4 days of speaking Thai … and counting December 28, 2005
Posted by Martin in : Education, Thailand , trackbackOn the recommendation of Jim, an impressively competent Thai speaker I declared last Wednesday as a Thai-only day. This meant that Tik and I would communicate exclusively in Thai.
We spend much of the day in Tik’s colleagues car driving to Udon Thani where Tik has some work to complete.
I was very proud of myself that I managed to survive the entire day without any major problems. In fact Tik found the experience far more difficult than me, as she is so used to speaking with me in English.
As the day ended Tik and I agreed that she could speak with me in English but I would speak only in Thai unless it was absoloubtly necessary. We had a busy day and certainly by night time we were both tired- yet I was still able to speak Thai. I stayed motivated to speak Thai for the following days too and now I am speaking predominantly in Thai with Tik and with my Thai friends.
The next day we spent with Tik’s family so I’ve had a lot of opportunity to practice.
It’s been strange though as I’ve not actually spoken Thai since July. I had 2 months of intensive lessons between May and June, and then took things easy for a month. Since returning to the UK in August I’ve had virtually no practice with my Thai and my new lifetyle makes it very easy to live without needing it, as all the people I converse with speak fluent English. Having taken a break for so long I’ve returned very motivated to practice and am speaking much more fluently than I really feel I should be.
I think a major factor in me choosing to improve my Thai is the realization that I’m very very happy here. I love Tik very much and it’s certain that we will have bilingual children in the future. I am also determined to be able to hold my own when Tik and I choose get married in the future. With the free time I now have there’s really no excuse not to continue developing my skills and vocabulary.
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