I've been trying to learn Thai for decades and have lived here since 2005. I've spent lots of money on courses, books, CDs, etc. After all that time and effort I still can't make heads or tails out of spoken Thai. I've never had any sort of conversation with anyone in Thai.
If we're out and about and I hear something I don't understand (around 100% of the time), I ask my wife about it. She usually translates the Thai from standard spoken Thai in to what we call "Rosetta Stone Thai" which I readily understand. I'm sure you can see that this approach is impractical.
Yesterday we were at lunch when one of the patrons asked for the bill. I only know he asked for the bill because soon after he spoke one of the waiters delivered the check to his table. I understood none of what he said. I could pick out no familiar words.
I asked my wife to "tell me exactly what he said". I amended that by telling her to text it to me instead. This is what she sent:
Of course, as soon as I read that I did indeed know exactly what he said.
How can I persuade my ear/brain to do as well with spoken Thai as I do with written Thai?
If we're out and about and I hear something I don't understand (around 100% of the time), I ask my wife about it. She usually translates the Thai from standard spoken Thai in to what we call "Rosetta Stone Thai" which I readily understand. I'm sure you can see that this approach is impractical.
Yesterday we were at lunch when one of the patrons asked for the bill. I only know he asked for the bill because soon after he spoke one of the waiters delivered the check to his table. I understood none of what he said. I could pick out no familiar words.
I asked my wife to "tell me exactly what he said". I amended that by telling her to text it to me instead. This is what she sent:
น้องครับ เช็คบิลด้วยครับ
Of course, as soon as I read that I did indeed know exactly what he said.
How can I persuade my ear/brain to do as well with spoken Thai as I do with written Thai?
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