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Speak and read Thai in 8 weeks. Doable! | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| irishpolyglot Nonaglot Senior Member Ireland fluentin3months Joined 5637 days ago 285 posts - 892 votes  Speaks: Irish, English*, French, Esperanto, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Sign Language Studies: Mandarin | Message 1 of 9 26 January 2010 at 3:31am | IP Logged |
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I thought I was aiming too high this time, but my mission to speak and read Thai in 8 weeks is going according to plan!!
Very quickly after starting I learned how to abandon romanisation and read pure Thai. The post I wrote about how has exploded on stumbleupon with 40,000 hits in the last few days :) This week I can now read Thai AND apply the tone rules. I'll post a really funny video this week (I recorded it with some really big bloggers like the guy from manvsdebt.com) to show how I see the tones as working and how anyone else (even those who claim to be "tonedeaf") could understand them too. I'm curious to see if people in this forum are sceptical or encouraging about this mission. I only have 5 weeks left to reach my goal. Any tips appreciated :) Let me know if you like the blog - I haven't mentioned it on this forum since I just started it and I've achieved a lot since then. Edited by irishpolyglot on 26 January 2010 at 3:43am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| doviende Diglot Senior Member Canada languagefixatio Joined 5990 days ago 533 posts - 1245 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Spanish, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Hindi, Swedish, Portuguese | Message 2 of 9 26 January 2010 at 11:36am | IP Logged |
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I suggest lots of listening, which should be easy since you're in Thailand. But you also may wish to try out the "chorus" method, as espoused by Swedish language instructor Olle Kjellin. The basic story is that you pick about a page of text with audio, and you try to completely master saying everything in it. This should (in theory) give you a pretty complete grasp of the phonetics and rhythm of the language.
For each sentence, you want to listen to it many times (like 40 - 50 times) and then practice speaking along with the recording many times (again, 40 - 50 times). The large number of repetitions are supposedly necessary to really drill it in and adapt your brain to the new subtleties of the language. In the case of Thai, this would mean adapting to the tones as well. Kjellin also stresses the importance of the rhythm, beyond what is usually taught in standard language classes. He claims it can be quite helpful even to just hum along with the sentence in the right rhythm, or use a syllable like "ha" in place of all the regular sounds, just to practice getting the rhythm right. Good luck with your challenge! I'm reading the blog with interest. I liked your video about the Esperanto learning camp too, which inspired me to make a plan to go to Slovakia this summer for the same thing. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Bastet Diglot Pro Member United Kingdom Joined 5913 days ago 28 posts - 29 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French Personal Language Map | Message 3 of 9 26 January 2010 at 11:39am | IP Logged |
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Considering how long it is taking me to acquire Spanish, one might think I would be very skeptical. On the contrary, I actually like to see people "throw down the gauntlet" and go for basic fluency in short periods of time. Somehow it motivates me to keep going in my own studies when I see that others are confident enough to attempt such goals. I mean, if you can learn that much Korean, with no previous Asian language experience, in eight weeks, well then, I should be able to improve my own language skills in Spanish and French in a similar fashion. Or so my thinking goes...
I read your blog a bit, and I found your "missions" entertaining. I think you've defined your goals and methods well, and I hope you make your goal. I look forward to seeing your progress and maybe picking up some study tips. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Sprachjunge Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 7169 days ago 368 posts - 548 votes Speaks: English*, GermanC2 Studies: Spanish, Russian | Message 4 of 9 26 January 2010 at 2:03pm | IP Logged |
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Put me in the encouraging camp. This is a language learning website, after all. I don't think anyone here would be against someone realizing his potential and learning as much as he can. Life should be an adventure!
I think that we might have differing opinions about what constitutes "speaking a language (well)," but those are obviously subjective assessments that will vary from person to person. And should. What's important is that we all pursue the paths that bring us fulfillment and pride. Good luck with Thai! 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| M. Medialis Diglot TAC 2010 Winner Senior Member Sweden Joined 6361 days ago 397 posts - 508 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: Russian, Japanese, French | Message 5 of 9 26 January 2010 at 2:25pm | IP Logged |
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Well, I'm also in the encouraging camp. There's no reason to be sceptical, since your attitude towards learning is so good.
I've been following your blog for a while, and I find it very interesting. One thing I've been wondering about is how much time you invest in your missions. I know that you have techniques for "stealing" time during the day, but if you would sum up everything you do in your target language, how many hours would you say you average on a day (now I'm only speaking about the language that's currently in your 3-month or 8-weeks challenge. And not the ones you already know). I know it's almost impossible to count hours, but you could probably estimate if it's ~1 hour or close to 2 hours or more than 4 hours etc. I think you'll make it, and it's a great idea to destroy the biggest obstacles first.-You're definitely onto something! Edited by M. Medialis on 26 January 2010 at 2:45pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| irishpolyglot Nonaglot Senior Member Ireland fluentin3months Joined 5637 days ago 285 posts - 892 votes Speaks: Irish, English*, French, Esperanto, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Sign Language Studies: Mandarin | Message 6 of 9 26 January 2010 at 3:33pm | IP Logged |
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@Medialis I've actually put a very small amount of time into Thai since I got here, since I knew I'd be a tourist first and check out the islands and party (having a great time!!) For my last weeks I'll be more serious about speaking. It's been maybe 5 hours a week so far. I have devoted little time to study in all missions and just try to speak all the time instead :) I've got a different approach this time that I'll continue to mention on the site!
Glad you have been enjoying the blog!! @Sprachjunge & @Bastet Thanks!! :) I've written to other forums (such as Lonely planet's thorntree) and gotten a wave of criticism and doubt every time, so it's refreshing to see this site has more positivity!! @doviende Thanks ;) I had planned to do some repetition, but I'll make it more fun, like learning a song or something :D You'll enjoy the SES, it opened me up to Esperanto and the amazing community of people who speak that language! Edited by irishpolyglot on 26 January 2010 at 3:55pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5560 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 7 of 9 08 March 2010 at 1:21pm | IP Logged |
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Great stuff Benny, an admirable challenge to be sure! I think if you really put your mind to it, and invest the hours, you can achieve a lot during this time. So I'm keenly following your progress in Thai and wish you the very best luck in your endeavours.
I'm also enjoying your videos in Irish too...fun and informative, and most important of all...in Gaeilge for dumb beginners like me! If you ever decide to include a transcript and translation into English for some of these too, the beers will be on me. Keep up the good work :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| irishpolyglot Nonaglot Senior Member Ireland fluentin3months Joined 5637 days ago 285 posts - 892 votes Speaks: Irish, English*, French, Esperanto, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Sign Language Studies: Mandarin | Message 8 of 9 08 March 2010 at 2:52pm | IP Logged |
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Hi Teango! :) Thanks for the response - the Thai mission is now over; I'm writing my conclusions this very afternoon to post up on the blog!
The next mission starts in 3 weeks! Stay tuned :P I think from now on I'll be uploading my Irish videos through Dotsub so that people can enjoy them with subtitles even if they don't speak Irish :) If you go to my blog fi3m.com you'll see that I'm back in Ireland now and will be writing several articles about Irish for Seachtain na Gaeilge (the lead up to St. Patrick's day). I hope you enjoy them!! All the best :) 1 person has voted this message useful |
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