Learn thai how long

PS: pay special attention to the tones, the lenghs of the vowels and the final sound of the words. My gf says she sounded like a foreigner singing Thai until last year After 23 years i still find it hard to understand anyone outside my familly ,my Thai is great if its about money or food ,thats it. Speaking Thai is like dancing. You are much better at it if your about half drunk.

Or at least you think you are. I go to a teacher 3 times a week. The problem for me is that the more a learn the more I forget.. I must constantly go back and check things and it's very important that You study every day I think. For me it's also a problem that English it's not my first language. So I have translate every thing three times.. As it stands I can speak English and Afrikaans.

Would learning to speak Thai open up doors for me? Personally, I can't really say how good I am at learning a foreign language, what really helped me with English though is the internet - consistently typing and reading English online has taught me some of the most aberrant words I've ever come across. I grew up with an Afrikaans household so that's been around for years.

Why would you want to take the time to learn a language thats of no use to you outside of Thailand? For some reason known only to you, you seen hell bent on coming here, most of your questions have been answered before and the folly of your ways pointed out to you on a previous thread you started abount becoming a teacher. After 45 years I still get embarrassed frequently when speaking Thai. Read and write, studied six months years ago and get along ok with easy stuff.

At my age 65 the more I learn the more I forget. I have the Thai alphabet worked out, more or less, but still have problems with vocabulary. I tried to learn and gave up - I think every foreigner goes through similar phases or caring and then not. I had to learn in the evenings but I gained an insight in to how missionaries learn; they do 4 hours every morning for 6 months straight as they are funded through a church.

That get's them through the 6 UTL modules. If I had the time and money I'd do that, but like I said, I just stopped caring. How long does it take you to learn to play the piano?? I learned to speak passable Thai in about 3 years with no teacher, or formal lessons. Just a book and cassette and of course Thai friends. The secret is immersion - having girlfriends that couldn't speak English.

It isn't that hard, just a matter of motivation. And being able to ask any girl out was a great motivator! Have a good understanding of Thai culture and apply this to your speech. Writing: Write essays on various topics.

Explain, discuss, share opinions, and do creative writing. Use suitable words and sentence structures, as well as idioms , proverbs, and other Thai sayings. Write essays with good flow in terms of time, ideas, and logic, with a solid conclusion at the end. Learning Tips for Advanced Students Read and summarize academic essays.

You likely have no problem with non-academic topics at this point, so you should focus on the academic part. By reading and summarizing essays written in Thai, you can learn new words and structures and practice writing. Watch or listen to Thai news. Watch Thai TV shows , movies, or dramas in various genres.

Watching Thai movies and shows is a great way to practice your listening and become more familiar with Thai culture. It will also expose you to various Thai accents, and give you a better idea of how idioms and proverbs are used in different contexts. Debate on various topics. Try debating with your Thai friends on various topics. This will help you practice explaining concepts, giving your opinions, influencing others, persuading your audience, and making compromises.

In our Conversation Starters for Advanced Learners series, you can listen to various Thai-related stories to improve your listening and speaking skills. Thai Culture Our Thai Culture page is a great starting point for learning about the unique culture of Thailand. You can also visit the Thai Holidays subsection of our blog for some fun cultural lessons, or head over to our page on the Top Five Things You Need to Know About Thai Society for practical info you should know before your visit.

Pick up more complex phrases and sentences, dive deeper into various grammar concepts, discover more about Thai culture, and have fun the entire time! Posted by ThaiPod Create Your Free Lifetime Account. By clicking Join Now, you agree to our Terms of Use , Privacy Policy , and to receive our email communications, which you may opt out at any time. Saying hello In most cultures, it is custom to express gratitude in some way or another.

The dictionary defines gratitude as foll A good portion of conversation time is spent thinking about what to say next. Sometimes, we find ourselves searc Do you long for romance and are willing to do whatever it takes to meet that specia Saying hell The dictionary defines gratitude as f Yet, when exactly is Ap See Previous Post. See Next Post. Or sign up using Facebook. Connect with Facebook. The Thai alphabet consists of 44 consonants and 28 vowel combinations, in addition to several tonal markers.

Meanwhile, sentences do not contain spaces between words, capital or lower case letters, or even punctuation the majority of the time, adding to the confusion. While it certainly appears daunting, it is well worth your time as it helps tremendously with speaking and so should be your first step in your Thai learning journey.

As not all signs are translated into English, learning to read the Thai language can be your ticket to discovering something new. Nobody wants to be that person when they travel abroad. It is important to mind your manners when interacting with others, and this applies to the language too. Somewhat untranslatable, these words are used to make the sentence sound polite and show respect to whoever you are speaking with.

It can be used after most sentences, though how often you should use it depends on who you are talking with. If talking to someone of authority or during a short interaction with a stranger, it is better to use it more often. When talking with close friends however, it is fine to use it sparingly like when you are being sincere e. Be sure to make use of these in your everyday conversations so you can be sure not to cause offense or appear insensitive.

Nobody likes talking to a rude person. Ever noticed how sometimes when you overhear Thai people speaking together it sounds like their words are bouncing up and down? Thai is a tonal language , meaning that individual words can be differentiated based on how they are spoken.

There are 5 different tones used in the Thai language, including:. While you may be able to get away with ignoring the tones to an extent, you will likely at times be faced with a blank expression - or worse if you are unfortunate enough to use the wrong tone on the wrong word. If you are really looking to impress your Thai friends or master the Thai language, it is worth putting in the time to learn the 5 different tones and doing your best to clearly differentiate them in conversation.

Tones are not the only problem you will face when it comes to learning Thai pronunciation. For example, an aspirated consonant can be the difference between ordering fried rice with egg or fried rice with chicken. It is worth noting that there are a number of different transliterations that are used for Thai and so some guide books may use slightly different spellings for their pronunciation guide. Learning to differentiate these pronunciations can take some getting used to, but in the long run will definitely help you converse with the locals and, in this case, order food.

The best thing you can do to kickstart your Thai learning is to immerse yourself in the language. What is the best way to do that? Go to Thailand! When surrounded by the language, you can listen, practice and soak in the language in everyday situations with native speakers. Listening to Thai music and watching Thai tv also helps absorb the language. Try to get away from the main tourists spot to get a better insight into the culture of the country and expose yourself to different accents and dialects.

Doing this is the optimum way to perfect your pronunciation and learn new vocabulary. Even if you make mistakes, people will be happy that you try and may even help correct you. It is fair to say that the Thai language is not the easiest language to learn. What does AI mean in Thai? What does Chai mean? Is chai tea healthier than green tea? What is Chai called in English? What countries call tea chai? Does Chai mean tea? More topics Is Urdu a hard language to learn?

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