Did You Loose Your Thai

[deejah]

you learn another language (thai)

leave the country for a long time

dont use your thai

and learn a new language

come back to thailand

did you loose your thai? (or other)

[GuestHouse]

I've lost a lot of my Dutch and almost all the French I had - but I have found that it comes back pretty quickly when I go on holiday/business to Holland or France.

What is really odd is that when I'm trying to recall, say Dutch, and can't remember a word, the word in another language often comes out. Seldom is that the Thai word or English, the two languages I use the most, but often one of the languages I no longer use.

[ladyboy69]

did you forget all 2 words, will take you another 6 months to learn them 2 words again.

are you saying you speak thai before and now you don,t?

[lazygourmet]

I've lost my Dutch (Flemish actually) as well... and regarding my French, now I am talking a bit like J.C. Van Damme (Belgian -like me- will understand!)...

My English is less than perfect, learn 25 years ago in a Swiss boarding school... then tried to improve following different position in London, U.S.A, Australia & New Zealand .

For Thai, my brain is blocked for deep discussion and reading takes me age... so, I am giving up easily

Ironically, the language that I can master easily is Bahasa Indonesia... I never studied it, but it came naturally either because I lived there for nearly ten years or mostly, because Mum is half Indo (but she never spoke to me in bahasa).

[KhunG]

I've lost my Dutch (Flemish actually) as well... and regarding my French, now I am talking a bit like J.C. Van Damme (Belgian -like me- will understand!)...

My English is less than perfect, learn 25 years ago in a Swiss boarding school... then tried to improve following different position in London, U.S.A, Australia & New Zealand .

For Thai, my brain is blocked for deep discussion and reading takes me age... so, I am giving up easily

Ironically, the language that I can master easily is Bahasa Indonesia... I never studied it, but it came naturally either because I lived there for nearly ten years or mostly, because Mum is half Indo (but she never spoke to me in bahasa).

I've lost my Russian and Arabic, and most of my German. I still use Thai daily, but I'm sure I'd lose it if I didn't use it as well.

[wasabi]

I have found my language skills definitely go down if I don't use Thai. I take Thai classes at a local Thai temple every Sunday just to maintain what I have for now.

[bonobo]

I've lost a lot of my Dutch and almost all the French I had - but I have found that it comes back pretty quickly when I go on holiday/business to Holland or France.

What is really odd is that when I'm trying to recall, say Dutch, and can't remember a word, the word in another language often comes out. Seldom is that the Thai word or English, the two languages I use the most, but often one of the languages I no longer use.

Happens to me, too. I used to speak pretty decent Chinese (Mandarin) and Spanish, basic German, and a small smattering of other languages, or rather words and phrases in other languages to get me on the right train, order a meal, etc. And I often interject a word from one language into another without meaning to. Oddly enough, my Russian is limited to maybe a couple hundred words, but that seems to be the one I interject most often when searching for the correct word in another language.

[KhunG]

I've lost a lot of my Dutch and almost all the French I had - but I have found that it comes back pretty quickly when I go on holiday/business to Holland or France.

What is really odd is that when I'm trying to recall, say Dutch, and can't remember a word, the word in another language often comes out. Seldom is that the Thai word or English, the two languages I use the most, but often one of the languages I no longer use.

Happens to me, too. I used to speak pretty decent Chinese (Mandarin) and Spanish, basic German, and a small smattering of other languages, or rather words and phrases in other languages to get me on the right train, order a meal, etc. And I often interject a word from one language into another without meaning to. Oddly enough, my Russian is limited to maybe a couple hundred words, but that seems to be the one I interject most often when searching for the correct word in another language.

Ha! I'm not the only one to do that

[Daren]

I find that I'm losing my English! And, sadly, it's the primary language I use to communicate every day. As the days tick by, I feel like I lose (or loose) interesting and eloquent vocabulary at a surprising rate. It's a real challenge to save mental real estate and I have to make a concerted effort to use big words lest I lo(o)se them. Why am I suffering a dumbening (like the quickening, but bad!)? Well, I chalk it up to not being able to use a vast number of words for the sake of being understood.

Arrrr.... the dumbening! There can be only one million.... really stupid farang in Thailand.

[IanForbes]

I alway "loose" my Thai when it is too tight.

[Nignoy]

I have definitly lost my thai partly through lack of use and my age (67) but mainly because of travelling with my job and having to learn and use so many different languages and dialects .I get so confused, it is some times so embarrassing,I learned my thai in a wat near leong nok tha in the 60,s apart from being an isaan thai area,it all so has its own ancient dialect, a thai friend asked me a few months ago why do I speak thai like a laos pimp,frequently when in germany or switzerland I really have to try and prove that I am english and not a schwab or a Goldau farmer.I never bothered with languages at school, but once I started getting sent to out of the way places, I found I had a natural knack for picking up and learning languages and dialects very quickly, and not just the usual phrases, but the different intonations as well,but nowadays my brain seems to be a mixing machine and if I have been known to start a conversation in thai or malay and finish in ghurkali or rheto romanic, or even schwabisch so now adays I try to stick to english to avoid any confusion

[allane]

I learnt English and French as a child, but didn't use my French much from ages 20 - 40. But, it is still there when I need it, and it comes back quickly anytime that I start to use it regularly, for even a few days. I still have the accent and grammar. I sometimes forget vocabulary, but when I hear the word spoken to me, I usually recognize it, or can at least guess from the context.

I thought that I might lose my Thai when I travel outside of Thailand for a few weeks, but that isn't the case.

[BlackArtemis]

No, I made myself think in Thai. When I said something in English, I thought those words in Thai.

Granted I was only out for 8 months.

[sbk]

I studied Mandarin at University level but haven't used it since I moved to Thailand. Is it gone? Probably not totally but as the years slip by, so does my comprehension. I suspect if I moved back to Taiwan, it would come back rather quickly tho.

Try to think of something in Mandarin and invariably all I can recall is the Thai word.

[tartempion]

I worked some months in Portugal 15 years ago, working there one week/month for a year.

Was able to hold basic conversations.

Lost it all.

I used to be fluent in German, English, French, Dutch.

I am not sure what language I am best in, French or Dutch having lived and worked in most of Europe, Canada and USA.

Nowadays I constantly need on-line dictionary to translate words between languages.

When I know a word in German I but write in English, you see what happens???

My Thai is improving, but a few days ago went to order 'kao pad kai sai thung' and the cook did not understand the 'sai thung' part.

He had a laugh and told me I should say 'sai thung' in stead of 'sai thung', I don't think I got it

Edited April 30, 2010 by tartempion

[andie]

Interesting question... I find that (regardless of language) I always struggle for a few days but mainly due to trying to remember vocabulary. After a week I'm generally back to being OK, after 1-2 weeks it's back to normal and beyond then I expand and start learning more again when it's not one of my native languages. As regards totally forgetting a language - I've never had this happen but it's rare that a few years go by when I don't speak any of them.

Thai is the only language that I've learnt which doesn't use Western script and I found that I progressed much more rapidly once I learnt the alphabet which has also helped it 'stick'.

[PeaceBlondie]

Spanish came easily, but haven't spoken it for years. I've lost fluency tby not speaking it. I speak an obscure dialect of Maya much better than Thai and I've been here 7 years.

[fletchsmile]

active yes. passive no.

[PattayaParent]

you learn another language (thai)

leave the country for a long time

dont use your thai

and learn a new language

come back to thailand

did you loose your thai? (or other)

Yes, but without even learning another language in the meantime.

[deejah]

I alway "loose" my Thai when it is too tight.

oooops

lose not loose

solly

[iwad2010]

The thing that annoys me ( really really really annoys me) are English people who....talk me in English bad. My wife she say me, I no good etc etc etc. Sweet Jesus, give me strength!!!!!

[Daren]

Hah! I hear ya, iwad2010! I really do.

Drain Bamage?

[Ulysses G.]

I stayed in Vietnam for 6 months, or so, and when I came back my Thai had gone downhill, but it did not take too long to get back to speed. I did study Vietnamese, but not very succesfully.