Quote Originally Posted by Curious George
I think much of this inability to learn a second language stems from one's brain function.
I agree with this; and I think it's especially true with Thai. I learned the Japanese "alphabet" (100+ characters) in an afternoon on the train. I've never been able to learn the Thai alphabet.

Even though I've only vacationed in Japan and never lived there and only studied what I needed to be a tourist, my Japanese is way, way better than my Thai. I'm sure I've spent 100 times as many hours studying Thai as Japanese.

IMHO it's all about the sounds. Thai is really a simple language: straightforward syntax, no nasty verb conjugations, simple vocabulary. But, unless you pronounce it precisely you won't be understood. And, I just can't do it.

I know that "bpai" (go) starts with an unvoiced, unaspirated, interlabial stop. I know what it supposed to sound like. But I just can't produce it.

It's especially frustrating for us English speakers because English is such a forgiving language when it comes to pronunciation. We're used to hearing so many different accents and speech from people with so many different abilities that we're able to use logic, analysis and context to decipher utterances. Thai's just can't do this.

For example, Ms. B can easily understand a poorly formed English sentence like "Go yoo weah?", but if I say "bai nai" instead of "bpai nai", she's baffled.

Grrrrr.