I've been learning Thai for just over two years now and thought a progress report might be helpful to those of you thinking of taking the plunge. My schedule is not very punishing: five one-hour, one-to-one lessons with my Thai teacher per week (Monday to Friday) and perhaps another couple of hours a week for homework. As a result of that, I can now speak reasonably grammatically and clearly and can convey much of what I want to communicate. I read and write at the level of about a Thai 9-year-old. I can understand what Thais say to me if they speak slowly, but comprehension is still the weak link in my progress. I watch Thai TV in a fog of lost meanings (possibly the best way to watch Thai TV). Someone more gifted at foreign languages than me or prepared to study more intensively (15 to 20 hours a week is easily possible without overdoing it) would no doubt progress much more rapidly.
I have noticed three emotional stages while I've been learning. The first, lasting about three months, was one of extreme aversion, when I felt like giving up almost every day, what with the constant bombardment of new and confusing input. One simply has to hang on in there while this is going on and think long-term, knowing that things can only get better. The second stage of about a year's duration was pretty neutral. The worst of the initial shock had worn off but there was little sense of improvement and it was just a comfortable routine I was performing - on a bad day I might have still thrown up my hands in despair and called it a day. The final stage, which has lasted many months now, has been one of positive enjoyment, of seeing the clear benefits of all the hard work and of drawing satisfaction from the small forward steps made each day. I truly look forward to my lessons now and wouldn't dream of giving up.
What are the benefits? Well, relationships with the young men are more rewarding for a start. I can hold proper conversations with them now and be humorous without having to rely on mime and funny faces (though they still come into it). More interesting matters can be discussed than before, though profound the conversations certainly ain't! Beyond all that, I can deal with practical stuff much better - ordering in restaurants, querying things with officials, getting directions etc. Being able to decipher signs, documents etc (slowly, laboriously) is also useful. Everything combines to make one feel less isolated and helpless, more attuned to what is going on all around. It's a good feeling.
For people who come to Thailand only as tourists it is quite sufficient just to pick up a few words and phrases here and there and rely on goodwill to get them through. There's not time for much else. But for foreigners living here I think it really is a good idea to consider learning the language properly, and by that I mean going to a teacher and learning to read and write it as well as just speak it (trying to learn on one's own invites disaster - poor pronunciation, more likely to give up quickly). There are many excuses for the expat not to learn Thai, but they usually come down to one thing: laziness. As a guest here I feel that the onus is on me to learn Thai, not on Thais to speak my language. One is automatically accorded more respect if one makes the effort - just this morning a songtaew driver, beaming from ear to ear, insisted on shaking my hand as I got out of the front cab of his vehicle. One also respects oneself more. Tuition is not expensive (I pay 3000B a month) and the cost is repaid many times over in terms of more enjoyable living. If you are thinking of doing it, my advice is: go for it, you won't regret it in the long run.
Just for fun in closing, I wonder if anyone already proficient in Thai knows the meaning of the following (my own transliteration system and no tone marks just to make it harder!): 'Kaw meuang dtaa liu dtong liu dtaa dtaam'. Clue: it's a Thai saying with some relevance to my post above.
