Been here a few years now, married to a Thai, living outside a city with no expat bubble to fall back on. My Thai is embarrassing. Point at things, smile, hope for the best. I'm done with that. The problem is every time I try to figure out where to start, I get pulled in different directions. Some people say learn to read first — that the script teaches you the correct tones and stops you developing bad habits from romanised phonetics. Others say just get out there and speak, mistakes and all, and the reading can come later. Both arguments make sense to me. What I do know: Thai has 5 tones and no real equivalent in European languages, which means the ears need training, not just the mouth. Getting a word right once doesn't mean you've got it — you need to hear yourself get it right consistently. A few approaches I've seen recommended that seem legitimate: daily vocabulary with phonetic notes in a pocket book (small, consistent, daily), YouTube channels built specifically for teaching foreigners (there are several decent ones), and immersion by deliberately shopping and running errands alone without defaulting to English. For those who live upcountry or in Isaan specifically — central Thai and spoken Isaan are not the same thing, which adds another layer to this. So what actually worked for you? Not what you read about, what you actually did and stuck with. Any honest input welcome — including "I gave up and why." Thanks for any help.
