What Level Of Speaking And Writing Thai Are You At?

[Aforek]

2 hours ago, DjSilver said:

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

You think " uneducated Thais " speak uncorrect thai ? I don't know what you call correct or uncorrect Thai, the only Thai that interests me is " everyday thai " 

when I speak with my doctor or my family in law , I don't see the difference

[onthesoi]

36 minutes ago, Aforek said:

You think " uneducated Thais " speak uncorrect thai ? I don't know what you call correct or uncorrect Thai, the only Thai that interests me is " everyday thai " 

when I speak with my doctor or my family in law , I don't see the difference

 

You mean incorrect? ...uncorrect refers to converting a magnetic course into a compass course. 

 

Like Thai, there is a correct way of speaking English.  In Thailand it's sometimes referred to as Royal Thai or Central Thai, In the UK it might be referred to as the Queen's English.

[DjSilver]

Well I'm Swedish but bi-lingual since I've been speaking english since I was about 4 years old. And I mean that it is how someone pronounce the words. I dont know thai yet, however if someone speaks bad thai and is thai one can hear how badly they speak. I asked my girl friend about one guy who is cleaning clothes if he spoke bad thai just by listning how he spoke and she said yes and laughed. She said that there is one way poor and uneducated thai speaks amd then there is a more finer way to speak thai and more educated people do.

[DjSilver]

 
You mean incorrect? ...uncorrect refers to converting a magnetic course into a compass course. 
 
Like Thai, there is a correct way of speaking English.  In Thailand it's sometimes referred to as Royal Thai or Central Thai, In the UK it might be referred to as the Queen's English.

Queens english is something I remembered from school. However my english is more with american accent since I've studied there.

[SEtonal]

What Level Of Speaking And Writing Thai Are You At?

 

I am a absolute beginner.  I will report back as I make progress.   My focus will be on listening and speaking rather than reading and writing.

[Chrisdoc]

1. I'd  say low level intermediate. I can carry on a semi-simple conversation and can understand alot but find people speak really fast.

2. I can read but need to refer to notes.  I learnt the consonants by a gaw gai book then the vowels. I can read most words but the fonts on signs are difficult. I am not worried about reading more at present because mainly want to be able to speak and with my present knowledge I can read thai script in text books and dictionaries. I don't want to read any thai novels or anything so at present bothering too much is a diversion. I understand Tone rules but find them not important because I can just get the tone from transliterations so I don't bother too much about them

3. I started learning words 5 years ago but not how to say them properly. When i found out I had to speak tonally after a year I virtually gave up. I lived with my Thai girlfriend for 3 years and we'd talk Thai at home but it was my non-tonal version of Thai/English which only she understood. A year ago, before I came to live here I started teaching myself  again intensively this time with  tones.

4. I had several Thai books which I'd harvest  words from by transliteration.  I tried to learn tones by raising and lowering  the pitch of my voice and writing on flash cards. About 3 months ago I discovered Stuart Jay Raj on YouTube and since then my Thai has jumped ahead. He approaches Thai as  a linguist. I understand that Thai people learn the sounds as kids and most don't even know about tones  or how tonal languages work.  They just know the sounds and to find the tone from them you need to ask is it going up or down or flat and they need to think about it. Because of this I find most of the Thai teachers on YouTube not that relevant.  He taught that tones come from the throat(related to throat speaking) so closing the throat makes the sound rise and opening drop. He has also mapped out the tongue and throat positions for all the sounds. Since then I have just been trying to say words properly but am getting closer to carrying on conversations. Ps It sounds like I'm doing an ad for him but am just grateful for all his free info on YouTube and think it is the only way to learn.  I also learnt that middle tone is like a robot which I think is important. I only know English properly but it goes up and down all the time (eh?) and to speak middle and low tone you must eliminate this. A month or so ago I realized to really understand the sounds I need to read. I had already rote learned the consonants and so I rote learned the vowels. The vowels had frightened me since I learnt gaw gai a few years ago but they weren't that bad. I then had problems with hidden vowels and dipthongs so spent some time trawling the Internet for explanations of them. I have attacjed these lists and my other charts on mouth and throat position (thanks Stu Ray Jay). Reading was not so scary but as I said I need to refer to notes constantly still. 

5. I am a native English speaker.  I studied school boy French and  lower University level Latin. I was in Japan in the 90's and learnt alot of Japanese for a couple of years but mostly forgotten. Went to Bali and learnt alot of Bahasa. Thai is by far the most complex.

Thai vowels and consonants.pdf

[RakThai22]

1. What level are you at?

I am at fluent Thai speaking level and are able to have a detailed conversation with a Thai person.

2. Can you read and write Thai?

No.

3. How long have you been learning for?

I could speak fluent Thai after less than 6 months.

4. How did you learn?

I actively studied Thai on the internet, books, YouTube videos and having to speak Thai with my Thai girlfriend (no wife) whose English was very poor.

5. What other languages could you speak before Thai?

English and Afrikaans.

 

I'm a computer programmer and published poet, so I have a natural passion and aptitude for languages. But most important is that I wanted to be able to speak Thai and was very driven to learn it quickly.

[kev1n]

1. What level are you at?

Beginner

2. Can you read and write Thai?

Hell no, but I'm on my way

3. How long have you been learning for?

about 2 months

4. How did you learn?

Meeting a Thai Woman and teaching her english, then she teaches me Thai 

5. What other languages could you speak before Thai?

German, French, English, a little spanish

[Scott]

A post with a direct link to a commercial site has been removed.  

[jackspade]

1. What level are you at?

I can have a 45 minute conversation in Thai with your average joe, but probably not a Thai doctor or philosophy student. I counted all the words I know from memory and there are about 650.

2. Can you read and write Thai?

I can read and write Thai. I can read well enough to understand menus, maps, signs, and maybe children's books.  I can write well enough to communicate any of the spoken Thai I know, but my spelling is awful.

3. How long have you been learning for?

Off and on for 4 years, but only really spent about 1 month really studying it by myself, the rest I slowly picked up naturally. Never taken a Thai lesson in my life.

4. How did you learn?

- James Higbie's excellent Thai language textbook

- Benjawan Poomsan Becker's textbook of dubious quality

- Taxi drivers have taught me a lot of very useful phrases and idioms

- Girlfriend ?

5. What other languages could you speak before Thai?

- English, Spanish, also studied Old English, Dutch, Greek, and Latin, but can't speak any of those.

Edited June 13, 2018 by jackspade

[hurni77]

1) What level are you at?
Beginner; easy small talk, make steady progress regarding the listening/comprehension, and - if prepared - able to explain easy content (like in a 6-min-talk)

2) Can you read and write Thai?
My reading is still very slow (tones!). If I can prepare a text with some Paiboon-romanization, then งูงูปลาปลา. Writing is still far too difficult: same sounds but different letters? Come on ...

3) How long have you been learning for?
9 months self-study, along with my wife and some other friends (all non-Thai)

4) How did you learn?
Free information on the net (Youtube, PDFs, ...) and free apps on iOS as well as talking with our Thai friends here in Taiwan

5) What other languages could you speak before Thai?
German (native), English, French, Chinese (Mandarin), some Italian, some Spanisch


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[Orton Rd]

After 25 years I gave up trying to master tones which I never could hear. My wife is a teacher of Thai as well, I can barely order a meal, conversation never. Does not bother me in the least, most Thais are not worth talking to anyway ?

[Danny1967]

hi

wanna learn to read n write Thai

am strong in English

passable french all ways read,writen,speak

passable hindi as am indian write,read,speak

can speak some persian

speak few words in 5-6 other languages

can manage Thai as my wife n kids are Thai n used to be working here in 90s...am back after 23 years

for good i guess

[Danny1967]

good topic....Good talk guys

 

[Danny1967]

don't mind helping with conversational Thai as am pretty savvy just to make buddies n meet for a beer

[MASSMAN]

I can read and write Thai.  I have read many books in Thai and have translated documents from Thai to English.  I have been studying Thai independently for eight years.  

[Danny1967]

I can read and write Thai.  I have read many books in Thai and have translated documents from Thai to English.  I have been studying Thai independently for eight years.  

Can u kindly teach me to read and write

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[HAKAPALITA]

On 9/2/2018 at 7:19 PM, Orton Rd said:

After 25 years I gave up trying to master tones which I never could hear. My wife is a teacher of Thai as well, I can barely order a meal, conversation never. Does not bother me in the least, most Thais are not worth talking to anyway ?

 I wanted to say that, but didnt have the Balls.!

[tgeezer]

ทำไมไม่มีใครได้ลองเขียนภาษาไทยที่นี้ครับ มีคนเยอะที่บอกว่าได้เรียนรู้แล้ว


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[HAKAPALITA]

1 hour ago, tgeezer said:

ทำไมไม่มีใครได้ลองเขียนภาษาไทยที่นี้ครับ มีคนเยอะที่บอกว่าได้เรียนรู้แล้ว


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Bit too advanced, try a script for everyday folk.

[tgeezer]

KwamKid dee na, dte Phom my ruejak dtu akson eun tee chai die nork neua jak nan spellchecker tamhy lambark mak
I am trying to say; Good idea, but I don’t know any other characters which will serve. Apart from that spellchecker makes the process very problematic.



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[tgeezer]

You see, for all those fluent in Thai but who cannot read or write, I admire you for your memory. I have always needed to take notes, at the beginning I used the alphabet but soon abandoned it for Thai characters. For those who want to learn Thai, the simple way is to learn to write Thai.


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[poanoi]

18 hours ago, tgeezer said:

You see, for all those fluent in Thai but who cannot read or write, I admire you for your memory. I have always needed to take notes, at the beginning I used the alphabet but soon abandoned it for Thai characters. For those who want to learn Thai, the simple way is to learn to write Thai.


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for me i need to take a picture with my eyes to memorize it,

so english letters do just fine for as long as i wrote them myself to get the sound right as i see it.

even when i could write i would still rely on my transliteration

 

i wish to warn everyone about not converse for a while,

i went out of thailand for 3 years and didnt chat with anyone in thai,

(or otherwise), and now i just cant talk or understand thai any longer,

my maid think i speak thai so she come and complain about her hardship/gossip/others and i havnt got a clue,

i'm limited to order food these days and even then i cant remember most dishes

 

same thing happened with german before that,

use it or lose it

 

Edited November 2, 2018 by poanoi

[tgeezer]

That is very true, I spend the summers in UK where the momentum built up during the winter keeps me interested in Thai for a while but then it fades, only to be renewed on my return. Each year things seem to improve a little.

I think the best way to learn is by making mistakes which is why I suggested writing down here what you would say in conversation, at least spelling can't be criticised!

However a major disadvanage of transliteration or transcription is that apart from the study required, the official symbols can't be done on a normal keyboard, so may as well learn Thai and cut out the 'middle man'.

I would like to introduce Thai into the forum like this;

ta my yak chue leua kon eun go my fang hen reuang dueat ron korng cow dee gwa

 

ถ้าไม่อยากข่วยเลื้อคนอื่นก็ไม่ฟังเห็นเรื่องเดือดร้อนของเขาดีกว่า

I sometimes think it better not to understand tales of woe unless they come from someone whom you might like to help.

useful words.

Tam boon (ทำบุญ) or bpragop gam dee (ประกอบกรรมดี) (an action which) bring together good karma (for yourself) gam กรรม meaning something which you have done.

 

 

This might seem like the blind leading the blind but I am not leading, I am trying to learn by saying what I would say and giving people the opportunity to correct me.

I have never had any success with this, neither here or on T-L.com but I keep trying for what I hope could be to the our mutual benefit.

 

 

 

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[tgeezer]

ta my yak chue leua kon eun go my fang hen reuang dueat ron korng cow dee gwa
 
ถ้าไม่อยากข่วยเลื้อคนอื่นก็ไม่ฟังเห็นเรื่องเดือดร้อนของเขาดีกว่า
I sometimes think it better not to understand tales of woe unless they come from someone whom one wants to help.
 
 
 .,.ไม่รับไม่ฟังเรื่อง ฯ
my rap my fang tale...
 
 
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[jabis]

At that level ,when I get Sean Connery level drunk, and order drunk rice with shit - tones matter????

[tgeezer]

That deserves translating!



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[tgeezer]

That deserves translating!



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[jackspade]

On 11/2/2018 at 7:08 AM, tgeezer said:

ทำไมไม่มีใครได้ลองเขียนภาษาไทยที่นี้ครับ มีคนเยอะที่บอกว่าได้เรียนรู้แล้ว


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Tammai mai mee krai dai long kian pasa thai tee nee krab. Mee kon yert tii bawk waa dai rian ruu laew.

My translation:

Why isn't there anyone who can try to write Thai here?  There are lots of people who say they already know how to study.

I know I'm probably off a bit but that's my best stab.

[nrasmussen]

Tammai mai mee krai dai long kian pasa thai tee nee krab. Mee kon yert tii bawk waa dai rian ruu laew.

My translation:

Why isn't there anyone who can try to write Thai here?  There are lots of people who say they already know how to study.

I know I'm probably off a bit but that's my best stab.

I think the last sentence should be: "There are lots of people who say they already learned [to write Thai]."