About
All about Women Learning Thai…and some men too ;-)
When WLT first began, there was just one person here. Me. But as the site progressed, guest writers came on board.
The first arrival was Tina Gibbons, sharing knowledge from the Lantana International School. Shortly after that, Rikker Dockam came along with his wonderful Thai 101 Learner Series. Awhile after Rikker, Hugh Leong started an inspiring series too: Thai Language Thai Culture.
WLT also has single and double post writers: Amy Praphantanathorn (Learning Thai with Thai Husband and Child), Tony Wright (Let’s Talk Thai: How the Brain Learns), Lani Cox (A Thai Learning Thai), Daniel T. Murphy, Ph.D (Linguistic and Developmental Underpinnings of Language Acquisition and Seven Tips for Learning the Thai Language), and Andrej Nitsche (FuKDuK.tv + ALG = Speed Metal Thai?!?!). Following is Jo and Jay (Overview: Learn Thai Podcast), Luke Cassady-Dorion (Grokking the Thai Writing System Part 1: Consonants), Luca Lampariello (Luca on Active Learning vs Passive Learning) and Paul Garrigan (How Mindfulness Can Help You Learn Thai). And I promise that there will be plenty more.
Guest writers are a driving force of WLT, and I owe a HUGE thanks to them all! If you have knowledge to share, please contact me.
The expat making her way through Thai language and culture…
I am not a teacher. I am not a fluent Thai speaker. In fact, I’m pretty cacca at languages.
Ok, maybe cacca isn’t the word for it: I’m finding learning languages as an insomniac quite challenging. That’s more like it.
Basically, my posts come from a student struggling with all things Thai language learning, with a bit of expat living thrown in.
And when I find something that works, or when I find something that might work, I share it here.
But similar to a baby bird, when it comes to language learning, sometimes I’ll yell ‘FEED ME!’. While other times I’m just be too burnt out to care.
And now… perhaps more than you want to know…
I love to work. And between managing projects, designing/coding, helping friends (and even complete strangers), answering emails and putting out fires, I can easily spend 12 hours a day online, getting out for chores when I have to.
After landing in Bangkok (no different from when I lived in Borneo) my schedule settled into working, grocery shopping (but Villa delivers, right?), and leaving the country.
Yes, you read it right. If I wasn’t at the keyboard, I’d either be down the soi or headed for the airport.
Ok, sure, at times I pushed myself away from the computer to run around with a dear friend. Or run around on my own. Or just run around. But we all know that it’s not enough. Not if I wanted a real life in Thailand.
So it was clear: I needed to start a regime of getting out to see what was on offer. But I needed to do it my way and – being my way – it had to have a purpose.
And that’s why I’ve created this blog. I figured if I had a structured aim, then I’d get out. I figured if I was made accountable (publicly even), then I’d get out. Getting out would be good.
Background: Expat living in Bangkok, Thailand. Learning languages does not come easy, but, as Thailand is my adopted country, hmmm?
Armed with: Thai language books; lesson plans; CDs; tapes; flash cards; software; both online and offline resources; books on history, culture, travel and such; and a Canon Kiss as well as the Canon 7D.
The plan: Post experiences, opinions and progress reports. Review language books, sites and software.
I’ll share: Tips and techniques, local quirks and insights from Thailand. Anything language, culture, or travel related.
But bottom line: My posts will be from an expat female’s point of view. In a way it is a plus as there are a ton of expat males blogging about Thailand, while there are hardly any expat females writing about life in Thailand. Something like that anyway.
And if you are an expat female, or even an expat male interested in the Thai language or discussing the decent bits of Thailand (and don’t mind a mention of a masculine butt or three), I hope you’ll share your interests too.
Ah, before you go… amazingly enough, there’s more: Interview by Lana of Serrated Edges and Expat Interviews: Professional Expatting Around Bangkok.
That’s it. Finish. I promise…
Sà-wàt-dee ka : สวัสดี ค่ะ
Catherine Wentworth
