vocabulary and sentences were a little odd now that I'm advanced, but it had me here hitting the gorund running. I found that of course there were silly formal expressions that were rarley used in relaity, and that I had no idea of many common phrases that I would need every day. But having a about 100+ words in my head, and basic tourist phrases like 'Where's the bathroom ?' and 'Taxi driver, stop here please' really helped. I was able to use my working vocabulary to fill in the holes. It will take dedication no matter what, but if you prime your brain b4 you get here, you'll be picking up Thai so fast compared to others. I also have to say that your learning rate will be very slow in your native country as you just aren't immersed. But despite the poor returns, it will sink in. I wouldn't say I was good until I was here for a yr already, but compared to most Farang, I could speak in about 2 months. Everybody will have their own learning curves.

And yeah, you gots to learn to read de Thai, man. If you don't you just learn so slowly and botch so many words up. You have to. It's not that hard. You just look at it and practice. I sugess tyou go to a school supplies store and by yerself one of those kids alpahbet charts too - just put it on your wall. The same way you learned your ABC's as a kid. A is for apple = Gor Gai (and knowing how to read it, you won't ever say gor as kor like a million other Farang who order chickens for breakfast everyday.) Transliteration is trouble, but necessary in the beginning, but that's it.

[billd766]

I have been here a few years and most of that time I learned enough to get by with the occasional Thai school for a couple of months.

My wife speaks fair English so it wasn'ta big problem.

Even where we live out in the sticks I had no real big problem and if I did I got my wife to write it out in Thai.

My 2006 resolution was to learn Thai and it went by the wayside as most resolutions do.

This year my son started kindergarten and I find that while he understands a bit of English he speaks mostly Thai and I have a hard time understanding him.

So NOW I am spending an hour a day, 5 days a week with a book and cassette tapes by Benjawan Poomsan Becker called Thai for beginners and I spend a lot of time learning the vocabulary of names of things. Then I can get on to the conversation part as a lot of that is similar but with different subjects.

Writing Thai is a bit harder than reading Thai I think but as I go back and forward in the book I remember and understand more of what people around are talking about.

I also have Thai for intermediate which I listened to once and quickly put away as it was waaay above me at this time.

It IS hard work but I feel that I am now starting to benefit from it.

[realthaideal]

"So NOW I am spending an hour a day, 5 days a week with a book and cassette tapes by Benjawan Poomsan Becker called Thai for beginners and I spend a lot of time learning the vocabulary of names of things. Then I can get on to the conversation part as a lot of that is similar but with different subjects.

Writing Thai is a bit harder than reading Thai I think but as I go back and forward in the book I remember and understand more of what people around are talking about."

I too use Benjawan poomsan Becker's books on Thai. Great series without all of the mistakes and other wierd things that goes on in 'teach yourself Thai' books you commonly find. By far the best written series. She's good.

[sabaijai]

I agree that jdinasia's estimates are about right. Of course everyone's different. If you start learning Thai as an adult you will never be 100% native-equivalent either in pronunciation or vocabulary but you can get close to that target if you perservere.

[pumpuiman]

Anyone used the "Linguaphone" system?

I have purchased it but not started studying full bore.

I did my research and found it to be one of the highest rated...(and expensive) methods around.

Has anyone here had experience with it?

[garro]

I have put a lot of effort into learning Thai during the last five years living here and I am still not fluent. I can understand most things said on TV and have now begun reading proper books. I still struggle with newspapers and can get lost in long conversations.

In the village where I live they speak passa Issan which was a bit of a challenge.

I actually really enjoy learning Thai and no matter how fluent I become I will always have a beginner's mind.