Feel Like I've Hit A Wall In Learning Thai...

[mnbcm]

I'm at a point in my Thai where I can read just about anything. Slowly, but my tutor says my tones and pronunciation are spot on so that's encouraging. The only problem is I don't understand what I'm reading 90% of the time. I've been reading 1st or 2nd grade books, looking up words I don't know, and then reading them again for comprehension. I feel like I've hit a wall with my vocabulary though. Do language instructors recommend memorizing vast amounts of vocabulary or should I just keep reading elementary books and let the vocab come with it? I'm just curious how others have approached their own studies I guess. I'm not much of an academic so I don't know what the 'proper' way to study a language is. Thanks!

Edited October 22, 2009 by mnbcm

[RickBradford]

Buy a daily newspaper and see how you go with that.

เดลินิวส์ (Daily News, purple theme), ไทยรัฐ (Thai Rat, green), or มติชน (Matichon) will certainly expand your vocabulary, at only 10Bt a pop.

The advantage is, there's actually interesting up-to-date stuff to read, which helps with vocabulary acquisition and retention.

Edited October 22, 2009 by RickBradford

[DavidHouston]

Buy a daily newspaper and see how you go with that.

เดลินิวส์ (Daily News, purple theme), ไทยรัฐ (Thai Rat, green), or มติชน (Matichon) will certainly expand your vocabulary, at only 10Bt a pop.

The advantage is, there's actually interesting up-to-date stuff to read, which helps with vocabulary acquisition and retention.

I agree with Rick fully, and, if you get these newspapers on-line, there are three additional advantages: 1. they are free, 2. it is easy to copy and paste unknown vocabulary into a computer-based or on-line dictionary to find out the meaning; and, 3. it is easy to save the vocabulary and definitions in a file for later review.

[rgs2001uk]

The first thing to ask yourself is, why are you studying the language and what do you want out it?

I started by learning the alphabet, then by reading, then by drawing vertical lines through the text to help identify individual words and also to learn the tones for proper pronounciation.

As far as I am concerned a large vocabulary is of no use if you dont know how to string a sentance together, ask a question or answer a question.

I know my vocabulary is lacking in many areas, religion, technical, medical and legal jargon are areas that spring to mind, however I dont feel the need to learn swathes of terms I am unlikely to ever use.

One of the reasons I stopped reading after reaching a certain level was because of the difference between written and spoken Thai, at times I was speaking Thai the way it was written, and wondering why I was having difficulty being understood.

How are your listening and speaking skills, are you able to hold a conversation about simple everyday matters?

The proper way is what suits how, if you are not happy with your progress, explain to your tutor why your are unhappy and what they recommend.

Another problem I found, is the tutor actually capable of teaching the language, is there a set course of instruction you can measure your progress by.

Just because someone is Thai, isnt a qualification to teach the language.

At the end of the day, the tutor or schools can only give you the ingredients and the recipe, its up to you to actually bake the cake.

After reaching a certain level, rather than memorize vocabulary, I used to carry a reporters notepad round with me, if I was in a situation where my vocabulary was lacking I made a note, and when I got home I would find out where I had gone wrong, either lack of vocabulary or sentance syntax, that way worked for me.

Thais love to talk and I have found them to be friendly and helpful no matter where I meet them, next time you are at a bus stop, just ask whats bus goes to where, or how to I get to x from here.

Another good place is a supermarket, ask the employee whats the expiry date of a certain product for

example, or where is product x located. All free lessons.

Many of the posters on here will have taken different routes, formal or informal study but the destination is the same.

Good luck and dont despair, at times I have been frustrated and found it to be mundane boring and tedious, I also found taking a break from study to be a help, that gave me time to concentrate on what I had been taught and revise if needed. Then when I felt confident I moved onto the next level, I didnt worry too much about not being able to memorize every word, because when a word came up in conversation I soon remembered it, listening to the radio and television was also a help.

[Rionoir]

I'm not much of an academic so I don't know what the 'proper' way to study a language is.

Seems to me this should be your tutors job? What does your tutor do exactly if they aren't making a program for you wherein you would be learning new vocabulary? งง

Anyway have you checked out Thai for Advanced Readers (Benjawan Poomsan Becker)? I really wouldn't call it advanced reading, but it does have a good amount of vocabulary in there, and it introduces the style of writing used in newspapers etc. in the later chapters.

Someone said you can also buy the books from the Chula course even if you aren't enrolled. By themselves those books are useless for learning Thai, but if you had a tutor I think it would be a decent tool. They cover some more advanced topics and have a diverse set of readings in there. (For someone that can read already I would recommend starting with their Basic 3 book... don't be deceived by the name, there is nothing basic about it lol)

Also... try to make some Thai friends that you can chat with online... and try to talk about whatever topic you are studying at that time with them. It really helps solidify what you are learning, and also helps u develop some new skills like typing quickly in Thai.

[mangkorn]

I believe it is clearly the responsibility of the student, not the teacher, to determine what he wants to learn, and why.

To rgs2001uk: excellent post, on all points. I also carry a notebook (and pocket dictionary) at all times. As you say, most Thais are very helpful to someone with a genunine interest in their language. One fun and educational thing to do - just about anywhere (I prefer sidewalk food stalls or market vendors) - is to ask strangers to explain a new word that you have seen and written down: if there are other people in the immediate vicinity, it will often turn into a veritable convention. A good time can be had by all even in such a random meeting. It is rare for most people to meet a farang who can write Thai, and they will be duly impressed (if your handwriting is up to snuff, that is). Learning should be fun, as well as arduous. And it easily can be Thailand (as opposed to some countries), where people are generally happy to help. There are many millions of potential teachers here. It's also a great way to meet people, no matter how brief the encounter.

[aanon]

Three quick ideas:

Do keep reading, but find something you care about. If you're a sports fan, for example, you may be happier to slog through sports news than to breeze through pointless student readers. Plus you'll be able to use the vocab again.

Work on an article or a short talk about yourself. Use the dictionary, ask people how they would say things, and perfect it over time. Then try to deliver it from memory. You'll end up with a whole swathe of vocab and phrases that relate directly to your life and that will therefore be useful to you in the future.

Spend some time with someone just starting out with Thai. You'll probably come away with a clearer picture of how far you have come.

Good luck.

[mnbcm]

Seems to me this should be your tutors job? What does your tutor do exactly if they aren't making a program for you wherein you would be learning new vocabulary?

Well, my tutor is more just a friend whose first language is Thai and makes sure my pronunciation, tones, and grammar are correct as I study beginner books.

[mnbcm]

Thanks for all the ideas! I'll get back to you in another 6 months.

[RickBradford]

And look at it this way; you haven't hit a wall, you have arrived on a plateau.

[SoftWater]

Thanks for all the ideas! I'll get back to you in another 6 months.

Well, before you go, I have one more suggestion for you. I agree with all of the above, but it sounds from your two posts that you are self-taught with a bit of aid from a native speaker. Your line that you can read anything but much of it you can't understand struck a chord with me - I remember being at a stage when I could figure all the vocab but still couldn't make sense of the sentence.

I found the answer here was to go to a decent school that could fill in the gaps in my learning. You won't need to start at a beginner level - if you go to a good school like AAA at Chid Lom they will level test you and probably stick you straight into the reading and writing course. There's still plenty of conversation to be had in this level and the teachers (in my experience at least) never speak English to you. The main benefit of it I found was that they taught me lots of idioms and grammar patterns which got me over that hurdle of understanding the words but not the sentence.

Best of luck with your studies.

Edited October 23, 2009 by SoftWater

[Gwindarr]

I'm at a point in my Thai where I can read just about anything. Slowly, but my tutor says my tones and pronunciation are spot on so that's encouraging. The only problem is I don't understand what I'm reading 90% of the time. I've been reading 1st or 2nd grade books, looking up words I don't know, and then reading them again for comprehension. I feel like I've hit a wall with my vocabulary though. Do language instructors recommend memorizing vast amounts of vocabulary or should I just keep reading elementary books and let the vocab come with it? I'm just curious how others have approached their own studies I guess. I'm not much of an academic so I don't know what the 'proper' way to study a language is. Thanks!

You've gotten a few good responses already, but allow me to throw in a few more ideas.

First, get away from the elementary stuff asap. Those things are boring, don't usually reflect actual speech/writing and are filled with words that you probably don't care about.

There are better ways to go about reading. Google for strategies/methods for reading foreign languages. There is loads of stuff out there that can steer you in a better direction.

The basic rule is that you shouldn't be spending too much time looking up words. Just keep reading. If you don't know what it is - skip it. You don't need to be consciously aware of progress or know what all of the words mean, you just need to keep reading. Words that appear often will start jumping out at you and your brain will do most of the work behind the scenes.

I would recommend you check out เด็กไม่เอาถ่าน which is the Thai translation of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. A while ago, I typed up an excerpt on my blog. I could post it here if anyone wanted to see it.

The book is great. It uses lots of real language, it's funny, has pictures and it is from a Western point-of-view so you can probably figure out what is going even if much of the language is still above you.

Edited October 24, 2009 by Gwindarr

[mangkorn]

And look at it this way; you haven't hit a wall, you have arrived on a plateau.

That is a very astute observation about the language-learning process. It's not peaks and valleys; it is hard slogs, and plateaus, and then lots more hard trekking...