Thai Not One Of The Most Difficult Languages To Learn

[Jingthing]

Is anyone surprised?

I would have guessed Chinese as the most difficult, but according to this, it is Arabic, with Chinese as second. Having traveled to Hungary, I'm also not surprised that Hungarian DID make the top five.

I also would have guessed Thai would not make the top five, but I think it certainly rates as a difficult language:

http://ww.thirdage.com/slideshow.php?sid=2647409&utm_source=outbrain&utm_medium=ppc&utm_campaign=outbrain_wwsub

[garrya]

I agree with the points above, I would also say the Greek is a fairly difficult one.

And as for the thai language, i find it fairly easy to learn, not much hassle with the grammar, but somehow have little progress in understanding it by television, radio.

[rgs2001uk]

I agree with the points above, I would also say the Greek is a fairly difficult one.

And as for the thai language, i find it fairly easy to learn, not much hassle with the grammar, but somehow have little progress in understanding it by television, radio.

The problem is what type of programmes are you watching on tv?

I tend not to watch the news, its a bit like "The Queens English", very polite and proper but bears no semblance to whats actually spoken on the streets.

For the radio, when driving in the car I listen to , Luk Tung Mahanakorn Kao Sip Ha Family, or in English, 95FM, you will see these stickers on most taxis in Bkk.

The language used in the above radio station is closer to everyday speach patterns.

Its actually funny when you listen to BGs talk English, many think their English sucks, but all they are doing is translating from Thai straight into English.

As for Arabic, I found if you dont think too much and listen to the locals it was quite easy, depends of course what version of Arabic you speak, Royal Egyptian or Yemeni.

[thanchart]

Yes, I actually found Thai easier to learn compared to Chinese (and I am one). The nice thinbg about Thai is that has vowels and consonanats and that makes reading far easier. At least one can sound out the word even if you mnay not recognize it at first, and maybe after reading, you remember it, It;s been 6 years since I last spoke/read/type Thai but it is slowly coming back after 4 months here. Too bad English is mainly spoken in the office. or I would have been forced to pick up faster. Teaching my Filipina wife the language helps a bit.

For Chinese language, that is far harder, if you don;lt knwo the word, its hard to be able to sound it out.

r

[Jingthing]

A native Chinese speaker has an edge learning Thai. The tonal thing.

[endure]

I wonder if the brains of those people who have to memorise symbols in their languages like the Chinese develop differently to those whose language has an alphabet like English or Thai?

[sabaijai]

Correction: Not one of the 5 most difficult language to learn. It still ranks within the top 10, according to the FSI in the USA, for native English speakers.

[Jingthing]

Correction: Not one of the 5 most difficult language to learn. It still ranks within the top 10, according to the FSI in the USA, for native English speakers.

Thanks for that. I reckoned it was high on the difficulty scale, but that's really high.

[thanchart]

A native Chinese speaker has an edge learning Thai. The tonal thing.

While I agree that he/she has an edge, effort still has to be made to speak with the corrent diction (as the Thais call it - puut chaat - speak with accurate tones/diction).

Where I work, there are 4 Asians (out of more foreigners) who can speak Thai.

1. A Native Chinese who as been in Thailand for 2 years (studied Masters in Chulalankong Uni) and now working - His vocabulary is stronger than mine but his diction not as clear (but better than typical farang's who can speak Thai). He did not focus on spaeking accurately while he was learning and learnt speaking with classmates.
   
2. Me - a Chinese (but not from China) and my Chinese language not considered good (esp acedemically) but when I learnt Thai (very much on my own), I focus a lot on diction/pronunciation . Since I arrived 4 months ago, most Thais i spoke to consider that I spoke acdurately. I've never lived in Thailand and only visited a few times a year for maxumun 2 weeks per visit. Inerestingly both the person above and I learned from the same teaching material - Thai for Beginners. I was very serious in using the book. Learned to read and write as well ,though did not have chance to progress to Advenced level and forgotren most of it as I l lived in Philippines for 6 years and did not meet even a single Thai there, let alone speak, read and write
   
3. The 3rd is a native Filipino who has been here for 2 yers with his Filipina wife. He can speak some Thai but not so good with the tones and depends mostly on English,
   
4. The 34th person is a also native Filipino who has been here for 7 yers and married a Thai wife. He is amazing - diction/tone is perfect and speaks fluently just like a Thai. He told me his wife drilled him into speaking and pronoucing propertly. Well her effforts paid off. He is my inspiration .so to speak. If he can read and write like he can speak, he can pass off as a Thai!
   

[RickBradford]

Easily the hardest language I have learnt is Vietnamese, even though it is written in a modified Roman alphabet.

First, you have to be spot on with your tones -- there are no polysyllabic words such as อุบัติเหตุ where you can murder the tones and still get by with it.

Second, Vietnamese people are unused to Westerners speaking their language, so their default position is to screw their faces up into a grimace of non-comprehension, and try to talk English back at you.

Third, you have to be spot on with your aspirated v non-aspirated consonants, and your vowel positioning.

Fourth, everyone seems to speak the language differently

Fifth, there are far fewer resources (eg forums such as this) for getting useful feedback.

Sixth, Vietnamese will always try to insist on speaking English to you, even if they know almost none.

Apart from Vietnamese, I believe that Georgian would be among the hardest to learn, with Finnish not far behind.

Greek is easy; loads of robust consonants and vowels, and an almost completely regular grammar, with a phonetic writing system that takes no more than a day to learn.

[CaptHaddock]

A native Chinese speaker has an edge learning Thai. The tonal thing.

Apparently this depends on the Chinese dialect. A Fujianese in my class got the tones quickly, but the Yunnanese struggled like a Westerner. Seems that the Fujianese tones are similar to the 5 Thai tones, but the Yunnanese tones are not similar at all.

[AngelofDeath]

After going to various websites which talk about the hardest language to learn, the top 5 would be Arabic, Mandarin, Korean, Japanese, Finnish in general. However, the difficulty really depends on the individual and his/her background of foreign and native languages.

[makescents]

I agree with the points above, I would also say the Greek is a fairly difficult one.

And as for the thai language, i find it fairly easy to learn, not much hassle with the grammar, but somehow have little progress in understanding it by television, radio.

The problem is what type of programmes are you watching on tv?

I tend not to watch the news, its a bit like "The Queens English", very polite and proper but bears no semblance to whats actually spoken on the streets.

For the radio, when driving in the car I listen to , Luk Tung Mahanakorn Kao Sip Ha Family, or in English, 95FM, you will see these stickers on most taxis in Bkk.

The language used in the above radio station is closer to everyday speach patterns.

Its actually funny when you listen to BGs talk English, many think their English sucks, but all they are doing is translating from Thai straight into English.

As for Arabic, I found if you dont think too much and listen to the locals it was quite easy, depends of course what version of Arabic you speak, Royal Egyptian or Yemeni.

I found it here: http://www2.mcot.net/radio/95.html

I tried listening using MCOTs app but it doesn't buffer correctly and therefore isn't clear.

[cattoc]

Easily the hardest language I have learnt is Vietnamese, even though it is written in a modified Roman alphabet.

First, you have to be spot on with your tones -- there are no polysyllabic words such as อุบัติเหตุ where you can murder the tones and still get by with it.

Second, Vietnamese people are unused to Westerners speaking their language, so their default position is to screw their faces up into a grimace of non-comprehension, and try to talk English back at you.

Third, you have to be spot on with your aspirated v non-aspirated consonants, and your vowel positioning.

Fourth, everyone seems to speak the language differently

Fifth, there are far fewer resources (eg forums such as this) for getting useful feedback.

Sixth, Vietnamese will always try to insist on speaking English to you, even if they know almost none.

Apart from Vietnamese, I believe that Georgian would be among the hardest to learn, with Finnish not far behind.

Greek is easy; loads of robust consonants and vowels, and an almost completely regular grammar, with a phonetic writing system that takes no more than a day to learn.

I have lived in Indonesia, Thailand China and now in Vietnam.. in each of the previous countries (except Vietnam) I was up and running with basic conversation quite quickly and for business discussions where I was the sole foeigner - it was local language only with English summaries. I generally understood the jist of local language discussions. But whilst I am happy to listen to Vietnamese conversation learning to speak basic Vietnamese is just not a happening thing for me. Maybe I am just gettin' old!

[doggie888888]

I wonder if the brains of those people who have to memorise symbols in their languages like the Chinese develop differently to those whose language has an alphabet like English or Thai?

Interesting...I wonder if dyslexia is a problem for a native Chinese reader/writer?

[TexasRanger]

I found Thai and Mandarin fairly easy but for some reason struggled badly with Norwegian and Dutch, no idea why.

[meadish_sweetball]

I wonder if the brains of those people who have to memorise symbols in their languages like the Chinese develop differently to those whose language has an alphabet like English or Thai?

Some speculation here:

http://www.hanyuman....ain-wiring.html

I would dare say it is possible, but it must be difficult to figure out hen vs. egg.

Everything we do habitually changes our brain. When we have acquired a skill as a result of training, the training activity tends to leave traces in the wiring and density of cells in the cerebral areas involved in completing the task. Musical training is particularly beneficial as it activates so many brain facilities, and musical training at an early age has proven to have benefits that last long into old age.

Regular mindfulness meditation of just 20 minutes per day for a few months has proven to have had visible positive effects on the brain.

[tannedwalk]

I am doing a Southeast Asian Studies degree and Thai is my chosen language. I haven't found it particularly difficult. The writing system is fairly easy to get to grips with and it's grammar seems relatively straightforward. The tones are obviously quite a challenge for native English speakers, like myself, or native speakers of other non-tonal languages learning one for the first time.

My partner is from Poland and I have been learning Polish for several years and find that much more challenging. It has a ridiculously complex grammar, is highly inflected and tbh I've found it an absolute headache!

My partner studied in Helsinki and studied Finnish for a year and she said that was tough. It has 15 cases I think.