I've been studying Thai for about ten years now and have been living here in Korat for the last two. I have now reached the point where no one understand what I'm trying to say and I don't understand much of anything anyone else says. I've not given up, but I've resigned myself to never being able to communicate in Thai even as well as the two year old girl or lives across the soi from us.

That said, my reading is getting better all the time. This really helps in restaurants, at the supermarket, on the road, etc. But, I think I've learned to read the same way a deaf person learns to read. They can recognize and understand words without knowing how they sound or how to pronounce them. For example, I can read a menu, but I cannot order because the waitress will never understand what food I want.

End the end, this is OK with me. I rarely have anyone I want to speak with and I almost never have anything to say.