Thai Language Meetup in Phuket

[danphuket]

Hi everyone! I would like to invite all Thai language enthusiasts in Phuket to meet on the 28 of November , 7 pm, Pan Bistro, Thalang, Cherngtalay. To make it more organized I put information here: http://www.meetup.com/Phuket-Thai-Language-Group/events/151471852/ If you wish to comment kindly register there. It is free and takes a few minutes. I am still not sure about the place so I would be glad to hear suggestions.

I believe there are many students learning Thai either with a tutor or independently, which makes it it difficult at times to keep yourself motivated. We can also share learning techniques, exchange textbooks, music, etc.

Beginners will find it beneficial to have a chat with those who learnt the language for awhile.

Cheers!

Dan

[danphuket]

Hey guys!

As there were no people coming I have canceled the meetup for the time being

( :oops: ).

Those who are interested to have regular meetings of Thai language learners in Phuket are welcome to send me PM.

Yours,

Dan

[phuketsub]

Sorry to hear about the lack of interest. It seems to me that so much has changed since I moved here in the late 1980s, when you really had to learn Thai to get by. Few of the young foreigners I meet here seem to have much interest in learning it and those that do seem to give up very quickly.

This strikes me as somewhat strange because the materials for learning it are so much better than they were back in the day, when all we had was the Mary Haas dictionary.

I would encourage anyone with an interest to pursue it; it's like anything in life: you only get out what you put in.

I would highly recommend anyone who is interested to check out the ThaiVisa Thai Language forum.

Edited November 25, 2013 by phuketsub

[eezergood]

I hope he didnt expect interest from only posting the note for about 2.5 hours....

[danphuket]

Thank you for your reply.

I am Russian myself and it seems really strange to me, that there are only few Russian expats who are interested in learning the language, and those who do stop at basic level. There is a category that knows the language really well but a very small group, which is sad, considering the number of tourists coming here from this country. Lots of the problems arising in Thailand are consequences of miscommunication due to language barrier...

[danphuket]

I hope he didnt expect interest from only posting the note for about 2.5 hours....

Hmm... I have posted it here maybe 3 days ago. No replies what so ever.

Although I agree that it takes more time to find people.

[Dualeck]

Think this is a very good initiative and i would gladly be up for a meet up. Unfortunately i didn't see the post until now, and if i had i would have responded earlier. Maybe you should give peolpe a couple of more days to se the post? Its weird because i check up this site relatively frequently but i haven't seen the post earlier. Considered posting on Reddit? Reddit/r/thailand. Relatively high activity there.

[danphuket]

Think this is a very good initiative and i would gladly be up for a meet up. Unfortunately i didn't see the post until now, and if i had i would have responded earlier. Maybe you should give peolpe a couple of more days to se the post? Its weird because i check up this site relatively frequently but i haven't seen the post earlier. Considered posting on Reddit? Reddit/r/thailand. Relatively high activity there.

Thank you for your interest. I guess you are right that it should take more time before anyone will reply back.

Those who are interested let me know. Once there will be at least 5-10 people I will notify once more.

Reddit? Haven't tried it before. Will take a look at it.

[keestha]

Learning Thai it wouldn't bring so much talking to other foreigners doing the same thing. They are likely to teach you incorrectly, or you might do this to them.

Lately sitting in a restaurant I heard an expat teaching a tourist how to call the waitress in Thai, he instructed her to call out a word that can be translated as "filth", similar to the correct word which is pronounced using another tone (rising instead of flat).

The only advantage would be to exchange tips about learning materials. OP, did you download fundamentals of the Thai language ?

Edited November 26, 2013 by keestha

[danphuket]

Learning Thai it wouldn't bring so much talking to other foreigners doing the same thing. They are likely to teach you incorrectly, or you might do this to them.

Lately sitting in a restaurant I heard an expat teaching a tourist how to call the waitress in Thai, he instructed her to call out a word that can be translated as "filth", similar to the correct word which is pronounced using another tone (rising instead of flat).

The only advantage would be to exchange tips about learning materials. OP, did you download fundamentals of the Thai language ?

Agree that foreigners tend to pronounce things wrong.

That is exactly what I am looking for - exchanging information about learning materials and strategies.There are of course plenty of good materials there and in practice if you have enough stamina and motivation you can learn things on your own. Having said that, I guess it would be nice anyway to meet those who are enthusiastic about learning Thai. If I met someone who learnt the language when I just started, around 2 years ago, my approach would be different. And even now I am sure I could learn things more efficiently.

I do have that book and many others. Thai reference grammar by helen james, Higbie's book on grammar, Benjawan Poomsan all 3 parts, Practical Situtaional Thai, Pimsluer, Manee Manaa all 12 books and you name it...

[stevehaigh]

i doubt much would be learned by a bunch of farangs getting together to speak Thai anyhow.

[danphuket]

i doubt much would be learned by a bunch of farangs getting together to speak Thai anyhow.

It is not about teaching each other Thai but rather sharing experience about learning strategies, materials; sharing info about schools attended and so on. Besides it helps to keep yourself motivated.

[jimihendrix]

For myself, a mixture of Pimsleurs Thai for listening/explanation, and free android applications for extra vocabulary have been a great way to keep on pushing forward even when Im lazy. Youtube has a million videos with phrases which really help from various Thai national speakers. Learning the alphabet: how to say it (theres a bunch of vocab) then how to read and write it basically takes some of the mystery out of it and really helps with the root sounds of the language.

Would still rate my thai at "Basic but optimistic". After years I feel like what I CAN say is understood much more often.

[danphuket]

I used Pimsluers. It is a nice program. It helped me with pronounciation. For vocab the best application in my opinion is anki. Especially if you program it to input thai every time you are asked a word.

I don't have problems with being understood. Constructing sentences in a gramatically correct way, speaking naturally, listening are my biggest challenges. I can understand lakorn 40-50% but when it gets to tv shows or talking to some construction worker with southern dialect sometimes I feel that they speak some alien language...

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