Advantages to being able to speak Thai proficiently...Name them!

[lostoday]

I came on here at post #129 to offer a different perspective because I couldn't believe the load of crap I was reading. I get so tired of reading about people that think they are more Thai than the Thais, think that they get such special treatment, and basically use this thread to boast about how amazing they are.

One poster said "But, in reality, life in Thailand for those who speak fluent Thai is actually far better than what people who can't speak the language can even imagine." Really? If that is the case, then why are my foreign friends who are fluent in Thai and have lived here for many years not telling me how much of a neccesity it is?

You can bring up sex tourism and doubt whether I date girls that aren't involved in that trade all you want. But to suggest that "some of them might be part-time and casually in the trade" is just ridiculous. You really think that I or any halfway observant human being can't tell the difference between a prostitute or not? If one can't tell the difference between a prostitute or not, they should never come to this country looking for any woman. And speaking to them in English as pretty much a dead giveaway on where or how they learned English.

Well finally I'm glad you get it. That's what we all have been trying to tell you. If they speak English well and don't want you to speak Thai they are hookers. Congrats you finally figured it out.

[Gecko123]

I came on here at post #129 to offer a different perspective because I couldn't believe the load of crap I was reading. I get so tired of reading about people that think they are more Thai than the Thais, think that they get such special treatment, and basically use this thread to boast about how amazing they are.

One poster said "But, in reality, life in Thailand for those who speak fluent Thai is actually far better than what people who can't speak the language can even imagine." Really? If that is the case, then why are my foreign friends who are fluent in Thai and have lived here for many years not telling me how much of a neccesity it is?

You can bring up sex tourism and doubt whether I date girls that aren't involved in that trade all you want. But to suggest that "some of them might be part-time and casually in the trade" is just ridiculous. You really think that I or any halfway observant human being can't tell the difference between a prostitute or not? If one can't tell the difference between a prostitute or not, they should never come to this country looking for any woman. And speaking to them in English as pretty much a dead giveaway on where or how they learned English.

I summarized in post #88 (pg. 4) all of the benefits people had cited on this thread for learning Thai. What you characterize as a 'load of crap', and boastful crowing about being Thai-er than Thai, I would describe as thoughtful, real-life examples based on experience.

Why your "foreign friends who are fluent in Thai" are telling you there's no need to learn Thai is a mystery to me. You'll have to ask your friends this question. I can tell you that if you research similar threads on TVF and other expat forums (irrespective of country) you'll be hard pressed to find many advocating that foreign language skills aren't beneficial. Imagine a French person or expatriate saying learning French has no benefit. C'est folie!

To answer your question about how obvious it is to tell whether someone is a prostitute, if a technical college student or an attractive factory worker goes down to Sukumvit on her day off or after she gets off work for the express purpose of making herself available for a sexual liaison with a foreign man in exchange for money, no, it is not always obvious whether she is a prostitute.

In the process of following this thread, I have been asking myself whether I could think of any other instances where someone has argued that not having a given skill was preferable to having that skill. I recall that a nephew once announced to me that college wasn't for him because he had come to the conclusion that most people who went to college "weren't happy." I was rather offended when he cited me as a prime example of someone who had been to college, but didn't seem to be particularly happy. At the time, my nephew worked for Walmart as a counter clerk. Since that conversation 20 years have passed by, and we're not presently in close enough contact for me to report on what level of happiness he currently enjoys in his life. I can tell you, however, that he's still working at Walmart. As a counter clerk. My point being, that strenuously arguing against learning and developing new skills might not be a life skill you want to embrace so heartily. Just a word of advice from a guy who has been around the block a few times.

Edited July 23, 2015 by Gecko123

[1BADDAT]

To the poster above, my viewpoint that I have stated numerous times is learning thai isn't a necessity for me to be productive and happy here at this point in time.

My other main point I've also stated many times as well is that learning thai will most definitely improve opportunities here. But it is not going to make ones life exponentially better. If it did, I would see a major difference in between me and my foreign friends that are fluent.

I am not against learning Thai, I am just learning it very slowly. Maybe one day I will have more motivation to become fluent.

[Johnniey]

To the poster above, my viewpoint that I have stated numerous times is learning thai isn't a necessity for me to be productive and happy here at this point in time.

My other main point I've also stated many times as well is that learning thai will most definitely improve opportunities here. But it is not going to make ones life exponentially better. If it did, I would see a major difference in between me and my foreign friends that are fluent.

I am not against learning Thai, I am just learning it very slowly. Maybe one day I will have more motivation to become fluent.

Pad wan bprakan bproong

[Thai at Heart]

You will work out that the buffalo died 3 times already.

[bermondburi]

A lot of people seem to think that Thai has no benefit outside of Thailand. Well that depends on if you mix with Thais outside of Thailand. We live in Saudi Arabia and have a large group of Thais that we socialise with every weekend. Many of these don't speak English very well although they may speak Arabic quite well. Speaking Thai has meant that I've got a while lot of friends. So it does come in handy outside of Thailand, in my experience.

[brewsterbudgen]

There are obviously advantages if you live here and can speak Thai. No doubt there are even more if you can read and write Thai. But it's also perfectly possible to live here with only very basic Thai.

From this thread it would seem speaking Thai well also makes you unbearably smug!

[fang37]

Ability to speak better than elementary Thai is a real achievement in my opinion. Admittedly, I do not consider that I have a natural flair for learning languages.

If you have a vested interest, your enthusiasm will increase.

After more than a decade, my proficiency is limited to numbers & basic small talk. I suggest that the majority of expats achieve no better than this.

Where I live, the locals are even surprised with this limited ability. Moreover, the locals do not seem to have any interest in learning English.

[nojoma]

any suggestions for learning thai online???

[1BADDAT]

any suggestions for learning thai online???

No one is who is fluent in Thai is here to help you, they just want to boast.

I tried doing Podcasts while driving, but I couldnt concentrate on both and found it incredibly tedious.

[lostoday]

any suggestions for learning thai online???

https://www.livelingua.com/dli-thai-course.php

Giant course texts and audio and it is all for free.

A couple of audio examples below.

https://www.livelingua.com/dli/Thai/Thai%20Student%20Workbook/audios2/01%20Track%201.wma

https://www.livelingua.com/dli/Thai/Thai%20Homework/audios/01%20Track%201.wma

[Gecko123]

There are tons of on-line learning resources. The below website is an excellent resource.

http://www.thai-language.com

TVF also has a Thai language forum which can guide you to on-line resources.

If you Google on line Thai language courses I am sure there are tons out there. I have never taken an online course so sorry I can't give you any specific recommendations.

The two books which helped me the most when I was starting to learn Thai are:

Thai for Beginners by Benjawan Poomsan Becker, Paiboon Publishing ISBN 1-887521-00-3

Thai-English Student's Dictionary by Mary Haas, Stanford University Press ISBN 0-8047-0567-4

If you are looking for a compact beginner's dictionary with a superbly useful vocabulary selection that can easily slip in your pocket, I have found none better than:

Robertson's Practical English-Thai Dictionary, Charles E. Tuttle Company, ISBN 0-8048-0706-X

Best of luck in your studies.

[nojoma]

thx 4 all the suggestions.......

[rgs2001uk]

There are obviously advantages if you live here and can speak Thai. No doubt there are even more if you can read and write Thai. But it's also perfectly possible to live here with only very basic Thai.

From this thread it would seem speaking Thai well also makes you unbearably smug!

I dont claim to be fluent in Thai, doubt if I ever will, for the simple reason there are whole swathes of the language I have never bothered learning, religious, legal, medical and engineering terms just for starters.

As for reading the language, over on another thread some guy is asking about a pick up truck to move stuff to Pattaya, guess he is unable to walk out onto the soi and read the dozens of, rot rap jang notices, cost is 3,000 baht per day, plus 1,000 baht for petrol (which is a rip off coz they use gas, but never mind), this poor guy will probaly be ripped off for about 10k baht.

He probably cant read the lang air baan see roi baht notices, and has to go to some English speaking website.

If the gas bottle at home runs out I am able to phone the shop and have them deliver (NO delivery charge), no need to wait for the mrs.

I had problems with CTH, I was able to phone 1619, and 15 minutes later the problem was solved, rather than waiting all day with no telly to watch til the mrs got home.

Not smug at all, I value my independance, and too be honest so does my mrs, she doesnt feel as if she has to babysit some deaf dumb and blind kid.

Anyway for the person who was asking about sites, try here.

http://www.lyndonhill.com/FunThai/CONTENTS.html

[simon43]

There are some nice plus points if u can read and write Thai.

As a single (but old!) guy, I enjoy frivolous written chat in Thai every day on dating websites - many Thai women prefer to chat in their native language and are amazed (that is probably the correct word to use), that there is a 'farang' who can actually read and write Thai

But I ain't gonna build them a hotel (old joke)

[meltingpot2015]

There are tons of on-line learning resources. The below website is an excellent resource.

http://www.thai-language.com

TVF also has a Thai language forum which can guide you to on-line resources.

If you Google on line Thai language courses I am sure there are tons out there. I have never taken an online course so sorry I can't give you any specific recommendations.

The two books which helped me the most when I was starting to learn Thai are:

Thai for Beginners by Benjawan Poomsan Becker, Paiboon Publishing ISBN 1-887521-00-3

Thai-English Student's Dictionary by Mary Haas, Stanford University Press ISBN 0-8047-0567-4

If you are looking for a compact beginner's dictionary with a superbly useful vocabulary selection that can easily slip in your pocket, I have found none better than:

Robertson's Practical English-Thai Dictionary, Charles E. Tuttle Company, ISBN 0-8048-0706-X

Best of luck in your studies.

Can we learn the thai alphabet using the Thai for Beginners Book. Thats reading the alphabet and practice writing. Maybe there are some online resources where we can print out worksheets to practice. (so practice writing the same letter many times...is this the best way to learn writing?..I dont know)

It would really help because, I would sometimes hear a thai word or phrase, but as I do not know how to write it in thai, have to rely on doing a web search using english. No problem with words like "mai pen rai". Lots of results come up on the search results. But as the word or phrase becomes more obscure not many results come-up. (as there may be many ways to spell it in English etc..) So learning the alphabet I reckon should definitely help. I am guessing, its one method to expand the vocabulary.

Edited July 25, 2015 by meltingpot2015

[Gecko123]

There are tons of on-line learning resources. The below website is an excellent resource.

http://www.thai-language.com

TVF also has a Thai language forum which can guide you to on-line resources.

If you Google on line Thai language courses I am sure there are tons out there. I have never taken an online course so sorry I can't give you any specific recommendations.

The two books which helped me the most when I was starting to learn Thai are:

Thai for Beginners by Benjawan Poomsan Becker, Paiboon Publishing ISBN 1-887521-00-3

Thai-English Student's Dictionary by Mary Haas, Stanford University Press ISBN 0-8047-0567-4

If you are looking for a compact beginner's dictionary with a superbly useful vocabulary selection that can easily slip in your pocket, I have found none better than:

Robertson's Practical English-Thai Dictionary, Charles E. Tuttle Company, ISBN 0-8048-0706-X

Best of luck in your studies.

Can we learn the thai alphabet using the Thai for Beginners Book. Thats reading the alphabet and practice writing. Maybe there are some online resources where we can print out worksheets to practice. (so practice writing the same letter many times...is this the best way to learn writing?..I dont know)

It would really help because, I would sometimes hear a thai word or phrase, but as I do not know how to write it in thai, have to rely on doing a web search using english. No problem with words like "mai pen rai". Lots of results come up on the search results. But as the word or phrase becomes more obscure not many results come-up. (as there may be many ways to spell it in English etc..) So learning the alphabet I reckon should definitely help. I am guessing, its one method to expand the vocabulary.

Meltingpot2015:

The questions you asked in the second paragraph of your post touch upon a very important dilemma which everyone interested in studying the Thai language sooner or later will encounter.

In a nutshell, learning to read the written language is an imperative to learning to pronounce Thai accurately. In my opinion, trying to rely on transliteration (Thai sounds written in English) will slow your progress considerably. There are many reasons for this. First, many of the sounds of the Thai language are quite different from those found in English so transliteration is often a very rough approximation of the Thai sound. Secondly, there really isn't any standardized transliteration methodology, so attempts at transliteration vary from one book to the next, which is very confusing for the beginning student. Thirdly, and probably most importantly, in terms of long term study, there are only a handful of introductory dictionaries which transliterate into English. This means that once your vocabulary progresses beyond a beginner's level, almost all Thai-English dictionaries drop transliteration, with the expectation that the user can read Thai. Unless you can read Thai you are mostly cut off from these important resources.

The benefit of the Benjawan Benjawan Becker instruction book, the Mary Haas' Thai-English Dictionary and the Robertson's Practical English-Thai Dictionary is that they all use the same phonetic alphabet (as opposed to transliteration) to guide pronunciation. This phonetic alphabet is far more accurate than transliteration. (If you look closely at the photo of the Benjawan book I attached, under the bold typed alphabet letters you will see examples of the phonetic alphabet I am referring to.) Also, the Mary Haas dictionary, (while somewhat dated), has a very large number of entries, so you will not outgrow this dictionary anytime soon.

The dilemma which I alluded to above is that learning to read and write Thai and understanding the mechanics of the tonal system requires a significant investment in time. Most beginning students, understandably, aren't certain whether they want to make this investment, so instead rely on transliteration which often results in imprecise pronunciation, etc., which in turn undermines confidence and frustrates the student. There is nothing wrong with initially relying on transliteration, but as soon as a person makes a serious commitment to learning the language, the learning the writing and tonal system should definitely be step number one and without doubt will result in faster long term progress in being able to speak and comprehend the language.

For this reason, Benjawan Becker's 'Thai for Beginners' emphasizes the writing system, and I have attached a photo of a page from her book. Twenty years ago, the resources available for Thai language study were fairly limited. Finding Benjawan's book was a godsend, and I highly recommend it, especially because, as I said earlier, it can be used in conjunction with the Mary Haas Dictionary. I happen to have lived in the Bay Area in the 1990's and had the opportunity to meet her in her Berkeley home. She is a very kind and encouraging person with a genuine love for the Thai language.

The Thai writing system is quite clever and the study of the language is mentally stimulating. I agree with all of the benefits people cited here for learning the language, and encourage everyone to explore learning the language. You will be rewarded ten fold for your efforts!

Edited July 25, 2015 by Gecko123

[RapidMethod]

There are tons of on-line learning resources. The below website is an excellent resource. http://www.thai-language.com

TVF also has a Thai language forum which can guide you to on-line resources. I have never taken an online course so sorry I can't give you any specific recommendations.

The two books which helped me the most when I was starting to learn Thai are:

Thai for Beginners by Benjawan Poomsan Becker, Paiboon Publishing ISBN 1-887521-00-3

Thai-English Student's Dictionary by Mary Haas, Stanford University Press ISBN 0-8047-0567-4

If you are looking for a compact beginner's dictionary with a superbly useful vocabulary selection that can easily slip in your pocket, I have found none better than:

Robertson's Practical English-Thai Dictionary, Charles E. Tuttle Company, ISBN 0-8048-0706-X

Best of luck in your studies.

Can we learn the thai alphabet using the Thai for Beginners Book. Thats reading the alphabet and practice writing. Maybe there are some online resources where we can print out worksheets to practice. (so practice writing the same letter many times...is this the best way to learn writing?..I dont know)

It would really help because, I would sometimes hear a thai word or phrase, but as I do not know how to write it in thai, have to rely on doing a web search using english. No problem with words like "mai pen rai". Lots of results come up on the search results. But as the word or phrase becomes more obscure not many results come-up. (as there may be many ways to spell it in English etc..) So learning the alphabet I reckon should definitely help. I am guessing, its one method to expand the vocabulary.

Meltingpot2015:

The questions you asked in the second paragraph of your post touch upon a very important dilemma which everyone interested in studying the Thai language sooner or later will encounter.

In a nutshell, learning to read the written language is an imperative to learning to pronounce Thai accurately. In my opinion, trying to rely on transliteration (Thai sounds written in English) will slow your progress considerably.

Shameless plug for the Rapid Method at www.learnthaionline.com

I'm afraid I don't like the Thai for Beginners book at all, even though I started with this myself 10 years ago and used it is a reference while developing my Rapid Method to check that I was learning Thai correctly.

I discovered that one should dispense with any kind of transliterated phonetics as quickly as possible, as well as the rather odd definition of tones ("rising", "fallling", etc.).

The Rapid Method is revolutionary in that I've thrown out anything that's irrelevant or obsolete or unnecessary and reorganized the Thai writing and speaking system to be as simple as possible and logically consistent. The tones are almost laughably easy and paradoxically quite unimportant in the scheme of things, and I have ways of getting you to speak (pronounce) Thai clearly and accurately.

The Rapid Read Thai course leads on naturally to two other – conversational – courses that I’ve devised. The first based on the first-year University of Washington course, Everyday Thai for Beginners (for basic everyday conversation) and a fluency course based on a romance novel called Sydney Remember. If you just follow the yellow brick road, the Rapid Method is an ideal way to become fluent in Thai in about two years, by only “studying” for around 15-20 minutes per day. I’ve designed it so as to require minimal effort and to be easily incorporated into one’s busy life. I recommend that you make your Coffee-and-Cake time (or leisurely breakfast, or evening glass of wine) your daily Thai Time; and then it doesn’t even feel like studying at all.

Please don't bother with printed dictionaries either. I highly recommend Thai2English - if you have Windows then buy the software version ($40) and if you have a Mac then get Parallels or something and then buy the software. If you're on the go then I suggest you (also) buy the Talking Thai app for IOS ($25) or Android. The interface is a bit clumsy (I've written to the author and hopefully he'll incorporate my suggestions in the next major release, which seems to be somewhat delayed at the moment). It's not nearly as good as Thai2English (which has sample sentences, sound-alikes and user-defined word lists), but at least it's more up to date and handy as a quick reference when you're out and about. Buy both!

Thai is really not that difficult. It just seems difficult because of the unnecessarily complicated way of describing and transliterating it. You don't need to be proficient at languages or have a great memory or commit to hours and hours of arduous study. I'm actually crap at languages, I hate studying and memorizing things, and I have a busy life with more enjoyable things to do. I don't spend all that much time learning Thai, but I speak relatively fluently and clearly - I can negotiate with suppliers and contractors independently and deal with relatively complex issues - and I can socialize or chat online with Thais who don't (or won't) speak English. I'm not academically proficient, I can't really write good Thai (and I don't care) and I can't talk about politics or abstract ideas (that will come)...

So if the Rapid Method works for me then it should work for anyone!

Try it yourself for free. Learn the top 30 letters in a few hours and be able to recognize and sound out hundreds of very simple Thai words. I'm confident that you'll be impressed enough to buy the full course, which I'm afraid is more expensive that most other books and courses available out there. I think it's worth it because 1) it will save you time and 2) it's about the only effective way to learn to speak, read and understand Thai (ask the thousands of expats who've been here for ten years or more, some of whom have Thai children, and still can't read or speak much Thai, despite trying all sorts of schools and courses)!

[hagler]

I can listen to conversations that are conducted on the basis that as a foreigner I cannot understand fluent Thai.

[huawei]

I came on here at post #129 to offer a different perspective because I couldn't believe the load of crap I was reading. I get so tired of reading about people that think they are more Thai than the Thais, think that they get such special treatment, and basically use this thread to boast about how amazing they are.

One poster said "But, in reality, life in Thailand for those who speak fluent Thai is actually far better than what people who can't speak the language can even imagine." Really? If that is the case, then why are my foreign friends who are fluent in Thai and have lived here for many years not telling me how much of a neccesity it is?

You can bring up sex tourism and doubt whether I date girls that aren't involved in that trade all you want. But to suggest that "some of them might be part-time and casually in the trade" is just ridiculous. You really think that I or any halfway observant human being can't tell the difference between a prostitute or not? If one can't tell the difference between a prostitute or not, they should never come to this country looking for any woman. And speaking to them in English as pretty much a dead giveaway on where or how they learned English.

Well finally I'm glad you get it. That's what we all have been trying to tell you. If they speak English well and don't want you to speak Thai they are hookers. Congrats you finally figured it out.

It's the way they speak English. If they have been taught English in school with an English curriculum they are I assure you not hookers! By using the word well I presume you mean relatively, so many educated Thais in Bangkok speak good English..

[lostoday]

I came on here at post #129 to offer a different perspective because I couldn't believe the load of crap I was reading. I get so tired of reading about people that think they are more Thai than the Thais, think that they get such special treatment, and basically use this thread to boast about how amazing they are.

One poster said "But, in reality, life in Thailand for those who speak fluent Thai is actually far better than what people who can't speak the language can even imagine." Really? If that is the case, then why are my foreign friends who are fluent in Thai and have lived here for many years not telling me how much of a neccesity it is?

You can bring up sex tourism and doubt whether I date girls that aren't involved in that trade all you want. But to suggest that "some of them might be part-time and casually in the trade" is just ridiculous. You really think that I or any halfway observant human being can't tell the difference between a prostitute or not? If one can't tell the difference between a prostitute or not, they should never come to this country looking for any woman. And speaking to them in English as pretty much a dead giveaway on where or how they learned English.

Well finally I'm glad you get it. That's what we all have been trying to tell you. If they speak English well and don't want you to speak Thai they are hookers. Congrats you finally figured it out.

It's the way they speak English. If they have been taught English in school with an English curriculum they are I assure you not hookers! By using the word well I presume you mean relatively, so many educated Thais in Bangkok speak good English..

The key was, "they don't want you to speak Thai." The educated Thais all would prefer you learn Thai in addition to speaking English. The only ladies who don't want a Farang to speak Thai are hookers or on the take which is really the same thing.

[thehelmsman]

Back to the topic - If you live away from tourist areas you have to learn a little for survival. Numbers is probably the first practical thing to learn. I used to hate it when the old lady at the small market would look scared when I walked in to buy something usually Leo. Learned numbers and now she only chuckles. You have to start somewhere. My little girl giggles when I try to speak a little thai.

[lostoday]

Back to the topic - If you live away from tourist areas you have to learn a little for survival. Numbers is probably the first practical thing to learn. I used to hate it when the old lady at the small market would look scared when I walked in to buy something usually Leo. Learned numbers and now she only chuckles. You have to start somewhere. My little girl giggles when I try to speak a little thai.

Numbers are a good first then directions. Left, right stop go (stop - don't stop. right, left - up down up down slower faster dont stop stop stop ....... go now. Time of day is good. Days of the week. Where is the toilet is handy. Hurts, don't hurt.

Edited August 1, 2015 by lostoday

[Sawan Chan 7]

Back to the topic - If you live away from tourist areas you have to learn a little for survival. Numbers is probably the first practical thing to learn. I used to hate it when the old lady at the small market would look scared when I walked in to buy something usually Leo. Learned numbers and now she only chuckles. You have to start somewhere. My little girl giggles when I try to speak a little thai.

Numbers are a good first then directions. Left, right stop go (stop - don't stop. right, left - up down up down slower faster dont stop stop stop ....... go now. Time of day is good. Days of the week. Where is the toilet is handy. Hurts, don't hurt.

That should take a week! It is hard to learn Thai.

I stared reading when my first kid was learning in 1990 and had the linguaphone cassettes about 1984. The reading gave me motivation to start reading Thai kids books and learn the language more that way. Never spoken Thai to any of my 4 kids but their mother always does. So one advantage is knowing what my kids are saying to my wife.

Those who can't speak fluent Thai have no idea what they are missing but each to his own.

[thaibeachlovers]

You can always find a public toilet!

That was his excuse to get through immigration quickly. He was being go hok. Plenty of toilets before immigration.

BTW, one does not need to be fluent to ask for a toilet. First thing I learned.

Frankly, I don't want to know what they are saying about me, and if I was fluent I wouldn't have an excuse to avoid having to sit with the rellies when they are getting pissed or just gossiping and watching terrible Thai soaps.

[Neeranam]

You can always find a public toilet!

That was his excuse to get through immigration quickly. He was being go hok. Plenty of toilets before immigration.

BTW, one does not need to be fluent to ask for a toilet. First thing I learned.

Frankly, I don't want to know what they are saying about me, and if I was fluent I wouldn't have an excuse to avoid having to sit with the rellies when they are getting pissed or just gossiping and watching terrible Thai soaps.

As a matter of interest , are you not planning on living here long or having your relatives? Are you making NO effort to learn the language?

[lostoday]

You can always find a public toilet!

That was his excuse to get through immigration quickly. He was being go hok. Plenty of toilets before immigration.

BTW, one does not need to be fluent to ask for a toilet. First thing I learned.

Frankly, I don't want to know what they are saying about me, and if I was fluent I wouldn't have an excuse to avoid having to sit with the rellies when they are getting pissed or just gossiping and watching terrible Thai soaps.

Lets hope they are not discussing STD's and who has them and who does not.

[thaibeachlovers]

You can always find a public toilet!

That was his excuse to get through immigration quickly. He was being go hok. Plenty of toilets before immigration.

BTW, one does not need to be fluent to ask for a toilet. First thing I learned.

Frankly, I don't want to know what they are saying about me, and if I was fluent I wouldn't have an excuse to avoid having to sit with the rellies when they are getting pissed or just gossiping and watching terrible Thai soaps.

As a matter of interest , are you not planning on living here long or having your relatives? Are you making NO effort to learn the language?

I speak enough Thai to go shopping etc. Wish my Thai rellies would stay away. Not being able to speak Thai is a good reason not to hang around with them.

[gerry1011]

Some people are better at numbers, some better at languages...

Luckily, in this case, I am quite good at languages.

When I lived in Spain in talked Spanish.

When I lived in India I learned Hindi. Unfortunately I stayed only two years in India, not long enough to master the language.

In Thailand, it took me two years to learn to read, write and speak Thai.

To know the local language not only improves the quality of our lives (wherever we decide to settle), but it also improves drastically our understanding of the local society.

Maybe I have been influenced by my own country, which has different communities speaking different languages, which everyone should be able to speak, in order to (at least try to) live harmoniously together.

These last years there were a lot of bad things said against the Russians (on top of all the bad things said against the Thais) on this forum.

These negative comments were so persistent that I thought: "Hey, maybe the problem is just that we don't understand each other"...

So, I decided to learn Russian...

Russians are probably a bit different than Swedes, New Zealanders, or Mexicans, but I don't see any reason for the Russians to be worse than the British, the Greek, or the Americans (only examples, of course).

By learning their language, I believe that I will make many more Russian friends.

And, by the way, I also believe that the ones who decide to settle in Thailand should at least make the effort of learning Thai. Not only the Russians ! All of you guys.

After all, it is a question of respect too...

But yes, not everybody is good at languages, so it may be too hard for some.

If you want to try anyway, my advice is to learn the reading and writing before to try to speak.

The secrets of the Thai pronunciation are in the written language. Once you understand the writing, it is much easier to "picture" the tones, and thus to speak correctly.

And I say again... As long as you don't speak (correct) Thai fluently, you can't even imagine how your life could change. For the (much) better, of course (even if many on here try to convince us otherwise).

Edited August 3, 2015 by gerry1011

[thaibeachlovers]

Some people are better at numbers, some better at languages...

Luckily, in this case, I am quite good at languages.

When I lived in Spain in talked Spanish.

When I lived in India I learned Hindi. Unfortunately I stayed only two years in India, not long enough to master the language.

In Thailand, it took me two years to learn to read, write and speak Thai.

To know the local language not only improves the quality of our lives (wherever we decide to settle), but it also improves drastically our understanding of the local society.

Maybe I have been influenced by my own country, which has different communities speaking different languages, which everyone should be able to speak, in order to (at least try to) live harmoniously together.

These last years there were a lot of bad things said against the Russians (on top of all the bad things said against the Thais) on this forum.

These negative comments were so persistent that I thought: "Hey, maybe the problem is just that we don't understand each other"...

So, I decided to learn Russian...

Russians are probably a bit different than Swedes, New Zealanders, or Mexicans, but I don't see any reason for the Russians to be worse than the British, the Greek, or the Americans (only examples, of course).

By learning their language, I believe that I will make many more Russian friends.

And, by the way, I also believe that the ones who decide to settle in Thailand should at least make the effort of learning Thai. Not only the Russians ! All of you guys.

After all, it is a question of respect too...

But yes, not everybody is good at languages, so it may be too hard for some.

If you want to try anyway, my advice is to learn the reading and writing before to try to speak.

The secrets of the Thai pronunciation are in the written language. Once you understand the writing, it is much easier to "picture" the tones, and thus to speak correctly.

And I say again... As long as you don't speak (correct) Thai fluently, you can't even imagine how your life could change. For the (much) better, of course (even if many on here try to convince us otherwise).

Sorry, but I can't visualise any scenario that would better my life by being able to speak conversational Thai. Would be different if I'd stayed in the village as I could at least understand what goes on in Thai tv soaps, LOL. However I solved that problem by moving to where I can get English language tv.

Might have even broken up my marriage as I'd have been able to understand what the village gossips were saying about me.