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[philo]

Oh my dear.

There is no 'pieces' or 'articles' here (as in pluralis). There is only one written opinion called : Was It A Mistake To Learn Thai?

The phrase (however stupid): 'To 'thai' or Not To 'thai'?' is the header of the thread.

Got it?
Good.

[sabaijai]

samran, on 2009-08-28 11:02:21, said:

Frankly, I get the impression that the poster on the stickman site doesn't speak Thai well at all.

If you do speak it well, there is nil chance that a Thai person, regardless of their level of English, will speak back to you in English. The only time that happens is if you speak Thai badly, and they try and help you out with their limited English.

My thoughts exactly.

[kriswillems]

7 years ago I stayed about 1 year in Thailand without learning any Thai (besides the numbers). I really didn't feel at home here. I didn't hang around with other farang because the places you'll meet most farang are not my favorite places to hang out. I felt quiet lonely around that time. I tended to see only the negative sides of Thailand and after 1 year I was very happy I could go back home.

2 years ago I arrived again in Thailand. This time i decided to study the language. I can read/write Thai and have a normal conversation about general subjects. I still don't hang around with other farang. I just like talking to Thai people more. I really feel at home here. Now I see many beautiful sides of Thailand, Thai people and Thai culture that I couldn't see before. And this time I don't want to go back home.

So, learning Thai can change your life.

Although my Thai is far from perfect, and maybe even not good, most Thai talk in Thai to me. The exceptions are usually people that are perfect in English (people that lived abroad of people with a master/bachelor in English) or people that want to study English.

I've met a few farang that have lived here for more than 10 years and that can't even order a simple dish in a small food-stall. They always get something different from expected. Many of these people feel very lonely here and their friends seem to be only farang. Their life is really hard, because they almost can't do anything if nobody helps them. I feel so sorry for them and I am not sure what is worse: having a physical handicap or having a language handicap.

Reasons for not studying Thai vary, some people say they have no time, some say there's no need, some say they can't hear the tones,  some say they are just too stupid. All these reasons are more not "reasonable"... they are excuses. In many ways you can compare these reasons with the reasons a chain-smoker uses to explain why he can't stop smoking.

Daring to take a step in the unknown takes courage, but it's often very rewarding.

[SoftWater]

aussiebebe, on 2009-08-30 22:03:36, said:

"My friend speaks fluent Thai" if they can't, how can they assess their friend's ability accurately? A little more honesty would go a long way.

Fluency is a little more complex than your 'it takes one to know one' rule. Language comprehension and language production are distinct skills. One may not be able to speak a language as well as one can understand it.

Anyone who's made a serious effort at learning Thai can tell the difference between a farang who speaks like themselves (or worse) and one that speaks more like a native thai. Most of us can also tell the difference between a competent farang speaking thai and a thai speaking thai merely from audio, without seeing the speaker. It's not a special skill, it just comes with exposure to the language.

Edited by SoftWater, 2009-08-31 08:11:50.

[Briggsy]

Very jaded writer but he does make some very valid points. I also hate the pronoun 'you' ยู reserved for foreigners and the ridiculous translation of the easy words. I rather suspect he is never straying too far from totally touristed areas judging by his article.

I don't believe he's Italian either. I think he added this detail to make another valid point.

[Rionoir]

I KNOW guys that think they can speak "pretty good" Thai, but can't, and people almost always respond to them in English. LoL  Any farang I know that does speak pretty good Thai, people will talk to them in Thai.  There are exceptions, like the people that went to a university overseas and refuse to speak Thai in public... but, in general, if your Thai really is "pretty good", people are going to speak Thai to you.

Learning Thai has opened up a whole new side of Thailand for me, and I couldn't be friends with some of my current friends if I couldn't speak Thai.

Thai has also gotten my money back from more than 1 young pickpocketter ... haha ... they are much more afraid of u threatening to call the police if u can say it in Thai. ;P

[PeaceBlondie]

The Stickman article was much too long. So is this thread (I made it to post 40).

I decided after five years here to give up even trying to learn Thai. Too difficult; not worth the effort.

[tgeezer]

PeaceBlondie, on 2009-09-01 09:22:06, said:

The Stickman article was much too long. So is this thread (I made it to post 40).

I decided after five years here to give up even trying to learn Thai. Too difficult; not worth the effort.

    That depends on what value you put on it surely; most of us are motivated by the need to communicate but I would like to recommend a different approach.   For those of us in the evening of our lives who believe that the brain is the most powerful 'muscle' in the body it makes sense to exercise it.   I was doing Sudoku when I discovered the RID and found the Thai language to be altogether a much more satisfiing puzzle and wish that I had abandoned other puzzles earlier.   The RID is a mighty tome too, so, who knows? there may be a beneficial side effect.
   I hope that, when other 'bits' have ceased to perform, I can at least still derive pleasure from trying to solve this final puzzle, and even if I can no longer heft the book, the contents are all on the 'net.

[kokesaat]

tgeezer, on 2009-09-01 11:40:38, said:

T  I was doing Sudoku

I did crossword puzzles as well.  Neither ever helped make ordering my bowl of noodle soup any easier.  ถั่วงอก anyone?

[tgeezer]

kokesaat, on 2009-09-01 15:13:01, said:

tgeezer, on 2009-09-01 11:40:38, said:

T I was doing Sudoku

I did crossword puzzles as well. Neither ever helped make ordering my bowl of noodle soup any easier. ถั่วงอก anyone?

Ah, well I didn't do crossword puzzles so you did them 'as well' as what else?

[mca]

SoftWater, on 2009-08-31 07:55:52, said:

One may not be able to speak a language as well as one can understand

This is certainly the case with me. I speak reasonable Thai but get stumped occasionally with what I want to say  but the only time I don't understand what a local is saying is if they're using some new vocabulary I haven't come across although in those situations i can usually work out what they mean from the context.

[dvc]

PeaceBlondie, on 2009-09-01 11:22:06, said:

The Stickman article was much too long. So is this thread (I made it to post 40).

I decided after five years here to give up even trying to learn Thai. Too difficult; not worth the effort.

        I note that you've been a member of TV for a little over  five years. In that time you've posted just over 15,000 posts. That works out  to be a little over eight posts per day, every day for the past five years. If,  instead of posting to this forum, you'd put the same amount of time into  studying Thai, you'd have a good, well rounded grasp of the language by now.

[midasthailand]

dvc, on 2009-09-02 08:36:52, said:

PeaceBlondie, on 2009-09-01 11:22:06, said:

The Stickman article was much too long. So is this thread (I made it to post 40).

I decided after five years here to give up even trying to learn Thai. Too difficult; not worth the effort.

        I note that you've been a member of TV for a little over  five years. In that time you've posted just over 15,000 posts. That works out  to be a little over eight posts per day, every day for the past five years. If,  instead of posting to this forum, you'd put the same amount of time into  studying Thai, you'd have a good, well rounded grasp of the language by now.

Ouch!!