Tv Shows And Recorder

[Lost in LOS]

I have been learning Thai with a private teacher for more than a year. If I lead the conversation I am about 80% good with Thais. I still have problems with Thais having a conversation, they speak too fast, blur their words together, use words I don't know and then I am out of the conversation. Even if I ask them to speak more clearly, slower etc they still speak fast. My Thai is good enough for what I know that they think I am understanding it all, Im not. One of my problems is I am old, lazy, deaf. A friend of mine speaks 22 languages fluent. He told me he locks himself in a room and listens to tv and mimics whatever language he is learning. he said the TV doesn't know he is not from that country, so he get the language straight as it should be spoken. This would work for me, with the right show I will get more common words and be able to go back and forth till I understand what is being said. My teacher is very good with this kind of thing.

My idea would be to put a TV show [soap opera or similar] on to a dictation type recorder and then I can play it in front of my teacher, try to understand, and I can keep going back till I get it.

My question to you guys in the know. Where can I find a tv show where they speak conversational Thai a a reasonable pace and clearly. What kind of recorder would be good for this. I don't want to do dvds, my iphone, etc. I would like a recorder that will immediately go back to the last blank space and repeat as often as I would like

What TV shows do you recommend. I think childrens shows or cartoons would work. Are they on the internet so I can somehow put them onto the recorder, so I can go back and forth with teacher?

thanks for any help and suggestions

Edited February 9, 2011 by Lost in LOS

[kikenyoy]

hmm, I don't know about recorders like that, but you can use a free program to rip the audio from youtube videos then use audacity (also free) to break it into smaller pieces and play it on your mp3. There are tons of Thai videos on youtube in every genre. I would ask your teacher for recommendations.

BTW, does your friend have a website or something similar? 22 languages fluently?!?! I don't think even StuJay claims that. I'm skeptical but would love to be proven wrong.

[Lost in LOS]

hmm, I don't know about recorders like that, but you can use a free program to rip the audio from youtube videos then use audacity (also free) to break it into smaller pieces and play it on your mp3. There are tons of Thai videos on youtube in every genre. I would ask your teacher for recommendations.

BTW, does your friend have a website or something similar? 22 languages fluently?!?! I don't think even StuJay claims that. I'm skeptical but would love to be proven wrong.

I am afraid he is a bit of a gangster, grew up in Yugoslavia and smuggled stuff throughout Europe, before everybody joined hands. He would get jeans in one country and sell them to another that didnt have them, for example. this is why he needed languages and to be fluent in them. He now is doing most of the languages in south America, he likes girls with big asses

we have in the past, in LA, put him at a table with guys speaking about 8 or more languages, they fired questions in different languages one after another and he never missed. each language represented said he was fluent. He was here for a couple of weeks and it was a lot of fun on baht buses when he said something to each person in a different language. He is like a savant with this stuff, pretty amazing.

Edited February 9, 2011 by Lost in LOS

[Lost in LOS]

thinking a bit more, I think a portable cd player with a good rewind-play on it would be best. If I could figure out thai shows or stories to download then I can burn them onto a disk. Any help with this would be appreciated, I just need it where they dont rush when talking and speak clearly. thanks for any help