Hi all,
I have been learning to read and write Thai. There is about 70 different symbols to learn, but they are not actually as difficult as you might think.
If a bar girl tells me her name, I can usually write it in Thai , some correct, some very close.
If a Thai person writes a word or sentence, then I can read it back to them, BUT i normally havent got a clue as to what it means.
I wanted to be able to read and write first, and now I am about to start on the conversation, because at the moment my conversation skills are shit. Simple things I understand, but normally my face looks like this -
Its great to watch the bar girls faces when you take a pen and paper and write their names or a few words. You see them whisper to each other 'We had better watch out for this bastard!'.
but then they realise I dont understand what they are saying, and they probably call me 'pom pooey falang' and other nice things
I think in 1 more year I will be able to talk and especially listen to what they are saying. My goal is to walk into a bar as if it is my first time in Thailand, listen to what the girls are saying (it will probably be bad!) and then finish my drink, say a couple of sentences to them in Thai, and walk out.
Dirty Mike