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Reload this Page Is it really necessary to learn a host country's language?
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Thai Language Where to learn Thai, How to learn Thai and anything to do with the Thai language. Which Thai Language School is the best? Can I learn Thai online? How difficult is it to learn to read and write Thai?

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Old 18-11-2007, 08:42 PM   #21 (permalink)
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Originally Posted by ChiangMai noon View Post
^
I'm flabbergasted.

do you live in thailand or not Chintee.

i agree it is utterly useless if you are elsewhere, but if you are here???
yeah, I'm here and I speak passable Thai, but not literate. Anyway, if you've learned as many languages as I have you get weary of it all...
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Old 18-11-2007, 08:43 PM   #22 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Texpat
^Yes, good to have the option, but the farangs I am referring to are the smug, I-won't-stoop-to-learn-Thai types.
I don't see the point of learning Thai, it's not like it's a major language, definitely not a must
I agree with that.
Far better to learn French, German, Mandarin or Japanese.
That is if you do not live in Thailand or want to live in Thailand.
Because, well, here, speaking Thai is sure more helpful than speaking French or Mandarin...
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Old 18-11-2007, 08:44 PM   #23 (permalink)
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anyone who cant speak english probably isn't worth speaking to anyway.

espcially kw

anyway this thread wasn't about speaking thai and is also in the indo/phils forum
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Old 18-11-2007, 08:45 PM   #24 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chinthee
Everyone is so proud when they speak Thai in Thailand, but it doesn't get them anything outside this little country.
It's actually useful to score hotties and have freebies with the uni girls, so not totally useless if you live here. But yeah being proud of speaking Thai is like being a proud puppy putting his first turd on the carpet, not really an accomplishment.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ChiangMai noon
do you live in thailand or not Chintee.
I don't see how this can be an argument, and no, giving out reds is the not answer
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Old 18-11-2007, 08:45 PM   #25 (permalink)
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Originally Posted by slimboyfat
anyway this thread wasn't about speaking thai and is also in the indo/phils forum
oops.
sorry
I accidentally popped over to thaivisa
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Old 18-11-2007, 08:47 PM   #26 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Butterfly
I don't see how this can be an argument, and no, giving reds is the not answer
how can that not be an argument?

"if you live in thailand it is more useful to learn Japanese??"

WTF.

I'll red you again as soon as I can.
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Old 18-11-2007, 08:49 PM   #27 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Butterfly View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by chinthee
Everyone is so proud when they speak Thai in Thailand, but it doesn't get them anything outside this little country.
It's actually useful to score hotties and have freebies with the uni girls, so not totally useless if you live here. But yeah being proud of speaking Thai is like being a proud puppy putting his first turd on the carpet, not really an accomplishment.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ChiangMai noon
do you live in thailand or not Chintee.
I don't see how this can be an argument, and no, giving out reds is the not answer
Ok, look, I'm married to a Thai, I speak Thai everyday, and it is a useless language to my life outside Thailand. What is so hard to understand about that?
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Old 18-11-2007, 08:49 PM   #28 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChiangMai noon
how can that not be an argument?

"if you live in thailand it is more useful to learn Japanese??"
but we do not live here, we are only temporary guests,

I hope you are not planning to spend the rest of your life here ?
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Old 18-11-2007, 08:52 PM   #29 (permalink)
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Oh dear, I find myself agreeing with the wise Welsh one, something must be wrong.

Thai is very easy to read and write, listening is pretty simple, but speaking is difficult for most people, including me. I have the distinct advantage of being able to say krap at the end of my sentences instead of boyo, which is off-putting to some of the natives.
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Old 18-11-2007, 08:53 PM   #30 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Butterfly
but we do not live here, we are only temporary guests,
silly argument.

I have been here pushing 7 years.

if I didn't speak thai by now I would be horribly ashamed.
i would also find stuff like calling the electricians a bit difficult.

you are a buffoon
a large French one.

I will red you as often as the software allows.
i have just stuck a reminder on my monitor.
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Old 18-11-2007, 08:54 PM   #31 (permalink)
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Interesting that technical books written in Thai have important words set in English inside brackets, next to the Thai equivalent.

The reason for this is that the Thai language invariably does not have an appropriate word of its own - the de facto standard is English - the Thai lecturer often has to synthesise a Thai equivalent that will hopefully convey some kind of primitive constructive meaning to the locals.

So, the easiest way to read a Thai technical book is to skim read through the bracketed English key words, look at the pictures & equations. This is how I studied at CU when the main text book was in Thai.
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Old 18-11-2007, 08:56 PM   #32 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChiangMai noon
i would also find stuff like calling the electricians a bit difficult.
Isn't that what the wife's for?

I wouldn't even consider making a phone call in Thai.
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Old 18-11-2007, 08:58 PM   #33 (permalink)
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I wouldn't even consider making a phone call in Thai.
she's shy.

It's always me that has to do that stuff.

anyway, not everyone has a wife.

she might leave me tomorrow and i like living here regardless.
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Old 18-11-2007, 09:00 PM   #34 (permalink)
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^I hide behind the wife a lot, when she's not around I get forced to speak Thai and I can get by, but I make her do all the talking when she's there. Probably my own shyness rather than a language barrier.

I even make her answer the phone to my parents now, I really can't stand fucking phones.
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Old 18-11-2007, 09:01 PM   #35 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChiangMai noon
you are a buffoon
a large French one.

I will red you as often as the software allows.
i have just stuck a reminder on my monitor.
you silly petite Gaelic, you are a proud little puppy, aren't you ?

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Old 18-11-2007, 09:11 PM   #36 (permalink)
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I made a decision to live in Thailand. I came here with a plan to live here a very long time. Within weeks of arriving I started taking Thai language lessons -- 3x a week for 2 hours a shot. I studied for eight months until I moved into the jungle.

Nobody here speaks English save my precious wife. Funnily (or not so) they don't speak much Thai either, they speak Issan wich is nothing more than a Thai/Lao mix. Eight months won't get you far, but I have the fundamentals down. I can read and write at a basic level. I'd be screwed without being able to communicate.

If you live in Bangkok or Phuket maybe the need to speak Thai isn't as pressing. For me it is, and I think it a bit haughty that some don't concede they might be better for it, regarless of where they live.
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Old 18-11-2007, 09:16 PM   #37 (permalink)
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Quote:
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being proud of speaking Thai is like being a proud puppy putting his first turd on the carpet
Brilliant!
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Old 18-11-2007, 09:20 PM   #38 (permalink)
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I really can't stand fucking phones.
Yeah, the G-spot is so elusive. They're getting smaller every day, though, and that's a plus.
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Old 18-11-2007, 09:25 PM   #39 (permalink)
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