With less of a language barrier
It’s been over a year since I started my first Thai language class.
The classes had provided me an environment to practise the language through reading and speaking. Over time, with more exposure to the language, Thai no longer sounds gibberish to my brain!
I went to Thailand again this July, and I felt a “breakthrough” in my experience there!
What was different?
Previously
I had been to Thailand before twice, in Dec 2022 (for 21 days!) and back in 2016. That was before I formally learnt Thai.
Back then, I had memorised some phrases to help me get around. Simple phrases like hello, thank you, how much, and where was the toilet. Haha, essential ones only.
But, memorising phrases and saying them doesn’t equate to proper communication.
For instance, when I asked, “เท่าไรค่ะ” (”how much?”), I couldn’t comprehend the response I received. Instead, I had to rely on either the seller translating the amount into English, typing it on calculator, or using hand signals.
Or when I started off with “สวัสดีค่ะ” (”hello”), the following sentences had to inevitably be English or hand signals, because I had not learnt the language at all.
Also, looking back, my tones were completely off, which could’ve explained some confused faces I got in response 😅
Here’s something I learnt from a foreigner who moved to Thailand and is now proficient in Thai:
“if you only know how to speak one sentence in Thai, it doesn’t mean you know the language, it just means you know how to speak that one sentence.”
Mike, featured in Joyce Sin’s video (around 09.23 mark)
Good point to keep in mind.
Now
In comparison, during my most recent Thailand trip to Songkhla, I’m happy that I could assimilate much better with a stronger grasp of Thai!
When I spoke Thai, I understood the words and could properly structure my sentence. Although my pronunciation is still a work in progress and I’m still pretty slow in forming sentences, I was no longer just doing a verbal “regurgitation” of memorised phrases.
I could ask for the price and actually understand the response given. Just that improvement really meant so much to me! Also when I walked past locals, I could catch short snippets of conversations.
Understanding the local language definitely helped me feel less out of place in a foreign country. And to some extent, also feel more connected with the locals as well?
Pushing myself to interact with locals using Thai
I remembered when I embarked on my Songkhla trip, I told myself that I’ll try my best to get around by conversing only in Thai. Doing so would be a meaningful challenge for me.
Gotta admit, sometimes they spoke too fast for me and I couldn’t catch their words.
While the path of least resistance was to shrink back to my comfort zone, and switch back to English to clarify again, I didn’t want to do that.
Instead, I mustered enough courage to say “อะไรนะ” (”what?”). It was so scary the first few times! But I really wanted to give myself another chance to comprehend what the other party said.
And most of the time, I was able to catch onto what’s said to me if they repeat again. I was pleasantly surprised! Perhaps they could sense that I wasn’t a Thai local? So when repeating themselves, they would use simpler phrases and speak slower 😄
By then, I could ask simple questions to minimally survive as a traveller there, such as asking for price, timing, location etc, and understand the possible answers.
What made me feel even more proud of myself, was my ability to hold short conversations with fellow Thai locals too!
Fun fact: Most visitors to Songkhla were domestic travellers within Thailand.
I met a 30 year old guy at my hostel, who was on a road trip through Thailand for a month or so and we explored the area together for a day! I also met a middle-aged lady who was on a group tour around Thailand for a week, and her daughter was exactly my age. Not forgetting, the friendly local stall owner who introduced me to a cheaper taxi alternative to Grab!
Woah, I’ve never spoken so much Thai at one go 😯
All’s good! Except that my reading skills aren’t as good yet. And the best example to exemplify that would be … menus 😂
Looking at a full page of food item names in Thai still overwhelm me ._. So, I either ask for the English menu or just point at photos. I guess I can make reading food menus in Thai my next challenge then!
Ending Note
It was such an incredible feeling to re-experience Thailand again through a different lens. A lens where I could understand the language and better communicate with the locals.
It’s also my first time learning a foreign language as an adult. I can’t put into words how amazing it felt when my brain started to “decode” Thai when I heard it and continued to pick up more words over time. Good job brain 👍
& To Thailand: See you again for sure!
Thank you for reading!