Learning the Thai language
Fortunately, Charly's life is full of pleasant surprises (unfortunately sometimes also less pleasant ones). Until a few years ago, he would never have dared to predict that he would spend the rest of his life in Thailand. However, he has now been living in Thailand for a while and in recent years close to Udonthani.
I've ordered a course from the NHA and am making frantic efforts to learn the Thai language.
The course consists of two parts:
- Thai for beginners, 12 lessons
- Advanced Thai, 48 lessons
The costs for the total course are Euro 249,- if no teacher is used. The teacher can check submitted answer material. If you wish, the course costs EUR 30 more. A EUR 25 registration fee will be charged separately from the tuition fee.
It is also possible to order only the Thai course for beginners: costs 179 euros.
After the order and payment, the following will be delivered:
- Three ring binders (with Thai for beginners 1 ring binder)
- The teaching material in printed form
- Media player for listening and speaking exercises
All words and texts, dialogues per lesson are pronounced in Thai on the media player. Listening to it over and over will give you a feel for the pronunciation. The different tones, five of them, are also discussed in detail.
NHA claims that you should schedule 3 to 5 hours per lesson. My personal experience is that this number of hours is closer to 7 to 10 hours. Just learning the Thai characters, say the Thai alphabet, takes an awful lot of time.
The beginning lessons (except lesson 1) can be done in 3 to 5 hours, but from lesson 8 (beginners course) the number of hours will increase considerably. Moreover, you will have to regularly rehearse the lessons learned, otherwise you will quickly lose the subject matter and the words of those lessons.
The following components are standard for each lesson:
- Introduction (0 to the topic to be covered in the course, in Dutch)
- Dialogue (in Thai language)
- Transcription and word for word translation of the dialogue
- Glossary associated with the dialogue
- Translation into Dutch of the dialogue
- Idiom
- Grammar
- Cultural notes
- Practice questions
- Homework assignments (if you have a teacher checking your homework)
- Answer practice questions
My guess is that the NHA offers a decent course that will teach you how to read, write, speak, and understand Thai very well when a Thai talks to you. You must have completed the entire course (60 lessons). The problem then remains that Laos is mainly spoken in Isan. Incidentally, the Isaaners will usually understand your Bangkok Thai (if you pronounce it correctly), but you probably won't understand their Laos language.
If you want to get to know the Thai language, but not so deeply, then I recommend ordering only the beginners course.
The Thai beginners course has the following lessons:
- Lesson 1. The basics of Thai (is a very detailed lesson, which also covers Thai vowels and consonants). This lesson takes considerably more than 3-5 hours.
- Lesson 2. Questions and Answers
- Lesson 3. Let me introduce myself first
- Lesson 4. Two girlfriends
- Lesson 5. In the morning at the university
- Lesson 6. A weekend of rest in Hua Hin
- Lesson 7. Joy, you must get up!
- Lesson 8. Welcome
- Lesson 9. Picking up family from the airport
- Lesson 10. In the restaurant
- Lesson 11. There are traffic jams again
- Lesson 12. Nightlife in Bangkok
If you want to know more about the course, you can go to the NHA website:
- Website : www.nha.nl
- E-mail : [email protected]
- Telephone : + 077 – 30 67 000
It is definitely not an easy language for a non-Asian to learn. I am therefore quite happy that Thailand does not require foreigners to integrate in Thailand and, as proof, to know the Thai language to a certain extent. And must demonstrate this by successfully passing exams. Like Thai people who come to live in the Netherlands, the Dutch government has to do.
And believe me, for those Thai people learning the Dutch language is at least as difficult as learning the Thai language for us. They often have the additional handicap of having barely attended school. Many Thais, especially those who come from the countryside – such as the Isaan – have had little or no schooling. Some cannot even read, write or count.
After about two years, I kind of dropped out of the NHA course. It just takes too much time and effort for me to go through the whole process. I am now limiting myself to updating my knowledge of the Thai “alphabet” (vowels and consonants), trying to memorize about 2.000 words and rehearsing the NHA beginners course (12 lessons).
In combination with the daily recurring phrases, you arrive at a practical, usable Thai language. Good enough for a restaurant, on a terrace or in a bar and nice to occasionally say something in a Thai company. I therefore have great admiration for farang who have a good command of the Thai language. It must have taken them a lot of effort or they have been living here in Thailand for many years or they are much smarter than me. But even then you need a course to stay far away from coal Thai.
I have digitally stored quite a bit of Thai learning material in the past two years. If there are people who want to learn some basic concepts in Thai, let me know and I can email it to you ([email protected]).
We then talk about:
- Thai vowels
- Thai consonants
- Pronunciation of vowels and consonants
- Where are the vowels and consonants found on a Thai keyboard
- Simple basic concepts related to grammar
- A number of glossaries
Submitted by Charlie
I agree with Charly that learning the Thai language for foreigners is just as difficult as learning Dutch or English for a Thai. I know quite a few Thais in the Netherlands who speak decent Dutch.
It is everyone's personal decision how much of the Thai language he/she wants to learn. I repeat again that it has nothing to do with cleverness or language skills, but only with perseverance. If you want to learn the language reasonably well, one day (say after 1-2 years of lessons) you have to decide to only speak Thai with Thai in Thailand.
And that is my question to you, Charly. I understand that you have been living in Thailand for two years and have a Thai partner. What language do you usually talk to each other in?
Dear Tina,
I have been living in Thailand for 3,5 years now. With my Thai partner I speak in the English language. That is the disadvantage if you have a Thai partner who speaks English. If your Thai partner only speaks Thai, then you have no choice and you have to make do with Thai, with the result that you will pick up that Thai faster.
I've managed to learn Thai for quite a long time, often 4-6 hours a day. If after a while you notice that you are still unable to follow the Thai news on TV, the enthusiasm quickly crumbles.
Regards,
Charly
Nice to see you writing something about the language again. Very good.
Yes, I still have the greatest difficulty watching TV….. Also don't have a Thai partner who could make that a little easier. self-reliant; Yes. Have a discussion; still not really. Annoying. But I'm not giving up either.
OK, you should know that yourself.
With intensive study, after 2-3 years I was able to have a reasonable conversation, after another six years I had a Thai primary and secondary school diploma through extracurricular education (very nice, go and inquire, costs almost nothing). school. Nine years later, it was only after that that I could reasonably follow the Thai news and I still sometimes miss something.
This is a nice facebook page
Farang Can Learn Thai Language รักภาษาไทย
Continuing to speak English with your Dutch/Thai partner in the new country of residence is a well-known pitfall. When my late love came to the Netherlands, I always fell back on English. After a few weeks she spoke to me irritated: “Honey, I now live in the Netherlands, but you almost always speak English, I have to speak Dutch! Or else people will laugh and ridicule me or think I'm stupid. You mustn't speak English!” I said 'yes dear, you are right' and from that moment on I continued to speak Dutch with her. A bit slowly and with a clear pronunciation, if she still didn't understand me then I looked for other words, other sentences. If she still looked at me distraught, then I gave a brief English translation.
The deal was that as soon as she had completed her Dutch (inburgering) she would teach me first Thai and then Isan (Isan was her idea, she beamed when she said it, but I agreed on the condition that I would first speak decent ABT). Unfortunately I am alone now, I started Thai in April with help or distance. But of course it would have been ideal if I could hear and speak Thai around me 24/7. I'm sure she would have paid me back in kind.
An additional handicap for us is that we do not know the script and most Thais do. As was stated on the blog about 2 months ago, anyone can learn a language, including the elderly: repeat, repeat, repeat. Integrating from a distance is like half a handicap, but it works best if you are immersed in a language immersion every day.
And I thought there was indeed a language requirement for permanent residence (a residence permit)? And for naturalization to Thai an even higher language requirement? It is of course known that most foreigners stay on constantly renewed temporary visas, but this does not mean that the country has no integration requirements. Most of them can simply avoid them in practice. There is nothing wrong with that, although I think you should make a good effort to learn the language of your new country of residence, and then not give up after 3 months or 3 lessons (!!). The Thai who come to the Netherlands cannot do that either.
I speak it reasonably. Restaurants, taxis, directions, numbers, simple 'small talk' conversations, what time is it, where and when is it happening, a Sek Loso song in the karaoke bar, all no problem. My level of the Thai language is therefore best described as 'limited self-reliance' and in my opinion it is the level that every long-term expat should want to be at least because it makes life so much easier. The problem for me, if you want to see it as a problem at least, is that you get stuck at that level unless you really put a lot of effort and time into moving up a level. I don't have time for that and I don't really want to make time for it because I don't really need it for work or private.
Every foreign language is difficult, Thai more so given the Thai “signs”. Thais who have attended school can speak little English, but are already familiar with our alphabet.
Some people have more aptitude for learning a language than others. At the time, We Belgians had many English, French and sometimes German broadcasts on TV that were neatly subtitled. With the basics of language at school, I have absorbed a lot in terms of vocabulary and TV pronunciation without much effort. Connections can also be made between NL, FR, EN and German. A pastor also pointed out similar words between my dialect and English: I was surprised. As a Westerner, unfortunately there are no connections with Thai.
Learning a language means persevering without putting too much pressure on yourself. Realize that you will never speak as well as the Thai. But that is usually not necessary. Thais appreciate that you at least try.
If you meet the requirements for learning the Dutch language, you are entitled to all good facilities in the Netherlands. So you have to do something for that. This is of course different in Thailand.
An 'instructive' contribution with practical information. According to Tino, it is a matter of perseverance to master the Thai language somewhat and I certainly assume that, but I hardly succeeded. The big stumbling block are the different pitches and also the stress in the words. Charly is undoubtedly right in his claim that it is just as difficult for Thai people to learn the Dutch language as it is the other way around. If the Thai government were to decide that foreigners, who establish their domicile in Thailand, have to take a Dutch-style 'integration exam', then probably not many would pass.
The NHA course is the only Dutch course. Unfortunately, it is far too pompous for most. I don't think many people are interested in how to address a dignitary, for example. The course offers so much that you can no longer see the forest for the trees, so in the end very little sticks. The English-language courses have the disadvantage that the transcription is in English. which is difficult for Dutch people. A very good (English) course is “Colloquial Thai” by John Moore and Saowalak Rodchue. It can be ordered via the internet. Once you have worked through it, you can get by quite well.
you could look at the only Dutch language book. See for that http://www.slapsystems.nl. The phonetics is also fully tailored to our language and covers the basics through to more complicated language use. Also used by a language school in the Netherlands, as standard work.
Definitely do: it is absolutely worth the purchase!
Charly, sounds enthusiastic, but how many lessons have you done now?
I myself bought HST, High Speed Thai and tried to follow. In total about eighty lessons, which became longer and more extensive. In the fortieth lesson I was drowned in it. Tried again after a year, but it didn't work. Too difficult and endless.
I can speak quite a bit of Thai, restaurant and Big C are no problem. But.. If I say something in Thai, I will of course also get an answer in Thai. And that's where things go wrong, I don't get it… So talking to the family is still not an option. While I speak six European languages. Thai is probably beyond my brain.
I get private lessons, sometimes via Skype (saves a lot of travel time.)
During the lesson we learn to read, speak, listen and write Thai at the same time.
Those parts are attuned to each other, so within 1 lesson, you use words that also need to be written down when speaking.
All parts at the same time seems more difficult, but in the end it is easier, because you remember things better.
(It works for me)
Outside, in the big world, I have more trouble understanding people (and they me.)
I don't know whether that's because of the accent, or because acquaintances adapt their vocabulary to my level.
There is improvement, but a conversation with a stranger about the advantages and disadvantages of globalization (or small talk :)) is still a long way off.
That is also my motivation to learn Thai, I keep coming there and it would be nice if I could talk to my Thai friends in their own language and ask for some explanation and explanation from a guide in museums.
Learning goes with, among other things, Ronald Schütte's booklet and just a lot of practice with writing words and sentences, talking and so on. At least an hour a day. I don't need to be able to talk about splitting atomic cells, but I should eventually be able to pass everyday conversations at A2 to B1 level.
I myself think that most courses are much too official.
Also in terms of pronunciation it is pronounced clearly and much too slowly.
As a result, you learn it wrong and you don't understand the pronunciation of the real Thai.