How did you learn Thai? Share your experience
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Would like to hear various ways people learned Thai. Did you pick it up just by living in it (immersion)? Classes before you came? Classes after you came? Private instruction? Any tips knowing now what you didn't know then? I still have a couple years before I leave the US, but find learning any language when there's no one to practice with doesn't work for me (had the same problem with Spanish). What are your thoughts?
I use the app Simply Thai and practice with friends when I can.
It seems strange to me With 46 letters in the alphabet that they reuse words so often with just tonal changes to Make a completely different word and meaning.
With that many letters there certainly is enough to make many new words and not reuse.
Initially when I was asked to work in Thailand by a multinational I worked for in Europa they sent me to a language school in my home country. I had only 6 weeks, but speaking 6 languages at the time I was convinced it was doable. Man, was I wrong
Even the teacher told me it was not enough time
She then proposed to teach me do's and dont's in Thailand and how somebody in my (work) position should behave himself outside the safety of the home.
I think, in hindsight, that helped me more than anything else, even speaking the language
In the offices where I worked since then, always multinationals, English was the main language
I learned, and still am learning, Thai through interaction with my teams at work, through the girlfriends/wife and mostly through having to interact with family of the girlfriends/wife as most of them could not speak English.
I can assure you that gave us some hilarious moments.......
I was not motivated, due to work hours/travel, to go to language school and am not disciplined enough to do it myself. I go to the gym 6/7 which I do with pleasure, but anything else I am not in for.
So the quick answer would be I practiced with friends and family and that has not changed
A kid would be the best way, but we decided different and for just learning Thai it would be the wrong motivation to take that responsibility.....
speaking 6 languages at the time I was convinced it was doable. Man, was I wrongEven the teacher told me it was not enough time    -@martinoo2002
Wow! Still, I'm impressed! Â
 they reuse words so often with just tonal changes to Make a completely different word and meaning.
 Â
  -@scbrock
That's actually an incredibly important, fundamental bit of information, me to be conscious of.
@Maladapti
Technically it is the same word, just different tonage
For.example what we pronounce as 'Kao' can mean: white, rice, old, number 9....
Also they use noun first and then adjective.
We would say; I see a black bird
They say; see bird black
For them if you say something no need to say I as you can speak for someone else. 'A ' and 'the- are not used in Thai.
Hence: See bird black.
Plural is also not often used.
You repeat the single form to communicate youn see more than one, or the addition 'maak'
Repeating of maak as in maak maak makes it even more than maak
Well, that was today's lesson
@Maladapti
The other six I could read.
That was my first mistake as I was not aware that I couldn't read Thai
IF someone ever starts a Thai course, request reading as well as that will prevent a lot of mistakes and makes it easier to communicate
Thai is not easy nor difficult you just need to invest time
To confuse everyone the following example
New wood doesn't burn easy does it
Mhai mai mhai mai mai chai mai
Just different tonage....
Cheers people. Loooong way ahead
  @Maladapti
The other six I could read.
That was my first mistake as I was not aware that I couldn't read Thai
IF someone ever starts a Thai course, request reading as well as that will prevent a lot of mistakes and makes it easier to communicate
Thai is not easy nor difficult you just need to invest time
 Â
  -@martinoo2002
Time is something I should have plenty of...!
i do learn speaking Thai having one on one lessions twice a week using zoom. My tescher is a native thai speaking perfect english. At the moment i am in germany. So there is not much practice with people to speak. Everytime i come to thailand i can feel a big progress by speaking with people. I also learn reading and writing. This to me is a long process. the tonal language is difficult for me
  i do learn speaking Thai having one on one lessions twice a week using zoom. My tescher is a native thai speaking perfect english. At the moment i am in germany. So there is not much practice with people to speak. Everytime i come to thailand i can feel a big progress by speaking with people. I also learn reading and writing. This to me is a long process. the tonal language is difficult for me
 Â
Dear Gerd,
Can you please give me the details of your teacher if they don't mind?
Thanks
I haven't learned Thai but I know a good website for getting cheap online lessons from a real person: Preply
My wife is using it to learn French but they have Thai as well as many other languages.
  I haven't learned Thai but I know a good website for getting cheap online lessons from a real person: Preply
My wife is using it to learn French but they have Thai as well as many other languages.
 Â
  -@rbakker
What is it please
Learning any language that does not come
from Latin roots, will be strange. Grammar is easy, yet pronunciation and articulation (tones) takes practice. It’s very critical to learn the 5 tones of Thai up front. The biggest mistake a Thai learner makes is picking up a book or any document with poor phonetics. For example, the number 9 is เà¸à¹‰à¸² (gao, short vowel, falling tone). The â€g†is a â€g†as in â€girl.†Most books and documents will use â€k,†in which is very wrong and confusing. Be careful when finding a good instructor.
I have been speaking Thai 35 years. I read and write Thai as well. I learned from a language school in Bangkok. I spent 4 hours a day for 1.5 years just to obtain a decent grasp of conversational Thai. I also lived among Thai people. I was 25 yrs old back then. The older we are… the more responsibility we pick up, thus making learning a language more difficult because it will take more time and patience.
I know countless of Thai learners trying to learn Thai. When I hear them, I am sad because their tones are poor. Their teacher seems to not have a proper background for teaching a foreigner Thai. Just because Thai is your native language does not mean you can teach Thai to a beginner. I cannot teach English properly to a beginner even though I am a native English speaker. My language school is no longer open.
I met a Russian on the streets of Bangkok a couple weeks ago. She has been learning Thai two years. I was walking with a Thai friend who speaks zero English. The Russian was trying to say the word â€beautiful.â€Â She was saying â€bad luck†because her tone was wrong. To me, this was a trajedy. There is no reason a good teacher would allow a two year student to speak wrong. I stopped her and helped her to say it correctly. It took me 30 seconds to fix her tone. My Thai friend even gave her confirmation as well. She wanted me to be her teacher.
There are countless people trying to teach online. To me, a classroom is best. Communicating with someone in real life is best. Reading Thai is even more critical because you can then teach yourself words. Thai words show their â€tone†with tone marks.
Bless you for wanting to learn. The more we learn, the deeper we can know a person making life more redeeming and fun in Thailand. Be patient. It takes TIME and PRACTICE.
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