Did you try to learn Thai? How did you get on? How old were you? Was it worth it? Regrets?

[thaibeachlovers]

8 hours ago, Grecian said:

I'm 53 will move to Thailand this year. Will my 53 year old ears be able to handle a tonal language? 

will I be having better quality relationships if I'm speaking thai?????

In short is it worth the effort?

 

Mine were not.

no. I was never interested in conversing verbally with Thai women and I wasn't interested in Thai men at all.

no, not for conversation, unless you want to talk about food or hear what they are saying about you. Some things yes, like shopping and asking where the toilet is.

 

I learned enough to get by, but I never was able to distinguish the tones.

 

Sadly, without using it, my Thai language is just fading away.

[Don Chance]

You don't have to speak Thai. Tim Cook just reviled that he can hardly speak any Thai and he was been living and working here for 10 years.

 

It's a hard language, you need good memory and good hearing. The easiest way to learn any language is if you have a love relationship with a native speaker. Learning will be exponential then.

[ozimoron]

I believe that Thai is far easier than Indonesian or Tagalog. Tagalog and Bahasa are conjugated which makes them more difficult to learn whereas Thai is not. It has only 76 letters in the alphabet, many of which are rarely used in day to day conversation.

[Chris.B]

You don't have to wait until you get to Thailand to start learning Thai. There are many classes and teachers using 'Zoom' on a computer, tablet or smartphone.

 

I have been learning with https://learnthaiwithmod.com/online-group-lessons/ and I am very happy with their lessons.

 

I also have private Thai language lessons using 'Zoom' with a Thai lady teacher who spent 6 years in the USA perfecting her English. For more details pm me.

 

It is important to have a Thai language teacher who has spent time in an English speaking country so that you can understand them. 

 

[ozimoron]

This is a good free resource for learning Thai

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2xIZS7z1wLkROtMYLmMstw

[mokwit]

Yes, I didn't really get serious about it for 6 months. Absolutely you should. It will open up a whole new world (yes I know, being able to understand what the Thai's are saying isn't always a good place to be). Don't waste time with transliteration, go straight to Thai script - it is a lot easier than it looks and the reason there are no spaces is because they are not needed. Understand right from the start it is atonal language.

 

My big mistake was not getting proper Thai lessons from the get go - you will get the toners and pronunciation so much faster.

 

Self study: I started with Linguaphone and learned Thai reading/writing from that, the Boonsom becker books/CD's are good but HUGE jump from beginner book to intermediate.

 

Lessons: 3 main ones that will get you speaking Thai competently by the end - the Chula one, the one in time Sq and its offshoot in Trendy building and another one I can't remember.

 

Someone who came off the Chula one spoke better Thai than me. People who have done MBA's complain about its intensity.

 

Learn the "right" Thai. Isaan Thai is utterly distinct to a Bangkok Chinese speaker and you will be judged, so don't have the wrong kind of "long haired" teacher. Learn from awoman and you will speak like a woman.

 

True story: Deputy MD, formidable Thai Chinese lady stops by my desk and asks me to say certain words in Thai, then tells me I am speaking the "wrong" kind of thai. I tell her I chat with Taxi drivers to improve my Thai. She says: Really? I just hadn't noticed there were that many female Taxi drivers.

[Chris.B]

6 minutes ago, mokwit said:

Lessons: 3 main ones that will get you speaking Thai competently by the end - the Chula one, the one in time Sq and its offshoot in Trendy building and another one I can't remember.

Time Square and Trendy building? What are they?

 

[richard_smith237]

4 minutes ago, Chris.B said:

Time Square and Trendy building? What are they?

 

I'm going to take awalk on the wild side and guess that they’re buildings !!!!!  (In Bangkok).

 

Trendy Building - On Sukhmivit Soi 13  (plenty of offices, translations services, UK VFS Centre)

Times Square Building - Next to Sukhumvit Soi 12

 

Google is your friend !!!.... 

 

https://www.thetrendyoffice.com

http://www.timessquare.co.th

 

 

[TimBKK]

This Facebook group is an excellent resource

 

 

[mokwit]

30 minutes ago, Chris.B said:

Time Square and Trendy building? What are they?

 

Locations in Bangkok. Time Square is a mall/office building on lower Sukhumvit near the Sheraton. Trendy is similar in Suk Soi 13. Name of School in Trendy is Phuam Mitr if it is still there and I remember correctly.

[mokwit]

Add: Key point: Speaking Thai and speaking Thai well are are very different levels of speaking Thai. Speaking Thai and understanding Thai are very different levels of speaking Thai.

[recom273]

Yes, it’s worth it .. I studied at UTL (in times square, maybe this is what others are talking about above) and AUA in Bangkok.

 

The combination is a good one, UTL is very fast and rote, 3 hours every day in small classes. They have a tried and tested intensive method, I think it came from teaching missionaries. AUA was very different, you listened to interesting conversations and picked up words slowly. 

 

If I were you I wouldn’t attend a small language center that has more interest in getting the majority of your classmates a visa. You aren’t going to learn anything on 2x two hour lessons a week, you aren’t going to learn from a phrase book other than a few words. IMHO it’s best to go to a real school or university, get your head in the game for 6 months, smash it out and build a solid foundation. 
 

Good luck

Edited January 10, 2022 by recom273

[ozimoron]

1 minute ago, recom273 said:

Yes, it’s worth it .. I studied at UTL and AUA in Bangkok.

 

The combination is a good one, UTL is very fast and rote, 3 hours every day in small classes. They have a tried and tested intensive method, I think it came from teaching missionaries. AUA was very different, you listened to interesting conversations and picked up words slowly. 

 

If I were you I wouldn’t attend a small language center that has more interest in getting the majority of your classmates a visa. You aren’t going to learn anything on 2x two hour lessons a week, you aren’t going to learn from a phrase book other than a few words. IMHO it’s best to go to a real school or university, get your head in the game for 6 months, smash it out and build a solid foundation. 
 

Good luck

I used a Thai cassette course from AUA and several books I purchased from them in 1982. AUA have an office in Pattaya as well.

[fondue zoo]

I always regret learning a new language. 

I then know what the names my partner is calling me mean, and understand what her family are saying about me when we're all laughing and nodding... and it hurts. 

????

[fondue zoo]

10 minutes ago, mokwit said:

Add: Key point: Speaking Thai and speaking Thai well are are very different levels of speaking Thai. Speaking Thai and understanding Thai are very different levels of speaking Thai.

I have a Thai friend who lectures at Uni, she said once a lot of Thai don't speak Thai well either. Native speakers cut corners everywhere they are.

[recom273]

i hadn’t read all the posts, I think myself and @mokwit share the same views - I was up and reading in my 4th month, taking dictation from the teacher, which I was really bad at. 

[recom273]

7 minutes ago, ozimoron said:

I used a Thai cassette course from AUA and several books I purchased from them in 1982. AUA have an office in Pattaya as well.

AUA have changed their method now. It used to be an immersion method, two teachers would just have a conversation using vocabulary suited to your level and you would just listen mostly. Sometimes they asked questions, some students used to join in and maybe ask questions, but it was all Thai, the teachers were really entertaining and interesting. When you bought a package, it was in bundles of 10 classes and you could just attend any hour class in your level on topics that you were interested in such a religion, current affairs, social issues, monarchy, etc. I used to go to in the late afternoon, was a good time and I learned many things that would never crop up in conversation with my wife or other local. 

[Chris.B]

49 minutes ago, mokwit said:

Locations in Bangkok. Time Square is a mall/office building on lower Sukhumvit near the Sheraton. Trendy is similar in Suk Soi 13. Name of School in Trendy is Phuam Mitr if it is still there and I remember correctly.

I see Duke Language school is at Trendy building, any good?

 

[mokwit]

40 minutes ago, ozimoron said:

I used a Thai cassette course from AUA and several books I purchased from them in 1982. AUA have an office in Pattaya as well.

I know people who used that course/tapes. they spoke good Thai from it.

[mokwit]

34 minutes ago, fondue zoo said:

I have a Thai friend who lectures at Uni, she said once a lot of Thai don't speak Thai well either. Native speakers cut corners everywhere they are.

This is true, they do, but I was talking more about being able to actually speak it well in terms of pronunciation, tones, use of classifiers etc.

[mokwit]

2 minutes ago, Chris.B said:

I see Duke Language school is at Trendy building, any good?

 

Don't know- the one I recommended if still there used the same materials as the one in Time Square - maybe called Union something. The point is this course was devised for NGO people/Missionaries to learn Thai before going to fulfill their role.

[Chris.B]

6 minutes ago, mokwit said:

Don't know- the one I recommended if still there used the same materials as the one in Time Square - maybe called Union something. The point is this course was devised for NGO people/Missionaries to learn Thai before going to fulfill their role.

You mean Union Language School ?

 

They don't do online so no good for people who do not live in Bangkok.

 

[TimBKK]

12 minutes ago, Chris.B said:

I see Duke Language school is at Trendy building, any good?

 

Has an excellent reputation (I have never taken classes there, though).  Think the author of “Read Thai in 10 Days” is (or was) associated with Duke.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Read-Thai-10-Days-English/dp/1505679524

[The Hammer2021]

Unless you have a gift for languages  you won't get far but it does not matter. Buts Its fun to know a few words and you  will pick up what you need. Part of the fun of being here is the ambiguity  of reality as mediated  by language. The best you can get to  and all you need is a 'pre elementary' level mixed with some idiom, common  phrases and a few functional exponents.

[Chris.B]

4 minutes ago, The Hammer2021 said:

Unless you have a gift for languages  you won't get far but it does not matter. Buts Its fun to know a few words and you  will pick up what you need. Part of the fun of being here is the ambiguity  of reality as mediated  by language. The best you can get to  and all you need is a 'pre elementary' level mixed with some idiom, common  phrases and a few functional exponents.

You sound like a glass half empty man.  ????

[The Hammer2021]

8 minutes ago, Chris.B said:

You sound like a glass half empty man.  ????

Communication  is an illusion

ไม่จำเป็นหรือมีประโยชน์ในการพูดภาษาต่างประเทศ  มันเป็นทักษะที่ประเมินค่าสูงเกินไป

[JustAnotherHun]

When I decided to stay in Thailand for more than occasional holidays, I hired a Thai lady that formerly went to school and worked in Germany.

After 5 months of practizing with her for around 5 hours a day my vocabulary and grammar was quite reasonable, I understood most what people told. Spelling was more hard for me because I never learned a tonal language before and even after many years I've still my problems.

I tried to learn writing but gave up. I'm not painter. Today I can read simply hold articles on websites or newspapers, but not much more.

Over all, I think in daily life I'm getting along just fine.

If one wants to live in a country with a foreign language, he should at least try to learn the basics, imo. I would expect that from immigrants to Germany too.

Edited January 10, 2022 by JustAnotherHun

[daveAustin]

As others have said, learn to read from the get go if you can. All the information—consonant class, vowel length and resultant tones—is there. 

[kwilco]

There are dual standards here. Often, the very people who don't learn Thai are the ones who insist that immigrants to their own home country learn their home language.

[kwilco]

11 hours ago, Isaanlife said:

I know a little Thai, however, what I needed to know and concentrate on was Isaan language.

 

There is really nothing I have found out there, the one or 2 books are not to my liking.

 

So I started with the 5 W's. The who, what, where, why, how and when. What are you doing? Where have you been? Where are you going? What do you want to eat?

 

I would learn how to ask a question. My wife would repeat this over and over and I would write them down in my notebook in English the way I thought they sounded.

 

So far so good. Then learn some answers to basic questions. If you are going to ask a question you need to understand the answer.

 

Then slowly take words of things I know I will use and need to know, take a few a week and learn them. She would always ask me in Isaan so I got use to hearing it.

 

The Isaan word for no is Baw and it sounds like bawe like b and awe

 

Baw Me - Don't have

 

Baw Hai - Not giving to you

 

Baw Sep - Not delicious

 

Baw Mak - I don't like it

 

Baw Ow - I don't want it

 

Baw Sirr - Not buying

 

Baw Who - Don't know (use this alot!)

 

Baw Ma - Not coming

 

Baw Bpai- Not going

 

So you learn a lot of things just from using one word like Baw.

 

All you language experts, save your snarky comments. This is the way I learned for MYSELF and with my wife's help. Nothing more that that.

 

At least when I go out and about I can talk to the family and local folks and not be a complete idiot!

 

The hardest thing with Isaan is how fast they speak. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's Laos.