Language For New Arrivals

[MichaelWilliams2]

My wife speaks 5 languages. We've traveled in Europe, Mexico and the Philippines with no problem. But she is concerned about the Thai language should we decide to move there. She doesn't think she can learn it as it's too different from what she knows. So my question is, how did y'all do it? How do you step off a plane and tell the cab driver how to get to the hotel? How do you read a menu? The written language looks absolutely impossible. So you need to find a drug store to buy Tylenol. Standing in the street can you figure out what goes on in each building, looking at the Thai writing? I'd hate to need to buy a bottle of wine and instead step into a massage parlor!

Just how brave does one need to be to make the leap to Thailand? Understand, I like the excitement of going to new places, and would love to go to Thailand. But I do understand her concern. I remember getting sick in Mexico... yes, I drank the water just to see what would happen. (BTW, what they say about the water there is absolutely true. Do NOT drink it!) My high school Spanish was worthless to the doctor, but my wife's Spanish was perfect.

So, how did you brave souls manage at first? We'd start picking up phrases as soon as we got there, I'm sure. But until then, what?

[TacoBoy]

English signage and language is common in Thailand.

There can be some language problems, but most taxi's and service people can speak a little english.

Most tourists and newbies get along fine never learning more than one or two thai words for fun.

Many Thai language courses are available in just about all areas.

Edited March 13, 2011 by TacoBoy

[little_muppet]

lol it is Thailand we have english signs of course and alot of ppl can speak english. we u not the District 9 . :jap:

[mamborobert]

English is everywhere in most of the larger places, Chiang Mai has an abundance of english signs even in the most obscure places.

Pity your married as that cuts out one avenue. A Thai wife or gf is very handy sometimes for those off the wall things that happen from time to time but day to day no problems.

I remember the words of a (now) old philosopher of Greek origin

Find a girl

Settle Down

If you want you can marry

Look at me I am old

But I'm happy

Edited March 13, 2011 by mamborobert

[NancyL]

I know many foreigners who have lived here (in Chiang Mai) for years and never learned Thai beyond Hello and Thank you. About the OPs specific questions -- the doctors at Chiang Mai Ram and many of the other hospitals can speak English; many had some of their training in the west. Pharmacist (chemists) almost always can speak English and are good people to approach if you're having difficulty in communicating with a neighboring shopkeeper. Most restaurants have at least one English language menu -- even street food vendors often can produce a grubby English-language menu. (Hint: remember the words cow pat guy and you'll never go hungry here!).

Before you step off the plane, go online and print out the Thai directions and map that most hotels post on their websites. Keep that with you whenver you go out, so you can find your way back. Staff at your hotel can write down places like Kad Suan Kaew (one of the malls) on a piece of paper in Thai for you to give to the song thaew drivers. Just be sure the sweet young staffer at your hotel writes using big letters. When we first arrived and tried to get places with this technique, I thought that many song thaew drivers were illiterate because they would wave us off when they saw the piece of paper. Finally I realized most of them are middle aged and (just like me) they need their reading glasses to read small letters and often don't have those glasses available.

If you travel into less touristy areas, then it really helps know Thai, but even then the locals can usually find someone they know to come and translate if you need to have a serious discussion. Just smile and be pleasant and the Thai people are very willing to work with gestures.

You and (especially) your wife shouldn't give up on learning the language, though. There are many places to learn in Chiang Mai and once you learn the alphabet, you'll discover that it's much easier to get along. Actually, the rules that govern the Thai language -- spelling, grammar, pronouncation are much more straightforward than in English. People who know several languages, even those unrelated to Thai seem to have an easier time in learning. Ditto for people with musical ability -- they can "hear" the tones better. Once you know some Thai, you can develop a much better appreciation for your surroundings.

[Ulysses G.]

You will have little problem doing what you need to do in English, but things can get much cheaper with some basic Thai.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

It's incredibly difficult just to buy ice cream or a beer. We all have anthropology degrees, and survive. Some of us barely.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

BTW, your wife is Philippina am I right? That makes it even more interesting because everyone will assume she's Thai, then get confused when she doesn't speak it, or only a little. Learning Thai should be high on the agenda especially for her. Reading and writing is not as difficult as it seems; get a book on it.

[MrBrad]

There are a number of websites that can help you to learn Thai. Perhaps the best and most complete I've found is at learningthai dot com. From there go to useful_phrases.

Because of the difficulty in transliteration of Thai script, there can be more than one way to spell many Thai words using the English (Roman) alphabet. Be aware of this when you are learning Thai. Concentrate more on listening to the correct way to pronounce a word rather than trying to read it (according to how you would pronounce a written word). There are differences between British and American pronunciations and spellings, and that can result in ingrained and hard-to-correct pronunciation errors. For example: British "OR" is equal to the American "AW," and the British "AR" is more like the American "AH." Maybe too much information at this point; sorry.

That said, there are many foreigners who live here for years and hardly know more than a handful of expressions, and don't care to learn more. If you don't care to be dependent on others, however, learning some Thai would allow you to enjoy the country so much more. Good luck.

[jdinasia]

The OP begs a question .... why would you consider moving somewhere you have never visited?

Thai isn't that hard to learn the basics of .. and ANYONE moving here should learn at least the basics of survival Thai (directions, basic questions and responses, etc) quickly. It is worth note that Thai people are far more forgiving of foreigners butchering their language than many foreigners are of Thais not speaking English!

[MichaelWilliams2]

I thank you all for such excellent responses to my question. Very helpful. They relieve my (our) anxiety. (BTW, yes, my wife is a filipina with a real affinity for learning languages. She learned French 'just for fun' and got us around France. I am a retired musician, bassoonist. Maybe I could catch on to the language, too.)

Edited March 13, 2011 by MichaelWilliams2