How did you learn Thai? Share your experience

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!   

  they reuse words so often with just tonal changes to Make a completely different word and meaning.
   

    -@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
   

    -@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
   
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.
   

    -@rbakker

What is it please

It's Preply dot com

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 เก้า (gao, short vowel, falling tone). The ”g” is a ”g” as in ”girl.” Most books and documents will use ”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 ”beautiful.”  She was saying ”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 ”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.