I Want To Speak/read Thai, Help

[tallen1966]

Hi,

I'd like to learn how to speak Thai. Are there any schools that teach farangs in Pattaya? How much do they cost? Any recommendations? Or should I just learn on my own by talking to Thais in their language? How did you guys learn Thai?

Thanks

[maprao]

Hi,

I'd like to learn how to speak Thai. Are there any schools that teach farangs in Pattaya? How much do they cost? Any recommendations? Or should I just learn on my own by talking to Thais in their language? How did you guys learn Thai?

Thanks

Sorry this is not very helpful. I speak 4 European Languages but "mai Thai" and that is not the drink! After 7 years I still cannot master the basics, maybe its me. I think it is the tones the lack of tenses who knows

Why are you learning the language? Just a thought if it to understand your GF / wife or their family they will soon break off into Lao Khemer or some other dialect to prevent that

I wish you the best of luck and try and be a bit more positive than me!!!

[sproket]

I got a book. Every day I would try to learn 5 words (not easy). Eventually I was able to talk a little and the Thais will help if you get it wrong. Soon you can watch tv and pick up the general conversation. This is a start and it’s working for me.

[Mobi]

The quickest and most effective way to learn Thai is to shack up with a girl who speaks NO English - and I mean NO English. But you must not teach her English, you have to make her teach you Thai. It won't be great Thai, but after a while your knowledge of the language will improve. It's the best way to learn simple conversation quickly, and you'll also find that the words you learn to speak will be reasonably clear to most Thais.

Books are fine, dictionaries with transliterations are fine, and Thai schools are fine; especially if you've got a few years to spare, and there are also those who swear that the best way to learn to speak is to also learn to read and write the language - but I can assure you that there are many farangs who speak very fluent Thai without being able to read it.

There's a forum here dedicated to learning and speaking Thai - why don't you post your question there? I'm sure you will receive many learned and wise responses - but I doubt many will repeat the advice I have given above.

Edited June 29, 2006 by Mobi D'Ark

[Thailandvisitor]

North Star Library on Sukhumvit runs Thai lessons for farangs.

Monday and Thursday mornings from 10.15am till about 12.30. The cost is 100 baht per day for non library members and 50 baht for members.

The first hour is taken by the English teacher from the school next door and the second hour is conversation pratice taken by a Thai lady who speaks no English. (Your scheme Mobi).

Its difficult but fun!! Americans, Australians, English, New Zealanders and Philipinos make up the class at the moment. (Also one Spanish lady).

[Mobi]

It's a funny thing, but I lived with two ladies in a row who spoke no English. The second lady is now my wife of three years. Now she was, and still is, desperate to learn Englsih, and has daily English essons. Very selfishly, until vey recently, I used to reject all her entreaties for me to speak English to her. However, over the past few months, I have relented, as my Thai is going great guns these days, and she really needs to practise her English with me.

I'm telling you all this, because the minute I stopped relying 100% on my Thai for communication, my Thai a slipped backwards a notch or two. I get lazy and revert to English when the conversataion gets difficult, whereas before I would rack my brains and find a way to say whatever it was in Thai.

This is the point about no English whatsoever - it makes your brain really work hard - but it won't work if you can revert to English to solve the problem.

[tallen1966]

Thanks Mobi and Thailandvisitor. That is very good advice. I am like most Americans, I only speak English. I'm terrible with languages, I've tried and failed with other languages. Now, I have more motivation and passion to learn. I'll be spending a lot of time in Thailand in the future. I'm currently using the Pimsleur method. It cost $200 and came with 16 CD's. Basically, it's just listen and repeat. No books and no writing. I've learned a lot and I recommend it. It has given me a firm foundation and the hope that I can do it.

[Noel]

'tallen1966', check your Private Messages...

[hopeless]

Yes can you copy them CD's for me too

Tuk Com has some learn thai cds also...

[davidbkk]

Hi,

I'd like to learn how to speak Thai. Are there any schools that teach farangs in Pattaya? How much do they cost? Any recommendations? Or should I just learn on my own by talking to Thais in their language? How did you guys learn Thai?

Thanks

these sites might help you too

thai-language

learning thai

[lor]

The senior Thai monk in the local temple here in Birmingham England, is connected with a Thai/UK charity that looks after children in NE Thailand. He told me if I really wanted to learn Thai I should spend 6 months at his school trying to teach a little English to the children. I would pay for the transport, he would pay for me staying there. He guarenteed at the end of the 6 months I would be speaking and understanding Thai. He also said I would not hear one English word spoken for all the time I would be there.

I thought it was a great offer but family commitments stopped me going.

Chris

[meadish_sweetball]

Immersion (being completely surrounded by people who only speak the language you are trying to learn) is one way of learning, and it works great for some people. Others are better at receiving organized tutoring by a professional teacher in a more traditional way. You have to try what works best for yourself.

The people I know personally who speak the best Thai, have studied it formally and also know how to read and write. That does not mean that this is the best suggestion for everyone though - some people indeed become fluent without formal teaching.

We all have different strengths; different language skills use different parts of the brain - some people are excellent at emulating sounds but crap at catching grammar and speech patterns. Others learn best when they get to teach others what they have learned themselves.

Either way, immersion is definitely important in the learning process, as ONLY formal learning also has its clear limits.

It is just that for those people who respond well to formal learning, it is a good idea to have the basic systems and patterns presented to you in theory before you go into immersion - that way you have a blueprint for navigation, which makes it easier to put together the pieces of the puzzle when you go out to practice.

The reason why many adult learners benefit from formal instruction is because we already have blueprints and neural pathways established in our brains for one or more languages.

These systems can help us as tools for comparison if we are aware of how they work, BUT they can also disturb us, because subconsciously we try to fit the new language into the old blueprints we already have - which is not always helpful as languages are different. This goes for grammar as well as sounds.

When we hear a Thai person saying a word with อื , which is a vowel sound that doesn't exist in English or any other Indo-European language, we will therefore look for the closest equivalent we know - which in the case of English is the 'ooh' vowel as in 'root' or 'loose'. The problem is that Thai has an 'ooh' sound TOO (namely อู), and the difference between these two sounds is phonemic in Thai (it carries meaning).

Hence, คือ and คู are two different words with different meanings... Formal learning will present these sounds as distinct, whereas learning from a person who is not a teacher relies on them being able to successfully explain to you that there is a difference, and correct you when you pronounce something wrong. If they fail to drill the right sounds into you, you will be left with an incorrect pronunciation of some sounds, and the more you use this, the more difficult it will be to change when you realize your mistake.

Long winded post, hope I am not boring you.

Anyway, to sum it up, find the method that works best for yourself, and good luck - Thais are very helpful and supportive of Westerners learning their language which is a big plus - and if you get stuck you can always pose your questions in the Thai Language forum.

[RAZZELL]

Immersion (being completely surrounded by people who only speak the language you are trying to learn) is one way of learning, and it works great for some people. Others are better at receiving organized tutoring by a professional teacher in a more traditional way. You have to try what works best for yourself.

The people I know personally who speak the best Thai, have studied it formally and also know how to read and write. That does not mean that this is the best suggestion for everyone though - some people indeed become fluent without formal teaching.

We all have different strengths; different language skills use different parts of the brain - some people are excellent at emulating sounds but crap at catching grammar and speech patterns. Others learn best when they get to teach others what they have learned themselves.

Either way, immersion is definitely important in the learning process, as ONLY formal learning also has its clear limits.

It is just that for those people who respond well to formal learning, it is a good idea to have the basic systems and patterns presented to you in theory before you go into immersion - that way you have a blueprint for navigation, which makes it easier to put together the pieces of the puzzle when you go out to practice.

The reason why many adult learners benefit from formal instruction is because we already have blueprints and neural pathways established in our brains for one or more languages.

These systems can help us as tools for comparison if we are aware of how they work, BUT they can also disturb us, because subconsciously we try to fit the new language into the old blueprints we already have - which is not always helpful as languages are different. This goes for grammar as well as sounds.

When we hear a Thai person saying a word with ?? , which is a vowel sound that doesn't exist in English or any other Indo-European language, we will therefore look for the closest equivalent we know - which in the case of English is the 'ooh' vowel as in 'root' or 'loose'. The problem is that Thai has an 'ooh' sound TOO (namely ??), and the difference between these two sounds is phonemic in Thai (it carries meaning).

Hence, ??? and ?? are two different words with different meanings... Formal learning will present these sounds as distinct, whereas learning from a person who is not a teacher relies on them being able to successfully explain to you that there is a difference, and correct you when you pronounce something wrong. If they fail to drill the right sounds into you, you will be left with an incorrect pronunciation of some sounds, and the more you use this, the more difficult it will be to change when you realize your mistake.

Long winded post, hope I am not boring you.

Anyway, to sum it up, find the method that works best for yourself, and good luck - Thais are very helpful and supportive of Westerners learning their language which is a big plus - and if you get stuck you can always pose your questions in the Thai Language forum.

Great post...

How long would it take for "Mr average" to learn enough to "get by" day-to-day...as in short conversations, ordering food etc?

A couple of months of full-time tuition?

Thanks in advance

[Mobi]

[

Great post...

How long would it take for "Mr average" to learn enough to "get by" day-to-day...as in short conversations, ordering food etc?

A couple of months of full-time tuition?

Thanks in advance

Others can tell you better than I, but:

The more words you can string together into a sentence, the better chance you have of being understood. Single words rarely work, as you will not be saying them 100% correctly, but a string of words usually works fine. Not too different to a Thai trying to speak Englsih to you. How often has your gf or someone said a single word - for example: "shirt", and it turns out she means "church". Church is a really hard word for Thais to say - but if she says "On Sunday, I go to shirt", you will know exctly what she means. Same with Thai. get it?

Even after nearly 30 years of exposure to the language and Thai culture, I still struggle with Thai food. Of course I know all the usual stuff, and my vocabulary is increasing all the time, but there are still lieterally hundreds of dishes that I eat from time to time which I don't know how to order. That's where the Thai readers have a big advantage - not only can they read the food shop signs ( i.e do they sell noodles, cow mun gai, cow moo dang or whatever?), but they can also read the menus.

Even after all these years, I try to avoid eating Thai food out without a Thai with me to help with the ordering - but can do if need be, but am somewhat limited in what I eat.

How long will it take? If you apply yourself and really practise all the time with non English speakers, you may reach some kind of basic converation level in about 1 year - give or take.

All good fun.

Edited July 6, 2006 by Mobi D'Ark

[PMK]

There is an important disparity between your subject line and the body of your message. The subject says 'read', the body doesn't. If your goal is to be fluent, then start learning how to read now. I believe it is extremely difficult to become really fluent in any language without learning to read it as well.

Can you imagine learning English or whatever your mother language is without the ability to use a dictionary??

Peter

Hi,

I'd like to learn how to speak Thai. Are there any schools that teach farangs in Pattaya? How much do they cost? Any recommendations? Or should I just learn on my own by talking to Thais in their language? How did you guys learn Thai?

Thanks

[jdinasia]

The senior Thai monk in the local temple here in Birmingham England, is connected with a Thai/UK charity that looks after children in NE Thailand. He told me if I really wanted to learn Thai I should spend 6 months at his school trying to teach a little English to the children. I would pay for the transport, he would pay for me staying there. He guarenteed at the end of the 6 months I would be speaking and understanding Thai. He also said I would not hear one English word spoken for all the time I would be there.

I thought it was a great offer but family commitments stopped me going.

Chris

OK ... I can point out the obvious disadvantages here. (obvious to those that live here and the exact same disadvantages apply to Mobi's scheme in all likelihood too)

If you are learning Thai in the NE ... or from a random girl you shack up with (likely to be from the NE). You won't be learning Central Thai as much as you will be learning Pasaa Pak Isaan.

Far better to learn more formal central Thai as a) it is understood everywhere. and it is socially acceptable at all levels.

[Mobi]

The senior Thai monk in the local temple here in Birmingham England, is connected with a Thai/UK charity that looks after children in NE Thailand. He told me if I really wanted to learn Thai I should spend 6 months at his school trying to teach a little English to the children. I would pay for the transport, he would pay for me staying there. He guarenteed at the end of the 6 months I would be speaking and understanding Thai. He also said I would not hear one English word spoken for all the time I would be there.

I thought it was a great offer but family commitments stopped me going.

Chris

OK ... I can point out the obvious disadvantages here. (obvious to those that live here and the exact same disadvantages apply to Mobi's scheme in all likelihood too)

If you are learning Thai in the NE ... or from a random girl you shack up with (likely to be from the NE). You won't be learning Central Thai as much as you will be learning Pasaa Pak Isaan.

Far better to learn more formal central Thai as a) it is understood everywhere. and it is socially acceptable at all levels.

Actually my ladies both had spent many years in BKK, so I reckon their Thai was pretty well standard. I also spent 26 years years with a BKK based Thai so I guess that helped also.

I'm no expert, but in my lady's village (Sa Kaeo - but they are all ethnic Issaan and speak Lao at home), I thought they all learned proper Thai at school. All the youngsters speak Thai from school at a very early age, and as far as I can see they are completely bi-lingual. The teachers are not necessarily from the area, and as far as I am aware, their Thai is "central" Thai. many go on to university , colleges or decent jobs in Bangkok and I wasn't aware of any major difference in their spoken Thai.

Correect me if I'm wrong.

[meadish_sweetball]

Agree with Mobi that those who do go through formal schooling in any part of the country will be able to speak Standard Thai almost as well, or in some cases, just as well, as the people born and raised in Central Thailand.

However, those from a different part of Thailand than the Central Plains who have inadequate schooling will rarely be as proficient in Central Thai, and are unlikely to be ideal teachers to a Western beginner.

My own estimate for the average Joe is also like Mobi's; about 1 year before you are able to have reasonably fluent everyday conversations.

And if you want my persona opinion, do learn how to read, it is really not that difficult, and you will not regret it.

[hiromj]

And if you want my persona opinion, do learn how to read, it is really not that difficult, and you will not regret it.

Sorry, slightly off the subject but this is the same with learning Japanese. Learning the alphabet first makes all the difference in pronouncing the words correctly. Sorry, back to Thai now. BTW, I have managed to learn about 10 Thai words by accident. I should study.