What Level Of Speaking And Writing Thai Are You At?

[Razer64]

http://www.thaipod101.com/

I've been using this podcast to learn some Thai. I like how they talk about the language and break down the parts of speech for better understanding. This podcast has helped me more than anything else.

I live in Nakhon Pathom, near Kamphang Saen, and would like to take some courses in Thai. If anyone knows a good place to go, drop me a line or two, would you? Thanks.

[baneko]

I would love nothing more than to be fluent in Thai, it would greatly improve my life in Thailand, especially with my future in-laws and family.

I'm usually pretty good at learning new languages; I've lived all over Asia for the last 10 years and always picked up the language in the place I stayed without trying too hard; I could speak enough Mandarin in a supermarket after only being in China for 2 weeks to help out another farang who was having trouble at the till; after a year I could speak good basic Mandarin just from living there. I learnt enough Finnish to be able to converse with my Finnish gf's father after we had stayed with them in Finland for a few months. I could speak enough Russian to get by with my employees when I worked there for a couple of years. All of these are difficult languages for someone who's first language is English but they all came quite easy to me to get to a basic level. For some reason Thai is just not sticking in the same way. After trying hard to learn Thai for a year I still cannot speak as much Thai as I could Mandarin just after being in China for just 2 weeks. I don't know why.

The reason for this thread is basically a confidence boost and to find out what level I can realistically believe to attain by comparing to other members who are going and gone through the same thing I am. When I first started reading this forum I was amazed and impressed by all of the fluent Thai speakers who were writing and translating in Thai script, it still impresses me when members post Thai sayings or poems that they know, and I thought that with enough studying and effort I could be that. However my confidence was rocked when another member in here said he had actively been trying to learn Thai for 30 odd years and after many attempts at lessons and different methods he still couldn't even hold a basic conversation with the 7/11 cashier, at the moment I can imagine I could be that! That almost made me give up and killed off a lot of my motivation. What's worrying is a lot of people agreeing in that thread that Thai is basically an impossible language to be learn for some people.

So, for anyone who is learning Thai or is fluent,

1. What level are you at?

2. Can you read and write Thai?

3. How long have you been learning for?

4. How did you learn?

5. What other languages could you speak before Thai?

For me;

1. My Thai is terrible. Still not even basic Thai. I can ask simple questions and if I'm lucky understand the answer. People are starting to be nice and tell me my Thai is great but I have zero confidence in it right now. I'm starting to be able to understand a couple of words per sentence when other Thais are talking to each so occasionally I can get the context of a conversation but there are times when I just sit there clueless not understanding even one word. Sometimes when I learn a new word and use it all day, a couple of days later it's gone. I never had this problem with any other languages before so my vocab is increasing very, very slowly.

2. I found it relaively easy to learn the Thai alphabet so I can read Thai script but apart from very common words I usually don't know the words that I am reading out. If I'm lucky when reading out the words I will hear and recognise them and then understand the sentence. I have some Thai friends on Facebook so I try to understand their updates and correctly contribute every day, but even words I wrote out a hundred times can still look new to me in the middle of a sentence.

3. Actively just under 1 year. I live in Bangkok most of the time and my Thai hardly improves at all when I am there so it wasn't until I went to stay with my gf's parents in Isaan that I started to really learn any Thai. When I go to Isaan with my gf I pick up 10 times more Thai than in BKK.

4. I have Benjawan Poomsan's "Thai for Beginner's" but I've mostly only been using it as a reference. I used it to learn the Thai alphabet. The bulk of my Thai (which is not much) comes from being in a place where nobody speaks any English, unfortunately they all speak Isaan to each other, but they talk Thai to me. I also have Thai2English software on my laptop which I think is awesome and teaches me a lot as a live dictionary.

5. First language is English. Did advanced French at Uni. Picked up basic Finnish, Madarin and Russian along the way. Can still remember everything I learned about them. Would give up all my knowledge of them all if I could convert it into Thai.

So please, any success stories or failures, at least I can get an idea of what to expect. Any tips would be appreciated too. I know I'm not putting the effort in that I should, I should study my book and CD properly, and I would like to do some real lessons in BKK, I just didn't expect Thai to be so much harder than the other languages I learnt.

1. Speaking Thai

Probably at the level of a 10 year old.

2. Reading and writing

Cannot.

3. Learning Thai

Never had a lesson. Been listening for 6 years.

4. How did I learn

I have only picked it up from conversation and being in a 99.9 percent Thai village.

5. Other languages

French from school. Reasonable.

Issan/Laos. From the village which is actually in Chonburi. Its easier to learn than Thai.

Spanish. Reasonable.

Portugese. Working in Angola.

Myanmar. Working in Thailand.

Cambodian. From the mother in law.

Italian. Skiing trips.

Gaelic. Im Scottish.

English. School.

English and Issan the easiest. Myanmar the hardest.

Sent from my GT-I9300T using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Neeranam]

I'm interested in the OP progress after nearly 3 years since last post here.

1. What level are you at?

Intermediate to Advanced. Some subject matter fluent, others nowhere near.

2. Can you read and write Thai?

Read, yes. Write, not so well. Perhaps better than my 7 year old but not nearly as good as her sister in P6.

3. How long have you been learning for?

22 years I guess but at varying degrees.

4. How did you learn?

Books and cassettes at first then immersion with Thai friends who spoke no English. Never been to school.

After about 5 years, got an AUA book to teach myself reading.

5. What other languages could you speak before Thai?

Learned French for 7 years but never could converse.Every time I try to speak it now I use Thai. Still can read Hindi but can't speak. Worked in Finland once and never learned anything.

[farangdude84]

1). What level are you?

If talking in terms of speaking about things I'd talk about in English, then nearly fluent. If taking fluency to mean ability to talk about a whole range of topics, then intermediate. I can't talk about engineering or nuclear physics in Thai - and really couldn't in English either (the difference being that in English, at least I know the vocabulary being used).

2). Can you read and write Thai?

Yes.

3).How long have you been learning?

almost 6 years

4). How did you learn?

I learned via books, speaking, and constantly asking "what is this?" or "how do you say this?"

5). Other languages?

American English - native

German - near-native (I miss some cultural references one would have only from living there)

English - near-native

French - advanced

Norwegian - upper beginner/low intermediate (upper intermediate/advanced reading)

Swedish - beginner (intermediate reading)

Spanish - intermediate reading/beginner

Lao - beginner, but by virtue of thai, probably upper intermediate

Slovak - I know some bits and bobs

[johnniewalk]

Still i am beginning.

[Aj Mick]

1. What level are you at?

Fluent in day to day conversation, but functionally illiterate. On the phone Thai folks think i'm Thai.

I apparently know nothing, if it suits the situation.

2. Can you read and write Thai?

I could write at beginner level, but has no real need to, so didn't bother to go any further.

I can still read at beginner level, but make no effort to go beyond.
3. How long have you been learning for?

First started learning back in the early '80s
4. How did you learn?

5 weeks immersion, with a Peace Corps course, at the end of which I could make and recognise the sounds and Thai alphabet.

Just just doing it after that. Where I lived for the next couple of years English speakers were few and far between.
5. What other languages could you speak before Thai?

Just English……

In my last high school French exam I got 4% for writing my name and partially answering the first question….. then I laid my head down and slept for the next couple of hours.

Growing up in a rural community, I was into my teens before I first knowingly met anyone who was not a native speaker of English.

[rikimilton]

hi friends I also interested to leran thai language .

Can someone tell me best medium or coaching for thai language.

[MaceLee]

1. What level are you at?

I'd say maybe an intermediate level. I can take part in conversations, generally understand what's being said and follow along. However, I'm still a bit flummoxed by Thai TV and all the vocab in newspapers.

2. Can you read and write Thai?

​Reading and writing Thai is much easier than speaking. I suppose it's because I've gotten a little rusty - haven't been in Thailand for nearly 9 months.

3. How long have you been learning for?

​I'd say on and off for about a year and a half now.

4. How did you learn?

Started learning using Linguaphone Thai and Pimsleur Thai. Later on, my speaking skills vastly improved when I lived out in Thailand for 6 months. Just using the vocab I knew on a day to day basis, following Thaipod101 and looking up unfamiliar words with a dictionary. I barely used English in the area I lived.

5. What other languages could you speak before Thai?

Had a little bit of French, just a year of it as a module at university. I'd flirted with a few languages like Italian and Russian but it never lasted as I didn't really have a real motivation for learning them besides they sounded nice/interesting.

[sunlinna]

1. What level are you at?
I'm just a very beginner, I can speak and understand very basic words and phrases. Now I'm at maybe 200 words of passive vocabulary. So conversation in Thai only is not possible at all yet.

2. Can you read and write Thai?
The alphabet was one of the first things i learnt, as I'm a visual learner and need to see word, as from hearing alone some information lacks (when i mishear the tone and vowel length). I can read and write very slowly as long as it are words i know and those follow the rules, but it still causes me headache if read more than short phrases. I really miss spaces between the words, it would make reading a lot easier.

3. How long have you been learning for?
Actively for approx. three month, so i just started now. Before I only picked up a few very frequent words through Thai movies.

4. How did you learn?
I learn by myself through internet resources and practice with my Thai language partners. Also I try to immerse myself by listening Thai radio and music and watch Thai movies, even I understand almost nothing yet.

5. What other languages could you speak before Thai?
As English i learnt the whole school time and Dutch is very similar to my native language German, I can speak both languages fluently. I also learn a year of each French and Russian in school and university, but I almost forgot everything, so both languages are even worse than my Thai now.
I'm learning Mandarin for three years now, I'm fluent in typing and reading pretty much everything, but conversation still causes me trouble. I know approx. 5000 words according to my latest exam, but I can only understand up to 50% when listening, as the number of homophones is pretty high as well as most speakers have an accent and speak very fast. I really feel stuck and unable to improve anymore now.
For some reason I progress in Thai much faster as i did in Mandarin then. Maybe because both languages have similar grammar and structure. I think listening is much easier in Thai as homophones are less and the people tend to pronounce a lot more clearly. So i actually see more chance in speaking conversation Thai anytime in future.

[texan1800]

1. What level are you at?

level zero. Only know maybe ten words. If I wrote them for you you wouldn't understand. For me rice is cow and not khao.
2. Can you read and write Thai?

No, but most people around here can't either. I don't even intend to learn. Looks too much like calculus to me.
3. How long have you been learning for?

Almost eight years.
4. How did you learn?

I haven't learned, but I've tried with help from my wife, the internet, thai language apps and listening to Thai TV. My wife says she first learned English listening to cartoons.
5. What other languages could you speak before Thai?

English, German, Spanish

Edited April 24, 2016 by texan1800

[MikeyIdea]

1. What level are you at?
Speaking and understanding Thai very good. I fool Thais on the phone sometimes but rarely for more than a few minutes. I spoke more Thai than English in an average day for several years before my daughter grew up. I speak more Thai than English at work. Thai news on TV or Thai films are no problem - except Suriothai

2. Can you read and write Thai?
Partially yes, but only like a 6-7 year old child. I tried to keep up with my daughter for a while but she passed my like nothing even though I was trying all I could... I admit that I am lazy when it comes to this and I will probably never learn to read well

3. How long have you been learning for?
Since 1992

4. How did you learn?
I use my ears only. Thai language is like music and you cannot learn music from a book.

5. What other languages could you speak before Thai?
English, Swedish, I used to speak passable school-German but have forgotten all

Advice:

Thai language is easy but I think it is very important to learn it the right way. Thai language is really like music and you cannot learn music from a book. You need to listen carefully until you can hear the different tones and long vs. short vowels easily. Then start to speak

If you are a western language speaker, then you have been programmed to concentrate on the consonants and the ends of the words, that's where the important information sits in western languages. When you try to learn Thai, then you will therefore first try to correct consonants and the ends of the words but that is not where your main problem is

Tonal languages are different because the very simple reason that it's not possible to get a consonant to carry a tone. The most important information in the Thai language sits on the vowel and that is generally in the middle of the word. That is what westerners who tries to learn Thai get wrong

I'd advice make word games with your girl friend, Concentrate on the vowels, consonants are not as important and Thai's are pretty good at guessing them anyway. Thai's are generally bad at guessing vowels and it is simply because there is much more information in it. Listen to her, tell her which tone it is and if vowel is long or short.

When you easily can hear the tones and vowels, then start to speak

Why? Because you will... get it wrong if you start to talk before you can hear the tones and vowel length and you create a bad habit that is difficult to break

Edited April 25, 2016 by MikeyIdea

[soalbundy]

I have read all the Harry Potter books in Thai but i cant follow a Thai soap on the TV. I prefer reading.

[csabo]

1. What level are you at?

Can get by in a market or shop or restaurant. Can chat with the girls next to my GF's shop enough to make jokes they laugh at. I get nervous when a Thai I don't know speaks to me so my trick is to eavesdrop on Thais in conversation and try to discern what they are talking about. Takes the pressure off of me.

2. Can you read and write Thai?
Can read. Was the first hing I taught myself but as you stated reading and understanding the actual vocabulary of what you have read takes time. I can write but often choose the wrong "s" or wrong "f" letter as in Thai there are many to choose from. I read the school books of my GF's kid who is 9 but he reads it faster than I do.

3. How long have you been learning for?
4 years. 1.5 focused self training before I got here, .5 working with GF and the last 2 just picking up what I can in real life situations. Really need to focus my efforts more.

4. How did you learn?
Rapidthai for writing/reading. Its4Thai app for vocabulary. Thaipodcast for sentence structure. Tried an online tutor and hated her. GF helps me when I want it but does not force it down my throat.

5. What other languages could you speak before Thai?
Native language English. Learned a little Japanese but when I went to Japan and realized Japanese people hate foreigners so I let it slip from memory. Speak a little Spanish as well. What is very interesting to me and confirms that all foreign language is located in the same location in the brain is that when I try to speak Spanish, Thai words slip into the sentences. Its like my foreign languages are all jumbled together in one area of my head.

I have always been interested in learning languages and when I am out with foreigners and Thais together spend most of my time speaking to the Thais in Thai. I get horribly embarrassed for my friends who have lived here longer than me when I here them say things like "SweatyCop" instead of "Sawasdikrap". It makes my skin crawl. I have one friend who offers a hearty "HELLOOOO"..""HOW ARE YOUUUU" when he sees a Thai he recognizes and then the conversation comes to a screeching halt as he speaks not one word or Thai and is to foolish to realize the people he is talking to do not speak a word of English. I dive under the table at these moments. Also, as Thai is not my first language it takes effort to speak it. After a while it becomes tiring to think of the right words before saying them. When you are talking to someone and your 2 friends are asking you to translate for them as well it really becomes exhausting. For that reason I often socialize with Thais on my own as the mixing becomes tiresome.

Edited May 31, 2016 by csabo

[mike13]

1. What level are you at?
Intermediate. common phrasing

2. Can you read and write Thai?
เรียนเขียนอ่านพูดสองปีที่แล้วครับ

3. How long have you been learning for?
about 2 years.

4. How did you learn?
lessons with teacher every week

5. What other languages could you speak before Thai?
english, level toeic 800

[ben2talk]

I'm perfectly contented to be an American who happens to be able to speak something which passes for Thai (with an American accent) .

A lot changed for me when I bought a smartphone with a good connection. I started playing with Siri and advised my students to start doing the same...

Later on, I realised that I can do the same in Thai. As with English, initially the phone seems rather stupid until you learn the weaknesses and adjust pronunciation to be clearer.

Improved phonics awareness helps (as with Thai's, if you want them to say a name like 'James' you must teach them 'J-air-ee-m-z' sounds, as they are totally unaware of many sounds, like 'ai' in 'rain' and 'oa' in boat).

Now, when I chat in LINE with my wife, I change to Thai keyboard, speak Thai, and read back what I've saie... so my reading and speaking abilities have increased a good deal.

If I'm feeling mean, when some stupid Thai refuses to hear or understand, I talk into my phone and offer it for them to read making a comment that if my phone can understand me better than a Thai... All Thai's in the vicinity start nodding and looking down on the perpetrator at this point...

Using the phone's cool. I ask my wife 'what's this plant' and she tells my phone, so now I can read it, search for it, and undertand it in Thai - but also in English. Sometimes we learn words in Thai that we can't translate to English. It feels funny when some Thai asks me 'what's English for....' and I have to say 'sorry, I don't know!' and get the answer from my phone.

Doing this also reveals to them the fact that - if they weren't so set against learning - they could just do the same thing themselves... talk to their phone in Thai and get help online!

So my votes:

My Thai 45% offline, 85% with broadband connected phone. Partly because if I can't hear, and the phone cannot write correctly, Thai's can adjust their pronunciation to be clearer for the phone (and that also helps it become clearer for me).

My writing: 15% My writing in Facebook/Line/Messenger 85%

Edited July 14, 2016 by ben2talk

[Baanguru]

I don't think I am also fluent in Thai, in fact I'm very terrible when it comes to speaking the Thai language. I would like to really be good at it since I'm currently living in Bangkok. I feel like my life will be a lot easier if I can get along with my Thai colleagues, though they understand me well  using a foreign language I still want to walking down the street and speak the language without hesitation. 

[Alive]

I guess intermediate speaking. I can talk to anyone in Thai and have an endless conversation but I know my vocab is limited. I'm lazy to learn. I learned a lot the first 8 years here then my work changed and I didn't need to use much Thai. I can read but again I am lazy. I mostly read the things around me like menus, billboards, adverts, newspapers headlines and explanations under the pictures. I often read when I try to understand the political stuff on twitter. I could/should be much better as I have been here for a couple decades. I'm just lazy. I think in recent years I got bored with Thailand and Thais but I am tied to this place now. I spend my days in two worlds of news: Thai and the US. Both nations are in disturbing states.

[elizabethay]

I've learned a few different european languages, but Thai really is so so different. Thx for the great recommendations here, very useful for a newbie in Thailand. 

[Damrongsak]

On 5/31/2016 at 11:58 AM, csabo said:

.... Speak a little Spanish as well. What is very interesting to me and confirms that all foreign language is located in the same location in the brain is that when I try to speak Spanish, Thai words slip into the sentences. Its like my foreign languages are all jumbled together in one area of my head...

I suppose I'm about where you are spoken-wise.  Haven't had a need for reading/writing for 30+ years, so it's poor.  Besides, the written and everyday spoken vocabulary seems so different.

 

On a trip to Mexico years ago, my remaining high school and a bit of college Spanish seamlessly blended with Thai words.  I couldn't help it and the locals were surely perplexed. 

 

I had about 6 weeks in-country language training from the Peace Corps. They used what was called the "Silent Way".  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Way

 

It was amazingly effective.  Learn a few words and concepts and you could put them together in different ways and be understood.  No translation, no particular thought. It's like playing with LEGOS - just put them together where they fit.  Tones and the lengths of vowels are tricky, but if you have good hearing and can carry a tune, then not too much of a problem.

 

In my 2 years in Peace Corps and a year with the U.S. refugee program (1977-1980), I've encountered maybe 4 people who became amazingly fluent in just a few years. One guy could write a 2 page essay in Thai in about 15 minutes after a few weeks or reading.writing training.  He called me years later and was jabbering Thai at 90 miles an hour.  I tried to understand and make excuses and find out who he was.  Then he said, "It's Larry". SOB.  :)  Another guy fooled my landlady on the phone.  He was so polite and used such proper Thai, she insisted that he was Thai.  And she was a Khun Ying คุณหญิง .  Same guy could hold his own when discussing Buddhism and philosophy.

 

Me, I just chat with merchants, order food the way I want it, complain and annoy my wife.  And come up with smart remarks when my wife gives it right back to me.

 

Edited October 18, 2016 by Damrongsak

[kimchibogan]

Hey guys, what would be the best way to learn Thai? I am a lazy guy.

[Streem26]

 I’m just awful at Thai!

So, knowing that I can’t live here without speaking the language, I had to figure out how I could approach it my way.

Researching everything I can about the subject is one way that's why I write short essay https://essmart.org/cause-effect-essay/

No promises on the quality of my Thai when I get done, just the promise that I will struggle through :-)

 And that’s why short stories are so important. And why I’m looking forward to reading the Thai and English translation of stories. It will be a great help for those  who are determined to learn to read and write Thai.

[Rhys]

Speaking and Listening skill are at basic level.  A question of need is the motivating factor for higher level.. back in the day, it was a  blast to speak with villagers and shoot the breeze...Taxi drivers sometimes were very cool, but not now..

[Darunphob]

I am at the basic level in both speaking ,understanding(including listening),reading and writing

[farang95]

am not fluent but i will be....

[Fookhaht]

For 15 years in Thailand, my life has revolved around English: teaching English, judging English debates and speaking competitions, all English-speaking Thai friends, etc.

Thai? Not much. Until...

I bit the bullet and hired full-time house help who spoke not a word of English.

Necessity is the Mother of Progress.

In one short year, I learned about a thousand Thai words, can write a few hundred, and can painstakingly read a bit. I can be understood in general conversation around town.

Now I'm trying to make more non-English speaking Thai friends to keep up the momentum.


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[Damrongsak]

I used to walk around, observe and say uuh, or uoom.  Then "pasa Thai, waa arai"  What do you call it in Thai? You learn if you get out in the street and observe people. 

[Ace of Pop]

Some Ferangs have Chalk on Blackboard effect on my ears..older ones are OK but those 30 " Something " Teachers in 7/11 cap caping like Chicken makes me wince for the Cashiers.


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[drbill]

1. What level are you at ?

 

Beginning Thai. I'm trying to relearn the alphabet,vowel and consonant sounds that I  learned before by using a private Thai teacher supplemented with Thai early grade school teaching materials . I used to know common everyday phrases in order to take a taxi or eat in a restaurant and had a vocabulary of at least three or four hundred words. I never went beyond this low level because when in Thailand my Thai friends spoke English. My Thai wife of 15 years is fluent in English having earned post graduate degrees in the US and resided there  for over ten years. We converse in English.

 

My two children are fluent in Thai having learned it before English. They can read and write Thai. They speak with my wife and others using Thai. I thought that I would learn Thai as they grew up but that didn't occur since as they were learning I was busy with my profession.

 

I know and have met many foreigners who are fluent in Thai of varying degrees over the last 35 -40 years.  

 

Total immersion and a Thai teacher preferably one with skills as teacher of Thai as a second language or else a very dedicated Thai educated teacher in my opinion is needed if one wants to really learn the language.

 

Knowing the alphabet is of cause a necessity.

 

Fluency is of varying degrees with every language. My wife speaks Thai fluently with foreigners and says that their Thai is perfect. They usually tell me that they have been speaking for 15 to 20 years and have no problems with speaking Thai except for speaking at a higher level of intellectual discourse which they usually say is not possible.

 

Looking at my bilingual children aged 11 and 13 who have been speaking Thai since having learnt to speak ,have learned the alphabet at an age appropriate level ,read and write and have been speaking Thai their entire lives-without question  they are 100 %  capable of living here without speaking other languages and excepting at International school that's what they do.

 

When tested using a Thai language aptitude test their Thai lags behind their English by two to three years. In conversation my daughter is thought to have learned Thai as her native language in Thailand by most Thais. My son although fluent is assumed to be a native Thai who may have lived in Singapore in his early years.

 

My wife whom studied education among other fields tells me that our children would not be able to compete at a Thai University because as she states the language then is at a much higher level for example when writing poetry.

 

Learn Thai as early as you can. Other variables exist other then learning skills. Everyone who has been exposed to noise will have varying degrees of high frequency hearing deficits by age 45 -50 making learning more challenging especially with a tonal language. If you are having real difficulties have an audiometric exam. You may require a hearing aid and be unaware.

 

From what I read it seems that you know that you need to speak with native speakers. Try to learn from a central Thai speaker if at all possible. You will be speaking like my friends who are fluent soon. I might need a second lifetime. 

 

2. Can you read and write ? 

 

No

 

3. How long have you been learning for ?

 

At least 25 years.

 

4. How did you learn ?

Native Thai teacher. Basic Thai early grade school material. Multiple Leaning Thai books which for me are useless trying to learn Thai because the sounds and tones can not be transliterated using the Greek Roman alphabet .A few courses using DVDs such as Rossetta Stone which I thought were next to useless for me.

 

5.  What other languages could you speak before Thai ?

 

English fluently. Beginning Dutch with ability of verbal conversational communication skills and the ability to read Dutch much more easily and at a more advanced level then speaking. Beginning Greman ;one year of University study. Beginning French ; one year one on one teaching by a native French university French language  professor.

Edited February 20, 2017 by drbill

[Piifo]

What level are you at ?

I can say the most common things, and also, can speak my mind most of the time. Nevertheless I am a perfectionist, and even if I'm average in Thai I, all the time want (wish) to learn new words or to speak a word the right way. Yes, I make many mistakes on the tones and still can't say horse without feeling stupid. Often I speak with my wife's niece who's 4 years old and speaks Thai but with a narrow vocabulary, and can hold the conversation with her most of the time. She speaks it better than me.

So I am just average or below.

 

Can you read and write ?

 

I can read, slowly, not fast enough to read the signs on the edge of the road though. I can read my wife's Facebook.

I can't write at all .

 

How long have you been learning ?

 

My first year in Thailand I didn't care about the language, so that's 3 years.

 

How did you learn ?

 

I had an ED visa for 2 years but went to 15 classes, maybe 20. That taught me a bit of the alphabet.

 

What other languages did you speak before Thai ?

 

French is my mother tongue, then at the age of 12 I could speak Spanish thanks to two years in Chile, then I went to stay in Canada for a couple of years and learned English, later at university I learned Italian, and the first time I opened a Portuguese novel, I could read it, that was like magic  , then I opened the news papers and was able to understand everything too, but can't understand people speak or speak it myself.

So that makes 4 languages, plus read Portuguese and a fourth to third of the way in Thai.

[DjSilver]

Well usuly if some expat really wants to learn thai they will be able to pass the thai goverment 6th grade test only after 1 year of studing. And then usuly be better in correct thai then the uneducated thais them self. Haha