I headed over to my new favorite cafe "Mooville" to try something new on their menu. I spent time there studying Thai while sipping the old Java juice.
Thai is now the fourth language I have studied. Previously, I have learned: French (grades 2 - 9), German (grade 10-university), and Japanese (2001 - 2008). When I chat with other students in my Thai language class, they are all surprised at how many languages I have studied. Another curious thing is that most agree Thai is difficult. I disagree.
While on the surface, the written Thai language looks daunting, it's actually not so bad. I think my experience learning Japanese has helped tremendously in this case. The style and shape of the letters are similar to the Japanese Kanji characters and their hiragana system. I am a great visual learner, so remembering the shapes and vowel patterns is enjoyable.
What frustrates me are the tones. Like Chinese, the Thai system has tones -- or voice inflictions. There are rising, falling, mid, low and high tones. So you could have the word "maa" pronounced many ways:
- maa (mid tone; no voice change) = to come
- maa (high tone; voice goes up like a girl from California) = a horse
- maa (rising tone; voice starts high, falls, then goes up again) = a dog
You could be trying to say a word, but if your pronunciation is wrong, you'll likely say something else.
People here often ask me how I managed to learn Thai so quickly. There is no secret really-- just study, listen, repeat after the CD, and try not to translate everything. I think the more languages you study, the easier it becomes.
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