Learning passa Thai

[Oliver2]

No doubt the archivists will tell me that we've discussed this before....but what the heck, I'm stuck here thousands of miles away and, for the moment, have nothing better to do.

Learning Thai. How many of us can speak Thai a little? comfortably?. or fluently? After two years of travelling to Thailand, I took out a CD course in spoken Thai, a collection which I played constantly in my car. I was able to pick-up some basic comments, enough to answer the Big Three Questions...." What's your name? Where do you come from? Where you stay?" in a manner which appeared to impress my chosen companion.

But that was it. I hit a full-stop and was reminded just how damn useless I was at school with languages- French, Latin, Greek- subjects that I staggered through with embarrassing 'O' level results.

When P came along, I thought that it would provide a good opportunity to pick-up some more Thai. After all, he was forever nagging me to forgo my favoured Thinglish and speak "proper" English to him.

Would he assist me? No. While he had described my faltering Thai as "cute" when he was merely an offed guy, now he was embarrassed by my mistakes. Or worse, amused. My pronunciation of " naam kaeng" (Ice) provided twenty minutes of merriment on a taxi journey to Pattaya, the driver almost losing control of the car amidst the hilarity of the moment. To this day, I'm not sure why.

My futile attempts to speak passa Thai came to a full-stop when I mis-ordered in a restaurant.. No more attempts were allowed. Either I'd order in English, or P would in Thai.

How do other boyfriends, partners or offed-guys cope with us falangs when we- as I put it to P without gaining his approval- try to respect the local language?

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[Nirish guy]

I've had the exactly the same experience - with a new off " ohhh that's cute / funny when you try to speak Thai" which after a period of knowing them moved on to "please stop trying talking Thai, you sound like baby" ( and Im guessing he didn't mean in a cute way) and it was plain this was a non negotiable subject and that if I wanted to try and learn it shouldn't be anywhere near him or in front of his friends.

I took that as my cue never to bother my ass trying again - and neither Thailand or myself have been any the worse for that decision I should add !

[StevieWonders]

Part of the problem of learning Thai is that it’s a tonal language and Western languages aren’t. For us different inflections for the same word convey different meanings. In my experience Thais find the opposite - they think there’s only one way to say a word, and using a different intonation means it’s a different word.

But the difficulty is really in whether we can have a worthwhile, satisfying conversation with guys with whom we have literally nothing in common (apart from a love of cock). I don’t recall the last time I had a conversation in my home country, for example, with someone who hadn’t been to university. My expat circle of friends here is made up of university graduates without exception. My conversation relates to history, politics, current affairs and literature. Is China a threat, and how, for example. I simply cannot (and do not try to) have a conversation on any of those topics with the local guys whose interests are material - money and mum, mostly.

For everyone in the world learning English - even from third-rate expats whose own English is barely adequate - is a lopsidedly valuable skill. Have it and they can travel the world and talk to others everywhere of whatever country. The most ironic thing about Brexit is that English still remains the most common language of the EU members. Learn Thai and it has value only in Thailand.

[cdnmatt]

I know my Thai is quite horrible, but I've never been criticized for using it, at least not that I can remember. Quite the opposite, and I'm confident it's helped save me from having to deal with people trying to take advantage of me due to thinking I'm a two week tourist.

This is actually one of my regrets though. I taught myself enough Thai to take care of myself in Thailand without ever any need for translation, and then I got lazy and stopped learning. For example, you could drop me off in some random village, and I'd be just fine getting around.

After I broke up with Kim, I never bothered moving to a "farang ghetto", and always lived in just typical Thai communities / subburbs. Although I guess the kids were taking some English in school, there was never any conversing in English with the adults, and it was all Thai. I got on just fine with this.

Having said that, by no means am I fluent. I can't sit around for a few beers with some Thais and all of us enjoy an easy flowing conversation in Thai. Instead, it's just this semi-awkward conversation where both sides have to somewhat struggle to make themselves understood, many times things have to be repeated or said differently, et al. It still works and we manage to get the point across, but usually takes enough effort that it kills any enjoyment from the conversation.

When I meet someone new it's generally this back and forth for the first while as I learn what English he knows, and he learns what Thai I know. Then we gradually mish mash the two into this personalized quasi language, and run with that. meh, it works.

[Dodger]

If I can manage to remember 1% of the Thai words I learn I'm doing good.

Rosetta Stone puts out a pretty good video course for those who are interested. I pull it off the shelf once n a while just for fun.

I learned most of my Thai up in Kantaralak (SiSaket) years ago, but that's a strong Khmer dialect which is pretty useless in Chonburi where mostly mainstream (Bangkok) Thai is spoken.

I don't lose any sleep over it, but would really like to improve my language skills for when I'm up-country.

[christianpfc]

Learning Thai. How many of us can speak Thai a little? comfortably?. or fluently?

As soon as it became clear (in 2010) that I would regularly spend time in Thailand in the future, I went to a language class in Bangkok during a 3-month-holiday. After that I studied alone and reached a plateau where I can do all my business (taxi/bus/train, restaurant/market, hotel, small talk, dating) in Thai. I can read Thai articles about tourism fluently because that's my area of interest, reading a newspaper would be difficult.

I apply this (learning the language) to every country I want to regularly spend time in.

When chatting with Thais (in real life or online dating), figure out who speaks the other's language better, and then converse in either English or Thai.

In Bangkok or Pattaya you can get along without Thai, but I travel a lot in the provinces and there speaking Thai is very useful for getting around and meeting boys.

[gerefan2]

I've had the exactly the same experience - with a new off " ohhh that's cute / funny when you try to speak Thai" which after a period of knowing them moved on to "please stop trying talking Thai, !

There are reasons they don’t want you speaking Thai. They don’t want you understanding what they are saying about you and they don’t want you understanding what they are planning for you, evenings out etc. Especially if it’s about money. They don’t want to be caught out by a secret Thai speaking falang. As far as they are concerned the less Thai you speak, the better.

The other problem, as pointed out, is the number of regional dialects, particularly in places like Pattaya. Can you imagine a Thai in London, who is able to speak and understand basic English, being confronted by someone with a broad Irish or worse an acute Scottish accent? No chance!

Same applies to us in Pattaya.

[goji]

There are reasons they don’t want you speaking Thai. They don’t want you understanding what they are saying about you and they don’t want you understanding what they are planning for you, evenings out etc. Especially if it’s about money.

I was going to raise exactly the same point.
Everything they want you to hear can be explained in English. Then if you don't speak Thai, they can decide what not to share with you.

This can also work with vendors, baht bus drivers etc.
I don't speak Thai, but several years back I was quoted 200 baht for baht bus out of Pattaya Northern Bus station, which I wasn't having. Meanwhile, the same guy quoted 30 baht to the Thais, who weren't happy with that.
30 was one of the few numbers I knew at the time, but I decided it would be good to learn the rest of them.

I just need to work a bit harder at the rest of the language.

[Nirish guy]

You're absolutely right there of course Gerefan re them not wanting us to speak Thai and it's hilarious watching their shocked faces if and when you drop a few words in half way through a conversation as if you "forget" and started speaking Thai as you just KNOW the "OHHHH you can speak Thai !??" isn't a congratulatory thing but more a "oh shit, how much do you think he understood" moment for them. Likewise then too you can see the look of relief on their faces if your boy de jour comes along and confirms for them that you can't actually speak Thai after all.

Still that works both ways as when I first started visiting Thailand I thought it would be a smart idea to know what was being said about me but I've now picked up enough knowledge to make me sure that I absolutely DONT WANT to know what's being said about me as a) it's most likely negative anyway and b) what they think of me will probably have little bearing on my night anyway ( as long as I remain able to pay the bill(s) and my off's fee satisfactorily that is of course )

[arsenal]

Do you really WANT to know what they're saying about you?