ศาลาชุมนุม

[daฟาน]

Hello (:

couldn't find a better title sorry, so I better try to explain what I mean right here:

Where do you guys&girls speak to Thai people to practice some Thai?

I figured out the easiest thing is to talk to the thai massage girls, they seem to be bored and always enjoy the chat. Yet I guess most of the other costumers will get annoyed by that behaviour. Other disadvantages: the quality of the massage may suffer from the conversation and yeah it happened to me that they were finally trying to hook up their daughter with me...

Restaurants - not a real dialog yet good enough to try out some new Thai words in the beginning of learning Thai (so right where I am ordering food can be challenging 55)

Lumpini Park - there is an area where a few Thais try to study English with foreigners, I think they meet there every day and welcome any foreigner who talks English with them. I guess they would also be willing to speak Thai with you as well - they invited me once to join them, but my Thai was not good enough to be able to have any conversation that time.

Taxi-Drivers. According to Siam Smile(s) it should be pretty nice to talk with them, I sometimes do but honestly don't use cabs too often and as I am still a beginner, they often try to swap back to English (in case they can speak English).

I guess that was it for me - anyone got other ideas where to practice the newly gained Thai skills?

[buckjoy]

After my Thai teacher (actually the village pharmacist) moved to another village, I needed someone to help check my progress/reading/pronunciation........I found him just up the road. He's a 28 year old confined to a wheelchair because of a trakaw accident when he was a teenager. He has a decent education, knows enough of the rules to keep me on track, and he doesn't speak English. He has all the time in the world and seems pleased that he's being productive. I also have him record short stories for me onto my mp3 player so I can work on the stories at home.
This might not work if you're a beginner.......but in my case, it's working very well.

[daฟาน]

would you mind if I ask you if you return something for his help in return or is he just happy to talk to you anyway?

[John]

Buckjoy,

Does your new teacher have a computer, is he capable of navigating the internet, can he use Skype to communicate?

[ohmmo]

daฟาน, I see you the same age as me.
maybe I can be your friend.

[daฟาน]

daฟาน, I see you the same age as me.
maybe I can be your friend.

sure buddy

[claude06thailand]

After my Thai teacher (actually the village pharmacist) moved to another village, I needed someone to help check my progress/reading/pronunciation........I found him just up the road. He's a 28 year old confined to a wheelchair because of a trakaw accident when he was a teenager. He has a decent education, knows enough of the rules to keep me on track, and he doesn't speak English. He has all the time in the world and seems pleased that he's being productive. I also have him record short stories for me onto my mp3 player so I can work on the stories at home.
This might not work if you're a beginner.......but in my case, it's working very well.

I think this is the right person to practice and improve thai when you begin to speak and you are able to make short sentences.
Since he cannot speak english, you have to make the effort.
With a decent education, he is able to understand your mistake and correct them.
It is certainly good for him to be productive and help somedy else.
Thai people are generally very helpful, it is easy to have some talk with anybody anywhere, unlike in Europe...
Wish fun in learning !

[Mayana]

I'm native Thai so I can help u guys to learn thai language

[bifftastic]

I'm native Thai so I can help u guys to learn thai language

Thank you Mayana, we always need your help

[bv6969]

I had the same problem. What helped me was to join a Thai dating website. You only need to pay for one month's membership, during which time you will make many contacts. Get as many contacts as you can who you think you would like to talk to, and continue talking to them on Skype. It is free, and most of the people you meet will be able to use it. With the video facility you can talk as if you are in the same room, with the added option of typing stuff that is hard to understand. Anyway, it worked pretty well for me.
Good luck buddy
Clive