I want to learn the Thai language quickly

[White House]

I want to learn Thai quickly.

What is the best method?

[expatbrit]

Private one on one tuition, however, there is no magic formula associated with "quickly" learning any new language. It takes time and effort.

[nikmar]

practice, practice and more practice.

you know, its a bit like asking how to learn the guitar quickly or how to lose weight quickly.

[White House]

practice, practice and more practice.

you know, its a bit like asking how to learn the guitar quickly or how to lose weight quickly.

Thank you for your answer.

By the way I also want to lose weight.

My weight is 15 kg beyond normal.

I'm sorry I am new to this Forum. Sorry for off topic.

Is there a separate area in this Forum to discuss slimming and diet?

[nikmar]

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/forum/111-im-too-fat-forum/

[White House]

Private one on one tuition, however, there is no magic formula associated with "quickly" learning any new language. It takes time and effort.

In my opinion the Thai language is a very difficult one.

Especially the correct tonal pitch.

What do you think?

[White House]

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/forum/111-im-too-fat-forum/

Thank you very much nikmar for pointing me to the right direction.

[expatbrit]

Private one on one tuition, however, there is no magic formula associated with "quickly" learning any new language. It takes time and effort.

In my opinion the Thai language is a very difficult one.

Especially the correct tonal pitch.

What do you think?

All "tonal" languages are 'difficult' which is why there is no "quick" means of learning!

[bluebluewater]

IMO the quickest way to learn to speak Thai is to learn to read and write Thai. It is possible to separate the speaking from read/write but by doing all of it you will immerse yourself even more and the learning will come even quicker.

How much time you have to devote to it will be the driver as to how quickly you learn it. 20 minutes a day? It's going to take a while. An hour? Better but not enough. 4 hours? Now we're talking.

It's hard to argue against the effort to learn the tones but I think too much is made of it. Do Thai people speak perfect Thai every time? Hardly. Not to mention that all of us have an accent that is not Thai and there is no way of getting around that.

Cheers!

Edited November 27, 2015 by bluebluewater

[White House]

Private one on one tuition, however, there is no magic formula associated with "quickly" learning any new language. It takes time and effort.

In my opinion the Thai language is a very difficult one.

Especially the correct tonal pitch.

What do you think?

All "tonal" languages are 'difficult' which is why there is no "quick" means of learning!

Yes, I do agree with you.

The tonal languages are very difficult for a farang to learn: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Lao, Khmer, etc.

But I noticed that on the contrary the Malay language (Bhasa Malaysia) is much more easy to learn, and the alphabet is very easy.

I have already learnt a few Malay words while visiting Malaysia way back in 1991.

Tandas = toilet

Tutup = exit?

I'm sorry I already forgot many of them...

[AyG]

The tonal languages are very difficult for a farang to learn: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Lao, Khmer, etc.

Whilst Japanese, Korean, Khmer may be difficult for farang to learn, they most definitely aren't tonal.

[Gecko123]

Learn the alphabet and the tonal system first. While this can be a somewhat slow and laborious process, once you get this under your belt, you will make far more rapid progress than if you skip this step.

There's no magic bullet substitute for practice, despite what some may tell you.

Proper pronunciation needs to be thought of as a process of fine tuning your ear and mouth. It's natural for this to take time, and can't be mastered overnight.

It is possible to be an overly studious and an overly ardent Thai language student, which can be counterproductive. Try not to forget to have fun.

Good luck.

[Aforek]

It's hard to argue against the effort to learn the tones but I think too much is made of it. Do Thai people speak perfect Thai every time? Hardly. Not to mention that all of us have an accent that is not Thai and there is no way of getting around that.

Cheers!

Of course every body has an accent, but it doesn't prevent to be understood ; in my language, every foreigner has an accent but if their grammar is correct, and the accent not too strong, it's easy to understand them, same with farang who speak thai

it is very recommanded to learn to read and to speak in the same time: when you can read and learn the tone rules, every thing is much easier; you know why it's low tone, high, etc ; don't forget vowels length, they are very important, too, and same thing, you know in reading if it's a long or short vowel

Thai people sometimes guess in context what you mean even if tones are not correct, but it's better to try to use the correct tones ; otherwise, they say that you " poot mai chat ", you don't speak clear

[bookie baitface]

Find a nice lady who speaks good English write a list of things you wish to say and ask her how you would say then punch it into the notepad on your phone, also get the "learn Thai" app, some people pick it up quicker than others, all depends how dedicated you are to learn

[bearpolar]

Find a nice lady who speaks good English write a list of things you wish to say and ask her how you would say then punch it into the notepad on your phone, also get the "learn Thai" app, some people pick it up quicker than others, all depends how dedicated you are to learn

This only creates more farangs who pronounce 80% of their vocabulary wrong

learn to read(takes a few days at most, many letters are similar to english letters, all S avec little line on the side etc etc plenty of easy tricks) and pronounce tones then immerse yourself to learn words by having them hammered into your brain constantly

Edited December 1, 2015 by bearpolar

[Craig krup]

All "tonal" languages are 'difficult' which is why there is no "quick" means of learning!

My ESOL teacher pals tell me that people who use tonal languages find English hellish. You'd think all those distinct and unique syllable combinations would make it easier, but it (apparently) doesn't. I don't think there's any objective truth about humans that means tonal languages are inherently more difficult, they're just not what we expect.

[i'd love to hear an absolute word-for-word translation of one Thai telling an other that there's a horse - not a dog - loose in the park. Is it really the case that they get it right just on the tone?]

[Tahnil]

[i'd love to hear an absolute word-for-word translation of one Thai telling an other that there's a horse - not a dog - loose in the park. Is it really the case that they get it right just on the tone?]

Absolutely!

When you say the word sans context people have to know which you're talking about.

The high tone of ม้า meaning horse is very distinct to the Thais from the low tone of หมา dog.

horse ม้า = ma-ar (without pronouncing the r)

dog หมา = har-ma (say it together quickly and don't pronounce the r)

Even if you don't say them spot on Thai you can see that they are pronounced differently.

The fastest way to get started is via private tutoring by an instructor who is knowledgeable in a few languages.

Such a person is able to explain things to the student so the initial bridge over the void can be quickly constructed.

Once a good connection is made, enlarging it is really the effort and interest of the student.

I tutor Thai and English in the Pattaya area so I can explain things to both camps so that they get it.

[Gsxrnz]

All "tonal" languages are 'difficult' which is why there is no "quick" means of learning!

My ESOL teacher pals tell me that people who use tonal languages find English hellish. You'd think all those distinct and unique syllable combinations would make it easier, but it (apparently) doesn't. I don't think there's any objective truth about humans that means tonal languages are inherently more difficult, they're just not what we expect.

[i'd love to hear an absolute word-for-word translation of one Thai telling an other that there's a horse - not a dog - loose in the park. Is it really the case that they get it right just on the tone?]

While driving my truck, a dog crossed the road. As I was really into practicing Thai. I said "ra wang maa" - watch out/be careful dog.

Missus looks up and says "Where's the horse?"

Yes, they know the tones.

[bearpolar]

as seen with glai/glai

[RapidMethod]

As bluewater and gecko says: "Learn to read first"! Please see the post about my upcoming intensive Rapid Read Thai workshop. It may seem expensive, I know, but it'll say you a lot of time and effort (and money) in the long run.

A lot of people think that Thai is a difficult language (because of the tones perhaps?).

Actually, Thai is probably one of the simplest languages in the world to learn - because it's logical and consistent. The conventional ways of teaching Thai is what makes it unnecessarily complicated, what with letter classes, short and long vowels, initial and final sounds and the mostly incorrect way of describing the so-called tones.

We use the same tones in English, but we use tones to express emotion or to emphasize something or to ask a question. We already say these intonations naturally, so if you apply them to the Thai tones then it will also come across as natural. Ironically, Thais tend to speak in a monotone in fast, colloquial speech. You need to get a sense for when 'tones' are important and when you can ignore them.

In the Rapid Method, I've done away with everything that's superfluous (such as writing!) and, using a non-linguistic approach, have simplified Thai reading, speaking and understanding to the bare essentials. This video explains what I've done.

[bearpolar]

it unnecessarily complicated, what with letter classes, short and long vowels, initial and final sounds and the mostly incorrect way of describing the so-called tones.

ok well i stand corrected, this is bs.. the class of each letter is the most important thing as far as reading/speaking correctly.

[AyG]

Actually, Thai is probably one of the simplest languages in the world to learn - because it's logical and consistent.

Clearly you either don't understand the meaning of "logical" and/or "consistent", don't know Thai, or are lying. The language is riddled through with irregularities.

And as for being "one of the simplest languages in the world", you are blatantly wrong. Experts rank it as category IV* - only slightly easier than Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin and Korean (category V).

Source: http://www.effectivelanguagelearning.com/language-guide/language-difficulty

Anyone peddling a "learn Thai quickly" method is a fraud and a con artist. There are no short cuts in language learning.

[Plotholes]

[i'd love to hear an absolute word-for-word translation of one Thai telling an other that there's a horse - not a dog - loose in the park. Is it really the case that they get it right just on the tone?]

The high tone of ม้า meaning horse is very distinct to the Thais from the low tone of หมา dog.

horse ม้า = ma-ar (without pronouncing the r)

dog หมา = har-ma (say it together quickly and don't pronounce the r)

Even if you don't say them spot on Thai you can see that they are pronounced differently.

For "dog", isn't the addition of ห in หมา simply to impart a rising tone to มา, why is there a pronunciation of "h"?

Edited January 17, 2016 by Plotholes

[Tahnil]

[i'd love to hear an absolute word-for-word translation of one Thai telling an other that there's a horse - not a dog - loose in the park. Is it really the case that they get it right just on the tone?]

The high tone of ม้า meaning horse is very distinct to the Thais from the low tone of หมา dog.

horse ม้า = ma-ar (without pronouncing the r)

dog หมา = har-ma (say it together quickly and don't pronounce the r)

Even if you don't say them spot on Thai you can see that they are pronounced differently.

[For "dog", isn't the addition of ห in หมา simply to impart a rising tone to มา, why is there a pronunciation of "h"?]

You are quite correct that the h is not enunciated.

If you try to pronounce har-ma very quickly as I suggested, combining it into one syllable, you'll end up simply stressing the ma in the approximate tone which means dog.

Look at the way หมา is spelled in Thai for a clue, the ห is the sound of the h in English.

ห-มา or h-ma, in neither is the ห or h enunciated but they are there to for the same reason!

By the way, I agree with those who say that learning the alphabets and so forth is a must.

We see it right here when trying to explain something.

Associations create sense where isolation makes it seem arbitrary.

[AyG]

As bluewater and gecko says: "Learn to read first"!

Hmmm. That's exactly what babies all over the world do before they start to speak their newly acquired language. Great argument.