My personal translator and guide

[WilliamCave]

A Friend of mine was over for a few days and we went out shopping for few things and different stores to go to.

Many words in Thai I don't know because I don't use them every day.

So I take my son with me , and my mate was just floored how my son could change between the languages so fast with out thought.

And resently I went on a trip with him and glad he was there because the areas I was in there is no English

But on the other side of the coin Thais say he can not speak English , because some Thais try talking English to him and he only responds back in Thai

So I asked him why he won't talk to Thais in English and his reply was ,, dad they don't understand English the same as you and me,,,

Because he actually speaks English , not thai-English or some version there of.

And he gives me the real translation and helps me greatly .

I will learn other words and more Thai but it is so easy for him and it also helps him when I talk to him and get him to translate so he is also learning every day with me.

[Soutpeel]

You will find anyone who is brought up in a dual language environment from a young age will have the ability to switch between languages without much thought. Learning a language is harder as you get older

Also when some one speaks to him in Thai or English and he responds in the opposite language is quite common as well between fluent dual language speaker's, it may seem a bit bizarre to listen to ie a conversation going on in two different languages, but he has stated his reason for doing it

[WilliamCave]

You will find anyone who is brought up in a dual language environment from a young age will have the ability to switch between languages without much thought. Learning a language is harder as you get older

Also when some one speaks to him in Thai or English and he responds in the opposite language is quite common as well between fluent dual language speaker's, it may seem a bit bizarre to listen to ie a conversation going on in two different languages, but he has stated his reason for doing it

Your correct it is different listening to 2 conversations going in different languages

I in courage him to flip between the languages.

Because in the future he could have some good job options.

And his southern thai dialect is perfect to and he understand some Laos .

[Ajaan]

You will find anyone who is brought up in a dual language environment from a young age will have the ability to switch between languages without much thought. Learning a language is harder as you get older

Also when some one speaks to him in Thai or English and he responds in the opposite language is quite common as well between fluent dual language speaker's, it may seem a bit bizarre to listen to ie a conversation going on in two different languages, but he has stated his reason for doing it

Good points, except for the one about learning a language getting more difficult with age...that's a huge myth.

It's much more accurate to say that the younger the language learner, the less inhibited they are when learning a language, which means they're not afraid to look like a fool making mistakes and causing strange sounds to come out of their mouths. Sadly, the two above fears are what gets worse as one gets older (and as one's ego grows), NOT the ability to learn a language.

Also, the young have this on their side: the fervent desire to FIT IN. So when they're thrown in with a group that speaks a language they don't, and gaining acceptance by that group requires learning the language, goddamn it, they will learn it, and FAST--and with flawless pronunciation to boot (see above paragraph).

Unfortunately, this non-ego-laden desire to communicate and click with others fades with age...but the ABILITY to learn a new language does not.

I started learning probably the most difficult SEAsian language to learn when I was 27; I didn't start learning Thai and Lao until I was 42. Now in my mid-50s, I'm fluent in the first (to the point of teaching it in major universities), and pretty decent in the other two.

[tim armstrong]

Interesting topic. I knew a woman who did translation for a War Crimes Tribunal. She would spend 3-5 hrs daily, translating between English, Portuguese, Indonesian and Tetun (Timorese) simultaneously, during proceedings. At the end of the day she had to go somewhere for a couple of hours alone, to 'find' herself again. I think some people do have a gift for language. My wife speaks four - Thai, Mandarin, Japanese, and English. But she learned entirely from conversation, not from books as she left school at 15yrs. I've tried a few ways to learn languages, and can speak a bit of several including Thai, but I think being immersed only in Thai ( without using English) is the way to go.