Traps in Thai Language speaking.
Don't bother to read if you are not trying to speak Thai.
I post this to give those thinking about learning to speak Thai, a good concept of what they must struggle with.
1. Some Thai consonants are tricky. NG sound at the start of a word. Practice to say Ringing as Ri-Nging, in order to get how this is done. BP sound is like a P but unaspirated (no puff of air), like the P at end of the word Stop. DT sound is like T but unaspirated, like T at the end of the word Rot. These consonant problems are the least of your worries. Ha ha.
2. Getting the 5 tones (mid, Low, Falling, Rising, High). Even mid tone is unusual for farangs as it is a higher than normal voice pitch for a Farang and falls away slightly. This requires months of practice, and even after years and years, I still slip up with wrong tones.
3. Getting the vowel sounds correct. Unlike English, if you pronounce vowels differently, you may not be understood. There are several vowel sounds in Thai that are not like English. EU is like German you with an umlaut, but must be said with a horizontally wide stretched but closed mouth. It is like the sound of straining on the toilet to take a shit. Two types of O sound in Thai are not like English O sounds. Most Thai vowels can be short or long and it matters. I once asked for Satay Gai (Chicken Satay sticks) but received Chicken Steak, because in the word Satay, the second vowel has to be very short in Thai language, like the word Step with the P sound removed. So I learned if pronunciation is slightly off what Thais expect, they possibly won't get it. If you pronounce the name of Soapy Colonze in farang style, the taxi driver won't get it. Has to be something like Co-lawn-SAY. Thai words always stress the last syllable. E. g. Com-pu-***.
4. It is not necessary to learn Thai script in learning to speak Thai. However if eventually you want to be able to read and write Thai, or SMS chat in Thai, the Thai does have an alphabet (weird one), and learning to read and write Thai can be done from a book without a teacher. I recommend guys to learn to speak Thai first, just like a child learns to speak long before he can read and write.
So if you want to learn Thai, expect to spend the first few months concentrating on the all critical nuances of the pronunciation. For this you need a teacher to correct the wrong pronunciation. You can learn vocab by yourself, but a good teacher is quite essential to correct pronunciation mistakes. That means a picky (strict) teacher who does not just let the wrong pronunciation go by. You can getting a Talking Thai Dictionary software to run on your PC or smart phone, including the Thai pronunciation. However hearing it said right, does not mean you can produce close to the same without teacher training.
If you spend a lot of time with Thais and in Thailand, and have plenty of spare time to practice with Thais who don't speak English, then learning Thai can be a good idea. I bit the bullet and got started on Thai 25 years ago. If you have not got the time, and determination to keep at it, then don't bother. After my first few months of classes, I spent a long holiday in Thailand mostly trying to communicate in Thai language with girls who could not speak English, and looking up dictionaries a lot, due to my relatively weak Vocab at the time. Today my Vocab is quite good, and I can think in Thai, without the need to translate. Consult dictionary rarely now.
Thai is difficult at first due to the pronunciation issues. However once this hurdle is overcome, the grammar is extremely simple, not like German, French, etc. , and the its just a matter of vocab and how to use the words correctly in context. So Thai is all up not a difficult language at all. I found German far more difficult, due to grammar issues and strange word sequences. Thai sentence word order varies from English only a little bit, the most notable being adjectives are shifted after the noun ("chicken grilled" instead of "grilled chicken" and most question words move to the end of the sentence (e. G. You asked me what?, you live where?
Finally there are "natural method" learning Thai classes where teacher speaks only Thai and there is never any translation. This is a good method if you have massive time on your hands. Progress is very slow in early stages. For learning Thai quickly, I don't recommend it. Better off to learn the Thai words and have an explanation of the meaning in English. Otherwise an old brain takes too long to assimilate new stuff.
The younger you are, the easier it is to learn new stuff. Young brain is like a sponge. Old brain is a dried up sponge not working so well.
To learn vocab there are special Flip Cards (e. G. Flashcards Deluxe) applications to run on your Smartphone, that can show Thai words (or phrases) on one side and English meaning on other side, and program causes you to revise words you got wrong more frequently.
Non hobby info and question
On the non-hobby side from my quick September trip I have a few notes. Bully's still does a solid, though no-where near Bangkok's best burger, but if you are looking in the Nana area it's a nice place to start. The michelan star tim ho wan branch in T21 is solid dim sum, it's no Hong Kong, but still pretty good. I also got out to the what Lad Prao that stick wrote about this year and enjoyed it as an off the beaten path temple and something different to see.
Also on this trip I finally took the plunge and started using motorbike taxis a bit more. My previous experience was limited to a ride back to hotel with a semi drunk pattaya bar girl driving. Being tall, 191 cm and not skinny I still don't feel that comfortable and safe would not be a word I would use, but for short rides or when traffic is not your friend I will continue to use them as alternative. 1 question, not to be homophobic, but I still just hold on to the seat underneath me, as a guy do you hold on the driver's vest if you need to? What's proper protocol there?
