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

[thaibeachlovers]

2 minutes ago, ozimoron said:

To answer your question, there are still many Isaan girls in BKK bars though not as many as Pattaya for sure.

Easily avoided though.

[GammaGlobulin]

Did somebody here mention language?

(Language is innate, biological, and therefore learnable for us all, INCLUDING passa Thai.)

 

 

This is what happens to you when you try to understand the origin and evolution of language in Humankind.

 

You begin to sport strange hairdos.

 

This is not a joke.

 

 

 

 

Also, here is where the Great Noam Chomsky crossed the line, and became Nim Chimpsky:

 

 

OK.

Since Scopes, we all know that Chimps are far faster than we at playing banana checkers:  Yes.  Look it up, and you will agree.

 

But, really, and I mean it....

 

I have always had a love affair with Chomsky, which has extended for decades.

 

Just a matter of personal liking and loving, I guess.

Maybe you do not understand my love for this man.

 

Chomsky is about as old as humans can get without dying.

If only Chomsky were a Great Basin Bristlecone Pine tree, rather than a chimp, then he could live for 5000 years, and then, ... I would say....Chomsky still should live longer.

 

I am neither liberal nor conservative.

I just love strange hair......

 

Also, that monkey stare.

 

(Best to everybody here on the Farang Pub, be you liberal, conservative, neither, or nor.)

Edited January 16, 2022 by GammaGlobulin

[Nemises]

If you live in a village? of course you learn their language, besides, you sure have the free time. 
 

if you in a vibrant city with plenty to do? Chances are English is widely spoken, so no, don’t waste your time. Use the translator app on the rare occasion it’s needed. 

[kwilco]

2 hours ago, Nemises said:

If you live in a village? of course you learn their language, besides, you sure have the free time. 
 

if you in a vibrant city with plenty to do? Chances are English is widely spoken, so no, don’t waste your time. Use the translator app on the rare occasion it’s needed. 

I lived in a small coastal town. I worked in industry and had to learn Thai for day to day communication. I rarely spoke to westerners from one day to the next and mist if them weren't English speakers. I was living in Thailand and spoke Thai as my first line of communication.

[thaibeachlovers]

13 hours ago, kwilco said:

I lived in a small coastal town. I worked in industry and had to learn Thai for day to day communication. I rarely spoke to westerners from one day to the next and mist if them weren't English speakers. I was living in Thailand and spoke Thai as my first line of communication.

You're an example of a farang that actually had a need to speak Thai. My beef is with those that learned to converse in Thai and then browbeat those of us that have no need to speak conversational Thai.

[Grecian]

58 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

You're an example of a farang that actually had a need to speak Thai. My beef is with those that learned to converse in Thai and then browbeat those of us that have no need to speak conversational Thai.

How do you feel about residents of NZ who can't speak english?

[thaibeachlovers]

8 minutes ago, Grecian said:

How do you feel about residents of NZ who can't speak english?

I was never a resident of Thailand ( I was an alien visitor ), so my thoughts about residents not speaking the language of the country they chose to become citizens in is irrelevant to the situation of farangs ( other than those that gain PR or citizenship ) in Thailand.

[scubascuba3]

I picked up some thai 2013 with a primary school teacher, although it was easier than expected i lost interest as it's not essential in Pattaya and the tonal thing is annoying, can certainly get by without and i still appreciate having a massage and not understanding what the ladies are banging on about. Most thais speak some English so you can communicate easy enough

[Gecko123]

My well-thumbed Thai dictionaries.

 

[Jai Dee]

A crude troll post has been removed.

[tgw]

I speak enough Thai to get through daily routine, but understanding what Thais say is not easy especially when they talk among them, it's fast, colloquial and based on context.

I think I will progress fast if I learn how to read Thai, but at the moment I'm identifying characters in words/sentences and guessing at which words could be meant.

I feel Thai script is annoyingly hard to read, many vowels are "assumed", meaning when no vowel is present, an "A" will be pronounced, but it depending on the next consonant, it will sometimes be "O", or it depends on the word.
And the consonants themselves can change their sound depending on where they are placed in a word...
There are 15 consonants which are pronounced "t" when placed at the end of a word.

Then, Thai also has seemingly endless variations of the same general sound.
Who needs 5 variations of K, 4 for T and 3 for D, etc., who would have guessed  "RR" means "A", and to make things worse, characters are not written in the order they are pronounced.

 

If I ever get to read Thai proficiently, I will consider that a major achievement.

[actonion]

I dont understand  anything about Thai language (yet), peering over my wife's shoulder now and again  looking at a  printed / written Thai   document / letters  etc.. im puzzeled as to why their language  doesnt seem to include full stops, commas, etc..?

[GinBoy2]

To answer the OP, yeah it is worth it.

 

Now can you do it, that's another question.

 

I grew up bilingual, English & Spanish, and maybe that's helped me picking up additional languages.

 

I learnt Mandarin when I lived in mainland China, that was was my first tonal language, and it certainly made my life in Shanghai a lot more enjoyable.

 

Then when I moved to Thailand, Thai and Lao came to me quite easily.

 

Speaking the language wherever you live in my mind enhances your life

[DrJoy]

3 minutes ago, GinBoy2 said:

To answer the OP, yeah it is worth it.

 

Now can you do it, that's another question.

 

I grew up bilingual, English & Spanish, and maybe that's helped me picking up additional languages.

 

I learnt Mandarin when I lived in mainland China, that was was my first tonal language, and it certainly made my life in Shanghai a lot more enjoyable.

 

Then when I moved to Thailand, Thai and Lao came to me quite easily.

 

Speaking the language wherever you live in my mind enhances your life

Yes ur correct.

For me I feel reading Thai is more easy than speaking.

[GinBoy2]

1 minute ago, DrJoy said:

Yes ur correct.

For me I feel reading Thai is more easy than speaking.

Reading Thai, and Lao in script is pretty easy. 

 

I struggled with mandarin to be able to memorize enough characters, pretty much 1200 is the bare minimum, and I got by with simplified mandarin, but when I moved to Taiwan I was a basket case with traditional mandarin

[kwilco]

The arrogance  of people who stay in a foreign country and say they don't need to learn the language. And then think they still have the authority to post extensively about the place!

[GinBoy2]

41 minutes ago, kwilco said:

The arrogance  of people who stay in a foreign country and say they don't need to learn the language. And then think they still have the authority to post extensively about the place!

Well don't be too harsh.

 

Certainly the older you get the harder it is to pick up languages, especially if you have been a monoglot all of your life.

 

Now I speak many languages, but in my head it swirls between English and Spanish seamlessly, but I never think in Thai, Lao or Mandarin like that, my learnt languages only only my native ones.

 

I have no clue wt*f goes on in the human brain when it comes to language, but it's pretty damn amazing

[kwilco]

5 minutes ago, GinBoy2 said:

Well don't be too harsh.

 

Certainly the older you get the harder it is to pick up languages, especially if you have been a monoglot all of your life.

 

Now I speak many languages, but in my head it swirls between English and Spanish seamlessly, but I never think in Thai, Lao or Mandarin like that, my learnt languages only only my native ones.

 

I have no clue wt*f goes on in the human brain when it comes to language, but it's pretty damn amazing

Actually you age is not the mai  factor in learning a language. Most people are lazy to some degree or other.

But there are many who have the most pathetic excuses for not not learning.

"It's not spoken any where  out side Thailand"

"I don't need it"

It shows an attitude that looks down on Thailand and Thai people.

In reality it highlights the shortcomings and bigotries of those people. 

 

[GinBoy2]

3 minutes ago, kwilco said:

Actually you age is not the mai  factor in learning a language. Most people are lazy to some degree or other.

But there are many who have the most pathetic excuses for not not learning.

"It's not spoken any where  out side Thailand"

"I don't need it"

It shows an attitude that looks down on Thailand and Thai people.

In reality it highlights the shortcomings and bigotries of those people. 

 

Well there is laziness I'll grant you that.

 

I was in my 40's when I learnt Mandarin. I was living and working in China, so I buckled down and did it.

 

Wasn't easy, but I needed it for work, so it was just like learned to read a spreadsheet in some respects.

 

Once I'd crossed that rubicon. tonal languages were no problem.

 

But if I was a 60 something guy coming to Thailand, I can get my head around why, just the effort of doing it, especially in the tourist traps just might not be worth it

[GammaGlobulin]

On 1/18/2022 at 10:11 AM, Gecko123 said:

My well-thumbed Thai dictionaries.

 

Beautiful!

 

I LOVE this photo which you posted.

For sure.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 1/19/2022 at 5:31 AM, kwilco said:

The arrogance  of people who stay in a foreign country and say they don't need to learn the language. And then think they still have the authority to post extensively about the place!

[thaibeachlovers]

On 1/19/2022 at 6:30 AM, kwilco said:

Actually you age is not the mai  factor in learning a language. Most people are lazy to some degree or other.

But there are many who have the most pathetic excuses for not not learning.

"It's not spoken any where  out side Thailand"

"I don't need it"

It shows an attitude that looks down on Thailand and Thai people.

In reality it highlights the shortcomings and bigotries of those people. 

 

In reality it highlights the shortcomings and bigotries of those people. 

 

Edited January 21, 2022 by thaibeachlovers

[Neeranam]

On 1/10/2022 at 2:25 AM, 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?

Be positive, don't 'try' but learn it. 

 

Old guys can learn, it's just an easy excuse to use that as an excuse. I know 2 guys to be fluent in a year, in their 60s Unity school. 

 

It absolutely is worth the effort in every conceivable way. If you are single, you'll get the girls easier, if you are married, you'll not want to take your wife every single place you go. That is indeed a ball and chain. 

 

I started to learn in 1992 with Linguaphone cassettes. I then stated reading Primary 1/2/3 books. After a while, and having Thai girlfriends, I started reading short novels. If I hadn't spoken Thai, I'd not have been able to marry my wife. 

 

Just by learning one word a day, you'll improve quickly. 

 

[Neeranam]

On 1/18/2022 at 7:36 PM, GinBoy2 said:

Speaking the language wherever you live in my mind enhances your life

I really can't understand anyone who says otherwise. 

 

The simple joys of living like talking to the neighbors, the postman, the alcoholic bin scavenger, a random person on a train. It could actually save your life, which I've said for years. 

[kwilco]

I notice the OP say "DID you try" as he's  given up.

I've never stopped.

What find so infuriating is that those who can't/ won't speak Thai are the sane oeople who have the arrogance to engage in racist Thsi bashing. Yet they have no idea what they are saying.

[Damrongsak]

It's fun to speak some Thai.  Years back I was browsing at the old Sanam Luang market in BKK. I watched a lady buy some oranges.  Then the seller offered me some at a higher price, using a couple of English words.  I replied in Thai that the person who bought them a moment ago only paid X Baht a kilo.  ???? 

 

I've had a few nice conversations with sellers in the markets and shopkeepers.  Met my future wife and her sister in a market in Loei. 

[BritManToo]

4 hours ago, kwilco said:

I notice the OP say "DID you try" as he's  given up.

I've never stopped.

What find so infuriating is that those who can't/ won't speak Thai are the sane oeople who have the arrogance to engage in racist Thsi bashing. Yet they have no idea what they are saying.

When you know what they're saying, you I want to bash them even more.

Edited January 25, 2022 by BritManToo

[BritManToo]

9 hours ago, Neeranam said:

The simple joys of living like talking to the neighbors, the postman, the alcoholic bin scavenger, a random person on a train. It could actually save your life, which I've said for years. 

I've never wanted to interact with these sort of people in any language.

[kwilco]

On 1/25/2022 at 12:17 AM, BritManToo said:

When you know what they're saying, you I want to bash them even more.

QED

[thaibeachlovers]

On 1/25/2022 at 3:16 AM, Neeranam said:

Be positive, don't 'try' but learn it. 

 

Old guys can learn, it's just an easy excuse to use that as an excuse. I know 2 guys to be fluent in a year, in their 60s Unity school. 

 

It absolutely is worth the effort in every conceivable way. If you are single, you'll get the girls easier, if you are married, you'll not want to take your wife every single place you go. That is indeed a ball and chain. 

 

I started to learn in 1992 with Linguaphone cassettes. I then stated reading Primary 1/2/3 books. After a while, and having Thai girlfriends, I started reading short novels. If I hadn't spoken Thai, I'd not have been able to marry my wife. 

 

Just by learning one word a day, you'll improve quickly. 

 

It absolutely is worth the effort in every conceivable way. If you are single, you'll get the girls easier, if you are married, you'll not want to take your wife every single place you go. That is indeed a ball and chain. 

 

I never had a problem getting girls in Thailand, even not speaking Thai.

 

I never understand why anyone would claim it's necessary to speak Thai, as I visited and lived there many many years without being able to speak conversational Thai.

If anyone wants to spend the time and effort to learn it by all means do so, but please don't say it's "necessary" when it is so obviously not.

 

However, a basic vocabulary is important to get by. I found a few phrases were all I needed, eg where is the toilet, thank you, all the way ( for on local buses ), numbers and "how much", a few food choices etc.