Can Anyone Help Me Learn Thai?.

[midnightjay3]

Hello my name is James from UK.

I just started my Thai lesson and I'm pretty much overwhelmed! The characters are different and so is the structure. I'm looking for ideas and tips on how to learn Thai, I know there's no easy way but at least simplify it.

My first lesson makes me lose hope, I'm eager to learn Thai I just don't know where to start.

[mikenyork]

First, congratulations on being willing to take on this admittedly daunting task. You will find that Thais will deeply appreciate your efforts(see below). And on the rare occasions when, for some reason, I decide to "get by" with English outside the very, very narrow confines of major shopping areas in Bangkok that cater to farangs, I quickly find myself and the person I'm speaking to massively confused. So learning Thai really is worth it if you want to live here free from the necessity of being accompanied by an interpreter (usually read girlfriend) and free to go where you want to without fear of not being able to understand or make yourself understood. Second, rule number one in learning Thai for westerners is "BE PATIENT WITH YOURSELF". Rule two is "BE PATIENT WITH YOURSELF." Rule three is "dam_n IT !!! B PATIENT WITH YOURSELF". This language takes time for us because it's conceptual basis is so different from all European languages. And getting your head around the idea that tone is equally important in determining the meaning of a word as is the "sound" of the word as we think of "sound" takes time and effort.

Third, all of us who struggle with Thai (I've never met a westerner who didn't admit that speaking the language was a challenge, no matter what their level of fluency was) are incredibly lucky in one way. Contrary to some cultures (the French are, justly or not I don't know, famous for being critical of foreign speakers' attempts to speak their language), Thais are quite unbelievable in their overwhelmingly positive response to ANY attempt, no matter how ham-handed it may be, to speak their language. If you learn 10 words of Thai and use them with Thais, I will be very surprised if you don't get compliments on your Thai. I'm an absolute sucker for praise, I must admit, and if I had a penny for every (usually undeserved) compliment I've gotten from Thais for (very often mangling) their language, I would be a rich man. If your heart is in the right place, you will NEVER (in my experience) offend a Thai by missing a tone, no matter how offensive the actual word that you unknowingly or unintentionally uttered may have been. There are quite a few (maybe apocryphal) stories of farangs mispronouncing the word for snow so that it came out dog's C.NT. Thais respond to these mistakes by laughing uproariously. But they aren't "taking a piss" to use some BE. They're not laughing AT you as much as they are laughing WITH you. And they are most certainly not offended.

Fourth, I have read some absolutely excellent advice by other contributors to this page regarding strategies to improve ones language. You have come to the right place to find people who are struggling with what you are and many of them have been very successful (you can tell by the depth of their posts). But each of us really is different in the way we learn. I am an aural learner--that is, whatever I'm going to learn comes through my ears--even when I read Thai I am sounding out the words to myself, so it's still aural learning. But others are visual learners and for them using word-picture associations can, I think be useful (I have zero visual memory, so such techniques are a total loss for me). But whatever your style of learning may be (and you may or may not know starting out), keep experimenting with techniques until you find a strategy that works for you.

So, good luck and Godspeed. And, to paraphrase the greatest leader of the 20th century (at least), Winston Churchill, "Never, never, never, never surrender".

[Colabamumbai]

Relax, don't pressure yourself, it will all come to you in good time. Nice to see another foreigner learning Thai. Your efforts will be rewarded.

[SoftWater]

There's a ton of excellent resources on the 'net and in this forum, you'll discover them all in time if you work through the pinned pages. However, the real big problem is knowing where to start and in what order.

I put this series of posts up last year for people in exactly this situation - they're not great, but should serve as a bootstrap into a world of pain that you'll never want to give up, despite the heartbreak... (just kidding).

Edited June 16, 2010 by SoftWater

[Slip]

On a very small practical tip like stylie thang- I found 'writing letter practice sheets' (like school kids use) useful for learning the alphabet. It's also kind of fun if you have a bit of spare time, you can get quite into forming those perfect letters.

[midnightjay3]

Thank you for your help!

Yes really really need to be patient with myself, but at least I'm happy to know that their are people who are willing to help me with this, which I considered a daunting task.

Well actually I'm starting to have a heartbreak knowing that my first, second and third lesson is pretty much overwhelming.

[Colabamumbai]

Thank you for your help!

Yes really really need to be patient with myself, but at least I'm happy to know that their are people who are willing to help me with this, which I considered a daunting task.

Well actually I'm starting to have a heartbreak knowing that my first, second and third lesson is pretty much overwhelming.

You are just getting out of your comfort zone that's all. Try and think like a Thai and it will come easier. Mai bpen Rai.

[midnightjay3]

Yes nearly, actually.

Brilliant idea!

Thank you I will do that, think like a Thai..

[Slip]

sorry- double post.

Edited June 18, 2010 by Slip

[Slip]

There's a bit of a beginners thread here if you haven't seen it already. Hope it's helpful to you:

Softwater's self taught lessons

[Tod Daniels]

The first thing you must remember outta the gate is; DON’T GET DISCOURAGED.

Secondly is; remember WHERE you're attending thai language classes coupled with the methodology they use at that particular school or with that particular private teacher can and DOES play a GREAT role in whether you're absorbing any of the words, or if you’re just parroting out stuff that has no meaning to you.

Different people learn differently and a method I might enjoy, might suck for you and vice versa. Try as MANY different schools' free lessons or free classes as you can BEFORE you enroll and pay your tuition. There is nothing more discouraging than having paid a year's tuition to a thai language school which you feel doesn't give you any ‘bang-4-the baht’ . If a method doesn't hold your interest, you're just not gonna absorb the material the same way as one which is interesting and entertaining.

I do concur with some of the things the poster known as 'mikenyork' mentioned about thais when trying to understand foreigners speaking thai. They over praise anyone who speaks thai to the n-th degree, no matter how mangled it sounds. Just discount it out of hand, as underserved praise. DON'T take it to heart, they (the thais) will give you accolades for the most f*cked up thai ever spoken. Just blow it off.

However with that being said, I've had thais correct a slight mispronunciation with a thai word, even though they knew exactly what I was trying to say.

Sometimes I think the country is populated by 63+ million thai language pundits, instead of a majority of 6th grade drop outs like it is in reality. FWIW, if I can understand a thai person's engrish, I NEVER EVER correct it, as it's simply not my job to teach them engrish. Just as I do I not believe is it their job to teach me correct thai pronunciation (keeping the 6th grade drop out rule in effect). .. Sorry, but if I wanted to learn engrish I wouldn’t go to Nakhon Nowhere, America and learn from ‘hicks’ or ‘hillbillies’. ..

I would concentrate on HIGH FREQUENCY 'frozen phrases'. Things that are said here over and over, in question/response type of situations. Get these down so they're 100% understandable, and then build on your vocabulary. Some of the best schools’ lessons I've attended are what I would call ‘situational’ conversation classes; at the airport, restaurant, post office, in a taxi, when you're lost, at the doctors office, etc.

Usually the lessons are preceded with vocabulary which is specific to that situation. These are invaluable to learning just how this language goes together. While it is a Subject-Verb-Object structured language, you hafta remember that adjectives, adverbs, words added for emphasis, and time markers come AFTER the verb or noun. Add into the mix the oh-so-many thai classifiers which are used for multiples of a noun, and you can and DO get discouraged.

This is a wicked hard language (and were I to pick again, I wouldn't EVER pick thai as a second language undertaking).

Sadly there is no magic pill you can take, no perfect method you can study, no book you can buy and suddenly 'get' thai. It takes time, time, and more time coupled with stick-to-it-tive-ness to not get discouraged, and early on it is all too easy to feel overwhelmed. Don't give up, stick to it, stick with it, and it will come.

I am now where near the sharpest tool in the 'proverbial' shed, but if I can learn to read, type and almost speak thai , anyone can.

DON’T GIVE UP!!!!