Do You Speak Thai?

[Thomas_Merton]

Just wondering how many members speak and read Thai.

I am assuming if you read Thai, you also speak Thai.

I am also assuming you are not a native of Thailand.

If you are - could you, please, post a note in the thread mentioning this fact?

[Neeranam]

What about you?

I can read Thai, that part is easy - all you need is time to learn. I can't read all the newspapers. Some I only understand about 30%, so don't bother.

I can speak Thai but my pronunciation is nothing like a Thai. I speak with a strong Scottish accent. Has taken me f'years though.

I can listen to just about anything, as long as it is not too fast or a weird dialect.

I must admit that after 3 years living here I couldn't read and hardly speak. Laziness, pure and simple, well maybe because I was never sober.

[gerry1011]

After 3 years in the country here is the result:

I speak pretty good.

I write very good.

I read ok, but still very slow.

In my opinion, the writing is the easiest.

I still take reading lessons to improve.

[Dara]

Just wondering how many members speak and read Thai.

I am assuming if you read Thai, you also speak Thai.

I am also assuming you are not a native of Thailand.

If you are - could you, please, post a note in the thread mentioning this fact?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I am pretty much bi-lingual...

[Neeranam]

After 3 years in the country here is the result:

I speak pretty good.

I write very good.

I read ok, but still very slow.

In my opinion, the writing is the easiest.

I still take reading lessons to improve.

I've never met anyone before who can write Thai and not read it. In any language come to think of it.

[ajarnmark]

For me, I live in Thailand for less than 11 months, and I can speak Thai almost 30-40%, i.e. not fluent at all (my friends say I talk like a small Thai kid, who just started learning Thai, of course, I am less than 11 months old ) and I try to read and write Thai as well. I can read as much as my vocab allows me to read, of course, I can read by can not understand the meanings of the words I never know before.

For me, Thailand is one of the country best suited to live, freedom, work, and above all a loving woman.

Edited September 27, 2005 by ajarnmark

[Neeranam]

For me, I live in Thailand for less than 11 months, and I can speak Thai almost 30-40%

Impossible!

[Totster]

I'm learning... very slowly... but I'm in no rush

totster

[thaibebop]

I am still learning, and it's going slow as I am a college student also learning Chinese. But one day.....

[BambinA]

Mai bphoot Thai na ka ... dud ja rit

[Guest endure]

After 3 years in the country here is the result:

I speak pretty good.

I write very good.

I read ok, but still very slow.

In my opinion, the writing is the easiest.

I still take reading lessons to improve.

I've never met anyone before who can write Thai and not read it. In any language come to think of it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Morse code is a language that you can learn to 'write' quite quickly but still find very hard to 'read'.

[kayo]

can´´t read or write. can´t even wread nor right.... but I can hold a serious conversation.

[thaibebop]

can´´t read or write. can´t even wread nor right.... but I can hold a serious conversation.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Dressed like that?

I think not.

[samran]

No sa-peak England

[khunlungphudhu]

Have been trying to learn for forty years, thought I was doing good till I married No. 2!

First was from Chiengmai, No. 2 from Isaan, ......went back and started again! Still at it and no way giving up!

[kayo]

can´´t read or write. can´t even wread nor right.... but I can hold a serious conversation.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Dressed like that?

I think not.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

ROLTFLMAO.....

Edited September 27, 2005 by kayo

[meemiathai]

I am still learning, and it's going slow as I am a college student also learning Chinese. But one day.....

Are u talking about mandarin?

Ni hao ma?

[bkkmadness]

Ni hao ma?

I learned that from my hairdressers.

[kayo]

Hoi, Ti Nai Khrap?

I learnt that from my masseuse

[meemiathai]

What do mia nois teach then?

Edited September 27, 2005 by meemiathai

[thaibebop]

I am still learning, and it's going slow as I am a college student also learning Chinese. But one day.....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Are u talking about mandarin?

Ni hao ma?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Wo hen hao, ni ne?

[buadhai]

As noted previously, I am much too stupid to ever learn how to speak Thai.

I did OK with Spanish and Japanese. I can even read a little Japanese. Learned the 100+ Kana characters in one afternoon on the train. When Japanese people hear me speak they tell me how nice my pronunciation is.

However, after years of studying Thai I still don't know the characters, still can't hear or produce the tones and can't even make simple utterances understood. I still have to look at my briefs to figure out what color the day of the week is.

I've pretty much decided that rather than devote more time to learning Thai I'll be better off devoting time to learning how to get along without it.

So far, so good.

[Abandon]

Reading Thai script is easy, and for left brain people a must before learning to speak. (right brain people do fine without learning to read).

I see no reason why the poster earlier cannot learn to speak 30-40% after 11 months - some folks just get on with it, or have a knack for it (especially if they are from a country with a similar language)

My speaking is as good as it's gonna get - I am crap at language but made the effort, and can do a lot more than 'get by'.

this thread should be in the Thai Language section

Edited September 28, 2005 by Pandit

[Mighty Mouse]

Speak, read or write Thai ?????

Are you guys kidding ?????

I'm still having trouble with the language of love !!!

[raro]

First thing I learned was reading, I coulnd't stand being an analphabet. Took me about three months. Eight years later I can do easy conversations. Lacking vocabulary, I compare reading Thai with reading Finnish....I can read it out loud, but it doesn't make sense to me whatsoever. Never had any systematic lessons, though, all self-tought.

[Neeranam]

First thing I learned was reading, I coulnd't stand being an analphabet. Took me about three months. Eight years later I can do easy conversations. Lacking vocabulary, I compare reading Thai with reading Finnish....I can read it out loud, but it doesn't make sense to me whatsoever. Never had any systematic lessons, though, all self-tought.

Likewise, never had any lessons. Learning to speak on the street is the best way. I taught myself to read using an AUA book and kid's books.

Finnish makes no sense to me either, all I know is "I don't understand" - "En ymarra" or in the North,"mun in ibmerean".

One should at least know how to say this in whatever country you are in.

I know a guy who has been in Thailand for 6 months and he can't say, "I apologise, I don't understand the Thai language" - can you believe it?

Eight years and only on easy converstions - ever thought about sytematic lessons?

[muldoon]

I'm a citizen and cant read, write.And can only speak and understand basic everyday phrases

[Thomas_Merton]

Reading Thai script is easy, and for left brain people a must before learning to speak. (right brain people do fine without learning to read).

I see no reason why the poster earlier cannot learn to speak 30-40% after 11 months - some folks just get on with it, or have a knack for it (especially if they are from a country with a similar language)

My speaking is as good as it's gonna get - I am crap at language but made the effort, and can do a lot more than 'get by'.

this thread should be in the Thai Language section 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Pandit,

I think you miss the point of the poll.

It is to allow members to indicate how far they are in learning (assimilating?) the most important aspect of Thai culture.

Semantics, grammatical conundrums, transliterations and posh phrases etc. quite rightly belong in the Thai language forum.

TM

[rio666uk]

I stayed in Thailand for 9 months, the first 4 months spent travelling around doing the backpacker thing, the next 5 with my, now wife, who didnt speak english - so i did one of those 30 hour thai language classes at Thonglor, BKK.

By the time I was due to come back to UK i was able to hold basic conversation - my thai is not as good now, and im easily confused as my wife teaches me some thai and some issan

we now speak our own brand of english+thai+isan and understand eachother perfectly... its just everyone else that doesnt!

[qualtrough]

Unless I missed something, the poll choices are somewhat confusing. For example, I can hold a serious conversation and read a Thai paper, but how can I indicate that since you can only vote once? In fact, I checked the results first, and now I cannot vote at all. Perhaps this is due to my technical incompetence. If so, sorry. There was another thread some time ago in the Thai language section of the Forum that described a pretty good system for rating language proficiency, but I don't recall the details.

I consider myself proficient in Thai, being able to hold a conversation in most situations and read newspapers and technical documents. That is not to say that I will understand every word on a page or in a conversation, especially if the subject is something that I am not too familiar with. I am always suspicious when I meet or hear of farangs who say they are fluent in Thai as more often than not they are clueless once they stray off the basic topics.

My main problem now is lack of use. I work from my home now and don't interact with people that much, outside of the local market and visits to shops, etc. Words I once knew come with effort sometimes since I don't use them or even think of them very often now. For example, I am trying to recall the word for natural resources, a word I once used all the time in my work, but at the moment I just cannot recall it. I would recongize it when reading, but at the moment I could not use it in a conversation. Ah, there it is: Sapaygorn Thammachat (pls. forgive the transliteration).

Edited September 28, 2005 by qualtrough