homintern is on your IGNORE list.

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I would unwittingly tune into conversations around me and would seldom be gratified by the inane gossip I frequently heard

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And even less gratified if that gossip in Thai is about you.   

My Thai isn't good enough to keep up with overheard conversations but I can usually pick out enough to detect if they are talking about me. A few words that show them that I've understood something can be fun as it leaves them unsure just how much.

homintern is on your IGNORE list.

Of course in the bars when they really want to bad mouth you they'll use Lao! Even the non NEasterners know how!

homintern is on your IGNORE list.

Here is the US, in all the airports, are kiosks for Rosetta Stone System for learning languages. They have a course in Thai.  Anyone have any experience in this system?

 

I am sure those systems are alright for languages like French and German but not Thai. The best bet is to throw yourself in the deep end, and cut yourself 'orf from your own tongue. That way you are forced to sink or swim and you'll most likely swim.



Not practical for most except the idle rich and retirees (same same) but the best way IMHO, and immense fun.



Baan po mung?

Freshman chemistry class, prof said, he was like swim coach who threw everyone on the pool and whoever drown last got the A.... but everyone would drown. Hardest prof I ever had but also best prof I ever had.

 

Edited by: gearguy at: 7/11/05 6:33 pm

First I declare an interest. As I've just started to try and learn Thai and am working hard at it, I cannot afford to have any ground cut from under my feet! Got to concentrate and be hopeful.



I seem to remember Homintern posting recently that he had spent an enormous amount of time and effort in learning Thai, only to discover that there wasn't anything worth reading. I have some sympathy with him; I smiled wryly to myself when it occurred to me one day that this was the first language I had learnt or tried to learn that apparently did not have a strong literary tradition - for, I suppose, historical and sociological reasons. I do not know enough to say that it has no literature, but I have the impression Thais are not great readers.



Nevertheless, I think this business of overhearing conversations is a red herring. I can't think that anyone has ever seriously set about learning a language in order to overhear snippets of other people's conversations on transport and in bars - especially when the language poses all the problems that Thai does for a Westerner. Surely that aim would come very far down the list?



In any case, I believe being able to understand the conversation of people sitting nearby is the height of achievement in  language acquisition, because most people when chatting talk intimately, do not articulate, take linguistic short-cuts, and are talking about someone or something that we are unlikely to be able to identify. How many such conversations can we understand, apart from a word here and there, even when the language used is our native tongue?



However, I'm a great believer in listening to native speakers in any situation you find yourself in, not in order to establish the meaning of what they are saying, but to learn something, as you always can, about the 'music' of the language. In Thai, obviously, this will mean registering tones, but I think it also applies to the slightly different subject of intonation. What do these people sound like when they are expressing outrage, surprise, familiarity, self-deprecation, agreement? What is the difference in sound between a self-important Thai and a very modest one? For this sort of observation you don't need to 'understand'; situation and body language will tell you in general terms what is being expressed. In my experience, Frenchmen and Italians may both go red in the face and bulge at the eyes when angry, but their language 'music', a matter of vocal gesture, is entirely different. For the first 40 years of learning a foreign language you have to be prepared to be a bit of an actor and a mimic. (Actually, 40 years is not always long enough. Despite my efforts, Parisians I speak to often wonder whether I'm Belgian - and that ain't meant as a compliment!!)

Edited by: piston10 at: 7/11/05 8:18 pm

homintern is on your IGNORE list.

I understand enough Thai to overhear the Thai boyfriend of my traveling companion asking

the boy I offed on a regular basis, how much money I was giving him each night.



My boy turns to me with a puzzled look and in Thai asks me, "I forgot, how much money

have you been giving me?"



Yeah... I like the dumb ones.



 

'My boy turns to me with a puzzled look and in Thai asks me, "I forgot, how much money

have you been giving me?"



Yeah... I like the dumb ones.' (HappyOccasion)





Dumb?  He sounds like one VERY astute cookie to me.

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Never underestimate the fun other people will afford you for the price of a ticket on public transport

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Yes, especially when one is old and apparently without friends.  And you don't need a ticket if you have a bus pass.

Edited by: Yimsuai  at: 8/11/05 4:49 am

For me, one of the biggest pleasures is being able to read.  True, I have never discovered any literary gems, but I enjoy reading signs, ads, billboards, menus, even magazine articles.



My reading skills are quite good; I only wish I could keep up with conversations, but that too will someday come.