Women Learning Thai… and some men too ;-)

You are browsing the archives of 2009 December.

Prudential is all ears in Bangkok… In your taxi treks around Bangkok, have you come across the Prudential ears marketing campaign? Ever? I have (obviously). And before this goes any further, I have a confession to make. Not knowing how to tackle the mystery, but still wanting to know why, I sent the photo (left) [...]

The new year is almost here… It’s that time again: New Year’s resolution time. And this year I am serious about using the opportunity to ramp up my Thai language learning. Because even with the best intentions, it seems that I can find the time to do everything except for my Thai lessons. Let’s see… [...]

Ho, ho, ho and a subliminal oh!… Last year I wrote a Christmas post on subliminal products for learning Thai: Subliminal Thai… ehh? And as it was such a huge hit, I thought I’d do the same this year. Amazon has two on offer: Learn To Speak The Thai Language Subliminal CD Price: US$15.97 Learn [...]

Interviewing Successful Thai Language Learners… Name: Hardie Karges Nationality: American Age range: 50-60 Sex: Male Location: Traveling currently Profession: Business, writing Website/blog: Thailand to Timbuktu to La Paz: world music, film, and travel Hardiek’s Traveler Profile – TravelPod streaming consciousness What is your Thai level? Advanced/Fluent. Do you speak more street Thai, Issan Thai, or [...]

Peter Robinson and the SET Foundation… For those interested in reading about the life of a monk in Thailand, Phra Farang (written by a former farang monk), is a worthwhile read. There are many excellent book reviews and interviews around, so I won’t do a repeat here. Yet. What I’d like to focus on instead [...]

Ho ho ho… where’s the snow?… Christmas in Thailand can be quite odd (but it is a nice odd). From November to December (and June even) it is quite possible find overheated Santas wandering around downtown Bangkok, reindeer fighting with elephants for sidewalk space, and Christmas carols blasting from tuk tuks. The Thais go out [...]

Interviewing Successful Thai Language Learners… Name: Peter Montalbano Nationality: World citizen with a U.S. passport Age range: 60+ Sex: Male Location: Bangkok, Thailand Profession: Musician/writer Website/blog: montalbano.org/peter (out of date!) What is your Thai level? I have problems with using the word “fluency” linking me and the Thai language. I am extremely facile on some [...]

Thai music goes from classical, to country, folk, popular, and more… A while ago I was reading in one of those Thai expat blogs. You know, the ones that answers all your questions about visas and have all these complainers whining about Thailand, its people and culture. One person said that he thought Thai music [...]

Interviewing Successful Thai Language Learners… Names: Jonas Anderson and Christy Gibson Nationality: Swedish-British and Dutch-British Age range: 20-30 Location: Thailand Profession: Lookthung performers Website: Jonas & Christy Official Site Jonas and Christy, were you put in local Thai schools, or schools with more of an expat focus? Jonas: During most of my early school years [...]

Jonas & Christy and Thailand’s ลูกทุ่ง (lôok tôong)… In WLT’s Successful Thai Language Learners series, those interviewed began studying the Thai language in their twenties and older. Jonas and Christy came into the Thai language scene quite a bit younger. Jonas Anderson (Swedish-British) moved to Thailand when he was 9 years old. Christy Gibson (Dutch-British) [...]

Luca Lampariello’s language learning method… To refresh your memory of Luca’s previous post, An Easy Way to Learn Foreign Languages: Part One, here are the main points of his language learning method: The timeframe of the method is: Quality, then quantity. The method is based upon a strategy of: Often, natural, and sà-nùk. The strategy [...]

Shopping for Xmas cards in Thailand… There isn’t much choice for holiday cards in Thailand. Not if you want to keep away from Hallmarks! There are some fairly dull cards created with photos of Thai murals or such. And you can sometimes find quite ok Thai cards, but not always. This year’s pickings were noticeably [...]

Introducing Luca and his language learning method… Luca Lampariello is an Italian polyglot who speaks 9 languages: Italian, English, French, German, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Russian, and Portuguese. Chinese is his latest language project, and learning to speak Thai is a real possibility! When Luca was barely in his teens (13), he began studying languages on [...]

Interviewing Successful Thai Language Learners… Name: Daniel T. Murphy, Ph.D. Nationality: American Age range: 40-50 Sex: Male Location: Berkeley, California, USA & Bangkok, Thailand Profession: Educational & School Psychologist, Licensed Educational Psychologist What is your Thai level? I am fluent in conversational Thai at a high level. I have taught undergraduates graduate students in Thai. [...]