How much Thai (language) do you know?

Anything and everything about Thailand

How much of the Thai language do you know?

1
9
29%
2
5
16%
3
6
19%
4
3
10%
5
0
No votes
6
0
No votes
7
3
10%
8
2
6%
9
0
No votes
10
3
10%
 
Total votes: 31

mauRICE

Re: How much Thai (language) do you know?

Post by mauRICE »

thaiworthy wrote:I wrote MauRICE, but the PM is still in my out box. Now that I have read your post, I understand this is not for the faint-hearted. What does he mean by "Union method used for teaching missionaries?"

By the time I move to Thailand, I will be 62. So that puts me out of the age range for a reasonable expectation of success, according to your report. Now I am faced with finding another way to learn Thai. I had planned to move to Bangkok just to attend this school. Now my hopes are dashed and it changes things considerably. I have never been a good student, and I will be even further intimidated if I have a teacher like the "Dragon Lady" you spoke of in our conversations together. You also mentioned some other members of this forum who went there, but they are all still in their 50s. This is discouraging news about UTL.
Sorry, I rarely come to this board. The Union method is the method used to teach missionaries devised by the Union Language School located in The Church of Christ in Thailand building in Ratchatewi. They used to be in Suriwong but moved to Ratchatewi a few years ago. UTL is a splinter school of Union started by Union teachers and they use the Union method. AAA in Chidlom is another splinter school of Union. The teaching methodology at all three schools is exactly the same and they use the same materials, most of which haven't been updated in thirty years (but still effective)! The original Union School is affiliated to The Church of Christ in Thailand but the other two schools are not. Yes, some of the teachers are intimidating and top-down in their approach. Also, these schools are popular with Japanese, Koreans and other Asians who are accustomed to the kind of learning discipline required by the curriculum.

If you're not sure and are an absolute beginner, you might want to try their basic 60-hour conversation class and go from there. It used to be that you would have to pass one level before you could go on to the next but I don't know how strictly they enforce that now.
BBB

Re: How much Thai (language) do you know?

Post by BBB »

mauRICE wrote:If you're not sure and are an absolute beginner, you might want to try their basic 60-hour conversation class and go from there. It used to be that you would have to pass one level before you could go on to the next but I don't know how strictly they enforce that now.
You seem to be the "go to" guy on these things, MauRice. Is there any school you would recommend?
Ben

Re: How much Thai (language) do you know?

Post by Ben »

cdnmatt wrote:
Gaybutton wrote:A Thai person pronounces a word for you. You try a million times to say the same word and you would swear on a stack of bibles you are pronouncing the word exactly as the Thai person is pronouncing it, and you're told you're not even close. Does that happen to anyone besides me?
All the time. For example, I (think I) still have trouble pronouncing เหมือน (meuuan -- similar, same). That word contains two sounds that don't exist in the English language though. You have the "m" sound mixed with a "e" and "u" in one syllable, then you have the อ sound.
Similar experiences, both for me learning Thai and for Thais learning English. I think that it is to do with the way that the brain interprets sounds. It hasn't previously been necessary to hear the difference between those particular sounds, because they don't appear or conflict in our native tongues. It becomes a difficult job to retrain the brain to focus on this. It's kind of like the way the brain gives higher priorities to sounds associated with danger.
mauRICE

Re: How much Thai (language) do you know?

Post by mauRICE »

BBB wrote:You seem to be the "go to" guy on these things, MauRice. Is there any school you would recommend?
Where would you like to study? What kind of commitment are you willing to make? What are your objectives? Feel free to PM me.
jaafar

Re: How much Thai (language) do you know?

Post by jaafar »

It is really a very simplistic language and not difficult to learn.
I disagree completely. The Thai language is a rich storehouse with all sorts of cultural goodies in it, including loan-words from Khmer, Burmese, Urdu/ Hindi, Sanskrit, and Pali. Like any language, it offers endless exploration. And it is sometimes really difficult to put an English thought into Thai. As a "trivial example," I got a book today entitled "The Debate About the Constitution." Now, if one of my friends asks me what that book is about, or what it is called, so far I have come up with โต้เถียงเกี่ยวกับ รัฐธรรมนูญ, but I'm afraid that conjures images of people fighting.

Anyway, you have encouraged me to post my list of Buddhist expressions in Thai. :P
mauRICE

Re: How much Thai (language) do you know?

Post by mauRICE »

jaafar wrote:
It is really a very simplistic language and not difficult to learn.
As a "trivial example," I got a book today entitled "The Debate About the Constitution." Now, if one of my friends asks me what that book is about, or what it is called, so far I have come up with โต้เถียงเกี่ยวกับ รัฐธรรมนูญ, but I'm afraid that conjures images of people fighting.
การอภิปรายเกี่ยวกับรัฐธรรมนูญ - the debate about the constitution or debating (about) the constitution

Alternatively, you can replace the preposition เกี่ยวกับ with เรื่อง, so you get การอภิปรายเรื่องรัฐธรรมนูญ ie the debate regarding/concerning the constitution.

The above would be used in an academic, legal or journalistic context. To your friends or in less formal contexts, การโต้แย้งเกี่ยวกับรัฐธรรมนูญ is just fine.
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